Tag: kja

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Oscar Isaac might dad it up in the new Dune

Oscar Isaac may be headed to another space opera – Denis Villeneuve’s new adaptation of Dune. Variety reports that he’s entered early negotiations to play Duke Leto Atreides, father of protagonist Paul Atreides, who’s being played by Timothee Chalamet. Rebecca Ferguson, Stellan Skarsgard, and Charlotte Rampling are also among the cast.

This will be the third major adaptation of Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel. David Lynch made the first movie in 1984, while the then-Sci-Fi Channel made it into a 2000 miniseries. (They also adapted sequels Dune Messiah and Children of Dune in a second miniseries in 2003.)

Another familiar Star Wars name, author Kevin J. Anderson, is serving as creative consultant on the film. He wrote several Dune novels with Brian Herbert.

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You can’t make an omelet without breaking a few eggs: Remembering Luke Skywalker’s first Jedi students

This Jedi Academy art is at least way better than the book covers. Sort of.

Remember a simpler time in Star Wars, where there were no sequels, no TV shows, when Star Wars was still kind of rare. Before the Special Editions, before the prequels, before Disney. Remember the… Jedi Academy trilogy? It’s okay, we understand if you don’t want to. Look at all the fanfic it made us write.

It was an odd time. Just kidding, it was kind of a shit show, one of many. But hey, if not for that awfulness, would we have soldiered on? The mocking let us bond, and for that, we are grateful. Mockingly.

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EUbits: Take a Rebel Mission to Ord Mantell

Rebel Mission to Ord MantellAudio For you audio drama fans, Big Shiny Robot has unearthed Rebel Mission to Ord Mantell a ye olde (scripted by Brian Daley!) tale that takes place between Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back.

The blogside. EUCantina debuts a new column, with a look at what they’d like to see in Kenobi (some Clone Wars spoilers.) Meanwhile, Bria’s Waru Express has pulled into Tosche Station with The Thrawn Trilogy.

Interviews. There’s a real surplus of them since we last checked in, with new writers (Martha Wells, Tim Siedell, Corinna Bechko & Gabriel Hardman) old writers (Kevin J. Anderson) and of course Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff, co-writer of The Last Jedi, which came out yesterday.

Speaking of The Last Jedi… The reviews! NJOE, EUC, Jedi News, Lightsaber Rattling, Roqoo Depot and Bry/Megan at Knights Archive are all fairly positive, while Bria at Tosche Station is unimpressed.

Comics. Preview Dark Horse’s Free Comic Book Day offering, and behold a Legacy variant cover. Also, James has his reviews of the most recent comics: this week’s Dawn of the Jedi: Prisoner of Bogan #3 and ,a href=”http://www.bigshinyrobot.com/reviews/archives/49301″>Agent of the Empire: Hard Targets #5 and Brian Wood’s Star Wars #2.

Congratulations to your publicist. Forbes, of all publications, profiles Dark Horse and their role in making licensed properties cool for comics. There’s some interesting stuff from a generalized viewpoint, but despite use of the term ‘expanded universe’ it’s more focused on video game tie-ins than things like Star Wars and Buffy.

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Out this week: Agent of the Empire goes to Alderaan

As one comic leaves, another begins… Well, begins a new arc, anyway. In Agent of the Empire: Hard Targets #1, out Wednesday, Jahan Cross heads to Alderaan to party with the Organas.

If you’re a military sci-fi fan, you might want to go check out Five by Five, a set of novelettes that includes stories by Aaron Allston, Michael Stackpole, and Kevin J. Anderson.

As for Star Wars books, we have the paperback reprint of James Luceno’s Darth Plagueis due at the end of the month. Our next new book will be a hardcover, Drew Karpyshyn’s The Old Republic: Annihilation, on November 13.

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EUbits: Everybody loves pilots


Spotlight. Essential Guide to Warfare co-author Paul Urquhart takes a look at ‘the best star-pilots in the galaxy’. But what we’re really talking about here is the art by Frank-Joseph “Mazzic” Frelier, which includes what I think is out first look at Syal Antilles.

In other Warfare-related matters, there have been three more installments of endnotes since we last checked in: 9, 10 and 11.

Awards. John Jackson Miller’s Knight Errant is a Scribe Award nominee for Best Original Novel in the Speculative Fiction category. The International Association of Media Tie-In Writers are also naming Expanded Universe alumni Kevin J. Anderson as the year’s Grandmaster. Other familiar names among the nominees include Mike Stackpole (for his Conan the Barbarian adaption) and A.C. Crispin for her Pirates of the Caribbean novel.

Interviews. Lots of them! In the world of podcasts, we have Aaron Allston over at Tosche Station Radio and Mike Stackpole at Star Wars Book Report. If you can stomach the ForceCast, they had Leland Chee on, plus there’s a new Jedi Journals. If it’s text you prefer, Tom Taylor talks Darth Maul at CBR.

Teases. A bounty hunter short story by a new-to-Star Wars author will be gracing the pages of Insider #136. Karen Miller’s Myri Antilles story will be in the next issue, #135.

Now hiring… NJOE, EUCantina and Knights Archive are looking for some dedicated fans to join their respective sites. (Rather limited) internet fame! Glamour! No money! But possibly drinks at CVI!

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EUbits: What a long, hard Fate it’s been

The blogside. Over at Tosche Station, Brian has a two-part retrospective of Fate of the Jedi. The series has garnered some mixed reviews, but overall I have to agree with some of Brian on this one, particularly regarding Luke/the Jedi, the arc-welding in Abeloth’s backstory, and the overall issues with Denning. Brian’s also revised his review of Apocalypse.

Warfare fallout. Jason Fry has posted his endnotes for The Essential Guide to Warfare in three parts, while his co-author Paul Urquhart writes (naturally) about the wackier side of the book at Suvudu.

Interviews. EU Cantina talks to comic writer Tom Taylor about his upcoming Darth Maul mini-series, Invasion, and Boba Fett is Dead. Meanwhile, Newsarama has John Ostrander to discuss Dawn of the Jedi in some detail.

Whoops! I caught the release date change for Lost Tribe of the Sith: The Collected Stories last week, but not that it had changed formats from paperback to trade paperback. Guess someone likes the Sith…

WTF of the week. Kevin J. Anderson invented the Killiks. Of course he did.

Reviews. James enjoys the unexpected trickery in Knights of the Old Republic – War #4 and is satisfied (sort of) by the big ending of Agent of the Empire – Iron Eclipse #5.