Category: books and comics

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Tolkien, Douglas Adams top NPR’s top 100 of SF/F; Star Wars makes the ranks with Zahn

NPR has been formulating a list of the top 100 science fiction and fantasy all summer, and finally the results are in. It includes few surprises – J. R. R. Tolkien takes the top with Lord of the Rings, followed by Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy, Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game, Frank Herbert’s Dune series, and George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire.

There are only a handful of books by women represented, though: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale take #20 and #22. Anne McCaffrey, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Ursula K. Le Guin, Lois McMaster Bujold, Susanna Clarke, Robin Hobb, Audrey Niffenegger, Jacqueline Carey, Mary Stewart, Diana Gabaldon, Robin McKinley and Connie Willis also appear. (J.K. Rowling would no doubt have had a good shot at a high placement, but NPR is saving young adult books for “summers yet to come.”)

Also making an appearance, at #88, is the only Star Wars work: Timothy Zahn’s Thrawn trilogy. Not too bad, considering the shabby reputation of tie-ins. Though I can’t help but point out that the cover they’re using to represent the trilogy is actually for the comic adaptions. Sigh.

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EUbits: New Heir to the Empire goes topless

In the, err, cardboard. Del Rey’s Erich Schoeneweiss treats us to a look at a just-printed copy of the Heir to the Empire: 20th Anniversary edition under the jacket. I still wish they’d gone with brand-new art, but making the original black and white does make it slightly less horrible. Slightly.

Listage. The Star Wars Report has ten Expanded Universe characters who could be in The Clone Wars. Some of you may hate the very concept, but hey: That’s what you get for reading prequel EU in George’s driveway. And hey: It means greater possibility for action figures! Just ask Quinlan Vos.

Giveaway. Paul S. Kemp is giving away two unbound galleys of his October paperback, Riptide.

Preview. Another look at The Blueprints from Laurel Woods at MTV. She also has an interview with Bonnie Burton.

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News and views on Tuesday’s FOTJ: Ascension

With Fate of the Jedi: Ascension only days away, it hasn’t been too hard to find hype (both good and bad, of course) about the book on the fansites.

Roqoo Depot interviews author Christie Golden. They discuss the lost tribe, Boba Fett, and even mention our 2010 interview.

Naturally, there are mixed feeling among those who’ve already read the book. Peter Morrison at Lightsaber Rattling says that Golden did a “a great job” with several of the established characters, as well as making Abeloth a more effective villain. Bill Silvia at NJOE was far less impressed, turning out a rather brutal review that claims Ascension is “cheap and hateful… to the very concept of a fandom.” For what it’s worth, both reviews are spoiler-free.

And if you’re hounding for more, Suvudu has a new excerpt, featuring Ben, Vestara, Luke and Jaina.

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Denning clarifies Fate of the Jedi role

In the Ascension spoiler thread on TFN’s Jedi Council boards, Troy Denning (Tailone) responded to the increasingly commen assertions that he has acted as ‘head writer’ for Fate of the Jedi and Legacy of the Force.

…Out of respect for Aaron and Christie, I’d like to clarify that I’m not the “head writer” for FotJ (or any other Star Wars series). Both Aaron and Christie are veteran authors with dozens of novels under their belts; Aaron has written more Star Wars novels than I have, and Christie has written more novels period. It would be inappropriate and untrue to assert that I have any sort of leadership role in the group. We are all equal writers, with equal influence over the series.

So there you have it.

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Comic-Con 2011: And all the rest…

It’s the last San Diego Comic-Con 2011 post, I swear! Here’s some different thoughts and recaps on what came out of Comic-Con this year:

  • DC Comics opened up a new can of worms with their whole universe relaunch in September when a fan asked in Q&A: “Why did you go from 12% in women [creators] to 1% on your creative teams?” – Check out some commentary on ComicsAlliance and then an official reply on the DC blog, and Newsarama does some fact checking.
  • Tangentially related to the topics of gender and the DC comics universe, LAWeekly has a write-up and photo gallery of the Gender-bent Justice League cosplay group at Comic-Con.
  • Jill from Newsarama gives her recap of the con, including being on the Oh You Sexy Geek panel, cosplay, and meeting George R. R. Martin.
  • Big Shiny Robot sums up the Doctor Who panel and finds out why bow ties are cool.
  • Gamespot takes a look at Kinect Star Wars, bring Jedi adventures and podracing to motion-controlled gaming.
  • SirStevesGuide sums up the Star Wars collectibles panel. And what’s this? Sideshow Collectibles is bring out a life-size Han Solo in Carbonite.
  • Missed The Old Republic MMO panel? TORWars has the whole thing online to watch.
  • The Official Star Wars blog catches some of the best in Star Wars costuming at the convention.

And let’s end our wrap-up with a photo gallery progression of the artwork drawn on the Volkswagen Passat in the Star Wars pavilion by a Sharpie-wielding comic artist, Ken Lashley. 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8.

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Grubb’s 2012 novel is Scourge

Announced on the Star Wars Books Facebook page this morning is the title and a few details about Jeff Grubb’s 2012 paperback, Scourge. It will take place before the New Jedi Order series and features a new character, Jedi Knight Mander Zuma. There’s a brief plot summary in the comments:

It’s about a murdered Jedi and the investigation into the Hutt’s criminal enterprises.

Hrm. I remain unintrigued, but it’s early yet. The book is currently schedule for an April 2012 release.

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EUbits: Go inside the Blueprints mega-book, Zahn in NPR’s SF/F poll, plus Vader and Mara

Upcoming. Get a look inside October’s Star Wars: The Blueprints at SFGate. And you can see a few stills on io9.

Or check out some shots our own Jawajames took at Comic-Con: Ewok Village – Jedi Starfighter (ROTS) – Jabba’s Sail Barge – X-Wing Fighter with fold-out page – Mos Eisley Cantina – Cantina exterior/Ubrikkian speeder

Vote! Timothy Zahn’s Thrawn trilogy is one of the options in an NPR poll that’s being used to create a top 100 list of the best science fiction and fantasy. It appears to be the only Star Wars offering, though I do spy Stover’s Acts of Caine series at the very top. (It’s alphabetical.) Everyone gets ten votes from among the many, many options, so no doubt you’ll spy some other favorites as well.

Short stories. A new story by Ryder Windham, ‘Vader Adrift,’ will be in a November issue of the Insider, to tie in with the release of The Complete Vader.

Namesake corner. Frank-Joseph Frelier’s Mara Jade collection includes convention sketches from Adam Hughes and Jan Duursema. (Frelier ran the now-defunct Mara fansite Jade Crusades.)

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Out this week: A new Dark Times storyline begins

Comic fans can look forward to the start of a new arc on Wednesday with Dark Times: Out of the Wilderness #1.

You may even get the new issue of Insider! Technically it came out last week, but I only received mine in the mail yesterday. But I probably deserved that, given that I still haven’t taken the plastic off the previous two issues yet.

The cupboard won’t be so bare next week: August 9th will bring the the eighth Fate of the Jedi book, Christie Golden’s Ascension.

Or, looking even furthur into the future, Amazon is currently offering preorder savings on both Blu-Ray trilogy sets for $39.99 each – that’s 43% off retail. (The full saga is only 36% off – perhaps they’re saving that sale for closer to the release?) In any case, savings.

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Lunch with Timothy Zahn and other revelations

Two of the three winners of Suvudu’s SDCC lunch with Tim Zahn and Shelly Shapiro contest just happened to be a pair of familiar bloggers: Amy Ratcliffe of Geek with Curves and Peter Morrison of Lightsaber Rattling. They were sworn to secrecy on some points, but wrote up what they could on their respective blogs, including that Tim is interested in writing a Clone Wars episode.

Zahn was busy at SDCC, and sat down with the folks of the podcast Star Wars Action News. That interview is up now, though Nanci at EUC has summarized a few pertinent points about a possible future project.