EUbits: The Clone Wars taking Dark Horse’s Slaves of the Republic to the screen

Adaptions. On the Dark Horse boards, editor Randy Stradley says that The Clone Wars comic book storyline Slaves of the Republic is being adapted for the show. Could that be the slave storyline the season 4 trailer hints strongly at? The comic was scripted by The Clone Wars’ then-head writer Henry Gilroy.

And yes, that is the one brought us Ahsoka in a slave girl outfit. Maybe that bit won’t make the cut.

Fate of the Jedi. Christie Golden’s Ascension will debut at #7 on the New York Times’ bestseller list, Del Rey tweeted this morning.

Short stories. A new story from Paul S. Kemp, ‘A Fair Trade,’ will appear in the October issue of Star Wars Insider. It will feature characters from Riptide.

People. Republic and Legacy artist Jan Duursema now has a Facebook fan page.

Chat highlights with Fate of the Jedi: Ascension author Christie Golden

Del Rey hosted a chat on Facebook with Fate of the Jedi: Ascension author, Christie Golden, this afternoon on her new novel and writing Star Wars in general. First, some spoiler-free highlights:

  • On the challenge of sandbox writing and characters that can’t die: “It’s never really bothered me, as I actually started out with tie-in work. It’s just part of the whole picture. You can, however, make them suffer, have them have major setbacks, or lose something precious to them…which is sometimes harder for a person to bear.”
  • On capturing the right feel: “I rewatched the movies (oh, twist my arm!) and really just tried to “sit” with the feel of it. Also tried to pay attention to what Troy [Denning], Karen [Traviss] and Aaron [Allston] were doing with LOTF [Legacy of the Force], so that it would feel a believable continuation from that as well.” and “I try hard to make things feel “bigger” than just the events of the series. There’s 40 years of history here to mine. For instance, I needed a planet in a certain area…I researched it…Klatooine not only fit the bill but had that amazing fountain of glass–how perfect! I think everyone feels that way–this is a big universe and there’s a lot to play with.”

Continue reading “Chat highlights with Fate of the Jedi: Ascension author Christie Golden”

EUbits: Essential Guide to Warfare moves back, win breakfast with Zahn at DragonCon

Street date shuffle. The release of Jason Fry’s Essential Guide to Warfare has been moved to May 22 next year, Erich Schoeneweiss announced on Facebook. On the plus side, it’s only two months, and he did include a nice Hoth sketch from Tommy Lee Edwards.

Contest. Suvudu is planning another meal for three fans with Timothy Zahn. This time it’s breakfast at Dragon*Con with Tim, Shelly Shapiro and Betsy Mitchell.

Fate of the Jedi. Suvudu also has five Ascension tidbits with Christie Golden, while the Star Wars Books Facebook will have a live chat with her tomorrow.

Video. The Blueprints has a trailer. Naturally.

News and views on Tuesday’s FOTJ: Ascension

With Fate of the Jedi: Ascension only days away, it hasn’t been too hard to find hype (both good and bad, of course) about the book on the fansites.

Roqoo Depot interviews author Christie Golden. They discuss the lost tribe, Boba Fett, and even mention our 2010 interview.

Naturally, there are mixed feeling among those who’ve already read the book. Peter Morrison at Lightsaber Rattling says that Golden did a “a great job” with several of the established characters, as well as making Abeloth a more effective villain. Bill Silvia at NJOE was far less impressed, turning out a rather brutal review that claims Ascension is “cheap and hateful… to the very concept of a fandom.” For what it’s worth, both reviews are spoiler-free.

And if you’re hounding for more, Suvudu has a new excerpt, featuring Ben, Vestara, Luke and Jaina.

EUbits: New Lost Tribe, Fate of the Jedi excerpts

Fate of the Jedi. The seventh of John Jackson Miller’s Lost Tribe of the Sith ebooks, Pantheon, was released today. It features an except of the next Fate of the Jedi book, Golden’s Ascension, which was also the subject of the last mini-except on Facebook. Ascension will be out August 9.

Upcoming. Announced last week, The Millennium Falcon Owners’ Workshop Manual by Ryder Windham with Chris Trevas and Chris Reiff on art. Currently scheduled for a February 2012 release.

SDCC. Del Rey will be giving out Revan masks in San Diego this weekend. (Revan masks? Really?) I seem to recall them promising that the book’s cover would revealed at the con, so there’s that, too.

Excerpt. The official site has a PDF except of Paul S. Kemp’s Riptide, which is due in October. The cover painting is up on eBay… I never would have guessed it was Dave Seeley, but it does look a little better here. (He also has Blood Oath and Mindor up.)

Namesake corner. I have a Choices of One post coming up, but for now, just know that Mara took the top two spots in the Expanded Universe category of Rebelscum’s Hasbro wishlist poll.

EUbits: Catching up with cover art, Fate of the Jedi excerpts, blueprints and more

Cover art. Two upcoming reprints are getting brand-new covers: Joe Schreiber’s Red Harvest and Michael Reaves’ Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter. Timothy Zahn also gives us our first look at the back of Choices of One on Facebook.

eBooks. Speaking of Zahn, he wrote about Star Wars and the Kindle for Amazon.

Fate of the Jedi. While we were in Columbus, two Ascension excerpts emerged: One long, one short. It’s out in August. Huh.

What in the what? If you really love blueprints — I mean REALLY love blueprints — then you’ve probably already jumped for joy about Star Wars: The Blueprints, since it was also announced last week sometime. As always when it comes to this collector edition stuff, I shrug.

Lists Dark Horse and Star Wars made Newsarama’s list of the ten most important comic relaunches in comic book history. (via)

EUbits: Fate of the Jedi tidbits, Zahn’s Insider short

Fate of the Jedi. in lieu of of a Heir to the Empire annotation yesterday, The Del Rey folks presented us with a mini-excerpt from Golden’s Ascension. It is indeed very mini. (Also, apparently we’ll be getting a look at the Apocalypse cover today.)

Short stories. Tim Zahn’s story ‘Buyer’s Market’ will appear in the next issue of the Insider. It’s about Lando “on the hunt for some rather exotic hardware” and is set between Return of the Jedi and Heir. The artwork is by Brian Rood. Also coming up in the Insider is a story by Michael Reaves and Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff.

Interviews. Del Rey’s Erich Schoeneweiss appears on the latest Fictional Frontiers.

Previews. StarWars.com has five pages from The Old Republic: The Lost Suns.

Lists. There are several facepalm moments for me in Geeks of Doom’s ten Star Wars novels worth checking out (Splinter of the Minds’ Eye? The New Rebellion?? Vector Prime???) but to each their own, I suppose.

Latest street date shuffle: Choices of One, Ascension, Heir to the Empire and Riptide

Del Rey announced a few schedule tweaks on Facebook today. The changes are due to “an adjustment to the book schedule as dictated by our publisher.”

Moving up are Zahn’s Choices of One (from July 19th to July 12th – the same day as one of the year’s most anticipated fantasy) and Golden’s Fate of the Jedi: Ascension (From August 23 to August 9.)

The pushbacks are just a tad more dramatic, sadly. Heir to the Empire: 20th Anniversary Edition moves the most, from June 28 to September 13 — the same week as the Blu-Rays. Kemp’s Riptide goes almost a full month, from September 27 to October 25.

Our release schedule has been updated.