Club Jade

Take this one with a GIANT grain of salt: According to this Kickstarter, Matthew Stover is “replacing Karen Traviss as the author of the 501st novels for Star Wars.”

I’m assuming this means the Imperial Commando series, which has remained unfinished since Traviss bowed out of the franchise in 2009 after the release of 501st. LFL and Del Rey folks have talked about handing over the series to another author before, but the last attempt, with Aaron Allston, ended up turning into Mercy Kill instead. However, at Celebration VI, Del Rey’s Shelly Shapiro did say “Big maybe with positive thoughts. Can’t say anything yet but I think you’ll be happy.”

Keep in mind that this is far, far from a confirmed source… And, quite honestly, I’m hoping it’s false. Stover is far better than picking up Traviss’ scraps, no matter how beloved the series may be in some circles. (Hattip to Andrew Liptak.)

Chat season. Troy Denning will be chatting Apocalypse tomorrow afternoon on the Star Wars Books Facebook page. (He’ll also be at San Diego Comic Con in July… A behind-the-scenes FOTJ panel, perhaps?) Also chatting, on the 11th, will be Essential Guide to Warfare author Jason Fry. We’ll likely be recapping both.

Scoundrels. Del Rey editor Frank Parisi was on last week’s ForceCast where he revealed two of the established characters that will be on the team. (If you want the fairly minor spoilers, highlight this: Kell Tainer and Winter. If Kell means nothing to you, he’s in the X-Wing series.)

Upcoming. We can expect news on something post-Fate of the Jedi what’s next “sometime this summer, if not sooner,” Erich Schoeneweiss said in response to a fan question. Not at SDCC, I hope.

Blurbs. Knights Archive spotted a longer summary for Pablo Hidalgo’s Essential Reader’s Companion in the Random House online catalog.

Interviews. Roqoo Depot talks to Matt Stover – mostly about his new book, Caine’s Law, which was out in stores yesterday – but they also touch on Star Wars. Meanwhile, Angela Slatter interviews Karen Miller and Sean Williams about working in franchises.

Listage. Lane over at Roqoo Depot gives the regular folks of the GFFA their due with his list of the top ten non-Force sensitive Expanded Universe characters.

Fate of the Jedi. Lightsaber Rattling reports on Troy Denning’s comments about the likely Apocalypse page count.

Short stories. Get a peek – though not a particularly readable one – at Matthew Stover’s Insider short story, ‘The Tenebrous Way.’

Interview. Writer John Ostrander talks Agent of the Empire with Nerd World News.

Artists. Five contributers to Star Wars Art: Comics share their thoughts on the franchise and comics at CBR.

Excerpts. Two more from Darth Plagueis – a mini on Facebook, and a larger one at Random House’s online catalog.

Pretties.Concept art from Genndy Tartakovsky’s traditionally animated Clone Wars cartoon. It graced Cartoon Network in the gap between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, and I’m sad to hear that the DVDs have apparently gone out of print, because it was an amazing series of shorts.

Short stories. Del Rey editor David Pomerico broke the news on Facebook yesterday: Matthew Stover’s ‘The Tenebrous Way’ will be December’s addition to the ever-growing pile of shorts making the Star Wars Insider.

The story will tie into James Luceno’s Darth Plagueis, which is due out December 27.

Blurbs. Knights Archive was first to spot the synopsis for The Millennium Falcon Owner’s Workshop Manual.

Poll. Again on Facebook, the Del Rey folks want to know which of the remaining 2011 releases you’re looking most forward to. At the moment it’s pretty close between Heir to the Empire 20th Anniversary Edition and Darth Plagueis.

Random. Since the latest Fate of the Jedi is hanging out on the bestseller list with his new novel, The New York Times asked author Lev Grossman about Star Wars. (This belongs in a different roundup entirely, but: Grossman just won the Campbell.)

Tuesday will bring Karen Miller’s Clone Wars Gambit: Stealth to bookstores, the first of a duology that will wrap up The Clone Wars novel tie-ins. If the prequel era isn’t your bag, there’s always Matthew Stover’s Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor arriving in paperback.

Cannot predict now. Despite the reappearance of Elaine Cunningham’s Blood Oath in the Del Rey online catalog with a 2010 release date, we still don’t know if the book will make it to publication. Sue Rostoni said yesterday: “Can’t say yet. Still don’t have the entire manuscript.” (She also answers some questions about the Crosscurrent cover.)

• Invasion. EU Cantina has an interview with Tom Taylor and Colin Wilson.

• Holostar. Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff on the Force and the light/dark divide.
• Rebel Force. Randy Martinez talks about his covers for the Scholastic series.
• Star Wars Insider. #111 has a Clone Wars cover (how novel!) and a peek at The Essential Star Wars Atlas. It’s due by the end of the month.
• Authors. Matthew Stover is writing at least one God of War book for Del Rey, or at least that’s what several gaming sites are saying. There’s something in the Random House catalog at any rate.

• A Padwan’s Journal: Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff writes about dealing with icons in her tenth entry.

• Street date shuffle: Drew Karpyshyn’s Dynasty of Evil has moved up a week to December 8. Book release schedule is thatta way.
• The blogside: Matthew Stover has updated his blog with news of some upcoming projects, including two more tie-ins. Now note, there’s nothing about them being Star Wars, but they certainly could be.

Updates from Sue Rostoni: Deathtroopers is becoming a hardcover, and the release date has been moved up to October 13th – all the better for Halloween sales, no doubt. Also moving is the newly-titled Fate of the Jedi: Backlash, back a week to January 26. Our book release schedule has been updated.

• Comics: Dark Horse’s Randy Stradley talks Star Wars with Newsarama. The big news here is that Invasion, like Rebellion, will alternate with Dark Times: “five months on, five months off.”

• More interviews! In podcast form! Author Matthew Stover on the Dragon Page; The EUCast has voice actress Jennifer Hale.

EU Cantina has posted their Matthew Stover interview, while Lightsabre talks to Karen Miller. Also at EUC, The Force Unleashed’s Adrienne Wilkinson.

The fansquee has been coming fast and furious for 2008′s final Expanded Universe offering, the long-awaited Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor by Matthew Stover. Where do you stand? Vote on the sidebar or under the cut. (more…)