I have returned from my hiatus from this blog at sometime around March, as I always do in the beginning of the year. But I return with great news because the long awaited Project Luminous Star Wars publishing project has been revealed. It was revealed at a late event in Los Angeles yesterday and is at war with me sleeping. It is set in The High Republic era as it was long rumored to be. It takes place 200 years before the prequels and as of yet only includes book and comic projects. It follows the Jedi (fingers crossed for younger Yoda) in their struggle against the new foe, the Nihl, who are described as “space vikings”. The feel the series is described as Jedi as knights of the round table and that it has an Arthurian tone to it, which is very exciting. But I think Star Wars has always been inspired by Arthurian legend and the Jedi Council are the Jedi version of the Knights of the Round Table. I just hope they acknowledge those roots and recognize that Star Wars has always had that connection. For full background on The High Republic you should also see Starwars.com’s article and watch the below video. So here we go.
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| One of the original teasers for “Project Luminous” |
The first thing revealed and the only one actually revealed before the event itself is Light of the Jedi, a novel by Charles Soule. This will involve several Jedi as seen on the cover including a Wookiee with a crossguard lightsaber, interestingly. At the event they said that the book’s plot will be kicked off by some sort of terrible event which I assume is the same thing that was referenced in the Project Luminous teaser. Whatever this event is will affect the force in some major and negative way. In the background there is shown a space station known as the Starlight Beacon which is a beacon of hope for the Jedi. Soule has written only two other novels in the past neither Star Wars, but he is very prolific and a great writer in the world of comics including the absolutely amazing Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith comic and The Rise of Kylo Ren. I haven’t yet read it but I hear it sets up The High Republic and that it is really good. So I think this book is in really good hands and as the only proper novel announced as of yet, the flagship title, and in my opinion the coolest looking, it is my most hyped of all the projects. It will be released August 25th, 2020.
Into the Dark is a Young Adult novel by Claudia Gray, one of my favorite Star Wars authors and she hasn’t let me down with any of her other books so major hype for this. From the cover we can see two characters one a Jedi named Reath Silas and the other is a daughter of a shipping magnate. Many have speculated a romance and I wouldn’t be surprised, but I wouldn’t mind either because she wrote romances very well in Lost Stars and in Leia Princess of Alderaan. There aren’t much more details on this one but I will definitely read it and love it when it’s out on October 13th, 2020. (Blurb now available)
A Test of Courage is a Middle Grade novel by Justina Ireland that is also about some Jedi, these a bit younger and there are some other characters too. Including a droid that looks somewhat like a Kyber Crystal droid and be involved with some them getting their lightsabers which was my idea but journalist, Anthony Breznican compared it to droid ME-8D9 from Maz Kanata’s castle in The Force Awakens and it works a lot better that droid even used for the Jedi canonically so it lines up. I won’t also love Huyang the Kyber Crystal droid to show up in this era and it would make sense. I haven't read any of the author's other books because while she has written Star Wars it has always appealed to a younger audience and I was busy reading other things. But I will read this one. Firstly because it looks cool, secondly because I want to read everything involved with this line (at least starting out), and because she said this one has a darker tone than her other books. So I am very excited for this book. It releases September 8th, 2020. (Blurb now available)
Next up is the Marvel comics series simply titled Star Wars The High Republic by Cavan Scott. I would assume that this series would be ongoing, but take that with a grain of salt. The characters on the front are some of the Nihl, but this is a variant cover, so the series is not necessarily all about them. If I had to connect the dots between a couple of things I would say that Phil Noto the artist that just finished his run on the main Star Wars comic with Greg Pak, drew the Poe Damereon comic, and several other Star Wars projects will draw this series. I say this because they showed some of his concept art for The High Republic at the event and one piece looked suspiciously like a comic cover. Cavan Scott wrote the audio drama Dooku: Jedi Lost, which I have not listened to but I plan to soon, I have heard good things, but he also wrote Tales from Vader’s Castle which I have read. That series was somewhat kid oriented but I liked his writing and I don’t think this series will have many problems. The comic series do not have release dates yet but I would assume around August 2020, because StarWars.com says they will be available at Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim along with Light of the Jedi.
Lastly is Daniel José Older's comic series, The High Republic Adventures from IDW. This one I could tell you almost nothing about. We have a concept art cover of two Jedi and we know that it will be geared towards kids because it is the same sort of thing as the regular Star Wars Adventures comics. I read and reviewed Older's Star Wars book, Last Shot years ago and I enjoyed it but it is not my favorite. I am slightly worried, because I don't think he has written comics ever before, but that shouldn't be the hardest hurdle to pass. Because of that and the fact that it's for little kids and we know next to no info it is my least hyped, but I'm not dreading it, still quite excited.
Overall, the reveal for The High Republic didn't have too many surprises, but it didn't really need them. Because these books are more than enough to get me super excited and to pile up the amount I have to read. I haven't even finished one of the Del Rey Star Wars novels from last year. But I have until June of this year to read before these or other Star Wars books I want to read release. I will try to read and review some of these for the blog and if I don't do that I will at least read and discuss them on here or on Youtube, eventually. I am very excited for these books and comics, as they are some of the most important pieces of Star Wars media in the coming years. Many people questioned if this could lead into a TV series, movie, or video game in this era. I think it is possible but even if it happens it is years away and this has to be a success first. I think that if you haven't read Star Wars books before, The High Republic looks to be a great jumping on point, without all of the baggage of the Skywalker era which got very complex in some books and comics even for an experienced fan like myself at times. That about sums it up for Project Luminous though, but as this was a very early fact-based blog, I will come at you with a Youtube video with more info and my thoughts on Project Luminous by this weekend. and I have many more blogs that I have been planning that I am very excited to share, so those should be coming soon as long as I don't get bogged down by reading. And then I find out that all of that was only phase one of The High Republic. Wait what do you mean there's going to be more?
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| All the publishers working on The High Republic so far, Phase One and beyond. |
White board used by the writers for VERY interesting ideas stay connected for more of those from me.
