Reign of the Empire: Edge of the Abyss is an upcoming novel and the second entry of the Star Wars: Reign of the Empire trilogy written by Rebecca Roanhorse and set to be published by Random House Worlds on September 15, 2026. It will be set in 6 BBY, one year before the first season of Star Wars: Andor.
Publisher's summary
The second installment in the Reign of the Empire series follows Bail Organa, Mon Mothma, and Saw Gerrera (along with their allies and enemies) thirteen years after the events of The Mask of Fear as they navigate the Empire's nigh-unbreakable chokehold over the galaxy.
Development
- "I believe we are in crisis. The distance between what is said and what is known to be true has become an abyss. Of all the things at risk, the loss of an objective reality is perhaps the most dangerous. The death of truth is the ultimate victory of evil."
- ―Mon Mothma
The novel was first announced on July 29, 2024. Initially simply known as "book two" of the Star Wars: Reign of the Empire trilogy, the novel was announced to be written by Rebecca Roanhorse and planned to be published by Random House Worlds in spring 2026.[1] During San Diego Comic-Con on July 25, 2025, the novel's title was revealed to be Reign of the Empire: Edge of the Abyss and the release date got pushed to fall 2026. The book's title is taken from part of Mon Mothma's speech from the Andor Season 2 episode[5] "Welcome to the Rebellion" of her denouncing the Ghorman Massacre in the Imperial Senate.[4]
Ideas introduced in 2024 the in-universe history book Star Wars: The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire will be explored in the novel.[6] On February 3, 2025, Alexander Freed, author of the first novel, reported that Roanhorse was "already hard at work" on her novel.[7]
Media
Cover gallery
Appearances
| Characters | Organisms | Droid models | Events | Locations |
| Organizations and titles | Sentient species | Vehicles and vessels | Weapons and technology | Miscellanea |
Characters
Events
Organizations and titles
Sentient species
Sources
Notes and references
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7
Star Wars' New Book Trilogy Explores the Politics Behind the Rise of the Rebellion by James Whitbrook on Gizmodo (July 29, 2024) (backup link archived on July 29, 2024)
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14
Star Wars: Edge of the Abyss on Penguin Books' official United Kingdom website (backup link)
- ↑
Rebecca Roanhorse (@rebeccaroanhorse) on Instagram (post): "Title and updated release date of my upcoming STAR WARS novel announced at SDCC. THE EDGE OF THE ABYSS takes place a year before Andor S1." (backup link) establishes that the events of Reign of the Empire: Edge of the Abyss take place a year before the events of Andor Season 1, which are set in 5 BBY per the reasoning here
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Star Wars: Andor — "Welcome to the Rebellion"
- ↑ Rebecca Roanhorse (@rebeccaroanhorse) on Instagram (post): "Title and updated release date of my upcoming STAR WARS novel announced at SDCC. THE EDGE OF THE ABYSS takes place a year before Andor S1. “ I believe we are in crisis. The distance between what is said and what is known to be true has become an abyss. Of all the things at risk, the loss of an objective reality is perhaps the most dangerous. The death of truth is the ultimate victory of evil.” - Mon Mothma, Andor ep S2E9" (backup link)
- ↑ Tom Hoeler (@DarthInternous) on Twitter (post): "I may or may not have sent Rebecca some notes based on tidbits in your book that said "ooo let's explore this" (In response to: "I'm choosing to believe that there was just a photo of me on all of your desks for this and the 'do it for him' Simpsons message.")" (backup link)
- ↑ Alexander Freed (@alexandermfreed.bsky.social) on Bluesky (post on February 3, 2025): "So The Mask of Fear is out in three weeks. Rebecca Roanhorse is already hard at work on the actual followup (and it will, from what I've seen, be grand!) But I'm vaguely curious about what happens if you read all the Alexander Freed Star Wars novels in chronological order. Do they work as a whole?" (backup link)
