Star Wars: ‘Project Luminous’ has finally been revealed in full, and its name is now ‘Star Wars: The High Republic’.
There have been many rumours flying about in the last few months, but only some details have ever been confirmed. There would definitely be a comic; Cavan Scott, Claudia Gray, Charles Soule, Daniel José Older and Justina Ireland are all involved, August 2020 would be when the ‘project’ lands, stuff like that. Nothing solid. Speculation has been rife, but we now have the full details.
The High Republic will be one story, told over a series of medium. Lucasfilm experimented with a similar model in the 1990s with Shadows of the Empire, with a videogame, comic, novel and tie in toy line. Each variation told a different portion of the same overarching story, set after Empire Strikes Back and notably missing Han Solo.
This time, with The High Republic, we are seeing the era of the ‘High Republic’, around 200 years before The Phantom Menace. Marvel Comics have a hand in the project, as do IDW comics. ‘The High Republic’ has been described as “Jedi Knights of the Round Table”, and the villains are called the “Nihl”, and are said to be “space vikings” and different stories across the project will focus on bounty hunters and other characters in the Star Wars universe. The announced books below are the first “phase” in an anticipated line of multimedia products, which are confirmed to include manga and books by DK, and rumoured to include television and cinematic entries.
The Nihil, primary antagonists of the High Republic imprint, were first mentioned in Star Wars Adventures #30. No coincidence as it was written by Cavan Scott.
Books announced in phase one
Star Wars The High Republic: Light of the Jedi novel by Charles Soule
Charles Soule is one of the more celebrated writers in canon Star Wars stories, penning the entire Poe Dameron comic series, the entire second volume of the Darth Vader comic series, the Lando mini series, the Obi Wan and Anakin mini series, The Rise of Kylo Ren mini series and the new to 2020 reboot of the main Star Wars ongoing series. This novel will be the first Star Wars novel by Soule and the cover gives away a few details. Check out the Jedi wookie with crossguard hilted lightsaber, which I find the most exciting.
Star Wars The High Republic: A Test of Courage by Justina Ireland (young adult novel)
This looks cool if you have kids, but it’s a young adults / big kids novel. Not what we’re interested in per se, but it’s part of the announcement.
Star Wars The High Republic ongoing series by Marvel Comics
The biggest surprise is that the Marvel series isn’t by Charles Soule, it’s by Cavan Scott. Scott has written one issue of Star Wars so far, an IDW ‘for big kids’ annual. He has however, written a lot of Doctor Who comics, a handful of Star Wars junior novels and a bunch of other stuff. He’s a British writer that will soon see his first big break with Marvel, which potentially makes him someone to keep an eye on.
Star Wars The High Republic Adventures by IDW Comics
Much like the other IDW ‘Adventures’ lines, don’t expect this to be mature by any stretch, and unfortunately do not expect this to be available in the UK or EU. I would except the collected editions to be available through Amazon and the like, though. Written by Daniel José Older, author of young adult science fiction and fantasy including ‘Star Wars Last Shot (2018)
Star Wars The High Republic: Into The Dark by Claudia Gray (novel)
Claudia Gray is best known for her young adult novels, however, she has written four highly rated Star Wars novels: Lost Stars (2015), Bloodline (2016), Leia Princess of Alderaan (2017) and Master and Apprentice (2019)
