Category: books and comics

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Second excerpt from Aftermath: Life Debt features pregnant Leia, the Force

aftermath-life-debtMashable has our second excerpt from Chuck Wendig’s Aftermath: Life Debt, featuring a pregnant Leia Organa trying to commune with the Force.

We already knew Han Solo and Chewbacca played a part in the book – in addition to the title and the Millennium Falcon on the cover, they show up in the first excerpt – but this is our first look at Leia in the time period immediately following Return of the Jedi.

On Twitter, Wendig confirms that the Leia chapter isn’t an interlude, and that it is missing some formatting.

(Dare I hope that Ben is born here and we learn if his last name is Solo or Organa? Not to mention why his name is Ben? But, as Wendig says, we must manage our expectations.)

Aftermath: Life Debt will be out in hardcover and eBook on July 19.

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Old live-action series plans would have had Palpatine turn because of a “heartless woman”

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I was never particularly enthralled with anything we heard about the old live-action series that Lucasfilm was working on back after Revenge of the Sith, but the new details that came to light last week make me even more glad it was shelved before Lucasfilm’s sale to Disney.

Cory Barlog, a God of War creative director who worked at LucasArts for a time in 2009 and got to read the scripts, told VentureBeat (via) about one plot point of the show:

“It was the most mind-blowing thing I’d ever experienced. I cared about the Emperor. They made the Emperor a sympathetic figure who was wronged by this fucking heartless woman. She’s this hardcore gangster, and she just totally destroyed him as a person. I almost cried while reading this. This is the Emperor, the lightning out of the fingers Emperor. That’s something magical. The writers who worked on that, guys from The Shield and 24, these were excellent writers.”

The Emperor turning because of a woman? It’s like an MRA wet dream. If they wanted to make me grateful for the (boring, harmless and no longer canon) Darth Plagueis novel, well, success!

Although we certainly know at this point that anything with George Lucas’ involvement was not going to be seamless with the Expanded Universe, I do have to wonder if those scripts are why James Luceno’s first iteration of the Plagueis novel was canceled in 2007. The book eventually did come to fruition for a 2012 release, several years after we learned the project was “on hold.”

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While we were drinking: Rebels S2 Blu-ray, ILMxLab and more

This past weekend, much of Club Jade was at our annual gathering at Origins Game Fair in Columbus, including yours truly. Here’s some of what we missed:

rebels-s2-blu→ The second season of Rebels is coming to Blu-ray and DVD on August 30. The Blu-ray has a special feature of Dave Filoni reflecting on Ahsoka Tano’s showdown with Darth Vader.

→ Kathleen Kennedy, Steven Spielberg, and Frank Marshall discuss getting J.J. Abrams on board for The Force Awakens, IX director Colin Trevorrow and more.

→ Lucasfilm’s ILMxLAB has teamed up with VR startup Magic Leap to develop new Star Wars immersive content.

→ Chewbacca Mom Candace Payne now has her own (custom) action figure from Hasbro.

→ Writer Marjorie Liu talks to Amy Ratcliffe about her Han Solo comic.

→ The latest episode of Tor.com’s Rocket Talk podcast features Alexandra Petri, the Washington Post columnist who’s behind Emo Kylo Ren.

→ Disney World’s Hollywood Studios has a new nighttime Star Wars show.

→ Mara Jade fans: There’s a fanfic exchange for the character just starting on Tumblr, with several prompts still available.

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“We always knew Lucas could override anything:” Timothy Zahn on The Force Awakens, Legends and the Story Group

Timothy Zahn was at Awesome Con 2016 in Washington D.C. this past weekend, and Tosche Station has the audio of the panel moderated by their own Bria LaVorgna.

Naturally, as the man who kick-started the modern Expanded Universe with Heir to the Empire, he was asked about Lucasfilm’s decision to to make the older books non-canon. Here’s that four-and-half-minute bit:

The Star Wars authors have always known how a sequel trilogy would effect the books, and it’s all fairly good sense. On the story group and folks like Pablo Hidalgo, Dave Filoni, and Kathleen Kennedy he says:

These are people who are not going to simply go and demolish stuff. If they have to destroy a part of it, overwrite it, it will be because its necessary to set up something else down the line. They’re not going to go with wanton destruction.

He points out that the gap between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens is still barely filled in, and:

In a way, it’s kind of sad that it’s all ‘Legends,’ and not ‘real,’ but it was never really ‘real’ in the first place. We always knew Lucas could override anything that we’d done. But I think the Expanded Universe – and Star Wars – are in good hands.

In the full audio, he also talks about the possibility of his characters ending up in Rebels or the other new canon (he’s for it,) his thoughts on Kylo Ren, and (of course) Rey’s parentage.

Zahn also did an interview with The Daily Dot’s Eric Geller.

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Star Wars out this week: Poe Dameron, Darth Vader

In the comic shops this week will be Poe Dameron #3 and Darth Vader #21. Only 4 issues left of Vader, which will wrap up with #25.

If it’s Legends you’re out for, Timothy Zahn’s Specter of the Past has been on sale for $1.99 in Kindle for the past few days, though Visions of the Future is still regular price. The Hand of Thrawn duology, which wrapped up the Bantam era of publishing back in the late ’90s, is a Club Jade favorite. (If you’re new, I do have some Legends recommendations over at my sadly neglected personal site.)

Our next new novel is still just over a month away. Chuck Wendig’s Aftermath: Life Debt is dropping July 12 in hardcover and eBook. Del Rey gave a look at the book’s dedication last week. (And the first book in that series is also still on sale at Amazon.)

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Is Dave Filoni hinting at the return of a Legends character?

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Last night, after the announcement that Rebels S3 would debut at Celebration Europe, Dave Filoni tweeted “I’m looking forward to seeing you all at #SWCE 2016! And remember, there’s always a bit of truth in legends.” He included the above picture, the spine of a Star Wars novel, which Pete on Twitter believes to be Heir to the Empire.

This could line up with a rumor that sent a lot of excitement through fandom… (And yes, I do hope it’s that character, not another candidate.) I guess we’ll find out for sure in July! (Or earlier, if there are toy leaks.)

If it is indeed a character, this could turn out to be the biggest port from Legends to the new canon yet.

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Video: Unboxing Star Wars: Little Golden Books & Concept Art Show at Gnomon

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Happy 39th birthday, Star Wars! To celebrate, we’ve got a new episode of Unboxing Star Wars! Yowie the skunk, Baby Jawa, and I review some of the latest crop of Star Wars Little Golden Books: I Am a Droid, I Am a Pilot, and I Am a Jedi, as well as I give my recap on the James Clyne and Iain McCaig presentation and The Force Awakens concept art exhibition at Gnomon in Hollywood. For more info on the presentations by Art Director James Clyne and Concept Artist Iain McCaig, check out my article on starwars.com: Designing The Force Awakens. Also, check out photos from the concept art exhibition and the artists’ presentation. Plus random fun with Ponda Baba, and then some Baby Jawa fun time!

Quick reviews
→ I Am a Droid – Thumbs up! Written by Christopher Nicholas and illustrated by Chris Kennett, this Little Golden Book focuses on different aspects and roles of droids in Star Wars. My favorite of the bunch, though possibly could have done without a page showing a droid being tortured.
→ I Am a Jedi – Just OK. This Little Golden Book by Christopher Nicholas and illustrated by Ron Cohee talks about the basics of what a Jedi is and what a Jedi can do, and a little about the Force and the Sith. Nothing from The Force Awakens, but it does reveal the identity of Darth Vader, just in case you want to save that revelation for later in your child’s life.
→ I Am a Pilot – Just OK. By Christopher Nicholas and illustrated by Alan Batson, this Little Golden Book showcases a bunch of different pilot characteristics in Star Wars and some of the more famous pilots. Sadly, none of the pilots in the book are women.
→ Episode VII: The Art of James Clyne & Iain McCaig at Gnomon Gallery, Hollywood – Go see it if you’re in the area! There’s almost fifty pieces on display, pretty evenly split between Clyne and McCaig. I *think* all of the displayed artwork can be found in The Art of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, but here’s a chance to see it in a larger format. The exhibition runs until July 20, 2016.

Get more info on Wear Star Wars Every Day or make a donation at GoFundMe or sign up to make a per-day pledge.

Note: No Aqualish were harmed in the filming of this program.