The war has been over for years, and the Empire has fallen. Now the real battle has begun. I enthusiastically welcome Claudia Gray’s latest novel in the new Star Wars canon. In this 3 chapter preview, Claudia Gray first takes us to Hosnian Prime, the seat of the New Republic. Now that peace that was so hard fought and won at a terrible cost is threatened by a division from within. Two major factions have appeared in the Senate: The Centrists, who believe that a strong central government is the only way to keep the peace and The Populists, who believe that each planet has the right to choose it’s own form of government and enact local laws. The peace was kept by Mon Mothma, who used her charisma to keep both sides working together. But an illness has caused her to resign. As the ideological gap in the senate keeps widening, the galaxy is stagnating. Criminal organizations are moving in once again to cause problems for the New Republic.
Leia, tired of the political infighting and stagnation makes plans to resign from the senate, and join her husband Han on his adventures around the galaxy. Her plans are cut short by a visitor to the Senate from Ryloth. The Emissary details the corruption that has run rampant through the nonaligned worlds, stemming from a new criminal cartel. Leia sees this as an opportunity to act. She immediately volunteers to head up an investigation, which causes quite a stir in the senate. So much that one of the leaders of the Centrists, Ransolm Casterfo, volunteers to accompany her to foster bipartisan cooperation. They meet at the Senator’s office and Leia discovers that that Senator Casterfo has a large collection of Imperial paraphernalia and has a very naive view of the Empire, thinking that the system was sound while the Emperor was the source of the corruption. Incensed and offended, Leia leaves the Senator’s office, dreading the upcoming investigation.
Scheduled for release, May 3rd, 2016, Star Wars: Bloodline looks to continue the quality writing that I have come to expect in the new Star Wars Canon. It dives into the political intrigue and corruption that the former Extended Universe was famous for dealing with. I, for one, will be picking up this novel the moment it comes out.