Club Jade

A good number of you probably don’t need me to tell you that Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor will be in stores tomorrow, but so it is. Also, the paperback of the Legacy of the Force finale, Denning’s Invincible.

Comic fans won’t go empty-handed this week, either: Arriving in comic stores on Friday (not Wednesday!) will be The Clone Wars: Crash Course and the Vector conclusion, aka Legacy #31.

I originally meant to do a big year-end poll on the year’s EU offerings, but time flies, so we’re just going to have to settle for this: The The Crystal Star Memorial Award for Expanded Universe wackiness, aka the Waru. This award is given to the one Expanded Universe event (both in-universe and without count) that made you go ‘What?’ The one event that most shocked, confused, or even amused you in a deeply sarcastic way. Think hard. Award ironically. (more…)

Lots of tidbits: Sue Rostoni has continued posting bits and pieces about the new contract on StarWars.com boards and blogs, including the timing of Fate of the Jedi and Blood Oath (apparently Seeley’s cover art has Zekk “in a very manly pose, looking ruggedly handsome.”) Meanwhile, the first FOTJ cover will feature Luke, although no artist names yet, and the manuscript for Shadows of Mindor is 419 pages. And she’s updated her book schedule entry with a few new dates (already reflected in our schedule) and the news that the Reaves/Bonhoff ‘holostar’ novel is set two years before the Battle of Yavin. And today we swing right back to Fate of the Jedi: It “will continue to be a mix of characters.”

• Comics: StarWars.com has Dark Horse’s January 2009 solicitations, but it looks pretty slim: Just Knights of the Old Republic and the beginning of Legacy’s first post-Vector arc.

• The Force Unleashed: Sean Williams shares his piece from the Adelaide Advertiser on writing Star Wars.
• LOTF: io9 features Jacen and Jaina as one of Science Fiction’s Fiercest Sibling Rivalries.

When asked for his take on the Expanded Universe’s use of the themes he introduced in Traitor, this is what he had to say.

…due to my privileged position as a Star Wars novelist, my opinion would be given more weight by the fans than it actually deserves — it would tend to tip the perceptions of, at least, my particular fans, and even others would be tempted to end arguments with “Well, Matt Stover says . . .” I’ve decided I just have to keep it to myself.

Yes, some fans will angst at not having that clarification/ammunition, but hats off to you, Mr. Stover.

• Fan Art: Some new Expanded Universe images from Shea Standefer. (Warning: LOTF spoilers.)

• Merchandise: The Clone Wars party gear coming to Hallmark in August.
• Gaming: Preview KOTOR miniatures; A Galaxies card game? Seriously?

Eddie of Star Wars Chronology spotted a Legacy Era Campaign Guide on Amazon. It has a release date of March 2009 and lists Star Wars RPG regulars Rodney Thompson, Sterling Hershey, and Gary Astleford as authors. (Perusing their listings also turns up campaign guides for The Clone Wars and The Force Unleashed.)

Remember, Amazon is not exactly a reliable news source, so we can’t be 100% sure of this… But seeing as they’re doing a KOTOR guide I don’t doubt they’re up for detailing other EU eras.

I kind of missed the pie charts, until I made two of them in a single night. Anyway, here are the results of our two-week polls concerning the two biggest events of May: the final Legacy of the Force novel (fig. 1) and the long-awaited fourth Indiana Jones movie (fig. 2.) Overall, it seems you guys liked them – although you clearly liked Indy a lot more. Of course, he received the most votes as well – 154 to Invincible’s 119. (Not too shabby on the book’s part, even considering that our audience is a bit skewed in that regard.)

EU Cantina will have Invincible author Troy Denning live on their EUCast on June 13th. Listeners can send questions to the staff or call in and ask directly.

• Millennium Falcon: A hardcover listing for the post-LOTF novel by James Luceno has finally appeared on RandomHouse.com (We were tipped off by audio versions.) The listing gives the book a page count of 320.

• LOTF: StarWars.com user Suzanne has summarized the Invincible comments from Troy Denning and Sue Rostoni.
• TFU: A user on NJOE has spotted a new blurb for The Force Unleashed novel from the Science Fiction Book Club. (Scroll down about halfway.)

The Legacy of the Force finale is #4 on Publisher’s Weekly, #5 on the New York Times, and #14 on USA Today.