The rise of social media has altered how we Star Wars fans get some of our news. In the not so distant past, little tidbits about books, titles, short quotes, authors, characters, publishing calendar updates would have been provided to us by Sue Rostoni on the StarWars.com message boards. With those message boards close and Ms. Rostoni departing the stage, it looks like the folks at Star Wars Books on Facebook (Del Rey) are picking up the slack and are now the go to source for Star Wars novel news.
In the latest news from Star Wars Books from editor David Pomerico, we get the title of Jeff Grub's new Star Wars books and some details regarding the book itself.
- I've been talking a lot about the new Jeff Grubb novel that will be coming out next year, but I've always had to refer to it as "Jeff Grubb's novel." Well, now I can refer to it by its title: STAR WARS: SCOURGE!
- I really am having a ton of fun working on this book, and I think you'll love the Jedi Knight Mander Zuma.
- It's about a murdered Jedi and the investigation into the Hutt's criminal enterprises.
- It takes place before the NJO series.
- Mander Zuma is a human, Mander is male.
- Right now it's scheduled for April 2012. Paperback.
What do we make of this information?
We know the setting is before the NJO series which kicks off in 25 ABY, and probably fits in the time gap between Survivor's Quest (22 ABY) and Vector Prime (25 ABY).
It will be interesting to see the Jedi in more of their law enforcement role, and this just begs for a cameo by former CorSec agent and Jedi Master Corran Horn as potentially head or lead instructor in Jedi criminal investigation techniques. Given his personal experience with the Hutts and the other rogues of the galaxy it also seems possible that Han Solo may make a cameo in the book.
We learn that a Jedi will be murdered, presumably by orders of a Hutt and not necessarily by the Hutt personally which triggers a larger investigation by the Jedi into the Hutt crime syndicate. It sounds like Jedi Knight Mander Zuma will be leading this investigation. It will be interesting to see if the murdered Jedi is a brand new character as well, or a minor background character plucked from the EU.
Some fans may be disappointed by the fact that we get another human protagonist in our SWEU and it would be interesting to see more non-human characters taking a leading role given the diversity of the galaxy and the Jedi Order.
I like the title, according to Merriam-Webster's, the definition of scourge is:
1: whip; especially : one used to inflict pain or punishment2: an instrument of punishment or criticism3: a cause of wide or great affliction
We know the Hutts are slave masters, so the imagery of the whip certainly fits. The idea that the Hutt criminal activities were causing wide or great problems for the galaxy also makes sense. I can easily seeing it be said that the Hutts are a scourge upon the relative peace and safety of the citizens of the New Republic.
Stay tuned to Lightsaber Rattling for more news and analysis regarding Star Wars: Scourge as it becomes available.
SOURCE: Star Wars Books
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