Although we got to hear about a lot of the future of Star Wars publishing at San Diego Comic-Con this past weekend, io9 has your exclusive first look at a Star Wars story that was left untold there: Reign of the Empire, a new trilogy of novels that will chart the rise of resistance against the Imperial regime from the very first year after Revenge of the Sith, all the way throughout the two decades that saw the formation of the Rebel Alliance and the beginning of the Galactic Civil War.
As you can tell by the cover of the first novel in the series, The Mask of Fear by Alexander Freed (writer of the absolutely incredible Alphabet Squadron series) Reign of the Empire will examine the struggle against the Empire through the eyes of some familiar faces. Mon Mothma, Bail Organa, and Saw Gerrera–all with their own differing perspectives on what must be done to stop Palpatine–play key roles in the trilogy, alongside a new cast of original characters as the galaxy begins to reckon with the grip of the Empire. Here’s the official logline for The Mask of Fear:
Before the Rebellion, the Empire reigned.
“In order to ensure the security and continuing stability, the Republic will be reorganized into the first Galactic Empire! For a safe and secure society!”
With one speech, and thunderous applause, Chancellor Palpatine brought the era of the Republic crashing down. In its place rose the Galactic Empire. Across the galaxy, people rejoiced and celebrated the end to war—and the promises of tomorrow. But that tomorrow was a lie. Instead the galaxy became twisted by the cruelty and fear of the Emperor’s rule.
During that terrifying first year of tyranny, Mon Mothma, Saw Gerrera, and Bail Organa face the encroaching darkness. One day, they will be three architects of the Rebel Alliance. But first, each must find purpose and direction in a changing galaxy, while harboring their own secrets, fears, and hopes for a future that may never come, unless they act.
I’m aware, just surprised.
Looking at it from the outside, but also as an old fart, the whole history of the star wars universe is broken up, fragmented. At any given point along the way, it didn’t feel like that. It’s only stepping back out of being a fan that it becomes evident (to me).
Like, there were a ton of problems in the original EU, and some of that got compounded after the prequels came out (and the books after that). But, reading the comics and books as they came out, it was easier to not notice those issues. It wasn’t like you could truly binge everything easily, the longer time passed. So you’d have blurry memories of the parts you watched/read previously.
But now, after the old canon has been discarded entirely, and you can dig up synopses easily, while those flaws were there, they mostly were stable. With all/most of that being disconnected now, but only the stuff disney wants disconnected, that stability is gone.
I think that even new fans without the baggage of a lifetime of immersion in the universe are going to end up disappointed by sloppy management of things. Great stories are awesome, even if they’re essentially “alternate universes”, but unless that’s up front, it’s just a little daunting to buy the books and try and be invested in them as part of star wars.
In other words, I think they’ll bank on short term sales and end up with a sloppy, mismanaged mess that fans will regret buying into, no matter how good individual books are.