Category: books and comics

Posted on

EUbits: Grubb, Fry short stories coming to Insider

Short stories. David Pomerico revealed that Jeff Grubb and Jason Fry will both have short stories in upcoming issues of the Star Wars Insider, tying into Scourge and The Essential Guide to Warfare, respectively. Both books will be out in April, so expect to see the stories soon.

Authors. Troy Denning wrote a post on climactic scenes for Amazon’s Omnivoracious blog today.

Interviews. Sohaib Awan talks to Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff, while Jedi Journals has James Luceno.

Excerpts. Plagueis is nigh, with excerpts upon excerpts.

Reviews. Over at Big Shiny Robot, James reviews the Phantom Menace comic reprints, Agent of the Empire #1, and Knight Errant: Deluge #5.

Posted on

Out this week: Knight Errant concludes Deluge arc

Wednesday brings Knight Errant: Deluge #5 to comic shops, the final issue of the arc. The series will be back with Escape in June.

We’ve one release coming up before the end of the year – a new paperback edition of Michael Reaves’ Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter, which contains a new short story by James Luceno. We’re not sure if the street dating is strict on this, but Del Rey says it’ll be out on the 27th.

Posted on

Out this week: Agent of the Empire #1

Wednesday brings the debut issue of John Ostrander’s Agent of the Empire, featuring the James Bondesque Imperial agent Jahan Cross. The series spans a few years before A New Hope, or so I hear.

Also gracing the comic shelves will be a pair of digest reprint collections: Episode I Adventures collects some TPM side adventures, while Episode I: The Phantom Menace is the official movie adaption.

You might also want to be on the lookout for the latest issue of the Star Wars Insider, #130, for the new short story by Matthew Stover, ‘The Tenebrous Way,’ though in some places I’m seeing it dated for the 21st.

Posted on

Zahn: 20th anniversary edition of Dark Force Rising not likely with current Heir sales numbers

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.

Posted on

EUbits: Celebrating the ‘regular’ people, Apocalypse page count, peek at Stover’s Insider short

Listage. Lane over at Roqoo Depot gives the regular folks of the GFFA their due with his list of the top ten non-Force sensitive Expanded Universe characters.

Fate of the Jedi. Lightsaber Rattling reports on Troy Denning’s comments about the likely Apocalypse page count.

Short stories. Get a peek – though not a particularly readable one – at Matthew Stover’s Insider short story, ‘The Tenebrous Way.’

Interview. Writer John Ostrander talks Agent of the Empire with Nerd World News.

Artists. Five contributers to Star Wars Art: Comics share their thoughts on the franchise and comics at CBR.

Excerpts. Two more from Darth Plagueis – a mini on Facebook, and a larger one at Random House’s online catalog.

Pretties.Concept art from Genndy Tartakovsky’s traditionally animated Clone Wars cartoon. It graced Cartoon Network in the gap between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, and I’m sad to hear that the DVDs have apparently gone out of print, because it was an amazing series of shorts.

Posted on

X-Wing: Mercy Kill cover art, blurb revealed!

Star Wars Books and StarWars.com have released the cover and blurb for Aaron Allston’s X-Wing: Mercy Kill, one of next year’s most highly-anticipated novels. Here’s the blurb:

Outcasts and misfits, spies and warriors, pilots and troublemakers — they’re Wraith Squadron. Founded decades ago by ace pilot Wedge Antilles, this elite intelligence unit, disbanded at the end of a catastrophic civil war, is reunited by former leader Face Loran to find out whether one of the galaxy’s most powerful military officers is a traitor… and whether anyone can stop him if he is. To succeed in their mission, the Wraiths must become thieves, pirates, imposters, forgers, and liars, staying just one step ahead of their enemies and the law!

The cover art is by Mike Bryan. It’ll be the tenth novel in the X-Wing series, which was a staple of the 90’s Expanded Universe, and the first in more than a decade.

Mercy Kill, a hardcover, is currently on the schedule for August 7.

Posted on

Essential Reader’s Companion prelim cover, blurb revealed in Random House summer catalog

Knights Archive was first to spot that Edelweiss has the Random House summer catalog items up. The highlight is a preliminary cover for Pablo Hidalgo’s Essential Reader’s Companion. Here’s the blurb:

A new, never-before-published entry in our extremely popular series of fully illustrated Star Wars Essential Guides. Star Wars: The Essential Reader’s Companion is a book Star Wars fans have been asking for, and will be presented with astonishing full-color artwork throughout!

Star Wars: The Essential Reader’s Companion is the first Essential Guide devoted entirely to published Star Wars fiction, from the original movie novelization, to young reader’s books, short stories, eBook novellas, and the most recent adult novel. This book will cover all the fiction that has built the Star Wars Expanded Universe over the last thirty-five years.

Also appearing are X-Wing: Mercy Kill, which features a very vague ‘blurb’ with no cover, and The Millennium Falcon Owner’s Workshop, which we already know plenty of.

And while we’re on the topic of catalogs, both Mercy Kill and The Essential Reader’s Companion have made their appearances on Random House’s main online catalog as well. They’re currently due out on August 7, 2012 and August 21, 2012, respectively.

Posted on

EUbits: Tom Dupree revisits his Star Wars years

Blast from the past. Tom Dupree, who was an editor at Bantam, writes about his time editing Star Wars novels on his blog as part of a larger series on his career. Old-timers like yours truly will remember him dropping little hints of book news on the AOL Fan Forum, or perhaps such hints being reported in a so-called ‘fan fiction’ newsletter.

Interview. Michael Reaves talks Shadow Games over at Suvudu. Iffy on the book? Take a test drive with a 50-page excerpt.

Excerpts. A little bit of Luceno’s Darth Plagueis.

Comic reviews. Over at Big Shiny Robot, James reviews Knight Errant: Deluge #4, Crimson Empire III: Empire Lost #2, and Dark Times: Out of the Wilderness #3.

Pretties. Flickr user Sith_fire30 creates custom figures based on Star Wars games and comics. Be sure to check out his Jedi Master Luke Skywalker (based on an issue of Invasion, Cade Skywalker, Savage Opress and more.

Posted on

Out this week: Shadow Games, CEIII #2

Tuesday brings our final Star Wars novel of the year, Shadow Games by Michael Reaves and Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff. Here’s a mini-excerpt for the Dash Rendar fans.

Comic fans will have two books to look for on Wednesday – Crimson Empire III: Empire Lost #2 and Dark Times: Out Of The Wilderness #3.

Our next major release will be James Luceno’s Darth Plagueis on January 10. This one also has a recent mini-excerpt.