A massive new Star Wars publishing initiative began at the start of 2021, as we were taken to the brand new era of The High Republic, set 200 years before the Skywalker Saga.
The storytelling includes books and comics so far, but they have been massive hits. Like, seriously, they’ve been huge.
Light of the Jedi, the adult novel written by Charles Soule that kicked things off, debuted at number one on the New York Times bestseller list for hardcover fiction, which is a huge accomplishment. It has been on the bestseller list for four weeks in a row now, which is incredible.
Releasing at the same time as Light of the Jedi was Justina Ireland’s A Test of Courage, which debuted at number two on the New York Times bestseller list for middle grade hardcover.
And then the most recent novel was released last week, and Claudia Gray’s Into the Dark has debuted at number one on the New York Times bestseller list for young adult hardcover.
So, in other words, the first three books from the High Republic have debuted at number one, number two, and number one on the New York Times bestseller list, respectively. That’s very impressive for any project, and certainly for a franchise one like Star Wars. And by all accounts the comics have been selling great too. To put it succinctly, the launch of the High Republic has been an undeniable and irrefutable success. They have been very popular, and the content has been fantastic.
I’m sure that the added attention from Star Wars social media has helped that, and I’m hoping that seeing the success will lead to even more of that as we move forward. But this is exciting, as it’s always great to see these storytellers rewarded with the praise and accolades that they most definitely deserve.
Star Wars Thoughts 
This is great news! I must confess that after the sequel trilogy, i was worried that Disney would give up a little on Star Wars, but in think the success of the Mandalorian has bolstered their efforts somewhat.
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Yeah, the success of The Mandalorian surely helps things, but at the same time four of the five films in the Disney era have been huge hits at the box office (with the exception of Solo), and they have received great critical reviews too (with the exception of The Rise of Skywalker). So I do think Solo caused Disney to re-think the “How” of releasing films, but their commitment to Star Wars seems stronger than ever. Disney+ gives them the perfect avenue for that.
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