Club Jade

The book will “build off of the events of Crosscurrent,” he annouced on his Livejournal this morning. It’s too soon for details, but we don’t know all that much about Crosscurrent yet anyway: It won’t be out until January. I’d hazard to guess that we won’t see this second book until 2011 or so.

UPDATE 9/29: Sue Rostoni has confirmed that the book is on the schedule for June 2011, pushing the Reaves/Bohnhoff holostar novel up to March.

StarWars.com has the first look at Paul Kemp’s Crosscurrent. Head over to check out Dave Seeley’s full cover.

An ancient Sith ship hurtles into the future carrying a lethal cargo that could forever destroy Luke Skywalker’s hopes for peace.

The Civil War is almost over when Jedi Knight Jaden Korr experiences a Force vision so intense he must act. Enlisting two salvage jocks and their ship, Jaden sets out into space. Someone — or something — appears to be in distress.

But what Jaden and his crew find confounds them. A five-thousand-year-old dreadnaught — bringing with it a full force of Sith and one lone Jedi — has inadvertently catapulted eons from the past into the present. The ship’s weapons may not be cutting-edge, but its cargo, a special ore that makes those who use the dark side nearly invincible, is unsurpassed. The ancient Jedi on board is determined to destroy the Sith. But for Jaden, even more is at stake: for his vision has led him to uncover a potentially indestructible threat to everything the Jedi Order stands for.

The book is scheduled for January 26.

Street date shuffle: NJOE notes that The Making of The Empire Strikes Back release date has been moved up to March 23. That’s what Amazon says, anyway.

Interviews: EUC talks a bit of Darth Bane with Drew Karpyshyn.

The blogside: Paul S. Kemp has a brief Crosscurrent update, while Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff explores sci-fi story weaving and hardware.

What Fixer comic? Since I know you’re all dying to hear about that Fixer comic, the artist, Kevin Liell, has posted at TFN clarifying some things from NYCC. I’d still file this one under ‘long shot.’

There’s a fairly hefty interview with upcoming author Paul S. Kemp by Jay Tomio on Tor.com today. Here’s what he had to say on Crosscurrent‘s main character, Jaden Kor:

Jaden is a complex character. His relationship to the Force is strong, but the nature of the relationship troubles him. His Master, Kyle Katarn, had a view of the Force more in line with the Potentium school (the Force as tool, rather than the morally loaded terms of Dark and Light), but Jaden isn’t so sure. Recent events in the Civil War, and in particular Jaden’s actions in the assault on Centerpoint Station, have made his internal conflict more acute. He’ll be working out that conflict in Crosscurrent.

Read the whole thing here.

• Preview: Take a peek at the first issue of the new Star Wars Adventures digest. Apparently some have found it in the UK, but there’s been no sign of it on Diamond so I wouldn’t go looking just yet.

• The Blogside: Paul S. Kemp has thoughts on writing Crosscurrent, while Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff has two updates in her Padawan’s Journal series: Protocol Droids and Velveteen Bunnies and Mistakes Were Made.
• The Clone Wars: Don’t expect to see a paperback of Karen Traviss’ Clone Wars novel anytime soon – There are no plans to release one, says Sue Rostoni. If you absolutely must have a paperback, look to the UK version.
• Comics: DarkHorse.com has a new From the Editor, about Invasion. (Nothing we don’t already know, but we can expect an announcement in a week or so.)
• Webcomics: Third and fourth updates in The Old Republic‘s Threat of Peace.

Paul S. Kemp has posted a brief, rough passage from his upcoming Star Wars novel, Crosscurrent, on his Livejournal. Here’s a taste:

He sped around the planet, outpacing its spin, chasing the day, until he saw the system’s star crest the horizon line.

“Put us in geosynchronous, R-6,” he said, and the droid complied.

Head on over for a few more paragraphs. (It gets meatier.)

Bookspot Central breaks in a brand-new interview feature by talking to Paul S. Kemp about getting into Star Wars, including some words of wisdom from Mike Stackpole:

At this last GenCon I met Mike Stackpole and asked him about his experiences writing Star Wars. He didn’t offer direct advice either, but he said if you write a good book, the fans will love you forever. Write a bad one, and there will be hell to pay.

Wherever would he get an idea like that? (via)

Sue Rostoni announced on the StarWars.com boards this afternoon that the January ’10 Jaden Korr novel by Paul S. Kemp is titled Crosscurrent.

In more immediately relevant EU news, Fictional Frontiers had James Luceno on this weekend in honor of Millennium Falcon. And EUC wants your questions for their own interview.

Yesterday, Sue Rostoni indicated that Paul S. Kemp’s Jaden Korr novel (we really need a name for this thing) was set during the Great Hyperspace War, events which happen several centuries before the birth of his protagonist. On his Livejournal, Kemp explains:

I don’t want to give away major plot points, but in an effort to lessen some of the confusion, I will say this: The novel does contain a scene or scenes that take place during The Great Hyperspace War, and scenes that take place in the present, post LotF period, and the plot of the novel turns on the (I hope interesting) way that past and present intersect.

So I’m seeing something in the vein of Outbound Flight/Survivor’s Quest, if they were one book. Capiche?

Sue posts furthur details about the upcoming books on her blog. The relevant (new!) information…

• Fate of the Jedi #1: “Luke and Ben attempt to follow Jacen’s previous journey in the hopes of discovering what and how various Force-using groups influenced him to accept and use dark side powers.”

• The Clone Wars: Wild Space: Stars Obi-Wan Kenobi and Bail Organa! (Did we already know this?)
• Blood Oath: Takes place just after we last see Zekk, Dave Seeley is doing the cover!
• Joe Schreiber’s horror novel: Set between A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back.
• Paul S. Kemp’s Jaden Korr book: Takes place during the… Great Hyperspace War? Well, I’m confused. UPDATE: Kemp clarifies.
• Alex Irvine’s novel will star Nomi Sunrider!
• The paperback by Michael Reaves and Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff features “a promising holostar – a rags to riches story set against the backdrop of the early days of the Rebellion.” (Fan speculation/wishful thinking is pegging the holostar as Wynssa Starflare.)