Many people love Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, if it's $1 billion box office is anything to judge by, but like all everything Star Wars, there's still a ton of backstory still left to be discovered. We don't know too much about the pasts of characters like Jyn Erso and Cassian Andor, but in the Star Wars tradition, a new novel hopes to fill in the gaps. A new novel will focus on the fan-favorite duo of Chirrut Îmwe and Baze Malbus, explaining how exactly the two of them ended up fighting the Empire.
Thanks to the official Star Wars website, we now know that two Rogue One inspired novels are on the way. We've previously explored the Jyn-centric Rebel Rising, but the second novel, Guardians of the Whills, will follow the early days of Chirrut and Baze. The middle-grade novel will explore their tenure as guards of the Kyber Temple on Jedha, and how the Empire's takeover led them into a resistance and eventually meeting a man named Saw Gerrera. The novel is penned by New York Times best seller Greg Rucka (who writes a boss Wonder Wonder comic btw).
Chirrut and Baze were scene stealers in Rogue One -- especially the blind Chirrut, who has a really fun scene taking out stormtroopers with his staff. This makes the two of them perfect for a novel, because the film didn't really do more than pay lip service to their backstory, which honestly sounded a lot cooler than any of the other characters. The two of them were former guards of the Jedi Temple of the Kyber, also known as The Temple of the Whills, before the Empire came in and destroyed it. The temple was mined for its resource of kybercrystals, the source of power for a lightsaber and eventually, the Death Star.
With the temple gone, Chirrut and Baze were left without a purpose and it had differing effects on each of them. While Chirrut remained a believer in the Force, Baze lost his faith and became a grump. The novel will assumedly explore this dynamic between them, and what Baze was like before he gave up in the Force. Guardians of the Whills sounds like its being aimed for younger readers, so older fans might feel discouraged in checking it out, but it could very well be a great and illuminating read. The lore of the Kyber Temple is fairly unknown so the book could go a long way in showing an often unseen area ofStar Wars.
Guardians of the Whills is available for pre-order now, so check it out if it sounds interesting to you! In the meantime, keep checking in with CinemaBlend for all your Star Wars updates.
