Rise of the Empire to Include Tarkin, A New Dawn, and Three New Short Stories
Well, if you’ve been holding off on reading “A New Dawn” by John Jackson Miler or “Tarkin” by James Luceno, and are not dying to read one or the other but would like to, maybe hold off a little longer.
The official Star Wars website announced Del Rey will release a bind-up publication this October entitled “Rise of the Empire”. Not only will it feature these two novels, it will also include three brand-new short stories bridging the gap between the two books. The stories will be written by established science fiction writers Melissa Scott, Jason Fry, and John Jackson Miller.
In terms of first in the timeline, “Tarkin” is where the bind-up will begin. “Tarkin” covers the early days of the Empire through the eyes of one of its most ruthless and ambitions officers, Wilhuff Tarkin. This novel is a particularly special entrance into the canon, as it covers the origins of Grand Moff Tarkin while exploring his early relationship with a perceived mysterious Darth Vader. This book is a must-read for any Star Wars fan as it is scribed by James Luceno who is well versed in adding depth to existing Star Wars characters through the pages.
“A New Dawn” takes place later in the timeline, and explores what Kanan Jarus was up to before he met Hera. This novel was the first after Lucasfilm announced they were clearing the deck and resetting the canon of Star Wars literature. It’s a fun yarn, but in many readers opinions, the story is not terribly consequential in the broad scope of the Star Wars Universe. Still, it’s a great addition to the overall Rebels story.
The three short stories will continue the job that seem to be the common focus of all newly released canon books, comics, and “Rebels”: flesh out more of how the Empire functioned in its heyday. When you think about it, we only got brief glimpses of the day-to-day on the Original Trilogy. The Empire, or whatever is left of it, will continue to play a big role in the franchise. It seems the more we learn from each novel the more we realize how little we knew and how incredibly complex it was (as well as vulnerable).
This release will happen right in the middle of the onslaught of “Journey to The Force Awakens” novels and comics. It’s safe to say that those TFA-related materials should take precedence of your reading time leading up to December. This does sound like a nice collection, though, so maybe you should pack it with the reading materials you take with you to pass the hours standing in line for that midnight Episode VII showing.
Kyle Larson lives in Portland, Oregon. When he's not running trails, he's reading and writing.
I’m reading “Heir of the Empire”
Does that affect me?
Heir of the Empire is an old EU book. Very good, I enjoyed it, but no longer canon
Heir to the Empire was and is good enough for this old school flyboy fan. Canon? Back in 1977-83 it was movies, videogames, and action figures, i.e. fun. There were only a few books such as Splinter of the Mind’s Eye and Han Solo books also penned by Alan Dean Foster, and me and and the majority of my school friends at the time didn’t really pay them much attention. The amount of seriousness “canon” placed on the “universe” now strikes me at odds with fun.
Sorry, sorry.
I Mean’t
“Hear of the Jedi.”
That’s what I’m reading presently also.
then no. Heir to the jedi takes place in a different period. Just finished. Liked it
Heir To The Jedi is canon. Anything adult novel released from A New Dawn (September 2014) onward is canon. A clear list of canon stuff can be found here:
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Timeline_of_canon_media
Sounds like money to me.
The EU opened up Star Wars to many possibilities… The new canon closed it up so everything is rehashed A New Hope.
Kanan looks like a young max Von Sydow
No. He won’t come up in episode VII. stop. please.
And while we’re at it, stop with your constant whining about how we all “need” a boba fett standalone film.
he will. bothanspi confirmed it a while ago
Ya okay, maybe if you think every white person looks like a tall gangly ginger.
Kanan looks like a 90’s reject.
Are the new short stories the ones included in Star Wars Insider?
Having bought both books on release day I’m asking the same question. A little annoying that (if the stories aren’t in Insider) I will have to repurchase the books to stay on top of the new canon.
Your feeble Jedi-purchasing skills are NO MATCH for the power of Disney/LFL’s Dark Side of greed!!! You will pay the price for your lack of vision!
Disney = Emperor
LFL = Vader
LOL! May “The Farce be With You.”.:-)
Post ROTJ (Legends): imperial remnant, new Jedi order, new galactic republic
Post ROTJ (Canon): The first order (supposedly have no affiliation with the galactic empire, no new he’d order ( they’re still dead with only a few trained, and no new republic
Oh and just when everyone thought that the sand planet was tatooine, its just another planet called Jakku…..
Is it just me or is Disney trying really hard to make ep 7 as different as it can be so that they wont copy events that already happened in legends continuity?
It’s just you
You are wrong, New Republic is canon once again… Check wookiepedia.
I for one am stoked.
I would like to see Dean Parisot take over the reigns he would make a cracking SW movie. 🙂
Even their books sound like tv advertisements.
Splinter of the minds eye anyone?
“And 3 all new short stories”
What next, an official boba fett cartoon episode? This is sounding more and more like the Star Wars Holiday special by the day.
Is it official part of canon?
If you had read the article with even the most basic of reading comprehension skills you would know the answer to your question.
Lucas is a traitor…. end of story
Force ghost Yoda, right Kyle? AHAHAHAHA. Moron