Qi’ra entered legendary status thanks to Emilia Clarke’s performance of the character in Solo: A Star Wars Story and fans have been clamoring for more of her and her story ever since. In 2020, she shocked fans by returning in a big comics crossover and continues to dominate the storyline as she attempts to take on the Sith ruling the galaxy, in full control of Crimson Dawn. While an excellent book has already glimpsed her life prior to the start of the film, E.K. Johnston will be looking into the period after Han Solo left Corellia, and Qi’ra’, behind in the upcoming novel Crimson Climb! More details are incoming, but for now The blurb is here, so check it outt, plus the full cover and some additional thoughts, below.
E.K. Johnston has written some previous novels focusing on popular female characters in the past. Her first was Ahsoka, and while I found myself overall enjoying the novel, it’s since been sort of overridden by Dave Filoni, who originally gave her the outline that made the book, in a recent installment of Tales of the Jedi animated series; Regardless of your feelings on the novel, it was much better than the short we got. After that, Johnston tackled Padmé Amidala and her handmaidens, starting with the great Queen’s Shadow, the ending of which inspired the return of Sabé and other handmaidens in the current Darth Vader comic. The following two entries in the ‘trilogy’ ended up feeling disjointed and incomplete, but despite that I’m trying to give Crimson Climb the benefit of the doubt. It’s going to be following a character through an intriguing part of her life, one we’ve yet to see but has sparked her current return to the galaxy to some degree, so I’m looking forward to seeing her climb, especially if it means more Dryden Vos, Maul, and Teras Kasi! I also wouldn’t be surprised if this is just the start of a trilogy which catches us to where she first appears in the comics, so I’m doubly hoping this will be good because it’s a story I’m eager to see and will include far more internal dialogue from Qi’ra about her goals and determination than the comics have been willing to provide, hence why I’d even want this in the first place. We’ll have a review on October 10.
Here’s the blurb, though it had some embarrassing errors I fixed here:
New York Times bestselling author E. K. Johnston, author of the Queen’s series starring Padmé Amidala, brings fans an untold story about Qi’ra, portrayed by Emilia Clarke in Solo: A Star Wars Story.
Not everyone gets to be the hero.
Qi’ra listened to the dreams and promises of a boy with a reckless smile, only to be torn away from him and returned to the White Worms gang while Han made his way to freedom. Now freedom seems like a luxury she can’t afford while she concentrates on survival and despairs of ever leaving Corellia. But her fortunes seem to turn when a representative of the crime syndicate Crimson Dawn plucks Qi’ra from captivity and brings her to the syndicate’s leader, the mysterious and mercurial Dryden Vos. Vos offers Qi’ra an opportunity she’s never had before: the chance to build something resembling a comfortable life if she can prove her worth to his organization. With failure meaning certain death, Qi’ra knows she must immerse herself in the merciless, murderous world of Crimson Dawn. What she doesn’t know is just who she will be if she survives. . . .
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