EUbits: Jedi Quest audio, interviews, comics

Surprise audiobooks! A couple days ago, Zee Zee spotted audiobook listings on the Random House catalog for the first four Jedi Quest books: Way of the Apprentice, The Trail of the Jedi, The Dangerous Games and The Master of Disguise. All four are listed as $9.99 unabridged digital downloads with spring release dates.

Audiobooks years after the fact? Plus, the original books were published by Scholastic, which isn’t a Random House imprint, though the audio versions are listed under Random House’s Imagination Studios. (Del Rey’s Star Wars audiobooks are Random House Audio.) Lucasbooks is clearly trying something new here, but we’re still awaiting some kind of confirmation…

EUbits: Watson’s National Book Award, Karen Miller interviewed, KOTOR preview, Jacen Solo

Awards: Judy Blundell, better known to Star Wars fans as Jude Watson, author of the Jedi Apprentice, Jedi Quest, and Last of the Jedi series’ for Scholastic, has won the National Book Award for her novel What I Saw and How I Lied.

UPDATE: GalleyCat now has a video interview with Blundell.

Next for Jude Watson

After Jedi Apprentice came Jedi Quest. But what’s next for Jude Watson?

Scholastic announced a new kids’ series today. The 39 Clues is a series that will mix books, collectible cards, and online gaming. It’s all supposed to fit together like a giant puzzle.

The New York Times says this is Scholastic’s bid to follow up on their success as the U.S. publishers of Harry Potter. The books will be written by different authors (sound familiar, EU fans?) and Jude Watson is signed to write the fourth book, due out in July 2009.