It's Lit: The Path of the Open Hand Returns
You thought The High Republic was over? Think again.
While it’s been a slower week for Star Wars books — and Star Wars news in general — that doesn’t mean exciting things aren’t still happening in the world of publishing in a galaxy far, far away. Many people tend to forget about the original short stories Star Wars Insider frequently publishes, but I’m feeling a bit obligated to do what I can to change that moving forward.
Here’s a rundown of what you might have missed in Star Wars comics this week and on the podcast — and a preview of what’s to come on the show next week.
New Star Wars Comics Out This Week
While there aren’t any new Star Wars books out this week, both Marvel and Dark Horse did grace us with two new comics: both the third installment of their respective ongoing Star Wars series.
Doctor Aphra: Chaos Agent #3 sends Aphra and Han Solo on a joint mission to validate and recover an artifact on behalf of the New Republic. These two haven’t been forced into close proximity for quite some time, and that’s probably for the best. But even if they don’t trust each other, they’re going to have to set aside their mutual resentment and work together if the mission is going to prove successful.
And in Hyperspace Stories: Codebreaker #3, Poe Dameron, BB-8. and the Codebreaker are desperate to get off the planet they’re currently stuck on and somehow contact the New Republic for help. Desperation very rarely leads to wise decision-making, however, and the group soon finds themselves stranded in a floating museum with nowhere to run.
One Star Wars Reading Goal at a Time
Reading Star Wars books, as a general rule, should always be fun. I hold that belief very close to my heart. Even if you don’t fall in love with every Star Wars story you read — and realistically, how could you? — the journey still matters. There are always going to be good things mixed in with those less favorable elements.
This is why Now This Is Lit producer Davor and I set Star Wars Reading Resolutions every year. Reading should be fun, but giving yourself a little bit of a challenge to work toward can be fun in its own way too. We’re over halfway through the year, and we’ve made a lot of progress … even if some of that progress has been harder than we thought it might be.
And that’s largely what we discussed on this week’s episode of Now This Is Lit — reading books and talking Legends, as we so often do (on Patreon specifically). We also talked a lot about the 2020 Darth Vader comic run, since we both read it fairly recently. It’s a lot of issues to get through. We had some feelings about that. Enjoy!
The Path Is Back — and So Is Adam Lance Garcia
When I spoke to Adam Lance Garcia almost two years ago about his first Star Wars short story in From a Certain Point of View: Return of the Jedi, I had a feeling the two of us would get to talk again about his future work in the franchise. Now he has a new short story out in Star Wars Insider 233, and I of course invited him back onto the show to talk about it.
“The Failing of the Light” is part of the magazine’s ongoing series of Galactic Tales — canon short stories set in a galaxy far, far away. Keeping with the theme of the 20th anniversary of Revenge of the Sith, Garcia’s story revolves around the aftermath of Order 66. But it also features an important High Republic connection. That’s right: The Path of the Open Hand is back. It never truly left.
We sat down earlier this week to talk about the story and ended up recording for over an hour about what it’s like to be a Star Wars reader-turned writer and the many years of hard work it takes to fulfill the all too common dream of one day writing a Star War.
And I couldn’t be happier about the many directions this interview took. You’ll hear it in full on Tuesday — or slightly earlier on Sunday, if you’re part of the Now This Is Lit community. See you then!
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.