Club Jade

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.

Street date shuffle: NJOE notes that The Making of The Empire Strikes Back release date has been moved up to March 23. That’s what Amazon says, anyway.

Interviews: EUC talks a bit of Darth Bane with Drew Karpyshyn.

The blogside: Paul S. Kemp has a brief Crosscurrent update, while Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff explores sci-fi story weaving and hardware.

What Fixer comic? Since I know you’re all dying to hear about that Fixer comic, the artist, Kevin Liell, has posted at TFN clarifying some things from NYCC. I’d still file this one under ‘long shot.’

Rebel Force: The official site gives us our first look at book five of Scholastic’s latest series, Trapped. (Is anyone reading these? I keep forgetting they exist.) It’s due out in January.

• A Padawan’s Journal: Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff on droids.

• Reviews: SF Site weighs in on Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor and The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia, Volume 1.
• Comics: Preview The Clone Wars #7.

Blood Oath in flux. The fan sites and forums are seeing some buzz about the strange vanishing of Elaine Cunningham’s whatever-happened-to-Zekk paperback from the various online catalogs and booksellers. (Last things we heard were a cover and a postponement.) It is rather mysterious, but I’m willing to wait this one out…

• Hyperspace/Fate of the Jedi: A Sithly short story by Christie Golden is part of the latest Fan Club Kit, as is a nice Adam Hughes poster from Dark Horse and a lot of Clone Wars stuff.

• The Blogside: Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff on How is a Star Wars Novel Like a Rollercoaster?
• Comics: Jo Chen walks us through the creation of the cover for Invasion #1.
• The Old Republic: Issue #8 of the Threat of Peace webcomic is up… Only one more to go in Act I.

The fiction is coming from inside the house! The latest piece of Hyperspace original fiction, ‘Death in the Slave Pits of Lorrd,’ is by TFN’s Adrick “TalonCard” Tolliver.

• The blogside: Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff on sidekicks.

• Printed matter: Inside Star Wars Insider #110 is a Clone Wars episode guide and an interview with Fate of the Jedi author Christie Golden just as her first book, Omen, hits.
• Fansites: The EU Cantina is restarting their book club with Darth Bane: Path of Destruction.
• Free stuff: Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist giving away a copy of The Clone Wars: No Prisoners.

• 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.

First look: StarWars.com gives us a peek at The Art of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. I continue to wince at the appropriation of McQuarrie art in the name of designs based on those awful puppets. (Not that people were exactly Ralph’s greatest either, but if one must choose…) Your mileage may vary, but this is probably one Art of I’ll be sitting out for.

• Street date shuffle: The Essential Atlas has been moved back to August 18. Only a month this time!

• The blogside. Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff considers Dash Rendar in her latest Padawan’s Journal.
• Interviews: EUC is taking questions for their interview with Invasion’s Colin Wilson and Tom Taylor.

Dash Rendar. Dash Rendar? The forgettable Han Solo stand-in from Shadows of the Empire? Umm… Well, at least it’s unexpected?

Upcoming author Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff has posted the third entry in A Padawan’s Journal.

Head over to Book View Cafe for the second installment of Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff’s A Padawan’s Journal, where she tells the (sadly detail-free) story of how Holostar was pitched.

• Interviews: EU Cantina which is sporting a brand-new design) has posted their interview with Dark Horse’s Randy Stradley. Meanwhile, Suvudu has Joe Schreiber.

• Upcoming: StarWars.com has a sneak peek at The Clone Wars Visual Guide: Ultimate Battles and the fourth Rebel Force book, Firefight.