Author: jawajames

San Diego-based Jawa.
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Timothy Zahn discusses the history of Scoundrels and more

At his Star Wars: Scoundrels signing in San Diego on January 12, Timothy Zahn gave a talk on how the novel came to be and then held a Q&A session. He discussed the real world publication timeline he worked with, his initial idea to make it a heist using a who’s who of the main characters and top smugglers in the GFFA (Luke, Han, Leia, Mara, Lando, Corran, Mirax, Talon and more) just before the New Jedi Order, and how even the cover art influenced the final story.

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The Empire responds to White House nixing Death Star construction

Construction_of_the_Death_StarWith the White House responding to the petition to research and build a Death Star, the Empire has issued its own statement on the decision by the United State not to build a giant planet-destroying space station in a post on the StarWars.com blog.

Calling Earth an unimaginatively named planet, the press statement quotes both Governor Tarkin and Admiral Motti on their views for why our world has decided against building the Death Star, and smoothing over any concern about that design flaw that was cited by the White House.

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Interview: Timothy Zahn on Scoundrels

With Scoundrels just released in hardcover, author Timothy Zahn has been on a book tour of the West Coast. I was able to spend a few minutes with him before his signing at San Diego’s Mysterious Galaxy bookstore on Saturday to chat about Scoundrels and what else he’s got in the pipeline. Stay tuned later this week for more video from the signing, including Tim discussing how Scoundrels came to be, and audience Q & A.P1160317

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White House responds to Death Star petition

death-star-7The White House has given an official response to the online petition “Secure resources and funding, and begin construction of a Death Star by 2016”, which has over 34,000 signatures. In a response entitled “This isn’t the petition you’re looking for”, Paul Shawcross, Chief of the Science and Space Branch at the Office of Management and Budget, points out some of the key issues against building the not-quite-ultimate power in the universe:

  • The construction of the Death Star has been estimated to cost more than $850,000,000,000,000,000. We’re working hard to reduce the deficit, not expand it.
  • The Administration does not support blowing up planets.
  • Why would we spend countless taxpayer dollars on a Death Star with a fundamental flaw that can be exploited by a one-man starship?

With plenty of links, Shawcross continues the response with examples of what the U.S. is doing to develop other Star Wars-esque technologies, including laser-wielding robots on other planets (Mars Rover), and fostering greater interest in STEM careers.

Probably another key consideration would be the additional security risk to prevent the Death Star plans from being stolen.

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Clone Wars is about to reach ‘Point of No Return’

Saturday morning’s Star Wars: The Clone Wars is the final episode in the story arc of R2-D2 and D-Squad. The droids and their tiny leader, Colonel Gascon, have gotten off of the Void planet but something is seriously wrong with their Republic cruiser. Check out Gascon and the droids discover that the ship’s crew is not what it seems in the clip above. Yup, IT’S A TRAP! Below, in the second video preview, Artoo pulls a little Well of the Souls action (and a power droid’s worst nightmare happens).

And following up on last week’s episode of ‘Missing in Action’, Dee Bradley Baker and Dave Filoni talk about the character of Gregor, the clone who forgot who he was, in an online featurette ‘Gregor’s Metamorphosis’. Filoni goes on to reflect about reaching the 100 episode milestoneTCW-513-droids

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What’s the fuss with Star Wars #1?

Hastings exclusive edition of Star Wars #1So when Dark Horse first announced that Brian Wood would be starting a new ongoing series, simply titled Star Wars, back at Comic Con last July, and mentioned that Leia would be piloting an X-wing fighter, the two big fusses that popped up were about fitting continuity (isn’t it always?) and Leia in a role we hadn’t seen her in very often: fighter pilot. (Never mind that she’s been piloting starfighters since Splinter of the Mind’s Eye.)

Now that the first issue of the series is out for us all to enjoy, what’s all the hubbub?

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The Clone Wars goes ‘Missing in Action’ to continue D-Squad arc

So now that we’ve talked about the big 100 episode milestone, let’s a take a peek at episode 100 of Star Wars: The Clone Wars: ‘Missing in Action’. Continuing the adventures of Artoo-Detoo and his companions of D-Squad from ‘Secret Weapons’ and ‘A Sunny Day in the Void’, the crash-landed droids and their leader, the pint-sized Colonel Gascon, have reached a town on the desolate world of Abafar, and encounter Gregor, a Republic Commando with no memory of how he became missing in action. Their ultimate mission? Steal a shuttle and get back to the Republic, and if they can get this grizzled dishwasher to remember his military training, they might just have a chance. In the first trailer above, Artoo and Gascon reveal the truth to Gregor, and his full identification is revealed in the second trailer below. Or just skip to the last video for some Republic commando actionTCW-512-gregor-gascon-artoo
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Celebrate 100 episodes of The Clone Wars with a full spread of articles

star-wars-the-clone-wars-100th-episode-510x314There’s lots of buzz out there to celebrate Star Wars: The Clone Wars hitting the 100 episode milestone! Variety magazine has got a buffet of light articles on the show:

Also, Channel Guide Magazine has a good interview with Dave Filoni on reaching the big one hundred mark, whether he would go back to special edition the original Clone Wars movie, and the change from Friday night to Saturday morning. StarWars.com has a big pile of quotes from the cast and crew on the occasion.

And, if you missed it, you really should check out the five minute trailer summing up the past 4.5 seasons with some peeks at what is to come (and who is noticeably missing)!

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Fantasy Flight releases Star Wars: The Card Game

After more than a year of tweaking, Fantasy Flight Games has finally released Star Wars: The Card Game. First announced and demoed at Gencon 2011 as a cooperative game, it has apparently been revamped to be a competitive two-player game, where players use strategy to battle for galactic supremacy in the original trilogy era.

Unlike the previous constructed deck Star Wars card games (such as from Decipher, Wizards of the Coast, and WizKids) that were sold in packs, this game comes as a single box set, and from the box contents, it seems that there’s a lot of tokens for this Living Card Game.

But is it any good? Designer Nate French does have a good track record – three of his other Living Card Games are in the top 20 in the Customizable category on BoardGameGeek, while Fantasy Flight has a few other titles in the top twenty (including their Star Wars: X-Wing Miniatures Game).

While the main set (retails for $40) may be coming out a little late for the holiday season, Fantasy Flight does have its eye on future expansion, with two Hoth-themed supplemental sets due in early 2013. Meanwhile, check out the rules of the game online or listen to a fan-produced podcast.