Surprising Rogue One Sequel Is Coming to Star Wars Novels

Celebrated Star Wars novelist Christie Golden is writing a new novel that may come as a bit of a surprise: it’s a direct sequel to Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Yes, there were plenty of jokes made, even by director Gareth Edwards, about the sequel to the movie, since Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope starts just moments after the end of the movie. “The sequel is being directed by George Lucas, and comes out 40 years ago,” people at Lucasfilm joked. But it’s a big galaxy, and Star Wars: Inferno Squad will explore another side of things.

Inferno Squad focuses on an elite force within the Empire, set up to respond directly to the events in Rogue One, namely the theft of the Death Star plans. The Inferno Squad is set after Saw Gerrera’s Partisans, meant to take them out once and for all. The book hits stores in hardcover on July 25, 2017. The full synopsis follows:

“The Rebellion may have heroes like Jyn Erso and Luke Skywalker. But the Empire has Inferno Squad.
After the humiliating theft of the Death Star plans and the resulting destruction of the battle station, the Empire is on the defensive. In response to this stunning defeat, the Imperial Navy has authorized the formation of an elite team of soldiers, known as Inferno Squad. Their mission: infiltrate and eliminate the remnants of Saw Gerrera’s Partisans. Following the death of their leader, the Partisans have carried on his extremist legacy, determined to thwart the Empire — no matter what the cost. Now, Inferno Squad must prove their status as the best of the best and take down the Partisans from within. But as the danger intensifies and the threat of discovery grows, how far will Inferno Squad go to ensure the safety of the Empire?”

Before Inferno Squad, we have several young adult and young readers Star Wars books hitting the shelves. But before all that, there’s Star Wars Aftermath: Empire’s End, the conclusion of the trilogy that shows what happens directly after the events of Return of the Jedi. That book hits shelves next week!

Christie Golden wrote a trilogy in the old Legends universe, and came into canon with the Star Wars: The Clone Wars tie-in novel Dark Disciple.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is in theaters now. Directed by Gareth Edwards, it’s the first of the new standalone features from Lucasfilm and Disney, which take place outside the core “Skywalker Saga” of films noted by an Episode number. Rogue One tells the story of the small band of rebels that were tasked with stealing the plans to the first Death Star. The story spins directly off the opening crawl from the original Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope. In that crawl, it read: “Rebel spaceships, striking from a hidden base, have won their first victory against the evil Galactic Empire. During the battle, Rebel spies managed to steal secret plans to the Empire’s ultimate weapon, the DEATH STAR, an armored space station with enough power to destroy an entire planet.”