Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens

"Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens" is a Disney/Lucasfilm publishing initiative to connect the 2015 film Star Wars: The Force Awakens with previous film installments in the Star Wars franchise. All titles under the program are canonical to the Star Wars universe.

The group of "at least" 20 novels and comic books from multiple publishers was announced in March 2015. The first novels, including Star Wars: Aftermath by Chuck Wendig and Star Wars: Lost Stars by Claudia Gray, were published in September 2015, prior to the release of The Force Awakens in December 2015.

A large number of licensed novels and comics were produced between the originating 1977 film Star Wars and the 2012 acquisition of Lucasfilm by The Walt Disney Company, set in what was dubbed the Star Wars Expanded Universe. In April 2014, with The Force Awakens in production, Disney rebranded this body of work as Star Wars Legends and declared it non-canon to the franchise.

"Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens", consisting of "at least" 20 novels and comic books from multiple publishers, was announced in March 2015. All titles under the program are canonical to the Star Wars universe, and connect the previous films with The Force Awakens and its forthcoming sequels. The first novels, including Aftermath by Chuck Wendig and Lost Stars by Claudia Gray, were published in September 2015, prior to the release of The Force Awakens in December 2015.

At the October 2015 New York Comic Con panel for the Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens, more works were announced that would be released from November 2015 through Summer 2017.

Aftermath (2015) is set shortly after the 1983 film Return of the Jedi and deals with the consequences of the deaths of Palpatine and Darth Vader, as well as the power vacuum formed in the Empire's rule over the galaxy and the actions of the Rebellion during the following months. It is the first of a planned trilogy of novels that will bridge the Star Wars timeline between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens.

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