It's Lit: November Star Wars Books, The High Republic Phase III Preview, and Traveling Through Legends
November is going to be a great month for fans of The High Republic.
I’m currently on a journey. Not one of self-discovery, but instead of Legendary proportions. I don’t know if I will ever read every Star Wars Legends book. There are a lot of books, with new ones coming out like every Tuesday? I’ve read almost 200 books in 2023 and I’ve barely gotten to half the ones on my want-to-read list.
But I’m going to try my best. One book at a time, right?
But before I write more about that, somehow a new month has begun, which means it’s time to look at the books and comics coming out over the next 30 days. Plus, a small preview of what Tuesday’s Now This Is Lit episode is going to be about.
November Star Wars Books
Believe it or not, The Eye of Darkness isn’t the only Star Wars book or even the only High Republic story releasing this month. It’s the story you’ll likely hear about the most, but there are plenty of exciting things happening in Star Wars publishing right now. Including:
The return of The High Republic comic series (November 8)
Shadows of Starlight 2 (also November 8)
Visions – Peach Momoko 1
Hyperspace Stories 11
And so, so much more.
You can find a full list of the Star Wars books and comics releasing in November on Dork Side of the Force.
Looking Ahead to The High Republic Phase III
Remember back in 2020 — in February, when we all still had high hopes for the rest of the year — when we learned Project Luminous was actually called The High Republic, and said High Republic publishing initiative would have three whole PHASES of books, comics, and more?
Phase III is about to begin. We’re already there. It has almost been three years, and we still have a few more to go.
The announcement of this initiative remains one of my favorite Star Wars publishing events in history. I wasn’t actually there at the in-person event (yeah, we were still doing those in February 2020!), but I was obsessively refreshing my Twitter feed for live updates.
And now the final phase is beginning. Soon. I can’t believe it, but I’m also so excited to see what the THR “architects” have in store for us this round. (Okay, it’s no secret that I’ve already read The Eye of Darkness, but my point still stands.)
The next episode of Now This Is Lit will outline everything we know about Phase III — the books and comics and short stories, who’s writing them, when they’ll get here, all the fun stuff. I’ll publish a companion guide here as well. I’m looking forward to helping you navigate the next few YEARS of The High Republic.
Traveling Through Star Wars Legends
The majority of my to-be-read (TBR) pile at the moment is made up of Star Wars Legends books, specifically the New Jedi Order hardcovers I bought from a random seller on Facebook a few years ago. Everyone dreams of the seemingly unattainable TBR Zero, but my dream is closer than it’s ever been to becoming a reality.
That has, of course, required reading more Star Wars Legends books than I usually do. (I’ve read a lot of Legends, but I still have many more to go if I ever want to get through them all.)
Over the past month, I’ve read the first two New Jedi Order books and Yoda: Dark Rendezvous (despite The Clone Wars era being a favorite of mine, I’d never gotten around to this one until now). After I finish my current (non-Star Wars) read, I’m jumping over to Knight Errant next. More New Jedi Order books will likely follow.
While I’ll get around to covering more Legends topics on Now This Is Lit (the show and the newsletter), I’m genuinely enjoying being able to read some Star Wars books that don’t immediately warrant a long, detailed review. I love reviewing Star Wars books. I also don’t want to take the fun out of reading them by having to publicly state my thoughts on every single one.
At this rate, I’ll have made it through the entire New Jedi Order series by midway through 2024. I don’t know, that feels like a fun and impressive accomplishment. I’ll take it.
Now This Is Lit is a podcast (and newsletter!) about Star Wars books, the people who make them, and the readers who just can’t get enough of them. You can find the show wherever you get your podcasts, and subscribe to the Substack for more deep dives, guides, interview transcripts, and book love.