Make room on your bookshelf for Jedi Master Mace Windu, who is set to return in a new novel from Random House Worlds. Authored by Steven Barnes and set in the Republic-era canon, Star Wars: The Glass Abyss will follow Mace Windu on a mission handed down to him posthumously by Qui-Gon Jinn.
Following Jinn’s death at the hands of Darth Maul, Windu is said to be distraught and feeling unbalanced in his connection to the Force. He and Qui-Gon clashed often on matters of Jedi business and without input from the unorthodox master of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Mace knows something must change.
A passage from the book’s description reads, “While considering his fallen friend’s legacy, Mace is surprised to receive a final message from Qui-Gon, marked to be delivered to Mace on the event of Qui-Gon’s death. The message contains a last request: a plea to help the Outer Rim planet of Metagos.”
The planet of Megatos appears to be a new addition to the universe made for The Glass Abyss. Qui-Gon knew of it and had received a message from their people, who live underground after a solar flare turned the planet’s surface into irradiated glass. Perhaps similar to the desolate Mandalore depicted in season three of The Mandalorian.
The description continues, “Now most of the surviving inhabitants live underground, where rival clans fight to control the planet’s limited resources. As a young Jedi, Qui-Gon protected the Sa’ad farming clan from the planet’s less scrupulous factions.”
“The Sa’ad practice the art of dream-weaving, retaining their waking minds upon sleep in order to communicate and coexist with the wild creatures around them. Qui-Gon vowed to return if they ever required his aid, but now it falls to Mace to fulfill that promise. The Sa’ad’s leader, KinShan Nightbird, has begged for the Jedi’s help in freeing Megatos from the crime lords who threaten to eradicate her people’s way of life.”
Barnes authored the 2004 Star Wars Legends classic The Cestus Deception, as part of the Clone Wars content push from Lucasfilm after Episode II: Attack of the Clones. An earlier ebook iteration of The Cestus Deception, called The Hive, preceded the novel and was then included in Barnes’ paperback Star Wars debut. Other stories from this time included the Star Wars: Clone Wars miniseries directed by Genndy Tartakovsky.
The upcoming Star Wars novel is Barnes’ first entry to the universe in nearly two decades. “I was thrilled to be asked to write The Glass Abyss, with an opportunity to explore Mace Windu,” Barnes said in the official announcement. “I was busy with television work…but how could I pass THIS up? A chance to wield the purple lightsaber? Hah!”
He continued, “So, with the support of a great team, I crafted a story of mystery, adventure, betrayal, and romance on a new planet, Metagos, a seething criminal cess-pool that was once a thriving and beautiful world, a place where a single supreme warrior, willing to risk all, can make the ultimate difference.”
“At all times I remembered there is only one goal in writing such a book: to be true to the mythos, and thrill the fans. To give them the fun, suspense, and heart-stopping action they’ve come to expect from one of our greatest mythologies, and create more of an inner world for one of the most powerful Jedi in the galaxy. I can’t wait to share The Glass Abyss with the fans. Heck…I can’t wait to read it myself,” Barnes concluded.
Mace Windu is a popular character in the Star Wars universe, particularly amongst prequel era fans who came of age in the early 2000s with the return of Star Wars to the big screen. Played sternly by Samuel L. Jackson and boasting a mostly one-of-a-kind purple lightsaber, Mace Windu holds a special spot in the hearts of Star Wars fans.
Some even believe Mace Windu to still be alive, despite his dismemberment and long, long fall from Chancellor Palpatine’s senate office in Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.
Available for pre-order now. Star Wars: The Glass Abyss arrives August 6, 2024.