20 New 'Star Wars' Books Are Headed Your Way

If you’re on the verge of a nervous breakdown waiting to find out how Lupita Nyong’o, Adam Driver, and John Boyega all fit into Star Wars: Episode VII, you can relax. At least 20 new Star Wars -related books are coming your way this year to fill in the gaps.

Episode VII – The Force Awakens opens in the U.S. on December 18, and fans have been losing their minds ever since the first cast photos were released last spring. In the wake of that interest, Disney Publishing Worldwide and Lucasfilm announced the book initiative on Tuesday.

“ The Force Awakens is an extraordinarily, heavily guarded storyline. To track it, a lot of top-secret meetings were happening up in San Francisco as we worked through this program,” Andrew Sugerman, Executive VP of Disney Publishing Worldwide, told EW. “The partnership with the story group and the editorial team always had to be true to the sanctity of the film while making sure that we find these moments to introduce hints, clues, and puzzle pieces. Without revealing what those pieces are, it will just allow readers to speculate about the new film: What could a location mean, or what could a character mean?”

The original Star Wars trilogy spawned tons of novels and comic books (not to mention T-shirts, action figures, towels, bedding — you name it) to satisfy hardcore fans and their obsession with Luke and Leia, Han Solo, and Darth. And who knows how much Star Wars fanfiction exists out there... probably enough to fill the pages of every single Game of Thrones book George R.R. Martin has written, and then some.

Lucasfilm and Disney couldn’t reveal details of all the books since some are still being written and edited, but they did say that Marvel Comics is releasing a prequel called Star Wars: Journey to the Force Awakens, and a preview story told from C-3PO’s perspective. Disney-Lucasfilm Press will release novels that focus on characters from the original trilogy, which they hope will appeal to YA readers. “It’s a way to introduce the heroes and villains of that original trilogy to a new audience that might not be as familiar as the audience that went and saw the films when they first came out,” Sugerman said.

Personally, I’m dying to see Carrie Fisher reprise her role as Leia in the film (especially since she thinks the project is cursed). Will she toss out some witty one-liners? Has she become an intergalactic standup comedian/surly writer who puts Han Solo in his place? Maybe the 20-plus Star Wars books coming our way will drop little hints about what we can expect this December when Episode VII hits screens.

You’ll probably need to stock up on reading material anyway, since there will no doubt be some ridiculously long lines at the theater.

Image: MShipp/Flickr