The Star Wars Essential Legends Collection just got bigger. Hard Contact, Dark Rendezvous, and Into the Void have just been released!
The Essential Legends Collection is a compilation of books that Del Rey is re-releasing with new covers. This collection is going to include the best Star Wars Legends stories ever written. And by Legends, I mean that they are not considered canon. But that doesn’t mean that they’re not super fun to read.
Here are the next releases that will join The Essential Legends Collection.
Yoda, Dark Rendezvous
Grand Master Yoda is one of the most well-known characters in Star Wars. However, most of his life and achievements still remain a mystery to us. He experienced times full of chaos and uncertainty during The High Republic. When we see him on The Phantom Menace he’s already regarded as the wisest and most powerful of the order.
The Clone Wars marks the beginning of the downfall of the Jedi Order and the Galactic Republic. Palpatine pulled the strings from both sides, making it even more difficult for the conflict to end. Count Dooku served as Palpatine’s right hand before his defeat at the hands of Anakin Skywalker.
During the middle of the war, Count Dooku proposes a rendezvous to negotiate the long-awaited peace. He can’t be trusted but considering how much suffering the war has already caused, Yoda must agree to meet his former apprentice.
The planet where the meeting will take place is Vjun, a desolated planet where acidic rainfalls are extremely common. Thousands of years before the Clone Wars, Vjun served as a refuge for many Sith.
For these and other reasons, Vjun is a place surrounded by the dark side of the Force. It’s the perfect place for an ambush, but Yoda isn’t the Grandmaster of the Order just because of his old age. He has some tricks under his sleeve and Dooku will find this the hard way.
Sean Stewart is a science fiction and fantasy author. Some of his books include Mockingbird, the Cathy Vickers Trilogy, and Perfect Circle. Yoda: Darth Rendezvous was published on November 1, 2004.
Hard Contact
Republic Clone Commandos are the fiercest soldiers in the Grand Army of the Republic. Trained since birth by the best Mandalorian mercenaries, Republic Commandos learn to work under the hardest circumstances.
Fixer, Sev, Scorch, and Boss are the most famous Clone Commando thanks to the fan-favorite game Republic Commando, but there are many other Commando Squads. Hard Contact is about Omega Squad, an elite force sent to sabotage a chemical weapon facility that is located on a Separatist planet.
Things don’t go as planned when Darman, one of Omega Squad members is separated right after being dropped on the planet. There’s no long-reach communication and no official backup but things take an interesting twist when Darman finds a young Padawan.
Separatist forces, strange natives, and Trandoshan slavers stand between Omega Squad and their objective. Hard Contact is the first of the Republic Commando series.
Karen Traviss has written novels for franchises like Gears of War, Halo, and obviously Star Wars. Hard Contact was published on October 26, 2004, and is the first of four books that make the Republic Commando book series.
Dawn of the Jedi, Into the Void
Thousands of years before the Skywalker saga, the Je’daii order studied the power and mysteries of the Force. Tython is a very ancient place with a very strong connection to the Force.
A young disciple called Lanoree Brock is among the strongest of her peers, but this wasn’t the case with her brother. He grew to despise the Je’daii but this didn’t stop him from getting trained, sadly this ended in the tragic death of Lanoree’s brother.
Years later, a dark cult emerged from the shadows. This cult is obsessed with exploring unknown space and they plan to open a gateway that could cause devastation on a galactic scale.
Out of nowhere, Lanoree is summoned by the Jed’aai Council to investigate and prevent a tragedy from happening. It will not take long before she learns why she has chosen.
Tim Lebbon is a science fiction author who has worked on novels of franchises like Alien, Hellboy, Firefly, and Predator. Into the Void was published on May 7, 2013.
