The official Star Wars site has unveiled the first look at the cover artwork for the upcoming novel, Star Wars: Darth Plagueis by James Luceno. See full cover art by clicking image here above.

The long-awaited novel (that was actually canceled at one stage) focuses on the Sith Lord who was the Master of Palpatine, the apprentice who would become the Emperor.

Plagueis was first mentioned in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, when Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) recounts the “tale of Darth Plagueis the Wise” to Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen). The novel is anticipated to expand on Palpatine’s apprenticeship to Plagueis when he was dubbed Darth Sidious.

The cover of the upcoming novel displays young Darth Sidious bowing before an intimidating and partially shadowed image of his master — an image that mirrors Vader kneeling before the Emperor’s hologram in The Empire Strikes Back. Plagueis is a Muun, an alien species better known as the driving force of the InterGalactic Banking Clan — an organization that forms part of the Separatist movement seen in the Prequel Trilogy and The Clone Wars series.

The movie implies that Plagueis had an ability to “stop people from dying,” but also hints that he may have been behind the conception of The Chosen One (Anakin Skywalker) as he could manipulate “midi-chlorians to create life.” Fans are hoping that Luceno’s novel expands on this hints and implications and answer the question whether Palpatine and his master had anything to do with the creation of The Chosen One.

James Luceno has had a long history of writing Star Wars novels. He was a driving force behind The New Jedi Order series, explored Vader’s early days following Episode III in Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader and more recently was the author that outlined the definitive history of Han Solo’s beloved ship in Millennium Falcon.

Expanded Universe fans were elated at the announcement that there would be a Darth Plagueis novel when it first was made public in 2007. However, shortly after the announcement, Lucas Books reportedly canceled the release of the novel, and moved forward with the continuation of the Darth Bane series instead. It was later revealed that the cancellation was more of a postponement, as Lucasfilm was not ready to explore Palpatine’s origins at that time.

Star Wars: Darth Plagueis is to be released on December 27, 2011 in both hardcover and e-book format.

[Source: StarWars.com]