Club Jade

Namesake corner. Mara Jade gets a namedrop in Sideshow’s SDCC video, which leads me to believe that we might actually see a figure before we all die of old age. Alas, it’s pretty much the same thing they said last time, regarding the Adam Huges painting. Skip straight to 2:40 for the brief clip.

Comic-Con is so last week. There were copies of Year by Year on sale at in San Diego, but the rest of us will just have to settle for a con report.

First draft peek. Paul S. Kemp gives fans a very early look inside Riptide.

Good news, procrastinators! Star Wars Blueprints is coming out in book form!

First look. The Jedi Path comes in a vault. What? Yeah. Or: “Passed down from Master to Padawan, the pages of this venerable text have been annotated by those who have held it, studied it, and lived its secrets.” Since we’re living in the real world, I like Dan Wallace’s explanation: ” It’s supposed to look like an in-universe artifact that fell through a rabbit hole from the galaxy far, far away.” It is an interesting concept, but mostly I just fear what the Jedi Church will make of it.

Hey hey hey, goodbye. Yes, it’s official: There will be no Imperial Commando 2. (It was probably a lose-lose sans Traviss anyway.)

Namesake corner. Sideshow is teasing about a Mara Jade figure again. They like the Adam Hughes painting! (Sigh.) At least she’s not doing laundry?

Comics! Preview the October solicitations, including Knight Errant #1. Which just so happens to be on the cover of August’s Previews.

Interview. Paul Kemp (Crosscurrent) on Fictional Frontiers

Sue Rostoni updated her schedule blog today, and most of 2011 is affected. A lot of the moves are only by a month or so, however, and perhaps the biggest news here is that Timothy Zahn’s Allegiance sequel finally has an official title: Hand of Judgment. (You may know it by the working title: Choices.) It’s also moved up a month to July.

The most pressing move is Paul S. Kemp’s The Old Republic: Deceived, which drops from December to March – to be closer to the release of the MMO. (Which is just now launching beta testing: I’m no gamer, so make of it that you will.) Joe Schreiber’s Red Harvest moved into the vacant late-December spot.

Also drastically pushed back were Alex Irvine’s Nomi Sunrider novel (from May to December 2011) and Pablo Hidalgo’s Essential Reader’s Companion (to March 2012.) As for the rest, check the book schedule.

In stores now is Jason Fry’s Clone Wars Character Encyclopedia and the paperback for the third Fate of the Jedi novel, Troy Denning’s Abyss.

In other book news. Paul S. Kemp has posted an excerpt of his upcoming Old Republic novel, Deceived, which is due out in December.

Paul Kemp announced the title last night on Twitter, and goes into a bit more detail on his blog. Riptide, a paperback, is on the schedule for next June. Next up for Kemp is December’s The Old Republic: Deceived.

Legacy. Comic Book Resources interviews John Ostrander and Jan Duursema about the series as it winds down to the final issue.

Fate of the Jedi. Allies has made #8 on the New York Times and Publisher’s Weekly bestseller lists.

Kemp is a busy dude. Crosscurrent author Paul S. Kemp is interviewed at EU Cantina and reveals the dramatis personae for his Old Republic novel, Deceived.

Sorry, no photoshop today. Pablo Hidalgo has another book coming: a Scholastic guide to Lightsabers.

Gaming annex. The box art for The Force Unleashed II. Starkiller is pissed that Vader is invading his senior portrait!

…What? The Insider has an advertising campaign. Try not to giggle.

StarWars.com has the cover and title for the second Old Republic MMO tie-in novel, Paul S. Kemp’s The Old Republic: Deceived. It will focus on Darth Malgus, the lead Sith from last year’s game trailer. Here’s a bit of the blurb:

Deceived tells the story of Darth Malgus and gives fascinating insight into his rise to fame and glory as the Sith Lord who destroyed the Jedi Temple. This stunning narrative finds the dark hero battling a veteran Jedi Master, setting the stage for the affairs and betrayals surrounding the last battle of the Great War before the signing of the Treaty of Coruscant.

Deceived is set for release on December 28. Fans following Kemp’s blog will note that he just posted about finishing the first draft yesterday.

Nonfiction StarWars.com offers up a peek at J.W. Rinzler’s The Making of The Empire Strikes Back. The book’s release was recently pushed back to October, but there’s little doubt that it will be worth the wait.

Street date shuffle. On that note, our book release schedule has been updated. The most notable change: A double shot of Fate of the Jedi paperbacks as Omen and Abyss are moved up to spring.

Podcastery. Star Wars Action News talked to Paul S. Kemp earlier in the month, while the ForceCast caught up with John Jackson Miller at C2E2.

The blogside. Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff on the end game and the last period.

Morsel. Sue Rostoni says that Joe Schreiber’s Black Orchid is getting a new title because some people thought it sounded like a romance novel. Personally I think old school Neil Gaiman/Dave McKean…

Toys. Rebelscum reports that the Legacy Collection’s Expanded Universe action figures (the wave that includes Jacen and Jaina) have begun showing up at Toys “R” Us stores.

Upcoming. Dan Wallace confirms reports that he’s working on a book called The Jedi Path for Becker+Mayer. (Not that it needed confirmation, being in a catalog, but, uhh… I missed it. Sorry.)

Interviews. DaveBrendon talks to Paul S. Kemp and John Jackson Miller about Crosscurrent, Lost Tribe of the Sith and writing Star Wars. On a related note, JJM has posted his final Knights of the Old Republic production notes.

Blogside. Deborah J. Ross (aka Deborah Wheeler) on how she came to write her story ‘Goatgrass: The Tale of Ree-Yees’ in Tales from Jabba’s Palace.

Lost Tribe of the Sith returns with ‘Paragon’. (The excerpt from Allston’s Fate of the Jedi: Backlash starts on page 37.) Meanwhile, Old Republic go-to guy John Jackson Miller talks a bit about Knight Errant on his blog… Where he’ll be counting down to the Knights of the Old Republic finale on his blog.

Crosscurrent: Paul S. Kemp’s Star Wars debut is an official bestseller: It’s on the New York Times list at #10 and Publishers Weekly at #8. All this and two more reviews: Graeme’s Fantasy Book Review and Jawas Read Too.

Interview: The lovely and talented Mandy of TFN explores the GFFA with the amusing and knowledgeable Daniel Wallace.

Comics: Legacy was Day 37 of CBR’s Year of Cool Comics. Or, since I’m fairly sure y’all already know about Legacy, head over to Dark Horse for previews of issue #45 and Knights of the Old Republic #50.