Club Jade

Ascension is the second to the last in the Fate of the Jedi series. It picks up where Conviction left off: the Jedi coup that brought down Chief of State Natasi Daala has left a large hole temporarily filled by Wynn Dorvan, Senator Haydnat Treen, and Saba Sebatyne. This triumvirate, an emergency leadership put in place during a rough transition of power, was not meant to last long. Encouraged by the revolutionary group Freedom Flight and the efforts of the peaceful rebel leader Rokari Kem of Qaas, planets across the galaxy are abolishing slavery and clamoring to join the Galactic Alliance. In the midst of political meetings discussing which planets are ready to join, political rivals seeking to take power for themselves begin making plans that could have large repercussions for these mostly non-human worlds.

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Mythbusting. Tosche Station got Pablo Hidalgo to dig into his notes to clarify one of the most widespread rumors about the New Jedi Order series. Did the almighty George Lucas order LucasBooks to kill off Anakin Solo? Turns out… Not so much.

Forthcoming. Jeffrey Brown, the author of Vader and Son and next week’s Vader’s Little Princess, told the Full of Sith podcast about his next Star Wars project, Jedi Academy. In a hurry? FOS co-host Bryan shares the relevant details.

Comics. Brian Woods’ Star Wars gets a new artist, Ryan Kelly, for the new arc that starts with issue #7. Meanwhile, Cosmic Book News interviews Wood.

Excerpt. Just a little one from Dawn of the Jedi: Into the Void.

Reviews. James is glad the action picks up in Star Wars #4 and thinks the story gets off to a fast start with a very intriguing foe in Darth Vader and the Ninth Assassin #1.

So much for the era of short titles: Martha Wells writes today that her Leia novel is titled Empire and Rebellion: Razor’s Edge.

UPDATE: Del Rey confirms that Empire and Rebellion is the official series title for what we’ve been calling Rebels.

Razor’s Edge, a hardcover, is currently scheduled for an October 15 release. Further entries in the Rebellion-era series, a Han novel from James S.A. Corey and a Luke one from Kevin Hearne, are expected in 2014.

Because. Just because.

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Finally, a feast! For comic fans, anyway. In the shops on Wednesday is Darth Vader and the Ninth Assassin #1 and the fourth printing of Star Wars #1.

And there are two collections as well: Darth Vader and the Ghost Prison in hardcover and the trade paperback of Knight Errant: Escape – the series’ final (for now, anyway) storyline.

Today on Tor, Emily Asher-Perrin writes about Star Wars and the sequels and the Expanded Universe and generational differences and mostly, how the franchise is always changing along with the audience.

Those who saw it first in the theater will often remark how its title was initially just Star Wars—the “Episode IV: A New Hope” was added later, after the second film was released and one more was on its way. Children of the 90s had the Expanded Universe novels, which arrived just before the Special Edition was released. Those who were born in the 90s might have skipped the the original trilogy altogether, or watched the prequels first and then tracked back. And now that new films are coming, there is no telling how the new generation will see Star Wars, what it will mean to them, whether its history will be worth delving into.

This is a must-read and an important reminder: Star Wars is not a static thing, and it hasn’t been a static thing for decades now.

Comics. Remember how Entertainment Weekly was supposed to break some ‘interesting’ Star Wars news? And then we heard it out of WonderCon instead? Well, their article on The Star Wars has finally shown up… And Dark Horse’s Randy Stradley is, let’s say, less than impressed with the end result.

There are two other recent, less wrath-inducing interviews with Stradley on Newsarama and Jedi Journals.

The blogside. Two very different takes on the EU/EpVII issue: Newsarama’s Lucas Siegel takes a thoughtful approach, while io9′s Rob Bricken fans the angry paranoia flames. In another direction, Bria’s Waru Express has reached the New Jedi Order.

Interviews. EUCantina talks to Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff.

Flashback. Blogger Rologutwein is creating Star Wars roleplaying modules – based on other films – in the style of the old West End Games. Here’s his covers, and one of the interiors.

Randomly… Tosche Station’s Emily has a recipe for Corellian ryshcate.

Just a reminder that today is “A Book Bomb for Ben” Wednesday, to raise funds for the medical expenses for Ben Wolverton, the son of Star Wars author Dave Wolverton. Check out the Help Ben website or the Facebook event for more links on where to get Dave Wolverton’s latest books (under his fantasy pen name David Farland : Nightingale, a young adult fantasy, or Million Dollar Outlines, a writer’s guide. Sixteen year old Ben is in a coma after a recent accident so if you’d like to help out, buy a book, spread the word, or donate directly.

Ben Wolverton, the teenaged son of Star Wars author Dave Wolverton, was recently in an accident and is currently in a coma. As you may know, many authors don’t have the health care coverage of an employer-based insurance, and the Wolverton family could use a boost to help with Ben’s medical care. His website is calling for a book bomb on Wednesday, April 10 – basically a big one-day drive for book sales.

Check out their Facebook event, A Book Bomb for Ben, to get links to buy Wolverton’s award-winning 2011 young adult fantasy novel, Nightingale (written under his pen name for his fantasy books, David Farland), or his guide for writers, Million Dollar Outlines. Or you can donate money directly to Ben’s recovery. And help spread the word!

As David Farland, Wolverton has written the fantasy series, The Runelords, and has started the Nightingale series. In the Star Wars sandbox, Wolverton is best known for introducing the witches of Dathomir in The Courtship of Princess Leia, while also penning The Rising Force, the first in Scholastic’s Jedi Apprentice series, and several of the books in the Scholastic Episode I Adventures and Star Wars Missions gamebook series, and short stories in each of the three original trilogy Tales anthologies.

It’s another one-comic week with Brian Wood’s Star Wars #4 our only new arrival.

Our next novel, due in May, will be Tim Lebbon’s Dawn of the Jedi: Into the Void. However, we do have one schedule change to note: William Shakespeare’s Star Wars has moved up from August 6 to July 2.