Celebrating Star Wars Reads month and a birthday book giveaway
Plus: A new excerpt from Mace Windu: The Glass Abyss.
Happy Star Wars Reads!
October is the best month of the year for many reasons. I’m biased because it’s my birthday month, but it also has Halloween, and Star Wars Reads. The monthlong celebration by Disney Publishing and Lucasfilm spotlights Star Wars books for all ages and encourages reading.
Star Wars Reads is a collaboration with First Book, a non-profit focused on providing access to quality education for every child. The event also includes fun features with Star Wars authors, resources for families and teachers, and a new downloadable activity kit that anyone can do.
Local libraries often participate in the Star Wars Reads fun by creating book displays and hosting themed crafts, scavenger hunts, and other community activities. If you’re active on social media like I am, this month is the perfect time to share your love of Star Wars books through themed posts, reading guides, and photos of your favorite reads.
If you make a Star Wars Reads post this month, feel free to tag me! I’m at SpaceWizardsBookClub in Instagram and ChelsZReads on TikTok.
Birthday book giveaway
It’s my birthday month! To celebrate, I’m giving gifts in the form of Star Wars books.
The giveaway is live now on Instagram and TikTok — those who follow me on both platforms can get two entries.
What I’m giving away:
There will be two winners.
One winner will get copies of The High Republic: The Eye of Darkness and The High Republic: Tales of Light and Life Barnes & Noble Exclusive edition.
Another winner will get the B&N Exclusive Tales of Light and Life and a trade paperback copy of The High Republic Adventures: The Monster of Temple Peak.
Both winners will get a few surprise bookish goodies, too.
How to enter:
Follow me on Instagram, TikTok, and the Space Wizards Book Club Substack.
Follow the instructions in the pinned posts to tag friends and share your favorite Star Wars book of 2024.
Mace Windu: The Glass Abyss excerpt
Mace Windu: The Glass Abyss arrived in my mailbox last week — on my birthday, actually. I like to think Random House Worlds did that on purpose.
I’m about 20% into the novel by Steven Barnes, who also wrote the Legends novel The Cestus Deception. It’s a deep and dark character study and is unlike most Star Wars books published in recent years. It has elements of classic hard-boiled detective stories and sci-fi noir coupled with a rare, fascinating look at Mace’s inner life.
It’s also physically beautiful with glossy purple designs on the front and back. The backed hardcover is also a gorgeous deep plum color. If you want even prettier books, both Goldsboro and Inkstone have signed special editions with purple and pink sprayed edges.
StarWars.com recently shared a brief interview with Barnes and an exclusive excerpt from his new novel. In it, Mace descends into the crystalline caverns of New Xaxxis on the planet Metagos as one of the final wishes of his fallen friend Qui-Gon Jinn.
“Staff in hand, the stranger arrived in the slums of New Xaxxis, capital city of the planet Metagos. In days past, the underground caverns housing New Xaxxis had been derisively referred to as the Glass Abyss, thanks to the gigantic crystal obelisks towering proudly from the ground like stalagmites or hanging from the ceiling like jagged, broken fangs. The entire city was laid out like a wagon wheel, with roads and canals sectioning it off. The very poorest section, sometimes called the Children’s Maze, was situated at the hub.
Swathed in black leather, the stranger was tall, lithe, and human. His face was almost as dark as his ankle-length bantha-hide coat. With his every step along the slum streets, moisture oozed around the edges of his boots, drawn from deep artisanal wells.
Gaping volcanic vents in nearby vacant lots jetted steam that drifted upward toward the ceiling, forming into wispy clouds, which personal flight craft, birds, and leather-winged reptiles glided through.”
Read (or listen to) the full excerpt at StarWars.com.
Mace Windu: The Glass Abyss by Steven Barnes arrives on Oct. 15.
This week’s Star Wars releases
Oct. 2
Battle of Jakku: Insurgency Rising #1
Inquisitors #4
Sorry for the delay
Between my birthday on Friday, Hurricane Helene, and now preparing for Hurricane Milton, my life has been…busy to say the least. So, forgive me for not sending out a newsletter on Friday — I spent my birthday away from my desk and out of my house treating myself to books and ice cream sundae ingredients.
With Hurricane Milton barreling toward Florida’s West Coast (where I live), it’s been a stressful weekend and start to my week. My husband and I are preparing as best we can — we aren’t in an evacuation zone, and today we are putting up storm shutters and cleaning the debris from Hurricane Helene. As a native Floridian, I’m no stranger to hurricanes. But they’re still scary and life-altering every time.
All this to say, pray or cast a spell or send good vibes my way — and to all of Florida. I hope to send another newsletter on Friday and send out my review of Mace Windu: The Glass Abyss on Oct. 15.
MTFBWY✨