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The Mandalorian novel writer says 2021 delay is ‘just a reschedule’

ByMeg Dowell|
Pedro Pascal is The Mandalorian in the Disney+ series THE MANDALORIAN.
Pedro Pascal is The Mandalorian in the Disney+ series THE MANDALORIAN.

When the original release date for The Mandalorian novel fell back a year, Star Wars fans began to speculate there were major rewrites underway.

Whenever events like delays, rewrites, and replacements happen in Star Wars, the fandom immediately assumes the worst.

Mostly, when a writer gets replaced or a book gets delayed, it’s instantaneously assumed the writer did something wrong. Which is almost never the case, it turns out.

What many don’t realize is that things like this – especially in book publishing – happen all the time. We hear about it if it’s Star Wars-related because it’s Star Wars, a constant topic of conversation around various corners of the internet.

When it was announced that the original The Mandalorian novel would be releasing in 2021 instead of 2020, it didn’t take long for speculation to spark. But the book’s author took to Twitter to clear things up for his future readers.

The Mandalorian publishing initiative: An overview

More from The Mandalorian

The Mandalorian publishing program involves a series of story and reference books all focused on the Emmy-nominated Disney+ show. So far StarWars.com has announced six official titles with more projects on the way, including activity books, comics, and more stories geared specifically toward young kids.

Known titles include:

  • The Art of The Mandalorian (Season One) by Phil Szostak; cover by Doug Chiang
  • The Mandalorian: The Ultimate Visual Guide (DK) by Pablo Hidalgo
  • The Mandalorian: Allies & Enemies – Level Two Reader (DLP) by Brooke Vitale
  • The Mandalorian: 8×8 Storybook (title to be revealed later) by Brooke Vitale
  • The Mandalorian: Junior Novelization by Joe Schreiber

An original novel, written by Adam Christopher, will also release as part of the program. This is not a novelization of the first season of the show, but instead a new story likely featuring characters we know from the series as well as new faces.

We don’t know much else about the book at this time, and due to the delay, probably won’t for a while.

Author of The Mandalorian book says there’s ‘nothing to worry about’

Despite widespread concern about what a delay might mean, Christopher responded to Fantha Tracks’ breakdown of the news with a reassuring tweet.

“Yes, my Mando novel is delayed to fall 2021; no, this is nothing to worry about,” he wrote. “It’s just a reschedule (happens all the time in publishing); yes, the book kicks serious behind, as does the @DelReyStarWars team and my crew at LFL publishing!”

Christopher remains enthusiastic about the project, however, finishing off his tweet with: “2021’s gonna rock!”

We sure hope so. How could it not, with an original Mandalorian story on the way?

The Mandalorian novel release date: When is the book coming out?

While the book was originally set to release in December 2020, Del Rey and Christopher have since announced the book will now hit shelves in the fall of 2021.

While we may never know the official reason for the delay, it’s pretty safe and wise to assume this is nothing more than a simple reshuffling.

Chances are, there’s no drama. And even if there are some rewrites in the works … this is publishing. It’s normal. A rewrite doesn’t mean there was anything ‘wrong” with any part of the original story. Stories change all the way up until they’re published. That’s how storytelling works.

There’s at least one positive to this change: You’ll have more time to read all the other Star Wars books still releasing in 2020, as well as The High Republic books, which officially begin their release in January 2021.

And in case you forgot … Season 2 of The Mandalorian is only a few months out.

This is the way.

Adam Christopher’s next Star Wars story will be available as part of FACPOV-ESB this November.

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