Category: books and comics

Posted on

How much does the galaxy know about Darth Vader in the new canon?

anh-vader-corridor

There are several issues with the old Expanded Universe that I was hopeful would be addressed in the new Star Wars canon, and chief among them is how much the general public knew about Darth Vader and his connection to the Skywalkers.

When the EU started in earnest in the early ’90s, Vader’s identity as Anakin Skywalker and his relation to Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa was still a secret: It’s actually a huge plot point throughout Timothy Zahn’s Thrawn trilogy. But as the EU, um, expanded, it became less and less so, until it was just public knowledge not only that Darth Vader was Anakin Skywalker, but that both Luke and Leia were his kids. It doesn’t seem like it was ever planned or addressed: It just happened, and the full implications were almost never addressed. Such were the early days of continuity. But with the old EU now set aside as Legends, how much does the galaxy actually know?

We might already have an answer.

Continue reading “How much does the galaxy know about Darth Vader in the new canon?”

Posted on

Journey to The Force Awakens: Aftermath synopsis points to book being set just after Return of the Jedi

And just like that, we have our first blurb for the most relevant (so far) of the Journey to The Force Awakens books, Aftermath, from Barnes & Noble.

The second Death Star is destroyed. The Emperor and his powerful enforcer, Darth Vader, are rumored to be dead. The Galactic Empire is in chaos. Across the galaxy, some systems celebrate, while in others Imperial factions tighten their grip. Optimism and fear reign side by side. And while the Rebel Alliance engages the fractured forces of the Empire, a lone Rebel scout uncovers a secret Imperial meeting…

A new character seems likely, which is a bit of a downer. My level of excitement for this one is really dependent of who’s writing it. It’s not Mary Franklin, as the URL suggests: The theory is that Untitled Novel #4 was at one point the long-canceled nonfiction book on fandom by Franklin and Bonnie Burton in some database or another. (via)

Posted on

Journey to The Force Awakens is on, and it’s big

star-wars-craniodsgnOh boy.

Entertainment Weekly reports that Journey to Episode VII – of which we’ve already heard about in drips and drabbles – will in fact encompass 20 books and comics across the various publishers. (Including such things as ‘sticker books,’ so it’s not exactly the New Jedi Order all over again, thankfully.)

“The Force Awakens is an extraordinarily, heavily guarded storyline. To track it, a lot of top-secret meetings were happening up in San Francisco as we worked through this program,” says Andrew Sugerman, executive vice president of Disney Publishing Worldwide. The company is managing the release through its own imprints as well as at least seven outside companies, among them sci-fi publisher Del Rey, Dorling Kindersley, and Marvel Comics.

The only Del Rey book mentioned is Star Wars: Aftermath – no author is given, but it certainly sounds like something in the new gap years between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens. Marvel will put out at least two TFA prequel stories, including one from Threepio’s perspective.

The YA books – the one we’ve primarily heard about thus far, do get authors:

Cecil Castellucci (author of Tin Star) will write Moving Target, an adventure following Princess Leia; Jason Fry, who earlier wrote Darth Maul: Shadow Conspiracy, will be the author of The Weapon of a Jedi, about Luke Skywalker; Claudia Gray, author of the Evernight series of fantasy books, will write a book titled Lost Stars; and Greg Rucka, a comic book scribe and writer of the Atticus Kodiak novels, will pen Smuggler’s Run, a Han Solo tale.

We knew about Claudia Gray, and Jason Fry is (so far) our only returning author. Now, we wait for more from Del Rey and Marvel… Cross your fingers.

Posted on

Star Wars canon’s first LGBT character to appear in an upcoming novel

kemp-sithIt’s not the first time Star Wars has featured LGBT characters, but an upcoming novel will be the first to introduce one into Star Wars canon as it now stands.

Paul S. Kemp’s Lords of the Sith, out in April, features Moff Mors, a lesbian and “Imperial who has made some very serious mistakes but is an incredibly capable leader and spends much of the book working hard to prevent absolute failure,” Bryan Young at Big Shiny Robot reports.

“There should be diversity in Star Wars,” Del Rey editor Shelly Shapiro told Young for Full of Sith. And what more is there to say than that?

Posted on

Review: Heir to the Jedi is a whole lot of nothing

hearne-luke-heirKevin Hearne’s Heir to the Jedi brings a lot of firsts, as far as Star Wars novels go. It’s the first of the new canon novels to feature one of the big three characters; the first Star Wars first-person novel* to feature an actual movie character, and the first canon novel to be set after A New Hope. It’s also the first of the new novels I actually had any interest in reading.

Now, I don’t expect a Star Wars novel to rock the very galaxy, particularly when set in a movie-limited era like this one is. I wasn’t expecting a game-changing book by any means. And generally, I don’t mind a quieter story, as long as it’s an engaging one that keeps me wanting to read.

Unfortunately, Heir to the Jedi delivers an unremarkable tale that fails to make much of an impression. From the first-person conceit to the title that seems deliberately reminiscent of Heir to the Empire, it seemed to me like the book was writing several checks that it completely failed to cash.

There is a major spoiler under the cut, but it’s black-barred so you can avoid it. Continue reading “Review: Heir to the Jedi is a whole lot of nothing”

Posted on

Journey to Episode VII: Luke, Leia, Han YA books get titles

Luke in ANHIt’s not clear if ‘Journey to Episode VII’ will be an official series title for the young adult books leading into the movie, but Jedi Bibliothek (translated) did reveal the first title: The Weapon of a Jedi: A Luke Skywalker Adventure. It’s expected to summarize Luke’s story from the original trilogy, touching on events after Return of the Jedi, perhaps all the way up to the start of Episode VII.

UPDATE: The Leia book is Moving Target, Han’s is Smuggler‘s Run and Florian has written an overview of the Episode VII publishing plan for Making Star Wars.

All four books – one for each of the original trilogy heroes, plus one featuring what are expected to be all-new characters which is now named Lost Stars – will be released on September 4. Hopefully the appearance of a title means that some sort of official announcement is forthcoming…

Posted on

Out this week: Darth Vader #2

Darth Vader #2 (crop)In stores Wednesday is Darth Vader #2, featuring, apparently, Vader’s runway walk. Will Vader win this round of GFFA’s Next Top Model? Tune in to see!

But first, today brings the paperback of James S.A. Corey’s Honor Among Thieves. I gave it a B+ back when it first came out last year.

Next week is Kevin Hearne’s Heir to the Jedi – look for my review next Monday. Star Wars.com released a preview of the audiobook yesterday.