Star Wars fans who are still grieving The Acolyte‘s cancellation have a ray of hope coming at the end of this month. A new novel titled The Acolyte: The Crystal Crown hits shelves on July 29th from Penguin Random House, and is available to pre-order now. Written by Tessa Gratton, this book will follow the characters Jecki Lon and Yord Fandar on a mission set a few years before the events of the series. It’s described as “Star Wars meets The Hunger Games,” as these reluctant partners are pulled into a planet’s unique coming-of-age ritual. It sounds like it will give some much-desired backstory on Jecki and Yord, and how their relationship grew in the years before the show.
The publisher’s synopsis for The Acolyte: The Crystal Crown reads, “While their Jedi Masters clean up a political mess left by one of their own, Jedi Padawan Jecki and her least favorite Padawan Yord are drawn into a planet-wide coming-of-age ritual as featured guests. The first ritual goes well, but when the event is interrupted, Jecki and Yord will have to use all of their abilities and work together to keep each other — and their new friends — safe from danger.”
Jecki was played by Dafne Keen on The Acolyte, while Yord was played by Charlie Barnett. The series was set about 130 years before A New Hope, and using a few clues from the timeline, this novel is set between eight and four years earlier. At the time of this story, Yord is still a Padawan, not a Jedi Knight, since we know he attains that rank two years before The Acolyte.
Putting these two on even footing in terms of rank will be interesting, and it’s clear it will have a major impact on their dynamic. The books will likely flesh out how their relationship grew and changed in the intervening years, culminating in the working relationship we saw on screen.
The Crystal Crown will be published first in hardcover and ebook formats, with no word yet on a paperback edition. Unfortunately for those that prefer audiobooks, the audio edition won’t be published until October 28th. The book is billed as a young-adult novel suitable for ages as young as 12, but it has a generous length at 448 pages in print and 14 hours in audio. Hopefully that can help satiate fans who have been mourning the cancellation of The Acolyte and the lack of content set in this part of the timeline.
The Acolyte: The Crystal Crown is available for pre-order now from book retailers, and will be delivered on July 29th. The Acolyte is streaming now on Disney+.
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