3) Bloodline
Hitting store shelves on May 3rd, Bloodline is shaping up to be the most important Star Wars book released in the new canon so far. Written by Lost Stars author Claudia Gray, this one is set six years prior to The Force Awakens and is told from the point of view of Leia Organa. How exactly did the First Order rise from the ashes of the Empire? What is the Resistance’s relationship to the Republic? How did Leia come to be in her current position?
We’ll find out in Bloodline, in which Leia evidently begins to break away from the Republic in order to form the Resistance, presumably upon seeing that the government is not doing enough to extinguish the First Order.
The book will also feature plenty of political intrigue that was sorely missed in The Force Awakens. According to official Bloodline synopsis, we will see the emergence of two factions in the New Republic: Centrists, who believe in a strong galactic government and large military, and Populists, who believe individual planets should be allowed to operate independently. So, in other words, Federalists and Anti-federalists? Oh, and expect to discover more about Leia’s relationship with Han Solo, who is a prominent character in the story.
For further proof that this will be the most significant Star Wars book yet, look no further than the fact that Episode VIII director Rian Johnson has contributed directly to the story. Could there be some twists in the novel that will change the way we think about the upcoming films? StarWars.com promises that a “scandalous secret” will be revealed regarding Darth Vader. Will Leia’s relationship with Anakin Skywalker become public knowledge? Or is there something else afoot? We’ll find out soon.
