Star Wars with occasional sarcasm
StarWars.com has posted a seven-page excerpt of the upcoming novel Shadow Games, by Michael Reaves and Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff. In this first selection, Dash Rendar finds a lack of gravity disturbing aboard the Millennium Falcon. Will Han help Dash get his feet back on the ground? The official site also has a brief teaser summary.
Shadow Games will go on sale in paperback and as an ebook on November 29, 2011.
Knights Archive has a nice interview with Lucasbooks editor Sue Rostoni, who retired not that long ago. They chat about missing Lucasfilm, favorite moments, fan criticism, expanded universe regrets and more.
As an added bonus, there are several tributes to Sue from authors.
Short stories. Del Rey editor David Pomerico broke the news on Facebook yesterday: Matthew Stover’s ‘The Tenebrous Way’ will be December’s addition to the ever-growing pile of shorts making the Star Wars Insider.
The story will tie into James Luceno’s Darth Plagueis, which is due out December 27.
Blurbs. Knights Archive was first to spot the synopsis for The Millennium Falcon Owner’s Workshop Manual.
Poll. Again on Facebook, the Del Rey folks want to know which of the remaining 2011 releases you’re looking most forward to. At the moment it’s pretty close between Heir to the Empire 20th Anniversary Edition and Darth Plagueis.
Random. Since the latest Fate of the Jedi is hanging out on the bestseller list with his new novel, The New York Times asked author Lev Grossman about Star Wars. (This belongs in a different roundup entirely, but: Grossman just won the Campbell.)
Qui-Gon deals with Xanatos’ angsting in Jedi: The Dark Side #4, our only release this week. It’ll be in comic stores on Wednesday.
For our final teaser annotation of September’s Heir to the Empire: 20th Anniversary Edition, Zahn talks about stormtroopers and namechecks the 501st.
After the 501st Imperial Legion fan group began, it was also established that Vader similarly liked to grab the Empire’s best stormtroopers and add them to his personal legion. I got to play with that idea a bit in later books..
We’re just two weeks and change away from the book’s September 6th release.
Adaptions. On the Dark Horse boards, editor Randy Stradley says that The Clone Wars comic book storyline Slaves of the Republic is being adapted for the show. Could that be the slave storyline the season 4 trailer hints strongly at? The comic was scripted by The Clone Wars’ then-head writer Henry Gilroy.
And yes, that is the one brought us Ahsoka in a slave girl outfit. Maybe that bit won’t make the cut.
Fate of the Jedi. Christie Golden’s Ascension will debut at #7 on the New York Times’ bestseller list, Del Rey tweeted this morning.
Short stories. A new story from Paul S. Kemp, ‘A Fair Trade,’ will appear in the October issue of Star Wars Insider. It will feature characters from Riptide.
People. Republic and Legacy artist Jan Duursema now has a Facebook fan page.
Del Rey hosted a chat on Facebook with Fate of the Jedi: Ascension author, Christie Golden, this afternoon on her new novel and writing Star Wars in general. First, some spoiler-free highlights:
Continue reading “Chat highlights with Fate of the Jedi: Ascension author Christie Golden”
Street date shuffle. The release of Jason Fry’s Essential Guide to Warfare has been moved to May 22 next year, Erich Schoeneweiss announced on Facebook. On the plus side, it’s only two months, and he did include a nice Hoth sketch from Tommy Lee Edwards.
Contest. Suvudu is planning another meal for three fans with Timothy Zahn. This time it’s breakfast at Dragon*Con with Tim, Shelly Shapiro and Betsy Mitchell.
Fate of the Jedi. Suvudu also has five Ascension tidbits with Christie Golden, while the Star Wars Books Facebook will have a live chat with her tomorrow.
Video. The Blueprints has a trailer. Naturally.
John Jackson Miller’s Knight Errant: Deluge #1, which follows up January’s Knight Errant novel, will be in the comic shops on Wednesday.
And don’t forget to check out Aaron Allston’s new short story/ebook, An Occurrence at Bifrost Bridge.
These credits will do fine: The Pacific island nation of Niue will be issuing a series of Star Wars coins, starting in November. Ten $1 coins and eight $2 coins are being issued in this first part of their Star Wars series, which will continue with additional designs to be released in 2012, to coincide with the 3-D movie release, for a total of 40 coins. While they are legal tender on Niue (Queen Elizabeth II is on the obverse) and made by the New Zealand Mint, the coins probably won’t see much circulation on their island home as they will be minted in small quantities for sale on the collector’s market – no more than 50,000 of the $1 coins will be minted, while the $2 coins will be limited to only 7,500.
The $1 silver-plated coins sport the likenesses of ten classic trilogy characters: Yoda, Darth Vader, Princess Leia, Luke Skywalker, C-3PO, Han Solo, Obi-wan Kenobi, R2-D2, Chewbacca, and Emperor Palpatine. Each of these, shipped in a holder, will cost about $20 US.
The $2 coins will come in special four-packs with display cases – the dark side set of four coins (Darth Vader, Emperor Palpatine, Stormtrooper, and Death Star) comes in a case shaped like Darth Vader’s mask, complete with breathing sound effects. The Rebel Alliance set comes in a Millennium Falcon case with hyperspace sounds and includes a Luke Skywalker & Princess Leia Organa coin, Han Solo & Chewbacca, Yoda & Obi-wan Kenobi, and C-3PO & R2-D2. Don’t expect to just pay 2 Niue dollars for these, as each of these coins is a whopping one ounce of silver!
Don’t feed the rancor! The Los Angeles Zoo will be having a Star Wars Day on August 27, including character visits, a sneak peek at the Blu-ray special features, and lots of comparisons between real world animals and the creatures and aliens of a galaxy far, far away. Just don’t pull a Jar Jar and accidentally let the animals loose!
Revelations decoded? Last week saw the release of two Star Wars comics, and launch of comics reviews on Big Shiny Robot by a familiar face. Check out GONK’s review of Invasion: Revelations #2 andThe Old Republic: The Lost Suns #3.
