Agents of Chaos Duology

The Agents of Chaos Duology is a pair of novels that were written by James Luceno in the year 2000. The New Jedi Order: Agents of Chaos I: Hero's Trial and The New Jedi Order: Agents of Chaos II: Jedi Eclipse are respectively the fourth and fifth volumes of the multi-author book series known as The New Jedi Order, and they cover the latter half of the first year of the Yuuzhan Vong War, an invasion of the galaxy by an extra-galactic species of religious zealots known as the Yuuzhan Vong. As the New Republic battles back against the bloodthirsty invaders, its former Chief of State Leia Organa Solo works to relocate refugees who have been displaced by the war. Concurrently, members of the Yuuzhan Vong Priest caste plot to destroy Master Luke Skywalker's Jedi Order, and the pilot Han Solo, stricken with grief over the death of his long-time friend and co-pilot Chewbacca, travels across the galaxy to help both old and new friends in their times of need, hoping to find a way to come to terms with his loss.

James Luceno was originally hired as a consultant and continuity advisor for The New Jedi Order, but he was eventually contracted to write a single novel called Agents of Chaos. However, when the preceding Dark Tide duology by Michael A. Stackpole was reduced to a duology, Agents of Chaos was expanded into two books. Luceno wrote the duology as a tribute to his late friend Brian Daley, who had penned a Star Wars: The Han Solo Adventures of Han Solo–centric novels over twenty years prior. Luceno intended for Hero's Trial to be a "Han Solo, this is your life" novel, and he also hoped to take Solo through a heroic journey that recalled the original Star Wars trilogy. The two volumes of Agents of Chaos were released in paperback, a hardcover collecting both novels published by the Science Fiction Book Club, and audio cassette in August and October 2000, respectively, and although reception was mixed, several characters and other elements introduced in the duology played important roles throughout the remainder of The New Jedi Order. Luceno later went on to write the series' finale, 2003's The New Jedi Order: The Unifying Force.

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