LONG AGO IN A GALAXY FAR, FAR AWAY a child was born amongst the smoke and sand of a forgotten desert wasteland. And this boy, with the fate of the galaxy resting on his shoulders, would grow to do both great and terrible things in his lifetime. His surname is one that has survived the test of time against all odds, echoed across generations. Skywalker — the name that both brought peace and wrought destruction across the entire galaxy; Skywalker — the chosen champions of the light and the dark; Skywalker — the ones with ancient power flowing through their veins. And although that boy — that Chosen One, who once restored balance to the universe after upending the parity of light and dark — has long since died, his legacy continues through his bloodline as his descendants strive to maintain peace throughout the galaxy.

Decades have passed since the end of the Galactic Civil War and once again, the forces of darkness are on the rise, heading for a collision with those of the light; an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object that will surely end in disaster. As the last of the Jedi, Luke Skywalker took it upon himself to rebuild the once mighty Jedi Order after the war, fathering three children — a son and two daughters — with the hope that they would be able to preserve the culture of the Jedi. Though his two eldest children were not born with an aptitude for the Force, his youngest daughter was born with a luminous soul, allowing her to carry on the legacy of her father and his father before him.

And this girl, Indira, knows the importance of her family's legacy. The galaxy watches her with bated breath, waiting to see what this Skywalker will hold in store for them — greatness or terribleness. Indira hopes, more than anything, that she will not disappoint as she follows in the footsteps of her father, training in the ways of the Force alongside a new generation of Jedi. Their cohort is meant to mark the beginning of a new era of hope and prosperity, but it all goes wrong when Indira's own flesh and blood chooses darkness over light. Another Skywalker's spectacular fall from grace plunges the galaxy into war, reaping bloodshed across the stars. Though her father chooses to flee into self-imposed exile, Indira remains behind to fight and enlists in the Resistance formed by her aunt, General Leia Organa-Solo.

(It's there, amongst soldiers and spies and statesmen, that she is introduced to infuriating starpilot Poe Dameron. There's a war raging around them — Indira knows she has more important enemies to fight — but stars and skies, if she doesn't want to strangle him sometimes, too.)

Adria Arjona     Indira Skywalker

Alexxis Lemire     Sabina Skywalker

Brandon Larracuente Ben Skywalker

Oscar Isaac     Poe Dameron

Mark Hamill     Luke Skywalker

Andrea Navedo     Jana Beren

Rina Fukushi Suki Hiraga

Carrie Fisher Leia Organa
Harrison Ford Han Solo
John Boyega Finn
Daisy Ridley Rey of Jakku
Brian Tee Kento Hiraga
Alfre Woodard Ahsoka Tano

special thanks:
TO 𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚 FOR MAKING THE AMAZING CHARACTER MANIPS 💓💓💓 and TO bea FOR ALLOWING ME TO FEATURE HER OC SUKI IN THIS BOOK! 💫💫💫

a/n: hello 👋 sam here. brace yourselves for some WORDS bc this author's note is a long one. now, to address the elephant in the room: I AM NOT GIVING UP ON STARDUST!!!! that book is my BABY. it has seen me through some Real Shit and i am determined to finish it — whatever it takes, even if it means that it's years from now and i have no readers left by the time i'm done. i'm sure that some of you are probably wondering why i haven't updated that book in so long and the truth is that i've been going through a bit of a rough time offline and a lot of that has contributed to very bad writer's block tied to that book bc of certain things i associate it with. on top of that, i frankly have been dissatisfied with many of my early writing decisions that i made in that book (over two years ago when i first began writing it) that have made me feel trapped by a story that i don't quite have the same love for that i did at the beginning. that being said: i DO fully intend to finish that book when i am satisfied and confident with my writing, but until i get my mojo back it's on hold. so sorry to disappoint, my friends! ☹️ i know that's probably not the news you wanted, but thank you for being patient with me. it means more than you know!!!! 🥺💞
↳ now, to explain illuminae: this book is my compromise. it's my second chance; my do over; my what-could-have been since i don't have it in me to commit to a(nother) stardust re-write that would alter the entire book (both the good and the bad) and destroy a story that — in spite of its flaws — still means a lot to me & my readers who have shown that book an abundance of love and support over the years. illuminae gives me the freedom to change things that i wish i could change in stardust (and moondust too, to some extent) by giving indi and jana very different lives — the main difference being luke's presence in their family. i've always regretted keeping jana and luke apart and making indi so distant from her family until it was too late to really know them.
↳ that brings me to my next point, which is a big ol disclaimer: the premise of this book is heavily inspired by the dynamic in a:tla/tlok where luke is essentially aang, jana is katara, and their three kids are tenzin/kya/bumi, struggling to find their place in a galaxy where they are burdened by this larger-than-life legacy given to them by their parents, who helped defeat a great force of evil before their kids were born, and dealing with the expectations/pressure/etc that come from that. [cue booing from the audience 🍅🍅] i know, i know — ANOTHER star wars/a:tla hybrid fic???? the answer is yes, i don't know what else to do with my hyperfixations aside from projecting them onto my fics, so here we are. big, big, big thank you to my best girl ever bea for planting this seed in my head and seeing it to harvest. she has the mind of a mastermind, which is why you should go check out her star wars fic LEGACY of LIGHT, featuring her oc SUKI who plays a big role in this book (and may or may not have a thing with indi's big bro 👀)!!!
↳ furthermore (i swear i'm almost done): this fic is going to be almost entirely au from the plot of the sequel trilogy. a lot of my issues with stardust stems from my disappointment with the sequels as a whole and the limits and constraints they put on what had the potential to be a very interesting story, with some of the best protagonists we've seen. i've been watching a lot of clone wars/rebels/sw: resistance over the past couple of months and it's made me realize just how small the movies make the star wars universe seem in comparison to the shows and outside canon material. i really wanted the chance to explore more of that mythos and perhaps add some twists of my own, which is what i hope to do in this fic 🧐 we shall see how it all turns out!
↳ TL;DR: THIS BOOK IS AN AU OF STARDUST (and the sequel trilogy as a whole) WHICH I DO PLAN ON FINISHING AND HAVE NOT ABANDONED. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO READ THAT BOOK TO UNDERSTAND THIS ONE. MAKE SURE YOU READ LEGACY of LIGHT by BEA AND STREAM FOLKLORE. THAT IS ALL. LOVE U GUYS ENDLESSLY. THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING. I'LL SEE YOU SOON!!!! ✨✨✨✨
↳ p.s. ben solo = bail solo in this fic bc i feel like it would have been more fitting for luke to have a son named ben (hello legends) and it would make more sense for leia to name her kid after bail 🧐 anyways. if u don't like don't read 🤷‍♀️