Club Jade

io9 has our first looks at the cover for Martha Wells’ Empire and Rebellion: Razor’s Edge. No blurb – the provided text is just the stuff we already know about the series, but hey. Cover!

It’s another new look for Star Wars books – kind of a melding of the stark Fate of the Jedi covers with the old-school photo montages. It’s crisper than the montages, but less severe than the stylized Fate covers – will fandom as a whole like it? Who knows!

Razor’s Edge – we just learned the title last week – is due out in hardcover on October 15. The next entries in the series will probably come in 2014 – we know that James S.A. Corey (Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck) are working on their Han novel, while Kevin Hearne’s Luke novel is still in the outline stage.

Prepare to feel old: The Harry Potter series is turning 15 this year.

Yes, it’s been 15 years since the release of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, and Scholastic is re-releasing the entire series in trade paperback in September, complete with new covers by Kazu Kibuishi.

Check out the new cover for Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone under the cut.

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Adjustments. The Han on the Crucible cover got a slight tweak. (Why yes, it is a slow week for EU news!) The important thing is, the release date remains the same: July 9.

Street dates. Speaking of upcoming releases, pencil in Joe Schreiber’s Maul: Lockdown for a January 21, 2014 release. Not because we don’t believe it’s coming, but because this far out, dates are subject to change. And on that note, 2014 is now an actual thing on our release schedule. Meanwhile, if you don’t want to wait most of a year to read about Maul, Aaron Goins has a list of 7 tales you can check out right now.

Comics. Corinna Bechko and Gabriel Hardman chat about their forthcoming Legacy: Prisoner of the Floating World at Geek of Oz.

Reviews. Over at Big Shiny Robot, James gets enthusiastic about the happenings in Agent of the Empire: Hard Targets #4 and Dark Times: Fire Carrier #1.

Hollywood.com has the exclusive first look at the cover to Tim Lebbon’s upcoming Dawn of the Jedi: Into the Void, a hardcover due out May 7. Here’s the blurb:

On the planet Tython, the ancient Je’daii order was founded. And at the feet of its wise Masters, Lanoree Brock learned the mysteries and methods of the Force—and found her calling as one of its most powerful disciples. But as strongly as the Force flowed within Lanoree and her parents, it remained absent in her brother, who grew to despise and shun the Je’daii, and whose training in its ancient ways ended in tragedy.

Now, from her solitary life as a Ranger keeping order across the galaxy, Lanoree has been summoned by the Je’daii Council on a matter of utmost urgency. The leader of a fanatical cult, obsessed with traveling beyond the reaches of known space, is bent on opening a cosmic gateway using dreaded dark matter as the key—risking a cataclysmic reaction that will consume the entire star system. But more shocking to Lanoree than even the prospect of total galactic annihilation, is the decision of her Je’daii Masters to task her with the mission of preventing it. Until a staggering revelation makes clear why she was chosen: The brilliant, dangerous madman she must track down and stop at any cost is the brother whose death she has long grieved—and whose life she must now fear.

Note that since Into the Void was announced at SDCC last year, we’re likely still waiting for the mystery novel to be revealed.

Same Cliff Nielsen art, new layout. What do you think?

The book is due out July 2 in hardcover and eBook.

Del Rey posted the finished version of the Crucible cover on Facebook today. It hasn’t changed all that drastically since the first version revealed at SDCC. (Click on Luke over there to see the whole thing.) They’re also calling it for Summer 2013, as opposed to the original announcement of Spring, but until we get a more specific date I’m not going quibble over that.

The book is still by Troy Denning, and it’s still a hardcover. We’re pretty much guaranteed to hear more about it next week at Celebration.

Interview. EUCantina interviews Lucas Books Art Director Scott Biel about creating covers for Star Wars books. He talks about the process, why the Mercy Kill cover got a makeover, and Mara Jade’s Choices of One jumpsuit.

In other news, EUC is kicking off their Summer Reading for Children’s Literacy program on July 11th. They’re (again) raising money for Reading is Fundamental.

The blogside. Lots going on this week! At The Galactic Drift, Racheal takes a look at how Tahiri Veila has been misused, while NJOE’s new hire Matthew Rushing takes on the state of Luke Skywalker. Meanwhile, Megan at Knights Archive reviews Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor, and Tosche Station is taking a look with their X-Wing Retrospective.

Conventions. The Del Rey folks will have a double-sided poster that they’ll be giving out during summer con season. It features the cover art from The Essential Reader’s Companion and The Old Republic: Annihilation. Look for Del Rey at San Diego Comic Con, Star Wars Celebration VI, and New York Comic Con.

eBooks. Knights Archive looks at the upcoming Star Wars eBook releases.

Endnotes. Jason Fry posted the 12th part of the series going behind-the-scenes of The Essential Guide to Warfare.

Some of us got a peek at this at Origins, (See? You should totally come) but now Star Wars Books has revealed the full cover for Timothy Zahn’s Scoundrels. The characters on the back half are, left to right, Kell Tainer, Winter, Zerba Cher’dak, and Bink Kitik. The painting is by Paul Youll.

It looks like Scoundrels has moved up a little in the schedule, as well – Editor Erich Schoeneweiss gives it a December 16th date, up from the 26th. Nevermind – it’s still the 26th. BOO.

Okay… The Mercy Kill cover has been tweaked. The ships appear the same, but the background has been tweaked – the ‘gray’ background will be silver when printed. It seems a bit overdone to me: you know Coco Chanel’s old axiom about always removing one accessory before you leave the house? I think it applies here. Maybe it’ll look better in actual silver? Still, I don’t think it’ll hurt Aaron Allston’s sales figures, and we’ve certainly seen worse.

Nonfiction. Knights Archive spotted Steve Sansweet’s next book, Star Wars: The Ultimate Action Figure Collection: 35 Years of Characters, on Amazon. Rancho Obi-wan publicist Consetta Parker confirms, as well as giving us a look at the production. Amazon gives an October 17 release date.

Essential Guides. With The Essential Guide To Warfare just a week away, there’s already a brief review from Knight’s Archive and an interview with Jason Fry at EU Cantina.

Fate of the Jedi. Roqoo Depot’s Skuldren takes a look at the series as a whole. Meanwhile, as you may have heard, Apocalypse made the New York Times’ bestseller list.

Hey, librarians! You can contact DK to hold a “Summer of Star Wars” day in June or July. By the by, we don’t recommend handing kids Fate of the Jedi.

Covers. Knight’s Archive found the new cover to The Phantom Menace novelization earlier this week. Shockingly, it looks just like the poster. Like the last TPM-centric rerelease, Shadow Hunter, this one contains a new James Luceno short story and may be a bit difficult to find because both editions share the same ISBN. It’s due out on the 31st.

In other cover reveals, StarWars.com has the covers for eighth Lost Tribe of the Sith installment and the paperback compilation. They look pretty much the same as all the Lost Tribe of the Sith stuff.

Fate of the Jedi. The mini-excerpts for Denning’s Apocalypse begin with – who else? – Saba.

Interviews. In a two-parter, James Luceno talks Darth Plagueis at TFN and Suvudu, while John Jackson Miller chats with CBR’s Tim O’Shea.