Star Wars: The New Jedi Order (or New Jedi Order or NJO) is a series of nineteen science fiction novels, published from 1999 to 2003, set in the Star Wars expanded universe. The series revolves around the Yuuzhan Vong invasion of the galaxy 21–26 years after the events depicted in Return of the Jedi. The New Jedi Order was the restored and reformed Jedi organization, in the wake of the Great Jedi Purge and subsequent fall of the Galactic Empire. The Jedi Knights, reduced in number to only a handful, were slowly restored, primarily under the leadership of Luke Skywalker. Additional stories, generally published as e-book novellas (some published as recently as 2006) and comic books (as recent as 2010/2011), take the total number of published NJO-related stories to twenty-six.
The series begins twenty-one years after the Rebel Alliance destroyed the second Death Star. The New Republic is facing internal conflict while trying to maintain peace. A new, powerful enemy, known as the Yuuzhan Vong, emerges from the outer galaxy, beginning what will be known as the Yuuzhan Vong invasion. The Jedi, along with the New Republic, struggle to resist this new alien race while it steadily pushes forward, annihilating or occupying different parts of the galaxy.
As the longest continuous series of novels in the Expanded Universe, the NJO was able to establish several long-term character arcs. Many new or previously underused characters were put into the spotlight and were developed extensively over the course of the series. Among the most prominent character arcs:
Many major characters die within the New Jedi Order series. In a number of New Jedi Order books the characters who die seemed to be of key importance in the novels. The books also revealed the death of some major characters in the Star Wars universe that were not introduced in the movie trilogies. Chewbacca dies saving Anakin on the planet Sernpidal, which causes some friction between Anakin and his father Han.