Del Rey and Disney Announce Adult Star Wars Novels
Posted on April 28, 2014
Disney Publishing and Del Rey Books announced a new book publishing program in connection with the new Star Wars movies. Lucasfilm first issued an announcement that going forward Star Wars canon will include all six of the movies plus the Clone Wars tv show.
All the other books, games and comics that have been published over the years as part of the expanded universe are not officially canon. That will free up the screenwriters for the upcoming films and the authors of the new books to craft the story without being overburdened by the unbelievable amount of fiction out there in the expanded universe. This does not mean that some of the elements won't make their way into the new books, it just means that unless and until they show up in the new books they are not canon.
So, what's next in the adult books in the Star Wars universe? The first novel will be written by John Jackson Miller and will be Star Wars: A New Dawn. The events will be set just before the upcoming animated series Star Wars Rebels. The novel will tell the story of how two of the lead characters of the series, Kanan Jarrus and Hera Syndulla, met and came to know each other. Miller worked out the backstory with series executive producers Dave Filoni, Simon Kinberg and Greg Weisman. The book will be released in hardcover and ebook on September 2, 2014. The new Star Wars fiction line will continue with the following 2014/2015 titles: Star Wars: Tarkin by James Luceno (11/4/14), Star Wars: Heir to the Jedi by Kevin Hearne (January, 2015) and Star Wars: Lords of the Sith by Paul Kemp (March, 2015). We're especially excited about Kevin Hearne writing one of this books: we love his Atticus Finch druid series.
Del Rey says that going forward every single novel will be tied in with the movies and tv shows and all will be canon. But all the popular Legend books in the expanded universe will remain in print at Del Rey. We suppose they'll be like the Apocrypha. Jeanne Mosure, senior vice president and group publisher, Disney Publishing Worldwide, said in a statement, "With the establishment of the Lucasfilm Story Group and our even greater focus on unified storytelling, we expect our entire publishing program to be stronger and more meaningful than ever before. We're extremely excited to kick off this new strategy with Del Rey Books." Scott Shannon, SVP, publisher, Del Rey and Digital Content, talked about the cohesiveness of the world going forward, "We're extremely proud of the hundreds of amazing Star Wars books we've published at Del Rey. And now we're excited to finally be able to call our upcoming novels true canon -- a single, cohesive Star Wars storyline -- all while keeping the amazing backlist of Star Wars Legends content in print."