Star Wars: The New Jedi Order

Star Wars: The New Jedi Order, commonly abbreviated as the NJO, is a multi-author book series that was published by Del Rey between 1999 and 2003, consisting of nineteen novels, three eBook novellas, and three short stories. Twelve authors in total contributed to the series, which was a collaborative effort conceived by representatives of Del Rey, Lucasfilm, and Dark Horse Comics during meetings at Skywalker Ranch in 1997 and 1998. The NJO is a chronological storyline covering a four-year span of galactic history, beginning twenty-one years after the events of Return of the Jedi and telling the story of an invasion of the galaxy by a race of extra-galactic religious zealots.

Within the NJO's pages, the Yuuzhan Vong begin a massive invasion of the galaxy, and quickly gain ground despite efforts at repulsion made by the New Republic and Luke Skywalker's New Jedi Order. Skywalker, Han Solo, Leia Organa Solo, and a new generation of heroes battle the bloodthirsty fanatics as they overtake an unprepared Republic, killing untold numbers of innocents and devastating countless planets, even conquering the galactic capital of Coruscant. Eventually, a rebuilt galactic government, aided by the Jedi and the mysterious living planet Zonama Sekot, overthrow the Yuuzhan Vong and save the galaxy. Characters from the original Star Wars trilogy of films play large roles, as do established Expanded Universe characters and new additions to the galaxy far, far away, all working together to repel the invaders.

As a large-scale project the likes of which Star Wars had never seen before, the NJO was an undertaking that was supervised closely by Lucasfilm and kept consistent by a team of continuity advisors. Every book in the series made it onto the New York Times Best Seller List, and paved the way for future multi-author projects such as Legacy of the Force and Fate of the Jedi. Several tie-in sourcebooks, magazine articles, and comic books were published, helping to expand the New Jedi Order era within the Star Wars mythos.

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