“I love EU.” “I know.” Valentine’s Day in the Expanded Universe

It’s that time of the year when flower, candy, and jewelry stores make us think that romance better be in the kriffin’ air. But what’s a Star Wars fan to do to celebrate Valentine’s Day with a special someone? Well, it turns out Darth Cupid has been shooting some Valentine’s Day goodies for Star Wars Expanded Universe fans over the years. Short stories, comics, and more. Continue reading ““I love EU.” “I know.” Valentine’s Day in the Expanded Universe”

Toy Fair: Want EU toys? It’s not a total loss this year

Toy Fair has begun in New York, and Hasbro has revealed their plans for the coming year. There’s plenty of Clone Wars stuff, including Ahsoka in her new outfit, plus a new line of lightsabers. And while the comic packs may be gone, Expanded Universe action figures are still popping up. Most notably, a Nom Anor in June (That’s him up top, plus his card) and a Bastila Shan coming in April, both in the Vintage Collection.

I suppose the Quinlan Vos/Barriss Offee Galactic Heroes twin-pack counts as well, too. Perhaps most odd, however: Two Disney Exclusive Star Tours packs. You can check them all out at StarWars.com.

EUbits: Allie talks Qui-Gon comic, Del Rey to reissue novelization, Shadow Hunter for TPM 3-D

Comics. Writer Scott Allie talks about the Qui-Gon Jinn comic Jedi: The Dark Side with CBR. He reveals that the series will take place 20 years prior to The Phantom Menace, that the focus of Dark Side will be a personal story, and talks a bit about Xanatos. Yoda, Mace Windu and even Dooku will make appearances in the mini-series.

Releases. Del Rey will be reissuing The Phantom Menace novelization and Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter next year to tie-into the first 3-D release. Both books will feature new original short stories for the occasion.

Events. Authors John Jackson Miller and Paul S. Kemp and Del Rey’s Erich Schoeneweiss will talk about Star Wars books at a panel at Chicago’s C2E2. The schedule isn’t up yet, but the panel will be Friday, March 18. (Question: Is C2E2 worth a vacation day and a 4-hour drive in the days of social media? I’ll have to think about it.)

History lesson. Tor.com’s Emily Asher-Perrin takes a slightly snarky (yay!) look back at the evolution of Star Wars galaxy maps. In retrospect, that first one was probably the only reason at all to be excited about Vector Prime. I must admit I do still like the old-timey calligraphy look it has.

The blogside. Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff reveals that one of the locations for Shadow Games (née Holostar) is Bannistar Station.

Kids. The folks behind The Strange Case of Origami Yoda will be back with Darth Paper Strikes Back in the fall.

Book review: Troy Denning’s Fate of the Jedi: Vortex

After teaming up in Allies, relations between the Lost Tribe and the Skywalkers have turned a bit sour. Abeloth has been defeated, but the two sides are determined to keep secrets and double cross one another (both are good stalling tactics, after all). Luke and Ben tread dangerous ground, but it isn’t long before the pair is forced to flee the planet when they discover Abeloth did not die after all. Taking Vestara with them again, the trio travels to the moon of Pydyr to track down and destroy her, hopefully for the last time.

On Coruscant, the secret mission intended to aid Luke and Ben, has been stalled. The Jedi Council is increasingly growing tired of Master Kenth Hamner’s stubbornness. It becomes apparent that there’s something he’s hiding and the other Jedi Masters are fed up. When young Jedi begin recovering from their strange psychosis and Daala refuses to acknowledge this progress, the Jedi Council is especially convinced that rescuing Valin and Jysella Horn will accomplish one of three things: reassert the Council’s autonomy, discredit Daala, and serve as a distraction while the Stealth X-Wings deploy for Pyrdyr. As it turns out, Daala is the least of their problems. An unexpected friction arises that threatens to unravel the Council Luke has worked so hard to achieve. Continue reading “Book review: Troy Denning’s Fate of the Jedi: Vortex”

The fandom minute: All the bits fit to link

Graphically. Pick your flavor: A New Hope retold in icons or use this flowchart to find your Star Wars occupation.

Did you know? Billy Dee Williams is on Twitter as @realbdw. Verified by a ForceCast listener, if not Twitter themselves.

Opinionation. John Scalzi gives the people what they ask for: His thoughts on which Star Wars characters improve (or don’t) through the movies.

Buy something. A homemade AT-AT made with recycled computer parts! If $450 is too steep for you, there’s a little something from Robocop (Robocop!) for only $150.

Image du jour. “I got us matching Star Wars bathrobes.”