James Luceno's Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader Explores the Early Days of the Sith Lord's Career of Evil

A young Jedi named Darth Vader, who was a pupil of mine until he turned to evil, helped the Empire hunt down and destroy the Jedi Knights…. Now the Jedi are all but extinct. - Obi-Wan Kenobi to Luke Skywalker, Star Wars – Episode IV: A New Hope

There is still good in him. - Padmë Amidala to Obi-Wan Kenobi, Star Wars – Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

According to the Star Wars timeline, there’s a gap of either 18 or 19 years between the cataclysmic fall of the Republic and the now-legendary Battle of Yavin that ended with the destruction of the Empire’s first Death Star. That gives Lucasfilm Ltd and many Star Wars authors a lot of creative wiggle room to bridge the two film trilogies with Expanded Universe novels and – supposedly – a rumored television series set between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope.

The concept of further adventures set in that galaxy far, far away is nothing new. As early as 1979, authors such as Brian Daley (Han Solo at Stars’ End) and Alan Dean Foster (Splinter of the Mind’s Eye) were weaving their own narrative threads into George Lucas’ space fantasy’s tapestry. But it wasn’t until Timothy Zahn’s Heir to the Empire 1991 publication that the so-called Expanded Universe really took off; the success of Zahn’s Thrawn Trilogy unleashed a bantha herd’s worth of novels set at various times during and after the events depicted in the Classic films.

The Prequel era which began in 1999 with the premiere of Star Wars – Episode I: The Phantom Menace has also served as a fertile source of novels covering the rise of Darth Sidious to power, the Clone Wars, and the destruction of the Jedi Order. Established Star Wars writers such as Zahn, Foster, and Matt Stover have added their own tales to the saga, including Outbound Flight, The Approaching Storm, and Shatterpoint.