STAR WARS News – WRAITH SQUADRON is back!

Quite possibly the biggest news to come from Del Rey at Star Wars Celebration V was the announcement by Del Rey editor at large Shelly Shapiro and author Aaron Allston that he would be writing a new Wraith Squadron installment in the oh-so-popular Star Wars: X-Wing series of novels. The pair made the announcement at the beginning of the panel focusing on the current series, Fate of the Jedi, and the crowd erupted with applause and raucous cheers at the news.

Aaron introduced the Wraith Squadron in book Star Wars: X-Wing: Wraith Squadron which is book five of the popular X-Wing novels written by himself and author Michael Stackpole. Wraith Squadron, also known as the Wraiths, is a hybrid New Republic starfighter/commando unit developed in 7.5 ABY by Wedge Antilles. The original Wraith Squadron was largely made up of wash-outs and misfits, which gave the unit a number of psychologically and emotionally unstable pilots, albeit experienced members of the military with useful commando skills. The Wraiths were designed to fulfill the mission responsibilities of both a traditional starfighter squadron and a commando unit—a revolutionary concept in tactics for the New Republic, and one that its founder felt was an essential development for the New Republic.

The Wraiths appeared in numerous novels but haven’t been seen since Star Wars: The New Jedi Order: The Unifying Force which was published in 2003. While an official date for the new novel hasn’t been announced, Del Rey is targeting a publication sometime in 2012. Aaron Allston is currently hard at work finishing Conviction, which is book seven in the Fate of the Jedi series. Conviction is scheduled for publication in May 2011.

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