After nearly a year of waiting and teases, Project Luminous has finally been revealed: The High Republic publishing program, a series of stories set 200 years before the prequels, spread across novels and comics, spearheaded by authors Charles Soule, Claudia Gray, Daniel José Older, Justina Ireland, and Cavan Scott. Beginning in August, the High Republic era kicks off with Light of the Jedi, a novel by Charles Soule which will set up the story and proliferate across other novel, comics, and more yet to come. Head below for more details, announced titles, and some thoughts below! UPDATE: Series now set to launch in January. Head to our The High Republic page for the latest and greatest! (Update: THR has begun and our reviews are rolling in!)
In the High Republic era, the Jedi are at their height as peace keepers, but many areas of the galaxy remain outside the Republic’s reach, so they roam the edges as, the video puts it, “…texas rangers,” leaning heavily into Star Wars‘ fantasy aspects. When The Great Disaster hits, details of which remain secret for now (but synopsis for the below books seems to tie to the villains’ ability to weaponize hyperspace), it forces heroes to rise up and protect the galaxy. Specifically, they’ll be going up against the Nihil, described as “Space Vikings,” villains created in response to the question, “What scares the Jedi?” The group is meant to be the furthest from the Empire or First Order, and their Mad Max-esque garb is a solid indicator the design and concept team hit the mark; designs include such notable names as Leeland Chee and even Ian McCaig, with concept art by Phil Noto (one Jedi even has a Loth-wolf!?)!
The High Republic era has been teased very recently, first starting with a mention in Cavan Scott’s Dooku: Jedi Lost and then in a few Charles Soule projects: The Rise of Kylo Ren #2, Lor San Tekka mentions the era, betting the outpost he, Luke Skywalker, and Ben Solo are visiting was used then; The Rise of Kylo Ren #3 could be another mention, as the Jedi in the holocron Hennix opens looks eerily close to one of the Jedi on the cover of Light of the Jedi (someone had a good eye on Twitter!); and most importantly, Star Wars #2 (Vol. 2) directly mentioned and detailed Operation Starlight, the giant space station seen in the cover of LotJ and concept art shown during the reveal event. Another hint? The droid in the cover for A Test of Courage, is none other than ME-8D9, a droid working with Maz Kanata as seen in The Force Awakens, first teased in 2016.
The Light of the Jedi novel will open with the aforementioned Great Disaster, kicking off the era and introducing us to how the galaxy works and main characters who will hop across the various releases. Charles Soule has best been known by Star Wars fans for his comics, Lando, Obi-Wan & Anakin, Darth Vader – Dark Lord of the Sith, Poe Dameron, The Rise of Kylo Ren, and Star Wars (Vol. 2), but this will be his first novel for the Galaxy Far Far Away! He’s no stranger to novels though, as he’s released two already, The Oracle Year and Anyone, two books I’ve had the pleasure to read and absolutely loved, as he has an excellent way to string along readers on compelling, non-stop journeys that push characters to their limits, while managing to keep character agency, no matter if its the villain or main characters. Out of all the Jedi on the cover, I really can’t wait to meet the Wookiee Jedi, as I feel like there was a big missed opportunity with youngling Gungi from The Clone Wars, so hopefully this new one will be front and center for a while across the High Republic. UPDATE: His name is Burryaga Agaburry, Burry for short (unofficially), and I can already tell we are going to be the best of friends. And for the woman at the center of the cover, Avar Kriss, they teased she connects to the Force via music, so that should provide some entertaining scenarios…do they have iPods in space? Either way, we should be in for a treat when High Republic: Light of the Jedi drops August 25!
As for the rest of Phase One (their words, not mine!), there’s a Young Adult novel by my current favorite prose author, Claudia Gray: Into the Dark. The two characters on the cover travel to their respective frontiers: the Padawan Reath Silas off to the edges of space and the woman to Coruscant, but the Disaster strands them together somewhere in the middle. For inspiration, Gray wanted to put Matthew McConaughey on a spaceship. Given Gray’s pedigree with Bloodline, Lost Stars, Leia – Princess of Alderaan, and Master & Apprentice, and that little tidbit about McConaughey, I’m dying to get my hands on High Republic: Into the Dark, out October 11!
Justina Ireland, who recently wrote Spark of the Resistance, is next in the prose realm with High Republic: A Test of Courage, a middle grade novel focusing on a 16 year old female Jedi,Vernestra Rwoh. Pretty cool they’ll introduce such a young Jedi Knight, as it always seems like they’re more likely closer to 20-25 before they gain Knight status, so I’ll be curious to see why she’s so advanced. It’s out September 8.
As for comics, Cavan Scott, normally with IDW, begins an on-going for Marvel simply titled The High Republic, and it’ll focus on Jedi on the Starlight station that run into the villains of the story, the Nihil. This is pretty fitting if you ask me, as he added some fantastic depth to Count Dooku in Jedi Lost and his Tales from Vader’s Castle/Return to Vader’s Castle show his dark, but ingenious mind at work. Can’t wait to see it unleashed with revealing more about the Nihil.
And lastly, but definitely not least, Daniel José Older, of the excellent Last Shot fame in the lead up to Solo: A Star Wars Story, will be writing for IDW’s Star Wars High Republic Adventures, which follows younger characters learning about the Jedi of the era and the Nihil. Sounds like a fun way to introduce people to the era without forcing them to dive too deep into the evolving story.
Seriously, Project Luminous had so much hype I was worried I wouldn’t be terribly excited for what they would reveal. The little High Republic teases sprinkled in publishing recently did help peak my interest, but the reveal today totally took me by surprise with the depth and scope of the program, and all the awesome concept art really showed how committed they were to the era by showing us, not telling us what was coming down the line. As the official reveal notes, this, “…will not overlap any of the filmed features or series currently planned for production, giving creators and partners a vast amount of room to tell Star Wars stories with new adventures and original characters.” More Star Wars stories set away from the Skywalker Saga, or other upcoming stories, carving out new paths and new eras, will be the life blood of my continued fandom and this shows Lucasfilm’s commitment to providing new and refreshing content, giving us different glimpses into the GFFA.
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website @MynockManor.
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