Young Jedi Knights: Shards of Alderaan

With the fall of the Empire came a new generation: the hope of the New Republic. Han Solo and Princess Leia's young twins have embarked on their Jedi Knight journey, successfully vanquishing the Shadow Academy's wicked forces. Alongside their comrades, Tenel Ka and Lowbacca the Wookiee, these future icons of a celebrated saga further hone their abilities.

Jacen and Jaina journey to the Alderaan system, driven to recover a fragment from the destroyed planet as a present for their mother. However, amidst the echoes of a bygone world, the twins are about to encounter a perilous revelation: some specters endure. A long-forgotten adversary of the Solo lineage is poised to resurface…

In the "The History of the Mandalorians" article, featured in Star Wars Insider 80 from 2005 and authored by Abel G. Peña, it was clarified that Ailyn Vel, who is the daughter of Boba Fett, had been impersonating her father. This meant that Fett himself does not actually make an appearance in Star Wars: Young Jedi Knights. Peña cited several reasons for this retcon. Firstly, he believed that Fett's behaviors within Young Jedi Knights: Shards of Alderaan were inconsistent with his established portrayal, notably within the 1996 short story "The Last One Standing: The Tale of Boba Fett." Furthermore, in Young Jedi Knights: Diversity Alliance, the character Nolaa Tarkona implies that Fett might be female. These considerations, in combination with early fan theories suggesting Fett's female identity, inspired Peña to develop the concept that Vel, the previously unnamed child of Fett from the 2001 comic story "Outbid But Never Outgunned", was actually a daughter who sometimes disguised herself as her father.

• ISBN 9781572972070 ; US paperback version released by Berkley Boulevard in January of 1997 [1]
• ISBN 9780425169520 ; US paperback version released by Berkley Jam in February of 1999 [5]