Club Jade

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.

156 readers weighed in, and there’s nothing too surprising here: Stover’s Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor, set not long after Return of the Jedi, took a clear lead with 61 votes; Luceno’s Millennium Falcon, our first look at the GFFA after the events of Legacy of the Force, took second with 43 votes. (Don’t forget these two recently swapped street dates: It’s good news for at least 43 of you.) Traviss’ Republic Commando: Order 66 and Reaves’ Coruscant Nights trilogy dueled it out for third place, ending up with 28 and 24 votes, respectively.

So sayth the official blog this evening: Stover’s Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor has been moved back to December, and Luceno’s Millennium Falcon moved up to October. But the main focus of the post is a nice bit from artist Dave Seeley on the how and why of the image, and we get our first look at Mindor’s back cover – Lord Shadowspawn.

This is also the second time we’ve gotten a real news item via the blog… Interesting, no? (I suppose an all-Flash site would be mildly bearable if this method continues. Permalinks good!)

Yes, yes, I’m updating the book schedule.

UPDATE 05/20: On TOS, we have word from Sue Rostoni on the how and why of the switch:

Matt is late with his manuscript, and Jim is early — just made sense to swap them to give us a bit more time.

Our latest poll went up yesterday, and asks which upcoming novel you’re straining at the bit for – The Coruscant Nights trilogy by Michael Reaves (The first book, Jedi Twilight, comes out in two weeks,) Karen Traviss’ Order 66 (September 16,) Matthew Stover’s Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor (December) or James Luceno’s Millennium Falcon (October.) Vote on the sidebar or under the cut. (more…)

StarWars.com updates today with the official announcement of Ryder Windham’s Obi-Wan bio (spotted on Amazon in March) which is titled Star Wars: The Life and Legend of Obi-Wan Kenobi and sports some nifty Hugh Fleming cover art.

Meanwhile, for the post-ROTJ fans, a hefty blurb for the highly-anticipated Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor.

Clearly, it’s cover day… I guess that Dave Seeley’s CIV print ‘Rogue Leader’ was appealing indeed…

Additionally, the Random House listing also lists the book at a whopping 416 pages. And you thought the Atlas would set fanboys drooling?

The EU Cantina posted about another summary today – this one for Matthew Stover’s Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor from the book’s Amazon UK page. Not going to bother to spoiler-bar this one, but keep in mind it is unverified.

The Battle of Mindor, where the forces of the New Republic, led by Luke Skywalker, take on the Black Stormtroopers, led by Lord Shadowspawn, self-styled new Emperor of the galaxy. What Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han, Solo, Chewbacca, C-3P0, R2-D2, Lando Calrissian, and the pilots of Rogue Squadron don’t realize is that the Battle of Mindor is a trap devised just for them – a diabolical attempt by Lord Shadowspawn to do away with the heroes of the New Republic so that he can crush the upstarts and restore the Empire – with himself at the helm. But Lord Shadowspawn has underestimated the bravery and resourcefulness of his enemies…

Shadows of Mindor is currently scheduled for an October 21st release.

Three books have had their release dates pushed back recently. Making room for the mystery book? Clone Wars stuff? (Or both?)

• The Force Unleashed adaption by Sean Williams is now set for August 19, back (again!) from June 24.

• Republic Commando: Order 66 was previously on for August 5; now September 16.
• And Matthew Stover’s Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor has been pushed from September 30 to October 21.

Our Star Wars book schedule has been updated.

The Random House site has added dates for the following releases:

• August 26 – Coruscant Nights #2: Street of Shadows by Michael Reaves (PB)

• September 30 – Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor by Matthew Stover (HC)
• October 28 – Coruscant Nights #3: Patterns of the Force by Michael Reaves (PB)

As we learned last time, nothing is set in stone, but you’re probably safe penciling these dates in. Don’t forget, our Star Wars book release schedule is always available in the sidebar.

First off, she explains that while the ‘Rogue Leader’ image “hasn’t been chosen to become the cover of the Luke book, the idea is one that appeals to us.”

She also addresses the concept of covers and canon, which has been a hot topic over at the TOS boards lately:

With SW, we’ve tried to get covers to stay true to what’s happening inside, but it’s rarely completely possible. I think we’ve done a very, very good job with our covers in conveying the sense and feeling of the books. Personally, I don’t think covers should be cannon at all…… an exception might be when an EU character who has never been seen before shows up on a cover, then we’d use that as future reference… but people need to be realistic about these things.

Check out the Books, Comics, and Television VIP thread at StarWars.com for more.