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courtesy of Disney

courtesy of Disney

Did you watch Star Wars: The Force Awakens and wonder what was going on with General Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher), the Resistance, the New Republic, and the First Order? So did we!

Even with viewing the deleted scenes from the movie (General Leia makes it clear the New Republic is not one of her fans), it was clear that we’d missed out on a much larger story. What happened to the Empire after the Battle of Endor? Who took over running that galaxy far, far away? What happened to the Rebellion — did they join the new government or scatter apart? Where did the Resistance spring from?

(At least the origins of the First Order were a bit clearer…ahem.)

A new Star Wars book is taking us back approximately ten years before the events of The Force Awakens. The upcoming Star Wars: Bloodlines, written by Claudia Gray, will explore Leia’s life as she pursues her chosen role as a leader in the New Republic.

courtesy of Del Ray

(image courtesy of Del Ray)

The Empire is finished, and Leia is a force to reckon with in the newly reconstituted Senate that oversees the New Republic. After a peaceful era, the younger generations begin to demonstrate a dangerous lack of understanding of the atrocities and tyranny of the Empire. Leia sees that peace begin to fall apart and rivals attempt to disrupt the Senate.

We’ll see many old characters and meet new ones in Bloodlines, but Gray notes that family is a crucial element of the story. She stated, “In this book, we find out just how far Vader’s shadow falls.”

Here’s part of an excerpt made available online today, which appears to describe the assassination attempt hinted at in the deleted scenes from The Force Awakens:

Leia’s breath caught in her throat as she pushed herself harder, running full out toward the doors, so fast they almost didn’t have time to open for her. In the square beyond, security droids had begun herding people away from the building, but too many continued to mill around, staring in consternation at the scene. The others evacuating flooded through the doors behind and around her, but once they were clear of the structure, half of them stopped, remaining stupidly within range.

Within range of what? She still didn’t know. But every instinct within her told her disaster was near.

Leia didn’t stop. She kept running as hard as she could, never looking back, until . . .

Brilliant light. A roar so loud it resonated in her skull. And hot air and debris slamming into her, knocking her down, rolling her over, erasing the world.

The full excerpt from Star Wars: Bloodlines is available here at USA Today. The book hits the stands and digital marketplace on May 3rd. May the Force be with us all!

About author View all posts

Christine Clukey Reece

Christine is an editor and fledgling writer who will never forgive the Prequels for deliberately stomping on the fact that Leia remembered her mother. And yes, parsecs are a measure of distance...and Han Solo was bragging about making an incredibly short Kessel Run, most likely by cutting far too close to planetary bodies/stars when he plotted the course for the jump. No, she's not obsessed, why would you think that? She's on Twitter as @Kuiperama.