Club Jade

For Star Wars fans, Catherine Taber is best known as the voice of Senator Padmé Amidala on The Clone Wars, though she first got her start in voice acting working on different Star Wars video games. Taber provided the voice for a new character, Vette, for the upcoming Star Wars: The Old Republic game, and recently was heard as a tactical droid in The Clone Wars episode ‘Shadow Warrior’. She was kind enough to answer our interview questions about her work on The Clone Wars and The Old Republic, as well as talk about her Games for Soldiers project.

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The Star Wars Books Facebook page hosted a chat with author Paul S. Kemp this evening. Kemp is the author of last year’s Crosscurrent, The Old Republic: Deceived, and the just-released Riptide. Warning: This chat will contain some spoilers for all three of his books. I’ve tried to contain them to the last part here, but be warned: I might miss some, since I haven’t read any of them. Head beneath the cut to check it out the highlights. (more…)

When it comes to increasing our knowledge of topics in the Star Wars universe in entertaining ways, Daniel Wallace is a master. His works include several of the most well-regarded reference books, including The Essential Atlas, The New Essential Guide to Characters, and The New Essential Chronology. His articles and stories have appeared in the full gamut of magazines, from the Adventure Journal to Star Wars Gamer and the Star Wars Insider.

Last year, we were blown away by The Jedi Path, which he wrote as an in-universe guidebook for Jedi students. With the The Jedi Path being re-released this September, and his new work, Book of Sith: Secrets from the Dark Side coming out in February 2012 in a deluxe vault edition, Daniel took the time to answer some questions for Club Jade about the upcoming Book of Sith, which was first announced at Comic-Con this year and had major details released today, and the new version of The Jedi Path.

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Marketing Week’s Laura Snoad talks to Howard Roffman on how Lucasfilm is keeping Star Wars relevant in the post-movie era. He pings on the books, video games, and other merchandising issues. Includes a question from our very own Eliz, the answer to which contains interesting bit on the StarWars.com redesign:

The website will also be easier for people to shop for Star Wars products and connect with other fans to see what other news is being generated from multiple sources. There’s an evolution in StarWars.com from wanting to be the [only] fans’ site to understanding we can connect to other channels that fans use to communicate with each other.

The AV Club has a great interview with Mark Hamill. They cover a lot of ground beyond his two most famous roles, including the upcoming Sushi Girl, Comic Book: The Movie and The Big Red One. But there is, of course, plenty on “the space movies.”

Namesake corner. The Mara fan site Jade Crusades folded a few years back, but creator Mazzic has resurrected the site’s interviews with several authors and artists who shaped Mara, including Tim Zahn, Mike Stackpole and Drew Struzan.

The Jedi Path. With the standalone edition out now, Daniel Wallace reveals five steps to becoming a Jedi Knight. Meanwhile, here’s a review.

Knight Errant. Dave Marshall gives fans a glimpse of the series’ ships. I like how the giant hyperspace rings are an obvious precursor to to the smaller versions we saw in the prequels.

History. This is old news for many of us, but io9 has a nice post on how Star Wars saved comics.

Reviews. James is at it again over at Big Shiny Robot, giving his take on Invasion: Revelations #3, and The Old Republic: The Lost Suns #4.

Fate of the Jedi. For those still on board with the most tedious series since the nigh-endless New Jedi Order, there’s finally a blurb for the final volume, Troy Denning’s Apocalypse. I haven’t the slightest idea how spoilery it is since I have yet to make it past the first chapter of Ascension, so head on over to the link to check it out.

X-Wing. In happier news, Erich Schoeneweiss confirms EUCantina’s report that Face Loran will be back – and Myri Antilles will be flying with the Wraiths – in Aaron Allston’s Mercy Kill.

Interviews. Roqoo Depot has an interview with Jeff Grubb, who’s writing next year’s Scourge.

Staffing. Editor Frank Parisi has moved from Lucasfilm to Del Rey.

Review. Our own JawaJames reviews Dark Times: Out of the Wilderness #2 at Big Shiny Robot.

Knights Archive has a nice interview with Lucasbooks editor Sue Rostoni, who retired not that long ago. They chat about missing Lucasfilm, favorite moments, fan criticism, expanded universe regrets and more.

As an added bonus, there are several tributes to Sue from authors.

In the, err, cardboard. Del Rey’s Erich Schoeneweiss treats us to a look at a just-printed copy of the Heir to the Empire: 20th Anniversary edition under the jacket. I still wish they’d gone with brand-new art, but making the original black and white does make it slightly less horrible. Slightly.

Listage. The Star Wars Report has ten Expanded Universe characters who could be in The Clone Wars. Some of you may hate the very concept, but hey: That’s what you get for reading prequel EU in George’s driveway. And hey: It means greater possibility for action figures! Just ask Quinlan Vos.

Giveaway. Paul S. Kemp is giving away two unbound galleys of his October paperback, Riptide.

Preview. Another look at The Blueprints from Laurel Woods at MTV. She also has an interview with Bonnie Burton.

With Fate of the Jedi: Ascension only days away, it hasn’t been too hard to find hype (both good and bad, of course) about the book on the fansites.

Roqoo Depot interviews author Christie Golden. They discuss the lost tribe, Boba Fett, and even mention our 2010 interview.

Naturally, there are mixed feeling among those who’ve already read the book. Peter Morrison at Lightsaber Rattling says that Golden did a “a great job” with several of the established characters, as well as making Abeloth a more effective villain. Bill Silvia at NJOE was far less impressed, turning out a rather brutal review that claims Ascension is “cheap and hateful… to the very concept of a fandom.” For what it’s worth, both reviews are spoiler-free.

And if you’re hounding for more, Suvudu has a new excerpt, featuring Ben, Vestara, Luke and Jaina.