And in non-Star Wars news: Star Trek Beyond, Independence Day: Resurgence and SyFy’s The Expanse

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With The Force Awakens on the horizon, a few studios are busy slipping out teasers for their next franchise sci-fi flicks. On Sunday, Twentieth Century Fox released the trailer for Independence Day: Resurgence, with Jeff Goldblum, Liam Hemsworth, and Bill Pullman picking up twenty years after the initial alien attack that was defeated by uploading a Mac virus. They also set up a site to track the history from 1996 to the present, including an explanation of where Will Smith’s character went.


And this morning, Paramount dropped the teaser for Star Trek Beyond, with a heavy dose of action, explosions, and the Beastie Boys. How many Trek films in a row will the Enterprise be destroyed? Idris Elba joins Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto in this film directed by Justin Lin of Fast & Furious fame.


Ready for the big premiere tonight? I’m talking of course of the newest space story to hit the screen, based on an earlier property: The Expanse. Airing in two parts, starting tonight on Syfy, the miniseries is based on the Expanse series of novels by James S.A. Corey, a pseudonym used by Ty Franck and Daniel Abraham, who also penned Star Wars: Honor Among Thieves, one of the last Legends novels. Andrew Liptak describes The Expanse as the new Battlestar Galactica. Check it out tonight and Tuesday night at 10 pm on Syfy. You can also watch part one online. Also on Syfy, starting tonight, is a three-part adaptation of Arthur C. Clarke’s Childhood’s End.

Review: James S. A. Corey’s Honor Among Thieves

honor-among-thevesLike Razor’s Edge, the previous book in the Empire and Rebellion series, James S. A. Corey’s Honor Among Thieves harkens back to a simpler time in the Expanded Universe.

Like it says on the tin, the book is Han-centric, and keeps a fairly close character focus – It serves the story, and this one feels even more back-to-basics than Razor’s Edge. Yes, it’s short, but
this isn’t a story that requires a tome – though Corey is more than capable of such, if you’re familiar with their Expanse books. It’s a quick, fun read, and despite a bit of potential galaxy-shaping consequences, there is not a lick of the Force.

Minor spoilers beyond this point.

Continue reading “Review: James S. A. Corey’s Honor Among Thieves”

Full blurb for Corey’s Honor Among Thieves

Honor Among ThievesStar Wars Books has just released a full blurb for James S.A. Corey’s Han-centric Empire and Rebellion book, Honor Among Thieves:

When the mission is to extract a high-level rebel spy from the very heart of the Empire, Leia Organa knows the best man for the job is Han Solo—something the princess and the smuggler can finally agree on. After all, for a guy who broke into an Imperial cell block and helped destroy the Death Star, the assignment sounds simple enough.

But when Han locates the brash rebel agent, Scarlet Hark, she’s determined to stay behind enemy lines. A pirate plans to sell a cache of stolen secrets that the Empire would destroy entire worlds to protect—including the planet where Leia is currently meeting with rebel sympathizers. Scarlet wants to track down the thief and steal the bounty herself, and Han has no choice but to go along if he’s to keep everyone involved from getting themselves killed. From teeming city streets to a lethal jungle to a trap-filled alien temple, Han, Chewbacca, Leia, and their daring new comrade confront one ambush, double cross, and firestorm after another as they try to keep crucial intel out of Imperial hands.

But even with the crack support of Luke Skywalker’s X-Wing squadron, the Alliance heroes may be hopelessly outgunned in their final battle for the highest of stakes: the power to liberate the galaxy from tyranny or ensure the Empire’s reign of darkness forever.

The book is second in the loosely-connected series and scheduled for a hardcover release on March 4. The first, Martha Wells’ Razor’s Edge, is out September 24, but you can check out my review now.

Also debuting today is the cover art for Corey’s Cibola Burn, fourth novel in their series The Expanse.

Corey’s Expanse series to be developed for TV

The Expanse

Iron Man writers Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby will are scripting a pilot based on the The Expanse space opera series by Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck, Variety reports.

“The Expanse” will be an hourlong scifi drama with elements of a detective procedural, centring on a cover-up of the discovery of alien life. Alcon [Television Group] said it is developing the project in direct-to-series fashion internally before shopping to networks.

I’ll be interested to see how the books translate to screen; I raved about the first two way back in January and I still recommend it after Abaddon’s Gate, came out in June.

Abraham and Franck, who co-write under the Corey pen name, just turned in the final version of upcoming Star Wars novel, Honor Among Thieves, into Del Rey.

Blurb gives us first hints at Corey’s Honor Among Thieves

Honor Among ThievesRandom House has posted a short blurb for James S.A. Corey’s Honor Among Thieves.

When a rebel spy needs extraction from under the nose of the Empire, who better to send than master smuggler, Han Solo? But rescuing a friendly spy is just the start of a wild adventure as the intel the spy uncovers leads Han and Leia to an ancient and deadly secret that threatens to be the Empire’s ultimate-and likely successful-weapon against the Rebel Alliance. Add in the chance to lose Luke Skywalker to this horrific threat, and Han and Chewbacca may have finally met a trap even they can’t escape…

The book, second in the loosely-connected Empire and Rebellion series, is currently scheduled for a hardcover release in March. The first, Martha Wells’ Razor’s Edge, is out September 24. (via)

EUbits: Corey’s Honor Among Thieves has a release date

ANH: Han and LeiaStreet date shuffle. James S. A. Corey’s Honor Among Thieves, the Han-centric second novel of the Empire and Rebellion series, has appeared in the Random House catalog with a release date of March 4. Per usual this is subject to change – we’ve already seen Martha Wells’ Leia book move up twice – so pencil it in.

Upcoming. There’s an excerpt from John Jackson Miller’s Kenobi on the Random House catalog. There’s also a new short story from him, ‘Incognito,’ in the latest issue of the Star Wars Insider, which should be hitting subscriber mailboxes soon if it hasn’t already.

Interviews. Crucible author Troy Denning talks to TheForce.net, Hollywood.com and Roqoo Depot. There are spoilers in these, so be cautious.

Reviews. James finds that the start of the new story arc in Brian Wood’s Star Wars #7 is full of tension, but light on action, and brings in a new artist, Ryan Kelly, who had previously worked with Wood elsewhere. (Plus a female Moff?!)

Corey’s Han Solo novel is Honor Among Thieves

Han.Del Rey’s Erich Schoeneweiss announced today that the James S. A. Corey Han Solo novel – second in the Empire and Rebellion series – will be titled Honor Among Thieves and will be out next spring.

The first novel in the series will be October’s Leia-centric Razor’s Edge by Martha Wells. The third will be by Kevin Hearns and focus on Luke Skywalker.

Meanwhile, the third novel in Corey’s space opera series The Expanse, Abaddon’s Gate was released yesterday. I don’t have it yet, but I do recommend the series.

First blurbs for Wells’ Leia novel and Kenobi; Release dates for the rest of Rebels

Luke, Leia and HanWe’ve got details this morning on the forthcoming Rebels series, most notably a brief blurb for Martha Wells’ still-untitled Leia novel:

Nebula Award finalist Martha Wells makes her Star Wars debut with a brand-new classic Star Wars: Rebels adventure starring Princess Leia and her new friends, Luke Skywalker and Han Solo, in the time just after the destruction of the Death Star in Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope!

Princess Leia Organa is on a mission for the Rebel Alliance when Imperial forces attack. Now she, Han, and Luke are on their own, working with pirates and dealing with traitors as they race the clock to protect the secrecy of a crucial meeting of Rebel conspirators!

The listing also gives us (presumably tentative) dates for the other books in the series: March 2014 for James S. A. Corey’s Han book and January 2015 for Kevin Hearn’s Luke novel. (via)

John Jackson Miller’s Kenobi also gets a blurb:

In this original novel set between the events of Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith and Episode IV A New Hope, Obi-Wan Kenobi comes to the aid of the residents of Tatooine during his exile. But he struggles with his new mission when he realizes that protecting Luke Skywalker-the last hope of the galaxy-means setting aside his compassion and his Jedi warrior training, for the future of the galaxy lies not with Obi-Wan Kenobi, but with a mystical desert recluse known only by the name of Crazy Old Ben.

There’s also a listing for William Shakespeare’s Star Wars (with the cover and a few interior pages.)