Club Jade

Blast from the past. Tom Dupree, who was an editor at Bantam, writes about his time editing Star Wars novels on his blog as part of a larger series on his career. Old-timers like yours truly will remember him dropping little hints of book news on the AOL Fan Forum, or perhaps such hints being reported in a so-called ‘fan fiction’ newsletter.

Interview. Michael Reaves talks Shadow Games over at Suvudu. Iffy on the book? Take a test drive with a 50-page excerpt.

Excerpts. A little bit of Luceno’s Darth Plagueis.

Comic reviews. Over at Big Shiny Robot, James reviews Knight Errant: Deluge #4, Crimson Empire III: Empire Lost #2, and Dark Times: Out of the Wilderness #3.

Pretties. Flickr user Sith_fire30 creates custom figures based on Star Wars games and comics. Be sure to check out his Jedi Master Luke Skywalker (based on an issue of Invasion, Cade Skywalker, Savage Opress and more.

Tuesday brings our final Star Wars novel of the year, Shadow Games by Michael Reaves and Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff. Here’s a mini-excerpt for the Dash Rendar fans.

Comic fans will have two books to look for on Wednesday – Crimson Empire III: Empire Lost #2 and Dark Times: Out Of The Wilderness #3.

Our next major release will be James Luceno’s Darth Plagueis on January 10. This one also has a recent mini-excerpt.

Today is the release day for the 20th anniversary of Heir to the Empire by Timothy Zahn. As Erich points out on Facebook, this new edition contains:

• Special annotations from author Tim Zahn and editor Betsy Mitchell
• Crisis of Faith, Zahn’s new novella featuring Thrawn
• Foreword by Lucas Licensing President Howard Roffman, an Afterword by Betsy Mitchell, and an introduction by Zahn

Also out today: Paperback version of Sean Williams’ The Force Unleashed II.

Comics: Out this week (check your store for possible Labor Day-induced shipping delays): Dark Times: Out of the Wilderness #2

Looks like Lost Suns wasn’t the last of the Insider’s comic news: Today, we’ve got Knight Errant: Deluge, Dark Times: Out of the Wilderness and Invasion: Revelations. And here I remain perplexed that, with all this bounty, The Old Republic one leaked first. Gamers.

Lest I forget… We only have one release this week: The fourth Dark Times trade, Blue Harvest, in comic shops today.

Fear not, book fans: In two weeks we get new Fate of the Jedi!

Boy, was I shocked when I looked at the shipping list: Three comics and a trade! It’s like Christmas! Assuming you read the comics, anyway. Headlining on Wednesday will be Legacy #49, the penultimate issue. Bringing up the rear are Invasion: Rescues #2 and Dark Times #17 and the ninth Legacy collection, ‘Monster’.

It’s a lonely week, with just one Star Wars comic coming to stores on Wednesday: Dark Times #16.

A bit late, but no worse for wear, here’s what came out in comic shops today: Dark Times #15 and the penultimate issue #49 of Knights of the Old Republic. And the always totally uncontroversial issue of Mandalorians in The Clone Wars is back in Star Wars Insider #115.

Comics of an upcoming nature. StarWars.com has Dark Horse’s February 2010 solicitations, including the final issue of Knights of the Old Republic. People also seen to be awfully excited about seeing The Old Republic webcomic in print, but let’s not forget Legacy #45, the Dark Times: Blue Harvest TPB, and a Boba Fett omnibus. Okay, feel free to forget that last one. (I kid. Maybe.) Want a taste of something coming out a little sooner? Darkhorse.com has previews for Knights of the Old Republic #47 and Legacy #42.

Street date shuffle. SWBooks.co.uk spotted that April 13, 2010 is the new date for Fate of the Jedi: Backlash. That’s just a little under a month from the last date of March 9th.

The blogside. Drew Karpyshyn blogs to remind us that Dynasty of Evil is out next month… And tease The Old Republic. Meanwhile, Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff has what goes on in a writer’s head, the casting call, and when characters fall in love.

Interviews. NJOE went round robin with Death Troopers author Joe Schreiber.

No books, no comics, just the Obi-centric Star Wars Insider #112. In more forward-looking news (or at least stuff you didn’t read last month,) the official site has December 2009 comic solicitations.