Del Rey Releases Sampler for New Books – Confirms the Return of a Clone Wars Character

2014 Del Rey Star Wars Novels Sampler

Del Rey has just released a free Kindle sampler containing excerpts of four novels that will kickstart the new Star Wars Expanded Universe under the supervision of the Lucasfilm Story Group. As LSG has mentioned before, all of these new storylines are canonical, and will provide an early glimpse at what Disney has planned for the franchise in coming years. In addition, the identity of a mystery character that will be present in one of the novels (Lords Of The Sith) has officially been confirmed!

 

I believe that Del Rey’s descriptions of the sampler and the stories they contain explain themselves better than I could with such limited information, so I’ll let the metaphorical Wookiee win and let them do the talking.

 

This free eBook sampler is the perfect way to prepare for the next exciting era of Star Wars storytelling! With Episodes VII, VIII, and IX on the horizon, Del Rey is proud to present the first wave of novels that are part of the official Star Wars film canon, created in collaboration with the newly formed Lucasfilm Story Group. The exclusive previews of these four books, starring fan favorites and set during and before the original trilogy, will transport you once again to a galaxy that doesn’t feel quite so long ago, or so far away. . . .

 

A NEW DAWN by John Jackson Miller: Set during the legendary “Dark Times” between Episodes III and IV, A New Dawn tells the story of how two of the lead characters from the animated series Star Wars Rebels first came to cross paths.

 

TARKIN by James Luceno: Bestselling Star Wars veteran James Luceno gives Grand Moff Tarkin the Star Wars: Darth Plagueis treatment, bringing a legendary character from A New Hope to full, fascinating life.

 

HEIR TO THE JEDI by Kevin Hearne: The author of The Iron Druid Chronicles tells a thrilling new adventure set between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, and-for the first time ever-written entirely from Luke Skywalker’s first-person point of view.

 

LORDS OF THE SITH by Paul S. Kemp: When the Emperor and his notorious apprentice, Darth Vader, find themselves stranded in the middle of insurgent action on an inhospitable planet, they must rely on each other, the Force, and their awesome martial skills to prevail.

 

A neat tidbit of information that was revealed in the sampler was the fact that Cham Syndulla, a recurring character on the hit television series Star Wars: The Clone Wars, will be featured prominently in Lords of the Sith. The Twi’lek was a revolutionary that fought against the Separatists and displayed some distrust against the Republic, but eventually formed an alliance with the Republic to ensure that his home planet, Ryloth, would be safe. Since the Republic decayed into the Empire, he is conflicted over the situation he now faces – and, from the looks of things, will serve as the heroic antagonist to lead villains Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine. This will also tie into the forthcoming series, Star Wars Rebels, given that one protagonist from that series (Hera Syndulla) is related to Cham Syndulla by blood.

 
Cham_and_Hera_Syndulla31I also find it a little interesting that they specifically mention the novel based on Darth Plagueis, considering that’s not a part of the canon Disney is going forward with. Maybe they’ll refit the story for the new chronology or something (however unlikely that may be)? One can only dream…

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Grant has been a fan of Star Wars for as long as he can remember, having seen every movie on the big screen. When he’s not hard at work with his college studies, he keeps himself busy by reporting on all kinds of Star Wars news for SWNN and general movie news on the sister site, Movie News Net. He served as a frequent commentator on SWNN’s The Resistance Broadcast.

Grant Davis (Pomojema)

Grant has been a fan of Star Wars for as long as he can remember, having seen every movie on the big screen. When he’s not hard at work with his college studies, he keeps himself busy by reporting on all kinds of Star Wars news for SWNN and general movie news on the sister site, Movie News Net. He served as a frequent commentator on SWNN’s The Resistance Broadcast.

48 thoughts on “Del Rey Releases Sampler for New Books – Confirms the Return of a Clone Wars Character

  • July 16, 2014 at 4:36 am
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    Excited but not really,..

    I love the novels, but now with the ‘Whats cannon and what isnt’ it seems like im dodging Asteroids in an Asteroid field until the new movie is here,.

  • July 16, 2014 at 4:50 am
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    I have no knowledge of Cham Syndulla. Anyone want to fill me in?

    • July 16, 2014 at 5:28 am
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      His story is almost entirely told in The Clone Wars’s “Liberty on Ryloth” (with some additional backstory given in “Supply Lines”), where he teamed up with Mace Windu. I basically covered what his motivations are in both the show and this novel in the paragraph I wrote about him.

      The only other things worth noting is that he was considered to be a “radical” by Palpatine, even when he was operating under the guise of being the Supreme Chancellor, and that he agreed to help the Republic only after being promised that they would leave after liberating the planet.

      • July 16, 2014 at 5:35 am
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        I can think of better (and younger) characters who should have returned from Clone Wars…

        sigh…

          • July 16, 2014 at 3:10 pm
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            Yeah, like Ahsoka, or a new Boba Fett story. Or even Ventress.

          • July 16, 2014 at 3:16 pm
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            Yeah now that the old EU isn’t canonical anymore they have to come up with new stories for the same characters.

          • July 16, 2014 at 5:23 pm
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            The Clone Wars is canon. The supplementary material for the show (like the webcomics) is not.

          • July 17, 2014 at 2:48 pm
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            Here’s a couple things that I think the new EU should keep:

            Most of the stuff Pre-TPM. They’re never going to make old republic movies(that would be awesome but I don’t think they’re planning on it) and they probably won’t touch on it too much with their new books anyway.

            I also think that one thing the EU got right was the idea of Imperial Remnants. The empire doesn’t just dissolve, but rather it breaks up into small splinter states. Makes sense, when major empires in our world break up, such as the Roman Empire or the original Islamic Empire, they do the the same thing.

            What do you guys think they should keep?

  • July 16, 2014 at 5:10 am
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    I thought Plagueis was canon. Isn’t it just the later EU that got ditched?

    • July 16, 2014 at 5:16 am
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      Disney wiped the whole slate clean, which is a shame for some things (like the Plagueis novel and multimedia projects like Shadows Of The Empire and The Force Unleashed), but a blessing for others (writers don’t have to worry about dooming the protagonists to coincide with Legacy Of The Force, for instance, and the awful Holiday Special is not canon anymore).

      A list of what is Canon (in chronological order) can be seen on Wookieepedia.

      http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Timeline_of_canon_media

  • July 16, 2014 at 5:29 am
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    Thanks for the article, Pomojema! 😀
    It was a nice break from “The Women of Star Wars”.

    Time to go back! xD

    • July 16, 2014 at 5:30 am
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      *Tips Fedora*

  • July 16, 2014 at 5:41 am
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    I think it works best to wipe the slate clean and take some things from the EU. But not be bound to it.

  • July 16, 2014 at 5:58 am
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    Read this thinking it would be Ashoka returning. But noooo give us a character that doesn’t matter AT ALL. #logic #ohwaitnologic #fuckyou

    • July 16, 2014 at 5:59 am
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      Ahsoka*

    • July 16, 2014 at 6:05 am
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      #HashtagsDoNothing, #EspeciallyOnSitesThatAren’tTwitter.

      As for Ahsoka? All in due time. There’s no way that they were going to develop a character so much, take her off of the show, and just forget about her.

        • July 16, 2014 at 10:14 am
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          Ahsoka will return, that is how the new story runners of Stars Wars are going to play. If a character like Boba Fett is profitable you will see their return in some form of media.

        • July 16, 2014 at 3:44 pm
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          Holy crap dude Star Wars will eventually exploit every inch of timeline. If you seriously think we won’t see Ashoka again I would question how long you’ve followed star wars. I guarantee that by the time the third movie is released we will know everything about where she is. Who her romantic partners are /were, if she had kids, favourite pets and favourite foods.

      • July 16, 2014 at 8:00 pm
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        Clearly wasn’t being serious with my hash tags, haha.

    • July 16, 2014 at 3:29 pm
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      I know right. I watched TCW and never even noticed whoever the heck this is. Can’t imagine there was anyone clamoring for his return. I just hope they didn’t forgoe the old EU only to shove bland characters down our throats.

  • July 16, 2014 at 11:59 am
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    I could be wrong Pomojema but of all the stories that were released between then and now “Shadows of the Empire” will remain part of the canon. It was Lucas approved as the the plot line between Empire and Jedi, essentially being a Star Wars film marketing exercise with a Star Wars film being at it’s center. t

    • July 16, 2014 at 5:28 pm
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      I believe that they will reinstate the stories (possibly re-working them in the process) because of the marketing they employed, but the Lucasfilm Story Group has not said anything on either SOTU or TFU.

  • July 16, 2014 at 12:11 pm
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    It said that Tarkin would be given the Darth Plagueis “treatment”, which, as I interpret it, means that it will be a novel that provides a back story in a similar fashion as the Plagueis book.

    From the way it’s written, I wouldn’t get my hopes up about Plagueis, they are just comparing they styles if the novels.

    • July 17, 2014 at 2:41 am
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      Exactly!
      Plageuis, as a character, is canon, because he is mentioned in Episode III by Palpatine.
      But the story of the novel about him is not canon.

  • July 16, 2014 at 12:31 pm
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    Star Wars 7 news?

    • July 16, 2014 at 3:19 pm
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      Apparently not. This is better than nothing. Thank you, Star Wars Episode 7 News team for reporting on all things Star Wars. This is definetly the best Star Wars news site out there.

  • July 16, 2014 at 1:06 pm
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    I was interested since it’s canon but after seeing the synopses, there’s nothing to exciting for me personally. I’ll stick to anticipating the movies.

  • July 16, 2014 at 1:14 pm
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    Pretty sure Darth Plageuis is canon. He’s mentioned in the movies. And Lucas himself had a very heavy had in what did and what did not go into that book.

    • July 16, 2014 at 3:31 pm
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      They don’t care what Lucas had to do with what. They’re focusing on what will bring in the $$$ going forward.

  • July 16, 2014 at 1:20 pm
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    This is why i never read any of the books and never will. It iz a waist of time over the years. To many changes and too much BS !!

    • July 16, 2014 at 1:28 pm
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      just as the prequels were!

  • July 16, 2014 at 2:17 pm
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    Any news of this sampler being available in the UK? Can’t download it off the .com and tried searching for it.

  • July 16, 2014 at 2:46 pm
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    Twentyfourth!

  • July 16, 2014 at 2:49 pm
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    I honestly look for some of the EU stories to eventually be canonized, especially Shadows, Plagueis, and a lot of the pre-clone wars era stories. I think its a smart move by Disney to take the canon down to bare bones so as to keep the fans in suspense as to where they are going with future stories. Everything could change, a few minor changes could take place, or some EU stories may remain completely intact. We just don’t know. But with Plagueis mentioned in ROTS, Bane’s appearance in TCW, and the importance of SOTE to SW media, I look for these stories to be kept or at least re-told to fit in with the new continuity. As for Ahsoka, she is Dave Filoni’s secret weapon. I don’t think he is done with the character and I don’t think they are going to advertise her return to the SW universe immediately. I think they will bring her in to Rebels when it makes sense to do so, and I don’t think they will have a parade to announce it. I think it will be a pleasant surprise when she returns, even if it’s one we saw coming. I think her return in Rebels is more likely than the ST as she will be in her early thirties in the Rebels era and near 70 in the ST. Who knows? Togrutas could age slower than humans. I would like to see her in action again though.

    • July 16, 2014 at 3:22 pm
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      Yes!! Aksoka in Ep7 would be amazing!!! If not in Rebels then maybe she can have her own spinoff?

    • July 16, 2014 at 4:21 pm
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      But Abrams isn’t directing any other Star Wars films, spinoff or otherwise.

      • July 16, 2014 at 4:30 pm
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        It’s probably in the job description.

        • July 16, 2014 at 5:39 pm
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          You’re right – though he’s not a part of any future movies (that we know of), he is an honorary member of the Lucasfilm Story Group, which includes future directors for the next movies in the franchise (Gareth Edwards, Josh Trank, Rian Johnson) as creative consultants.

    • July 16, 2014 at 5:36 pm
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      “Merchandising, merchandising! Where the real money from the movie is made!”

      I eagerly await the release of Star Wars: The Flamethrower.

  • July 16, 2014 at 5:06 pm
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    Why is Luke dressed up like a lounge singer in that photo?

  • July 16, 2014 at 5:29 pm
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    How come Shadows of Empire is not canon anymore? It is a classic!!!! That is so sad…

    • July 17, 2014 at 12:19 am
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      Unfortunately the adventures of Dash Rendar are no more. I really wish they’d do something with that story, it was one of my favorites growing up. Seems like a waste to just shelve it like an old little-league trophy.

      • July 18, 2014 at 9:19 pm
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        Yeah, Shadows was cool, I do hope it’ll still stand as canon, its not as if it’d effect anything in the long run if they let it stand as is.

  • July 16, 2014 at 5:44 pm
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    Lots of interesting characters in TCW and they took a boring an insgificant Twi’lek? Even i remember it was one of the poorest cgi characters made for the show, unatractive and without any kind of emotion

  • July 17, 2014 at 2:07 am
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    Help me, Episode VII. You’re my ONLY hope! <:O

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