The Last Jedi novelization won’t be out until March

The Last Jedi novelization by Jason Fry has been scheduled for a March 6, 2018 release in both hardcover and eBook. This is a bit of a departure from the novelizations for The Force Awakens and Rogue One, both of which came out as eBooks on the film release dates, followed by a hardcover a few weeks later. Maybe the rush wasn’t worth the result?

The Last Jedi will be in theaters December 15, 2017.

Despite the two-pronged release, The Force Awakens novelization managed to become the first Star Wars novel to hit #1 on the New York Times bestseller list in several years.

Star Wars out this week: Poe Dameron, Darth Vader

In the comic shops this week will be Poe Dameron #3 and Darth Vader #21. Only 4 issues left of Vader, which will wrap up with #25.

If it’s Legends you’re out for, Timothy Zahn’s Specter of the Past has been on sale for $1.99 in Kindle for the past few days, though Visions of the Future is still regular price. The Hand of Thrawn duology, which wrapped up the Bantam era of publishing back in the late ’90s, is a Club Jade favorite. (If you’re new, I do have some Legends recommendations over at my sadly neglected personal site.)

Our next new novel is still just over a month away. Chuck Wendig’s Aftermath: Life Debt is dropping July 12 in hardcover and eBook. Del Rey gave a look at the book’s dedication last week. (And the first book in that series is also still on sale at Amazon.)

Del Rey’s 2016 Star Wars sampler to be available April 11

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First given out as a paperback at C2E2, Del Rey’s Star Wars 2016 Sampler will be available for the rest of us as an eBook on April 11. It can be preordered now from a variety of vendors.

The only new Star Wars excerpt contained within is Claudia Gray’s Bloodline (out May 3,) but it also features the complete short stories “Bait” by Alan Dean Foster, “Inbrief” by Janine K. Spendlove, and “Blade Squadron” and “Blade Squadron: Zero Hour” by David J. Williams and Mark S. Williams.

Star Wars out this week: Short stories, Star Wars #13

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The Journey to The Force Awakens continues today with the release of the four Tales from a Galaxy Far, Far Away: Aliens eBook short stories from Landry Q. Walker: ‘The Crimson Corsair and the Lost Treasure of Count Dooku’, ‘High Noon on Jakku’, ‘The Face of Evil’ and ‘All Creatures Great and Small’. These are only in ebook format for now, but a print anthology (with two additional stories) will be coming from Disney Lucasfilm Press in the spring.

Meanwhile, for those looking to avoid anything that may touch on The Force Awakens for the time being, there’s also Star Wars #13 on Wednesday.

A fifth short story, ‘The Perfect Weapon’, came out last week. Although we’ll certainly be getting comics throughout the rest of the month, this leaves us with no prose releases until the floodgates open on December 18.

Journey to The Force Awakens: Covers for Landry Q. Walker’s 4 short stories

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Discovered this morning, covers for Landry Q. Walker’s forthcoming short stories in the Journey to The Force Awakens line. They all have a second tagline, Tales from a Galaxy Far, Far Away: Aliens, because we’re back to adding as much gobbledygook as possible to titles, I guess.

They Might Be Geeks was the first to spot them, while better quality copies were dug up by Jedi Bibliothek.

The four stories are from Disney Lucasfilm Press, and will be out as eBooks on November 30. If you lack an ereader, a print anthology (presumably named Tales from a Galaxy Far, Far Away: Aliens) is coming in the spring. It will include two additional stories.

A fifth short from Del Rey, Delilah S. Dawson’s ‘The Perfect Weapon’, is out on November 24.

Journey to The Force Awakens: Blurb for ‘The Perfect Weapon’ short story

jtfa-perfect-weaponDel Rey has revealed a short blurb for Delilah S. Dawson’s ‘The Perfect Weapon,’ a Journey to The Force Awakens short story featuring Bazine Netal, one of the characters we’ll see at Maz Kanata’s castle in the film.

There are plenty of mercenaries, spies, and guns for hire in the galaxy. But probably none as dangerous and determined as Bazine Netal. A master of disguise—and lethal with a blade, a blaster, or bare handed—she learned from the best. Now it’s her turn to be the teacher—even if schooling an eager but inexperienced recruit in the tricks of her trade is the last thing she wants to do. But it’s the only way to score the ship she needs to pull off her latest job.

An anonymous client has hired Bazine to track down an ex-stormtrooper and recover the mysterious package he’s safeguarding. Payment for the mission promises to be astronomical, but the obstacles facing Bazine will prove to be formidable. And though her eager new sidekick has cyber skills crucial to the mission, only Bazine’s razor-sharp talents will mean the difference between success or failure—and life or death.

The short will be on sale as a $1.99 ebook on November 24.

Also of note, Del Rey’s Star Wars Books team have recently started a Tumblr.

You can download Del Rey’s 2015 Star Wars Sampler now

dr15-sampler-cropThe booklet of Star Wars novel excerpts that Del Rey was giving out at Celebration Anaheim is now available to all as a free download. You can get it at Amazon or from your preferred eBook vendor.

It contains excerpts from the upcoming Dark Disciple by Christie Golden and Battlefront: Twilight Company by Alexander Freed, as well the other new canon books that are already out.

Out this week: Del Rey sampler, Son of Dathomir #3

del-rey-samplerWell, now that we’ve got had our first look at a new/old upcoming comic, let’s see what you can actually pick up this week…

Today, send your eBook reader of choice to your eBook retailer of choice to download the free sampler containing previews of all four of Del Rey’s announced upcoming books. It gives us our first look at John Jackson Miller’s A New Dawn, James Luceno’s Tarkin, Kevin Hearne’s Heir to the Jedi and Paul Kemp’s Lords of the Sith. I skimmed it last night, and let’s just say that ‘underwhelmed’ seems to be the word of the day…

Meanwhile, comic readers will have Darth Maul: Son of Dathomir #3, the second-to-last issue, waiting for them on Wednesday.