Club Jade

Interviews Bonnie’s been doing the rounds for her craft book with interviews at Geekdad and TFN. The book also got favorable reviews on TFN, Geekdad, and iGeektrooper.

Meanwhile, Deceived author Paul S. Kemp has appeared on podcasts from SF Signal and (along with John Jackson Miller) the ForceCast’s Jedi Journals.

Tour. DK is sending out some of their authors and artists, along with The Clone Wars’ Ashley Eckstein, on an east coast tour throughout May. Ryder Windham, Chris Reiff, Chris Trevas, and Jason Fry will be making appearances.

This place can get a little rough. Looking for a new forum home now that the ones on StarWars.com are going away? EU Cantina has revamped their boards, and even TFN’s Lit has a welcome thread.

Rancho Obi-Wan. A look inside Steve Sansweet’s library.

Crimson Empire III. I’m sure we all have things in fandom whose popularity mystifies us. I have many – enough for a complete post, probably – but perhaps one of the oldest is the appeal of Crimson Empire. Is it the eternal love of Dark Horse’s fanboys for bland musclebound men kicking ass? Or that, for years, the third series was dead and the story of Kir Kanos unconcluded? I don’t know. I’m not sure I really care. But for those who do, it’s on now — and mere months away. On Friday, Dark Horse revealed Dave Dorman’s cover for Crimson Empire III #1 and two interior pages from the Dark Horse Presents story. Meanwhile, Mike Richardson and Randy Stradley talk about the series with StarWars.com

Deceived. Gotta love it when the author does their own review roundup. Got questions for Kemp? He’ll be doing a chat on the Star Wars Book Facebook page on Wednesday.

Historic! Shadowlocked takes a look at 20 years of the Expanded Universe. I have a few quibbles – Shadows of the Empire didn’t have a video game based on it because it was popular, but because the whole enterprise was a marketing test run for the PT… And I’m pretty sure Traviss never claimed to have Zahn’s blessing to kill off Mara – but it’s still a fairly interesting primer.

Interview. John Jackson Miller at MidSouthCon.

And finally… You can get an Insider subscription no matter where in the world you live. Handy!

Two smugglers walk into a bar… Today on the official forums, editor Sue Rostoni shared a brief excerpt from the proof of Michael Reaves and Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff’s Shadow Games. Black-barred for the paranoid spoilerphobics:

“In case you haven’t noticed, Captain, there are Imperials all over the place. It would be in our customer’s interests to be discreet.”

The Wookiee said something, to which Han replied, “Of course I’m discreet. I’m always discreet.” To Dash he said, “What’d you have in mind?”

The proof, for those of you keeping track, is 338 pages. Shadow Games will be out in paperback in the fall.

Interview. Lightsaber Rattling talks to Paul Kemp about his just-released Old Republic tie-in, Deceived.

Blurbs. In other Kemp-related news, there’s a summary out there now for his September paperback, Riptide. (via)

Comics. The Crimson Empire story that will be in Dark Horse Presents #1 will feature Kir Kanos in a standalone tale that will both recap some of the earlier CE and set things up for CEIII, according to Randy Stradley.

First look. The next in the Lost Tribe of the Sith series, ‘Pantheon,’ will hit July 18th.

Tuesday sees the release of Paul S. Kemp’s The Old Republic: Deceived, which has been getting a fair amount of hype. (Say it with me: Gamers!)

But seriously, the early buzz has been good, so give it a try if you’re into the era.

Why was the Riptide cover changed? Sue Rostoni answered a reader question on this the other day, saying “The sales folks at Random House weren’t sure it was strong enough — not as dynamic as they’d like.” Not sure I see it, but okay. (Personally, I’d rather they change up the Choices of One cover.) Compare them for yourself by clicking on the thumbnails at right.

In the future… J.W. Rinzler tweeted and then deleted about prepping for “a sequel of sorts” to The Jedi Path. Not a huge surprise in any case, though we all eagerly await details.

Canon, continuity, and The Clone Wars. A certain controversial event happened on last week’s Clone Wars. Leland Chee explains. (Spoilers for ‘Citadel Rescue.’)

Atlasery. Behold the sectors of the Mid Rim in the latest Essential Atlas extra.

Statistics 101. EU Cantina has a new staffer, Andrew, and for his first column he’s taken a look at the complaints that we’re getting less EU product lately.

Comics. Dark Horse’s solicitations for June include Lost Suns #1, Jedi: The Dark Side #2 and trades for Knight Errant: Aflame and the fourth A Long Time Ago omnibus.

On that note… John Jackson Miller’s Knight Errant novel answers, part the second.

Subscribers have (hopefully) received it already, but the latest issue of Star Wars Insider ought to be in stores now. Lest you forget, this is the one featuring the Darth Malgus short story from Paul S. Kemp, to whet appetites for next week’s Deceived release.

Also coming up: Kemp will be on a Star Wars novel panel with fellow author John Jackson Miller and Del Rey editor Erich Schoeneweiss at C2E2 in Chicago on Friday.

Whoohoo! Beginning next Thursday, the Star Wars Books Facebook page will be posting a Heir to the Empire annotation from Timothy Zahn each week until the book’s release in June. Suddenly, I hate Facebook just a tiny, tiny bit less.

In the meantime, Del Rey is asking what Thrawn scene you’d like to see illustrated in The Essential Guide to Warfare.

The blogside. Paul S. Kemp on readers who complain there’s too much focus on Jedi and Sith in the EU. I’m so with him on this. Sure, it’s nice to have novels about other folks in the galaxy sometimes, but Jedi and Sith are pretty much integral to the DNA of Star Wars.

Pop quiz. Head on over to EUC to find out if you are smarter than a Star Wars blogger. I can neither confirm nor deny that some of the snarky quotes are mine.

C2E2. Not surprisingly, there are several Star Wars events at the Chicago con later this month, including Del Rey and Dark Horse panels. And I’m changing my mind every other day about going…

Weird facts. Pete at Lightsaber Rattling follows up his author list with a look at who’s written the most young adult novels. The ultimate result this time around, though? Not a surprise. Think if we pester him enough he’ll do one by word count?

Sith check. Paul S. Kemp’s Old Republic novel, Decieved, drops two weeks from today, so naturally there’s a book trailer.

Kemp has been making the rounds: He appeared on TOR-Talk and an interview with Fictional Frontiers will surely be appearing soonish. And those audiobooks he was giving away last time? The winners are up.

Weird facts. Who’s written the most Star Wars (adult) novels? The answer may surprise you.

Recently… John Jackson Miller has Knight Errant novel answers.

Details, details. Dan Wallace on how the trade paperback Jedi Path will differ from the fancy box version. The answers will… Probably not surprise you.

Interview. There’s not a whole lot of Star Wars talk here , but if anyone deserves a link without that pesky fact, it’s our pal Mike Stackpole.

The first cover for Riptide was not exactly met with a chorus of cheers, but I was still a bit surprised to see a new one pop up today.

The blurb is the same, but the release date has changed in the interim, and it will now be out on September 27.

Another Old Republic comic is coming. The new Insider contain news of a mini-series called The Lost Suns. Game writer Alexander Freed will be doing the writing honors, with the team from Blood of the Empire on art. Head on over to NJOE and/or Star Wars Universe for the full image and details.

This is the same issue that features Paul S. Kemp’s ‘The Third Lesson,‘ a Darth Malgus short story, so if you’re a fan of the era it’ll no doubt be worth picking up. On that note, Kemp is giving away a Deceived audiobook or two.

Also upcoming… Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff reveals a new tentative title for her and Reaves’ Coruscant Knights followup: The Last Jedi.

More on the Dark Side: Scott Allie talks more with MTV Geek about Qui-Gon Jinn’s adventures in the upcoming comic Star Wars: Jedi – The Dark Side. Without revealing whether Qui-Gon is the one to cross over to the dark side, Allie talks about developing a story about the Jedi’s imperfect judgment, with a plot that is flashbacked to in the YA books, and describes Qui-Gon’s role here as a “powerful Jedi out on the rim of the galaxy, angry and alone, like a hero from the Clint Eastwood western.”

Recent releases. John Jackson Miller has notes for Knight Errant.

Nonfiction. J. W. Rinzler tweets about a new Star Wars Art installment.

Learn something. In his latest blog entry, Drew Karpyshyn writes about how a book makes it from outline to novel.

Coming in the back way. A prequel fan’s review of Heir to the Empire. He liked it!