Timothy Zahn has addressed the issue of further Thrawn trilogy anniversary editions on his Facebook page… And it’s not looking good.
It is now probable that next year will *not* see a special edition of DFR. However, she [Shelly Shapiro] does leave open the possibility that if there’s a groundswell of sales on the Heir 20th, it’s *possible* that the Higher-Ups at Del Rey will reverse that decision.
I’m certainly not trying to push anyone here (an author pushing people to buy books? Inconceivable!), but merely passing on information.
I bet the new Heir to the Empire makes a grand holiday gift for your more casual Star Wars fan friends!
I also wonder if perhaps a cheaper version is in order… Maybe a large trade paperback edition (hardcover sized) containing the entire Thrawn trilogy with annotations? Granted, it might be on my mind since I just reread the first couple Pern books that way (sans annotations,) but given the sheer amount of Star Wars books there are these days, collected editions make a lot of sense – for far more than just this trilogy.
I really like the idea of annotated Trilogy hard cover. It’s hard to justify buying another copy of HTTE (already got two, one signed), but an annotated trilogy might tempt me to replace my current hard covers.
This is disappointing news but not overly suprising. I love my anniversary edition and would like to have the others but Del Ray don’t operate on good will alone.
I would buy this for everyone I know, except for the hefty hardcover price. :C I haven’t even bought it for myself, just begged for it for Christmas.
I don’t often buy starwars books any more and I pretty well never buy the hard backs but for this I would spend money in a heartbeat.
On his facebook site when I said this he replied wit this:
“Actually, the fans and readers are the ones the publishers pay the most attention to. If enough of you want the special editions — and continue to politely ask for them — it’s always possible that the publishers will reverse their decision. I’ll grant you that at this point it’s a long shot, but never say never.”
So maybe some peer pressure on the publishers would help?
Honestly, I don’t think the book would be as big a seller as an unabridged audio book. The Heir 20th audio book was FANTASTIC, not only because it unabridged, but because it was so well recorded. I love Anthony Daniels, but I have a sneaking suspicion that Marc Thompson’s narration would be far more fun to hear, and compelling enough to get people to buy it.