EUbits: Inside The Making of The Empire Strikes Back

Nonfiction StarWars.com offers up a peek at J.W. Rinzler’s The Making of The Empire Strikes Back. The book’s release was recently pushed back to October, but there’s little doubt that it will be worth the wait.

Street date shuffle. On that note, our book release schedule has been updated. The most notable change: A double shot of Fate of the Jedi paperbacks as Omen and Abyss are moved up to spring.

Podcastery. Star Wars Action News talked to Paul S. Kemp earlier in the month, while the ForceCast caught up with John Jackson Miller at C2E2.

The blogside. Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff on the end game and the last period.

Morsel. Sue Rostoni says that Joe Schreiber’s Black Orchid is getting a new title because some people thought it sounded like a romance novel. Personally I think old school Neil Gaiman/Dave McKean

Toys. Rebelscum reports that the Legacy Collection’s Expanded Universe action figures (the wave that includes Jacen and Jaina) have begun showing up at Toys “R” Us stores.

Updates from Sue: Another Reaves/Bohnoff book, Imperial Commando sequel looks like a go

UPDATE: Look, Googlers: There will be no more Imperial or Republic Commando books. Aaron Allston is writing a Wraith Squadron book that took RC #2’s publishing slot. It’s over.

Sue Rostoni has let lose several bits of news on the StarWars.com message boards today:

  • Michael Reaves and Maya Bohnoff will do a fourth Coruscant Nights book with the tentative title of Jedi Dawn. It’s set for November 2012 and is in addition to the 2011 holostar novel.
  • A hardcover has been assigned for March 2012, but the author can’t be revealed yet.
  • Imperial Commando #2 has been scheduled for February 2012. An author has been selected – but the contract hasn’t been signed yet so we’ll have to wait for that reveal. It will likely be the last novel in the series (thus technically making it a duology,… Details, details.)
  • She’s “hoping” that a paperback anthology of John Jackson Miller’s Lost Tribe of the Sith stories will be released in paperback sometime in 2010.

She’s also posted an updated release schedule: I’ll be updating ours later today. Thanks to Eddie for the heads-up!

EUbits: Get Crosscurrent early with Kemp giveaway

CrosscurrentFree book, sort of. Paul S. Kemp is giving away three signed, unbound galleys of his January Star WarsCrosscurrent. Enter through Dec. 18.

The blogside Karen Miller finished the rewrite of Clone Wars Gambit: Siege this week – twice. And Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff takes a look at forceful women and… Pets. When’s the last time we saw pets in the EU? I’m not sure I want to know. (Pittens in Children of the Jedi? Oye vey.)

Hyperspace. Discounting the Wookieepedians (with their love of War and Peace-sized character entries,) only Jason Fry could dedicate a week to Xim and the Tion Cluster.

Your moment of zen. The TFN boards have been quite the font of hilarity lately. First there’s the otter thing, and then the LULZ of reading KJA. Of course, then along comes something like this. Oh, TFN.

EUbits: Amazon still breaking all the TOR novelization news

Don't get too excited, this is just TOR game concept artStill nothing official, though. An extended title for the unconfirmed novel by Sean Williams was spotted on Amazon: The Old Republic: Fatal Alliance. (The release date remains listed as July 2010, but we still don’t have a date for the actual game, so count on nothing at this point.) Wonder if this means we’ll get some kind of official announcement soon?

The blogside. Drew Karpyshyn is going on about the Sith again, while Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff writes about filk.

Authors. Aaron Allston is on Twitter. Sort of.

Hyperspace: Go obscure with The Forgotten War: The Nagai and the Tofs by James McFadden.

EUbits: February comics, Backlash datage, Karpyshyn, Bohnhoff, and Schreiber

Has Zayne always been wearing TCW Anakin's clothes?Comics of an upcoming nature. StarWars.com has Dark Horse’s February 2010 solicitations, including the final issue of Knights of the Old Republic. People also seen to be awfully excited about seeing The Old Republic webcomic in print, but let’s not forget Legacy #45, the Dark Times: Blue Harvest TPB, and a Boba Fett omnibus. Okay, feel free to forget that last one. (I kid. Maybe.) Want a taste of something coming out a little sooner? Darkhorse.com has previews for Knights of the Old Republic #47 and Legacy #42.

Street date shuffle. SWBooks.co.uk spotted that April 13, 2010 is the new date for Fate of the Jedi: Backlash. That’s just a little under a month from the last date of March 9th.

The blogside. Drew Karpyshyn blogs to remind us that Dynasty of Evil is out next month… And tease The Old Republic. Meanwhile, Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff has what goes on in a writer’s head, the casting call, and when characters fall in love.

Interviews. NJOE went round robin with Death Troopers author Joe Schreiber.

EUbits: This week in Mara, Filoni will speak, Rostoni schedules, Irvine hints, Bohnhoff on philosophy

Namesake corner. Mara Jade is one of Crave’s ten female characters that would kick your face in. Uhh, thanks? I think. Also, apparently the Galaxies trading card game has another Mara card, yet again with art that I don’t totally hate (fourth row here, in wallpaper size and everything. Despite smearing their first offering with an April Fools, I don’t dislike it. One just gets a bit tired of the leather jumpsuit T&A, though it does come in handy for mocking up a cover for the faux smut.)

The Clone Wars. Dave Filoni will be appearing on tonight’s ForceCast Live.

Upcoming. Sue Rostoni confirms that Kemp’s Crosscurrent sequel will get a June 2011 release, pushing the Reaves/Bohnhoff holostar novel up to March. And Alex Irvine drops a few hints about what to expect from his Nomi Sunrider novel. And some people say there are too many big 3 novels…

The blogside. Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff looks at Star Wars as philosophy. (Psst… Googling ‘Midichlorian Rhapsody’ brings up this, filk fans.)

Wait, what? At first I was just rolling my eyes at a visual dictionary for LEGO Star Wars, but now it’s getting the most extensive string of bookstore events yet. Boggling. Well, I guess the kids like it.

EUbits: Lightsaber scarf, Schreiber, Bohnoff and comics

Crafting corner. There are two Mara Jade items in this roundup, and here’s the first one. Rebecca aka Sorakirei, whose first lightsaber scarf we featured earlier in the month, has another made another one. The Mara Jade lightsaber scarf was a commission – could it be from one of our readers? It’s a big internet… She’s also done a ROTJ Luke saber since we last looked…

The Blogside: Joe Schreiber on haunted houses and Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff on musical parody.

Action figures: A closer look at Jacen and Jaina.

Previews: Legacy #40, Knights of the Old Republic #46 and Invasion #4, which gives us our first look at (a fairly generic and perhaps Renaissance-Fair attending) Mara.

Lists: Topless Robot has a very Marvel-heavy list of the eleven least necessary Star Wars comics. Yes, its another one of those lists that was probably compiled by hitting the random button on the Wookieepedia, but I’m considering doing a novel version. (Since I’ve actually, like, read a lot of them. Imagine that. The New Rebellion, are your ears stinging yet?)

EUbits: Complete Vader, draw Clone Wars, Atlas, the complete Purge letters, Bohnhoff, databank, mocking

mcquarrie-vaderNonfiction corner. StarWars.com talks to Ryder Windham and Pete Vilmur about The Complete Vader. On a related note, take a peek at Draw Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

Death Troopers. Did you catch all the Purge letters? No? Well, here are the direct links: DeathTroopers.com, StarWars.com, Star Wars Action News, NJOE, RebelScum, TheForce.net, and ours.

Podcasts. Jason Fry and Daniel Wallace are on the latest Fictional Frontiers with Sohaib. (Warning: auto-pla.)

Blogsided. Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff on the pool of knowledge and Star Wars as part of the vernacular.

Ye Olde Databank. New or expanded entries for Jocasta Nu, Cad Bane, and Cato Parasitti. And hey – Ben Skywalker is in there now. That’s new! Newish. Wait, don’t tell me: They added him with the Backlash cover, didn’t they?

Sweet mockery. Checked in with We Hav to Take a Trip with Jacen Solo lately? Havac is currently working his way through Legacy of the Force.

EUbits: Atlas and then some, Denning, Ostrander, Bohnhoff, iPhones and Twitter

Our old pal, the NJO mapMore on the Atlas. First up, there’s a live chat with Jason Fry and Daniel Wallace today at 2pm EDT at Suvudu. And there’s heaps going on at StarWars.com: Background, an online appendix, and endnotes. And there’s a new interview with Jason Fry over at Lightsabre.

Fate of the Jedi. Lightsabre also has an interview with Troy Denning.

Charity. Another auction to help out John Ostrander. And don’t forget the Aaron Allston Donation Fund!

Short stories. Hyperspace members can now read ‘Passages’ by our own Charlene Newcomb!

The blogside: Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff on alien dialogue.

Technology! A select few Star Wars comics are now available on the iPhone. And Death Troopers has a Twitter!

EUbits: Fun with faux castings, looking for ‘Sith,’ Atlas endnotes, Bohnhoff’s alien homework

Let's see, we need someone who can pull off mall hair...Winceworthy. Geekdad’s Lonnie Morgan gets a bit too into reading Star Wars novels and celebrates by inflicting yet another round of fantasy casting upon the internets. (I dislike this kind of thing: They all tend to come out in fail.) There’s also a poll on which (if any) EU series/era you’d like to see come to the screen.

Lost Tribe of the Sith: Sue Rostoni gave a tentative date of February 9th for the next installment of the Fate of the Jedi tie-in ebooks. That’s about a month before the fourth book, Allston’s Backlash, is due out.

The blogside: Dan Wallace and Jason Fry continue with their Essential Atlas endnotes; Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff on dealing with aliens.

Podcasts: Thursday’s EUCast (7pm EST) will focus on Mara Jade.

Comic previews: Invasion #3, Knights of the Old Republic #45, and The Clone Wars #9.

Gaming: A 20-minute video walkthrough of The Old Republic MMO.