Club Jade

Lots of stuff coming to the comic stores this week – well, three, which is ‘lots’ for our purposes. First off there’s Darth Vader and the Ninth Assassin #3 and a new Clone Wars digest, The Smuggler’s Code, starring Obi-wan. And for the trade paperback aficionados, there’s the collected Lost Tribe of the Sith: Spiral.

And finally, book fans, next week brings Aaron Allston’s X-Wing: Mercy Kill in paperback to match up with the rest of the series.

In stores on Tuesday is the paperback edition of James Luceno’s Darth Plagueis. (Now in the hands of the Emperor himself!) If you’re curious, you can read my sort of/kind of/not really a review from back when it came out in hardcover, but here it is in short: If you’re interested in the prequel era, the Sith and various bits of continuity that revolve around The Phantom Menace, try it. If you’re like me and more focused on the post-ROTJ stuff… It’s probably not worth the bother. But to each their own.

Anyway, moving on, it’ll also be a bit Sithly if you read to your local comic shop on Wednesday for Darth Maul: Death Sentence #4.

And, looking at our upcoming releases for the rest of the year, Sith fans also have The Old Republic: Annihilation coming up on November 13.

Fate of the Jedi. Apocalypse is only days away, and so there is a book trailer. (Naturally.) And a mini-excerpt. And a 50-page excerpt. And Troy Denning on a podcast. And, of course, another spoiler-free review at Star Wars Report. Will it ever end? (Well, yes. Presumably, Tuesday. And then, the arguing. Yay!)

Comics. John Jackson Miller talks about Knight Errant’s next arc, ‘Escape,’ with io9′s Cyriaque Lamar.

Upcoming. DK will be releasing The Old Republic Encyclopedia this fall, Roqoo Depot discovered.

The blogside. Roqoo Depot’s Skuldren speaks out against super-powered characters in video games and the EU. In my book, that’s a very big reason why certain streams should no be crossing… Meanwhile, io9 makes a valiant effort to connect the Star Wars timeline to Earth’s timeline – pity that the comic tale they’re using as a cornerstone is kind of, a little bit, well, actually entirely Infinities, aka a non-canon AU. Which they admit. But still.

Okay, fine. If it’s an actual EU timeline you’re looking for (sorry, no Earth,) here’s an official one from Del Rey.

Review. James gives the latest Clone Wars digest, The Enemy Within, a thumbs-up for its Dirty Dozen meets L.A. Confidential in space storyline.

Once again, we have a week without a book release, but Wednesday does bring a few things to your local comic shop. First up is Crimson Empire III: Empire Lost #5, as the series winds up to next month’s conclusion. Then, for the The Clone Wars fans, there’s The Enemy Within trade, which Dark Horse is describing as “Dirty Dozen in space.”

Of course, next week, we’ll finally get the last Fate of the Jedi book, Troy Denning’s Apocalypse. Which means now is the time for those of us who’ve been slacking (ahem, yours truly) to finally get around to reading finishing Ascension. For those who are hanging on every word, Lightsaber Rattling has the first review. He hints at some spoilers, but nothing major.

Plagueis the child? Today, Star Wars Books gives us the first in a series of mini-excerpts for James Luceno’s Darth Plagueis on Facebook. The Sith aren’t babysnatchers… most of the time.

On Stranger Tides: Paul Kemp dishes out a second excerpt, eight pages long, from Riptide, which comes out next week. If you missed the first excerpt, check it out on Suvudu.

Inside the Sith Empire: Random House has a good chunk of the first chapter of The Old Republic: Revan up on its site. Drew Karpyshyn’s novel about the character from the Knights of the Old Republic game comes out in November. If there’s one thing to be said about the Sith Empire, it’s that the trains run on time, so they must be doing something right.

Vader turns the page: At Suvudu, Eric Geller previews The Complete Vader with a video walkthrough of the book that looks at Darth Vader as both character and as pop culture icon.

Fate of the Jedi: In case you missed it, last week, Troy Denning has turned in his manscript for Apocalypse.

Comics: I’ve been busy reviewing the latest Star Wars comics over at Big Shiny Robot: Last week we had the awesome Invasion – Revelations #4, and the lackluster The Old Republic – The Lost Suns #5. This week, I take a peek at Knight Errant – Escape #3, and a The Clone Wars digest: Strange Allies.

Free Comic Book Day. It’s not until May, but we learned today that The Clone Wars will be among the offerings. (Dark Horse will also have an Avatar: The Last Airbender comic.)

Fiction returns to Insider. Paul S. Kemp has turned in a short story destined for the magazine. It stars Darth Malgus of his upcoming Old Republic novel, Deceived, so I expect we’ll be seeing it early in the new year.

Chattage. Del Rey will be holding a Vortex chat with author Troy Denning on their Star Wars Books Facebook next Wednesday.

Interview. Geeks are Sexy interviews Daniel Wallace about The Jedi Path.

Podcasts. The ForceCast has launched a new EU-focused show, Jedi Journals, with RebelScum staffers Chris Wyman and “Jovial” Jay Shepard. I have yet to listen, but am assured that they know their stuff!

Today sees the release of the sixth Fate of the Jedi novel, Denning’s Vortex. People seem awfully excited that there’s a Kindle edition. I’m a book traditionalist (and too much of an Alton Brown fan to trust a unitasker, though yes, I know there’s an iPhone app) but in to their credit, it is only $6.29.

Meanwhile, because new releases only come in two speeds lately – feast or famine – comic fans have a few things to look for on Wednesday as well. There’s The Old Republic #6, The Clone Wars: Deadly Hands of Shon-Ju and a Quinlan Vos omnibus, Jedi in Darkness.

Start keeping an eye out for Ryder Windham’s Millennium Falcon: A 3-D Owner’s Guide. Comic fans can head out Wednesday for a pair of reprints: The Old Republic—Threat of Peace #3 and The Clone Wars: Hero of the Confederacy.

StarWars.com has some of Dark Horse’s solicitations for April and June, including Purge: The Hidden Blade (above,) Legacy #47, The Clone Wars: In Service of the Republic and a Marvel omnibus.

Tomorrow brings the last issue of The Clone Wars monthly series, the infamous #12.

And for future reference, I’ve also made a few tweaks to our Star Wars book release schedule that helps make date changes and additions stand out a bit.