Category: books and comics

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Abrams: Episode VII to start production next year, past Star Wars should be ‘honored’ but not ‘revered’

AbramsAt a Producer’s Guild event Saturday, J.J. Abrams said that things will start moving on the Episode VII production “at the end of the year,” Variety reports. Producer Bryan Burke said much the same – though a little more tentatively – in May.

Overall Star Wars talk continues to be vague, but Abrams said:

“It is so massive and so important to people,” he said. “I think the key to moving forward on something like this is honoring but not revering what came before.”

Variety said that quote was related to the novels; The Hollywood Reporter says it was about the existing movies. Unless video comes out from this, I give up guessing if it refers to any specifics.

He also said he’s not a fan of going overseas to shoot, but apparently the U.K. thing was in the works before he was on board.

Abrams also talked about his affection for the medium of film – covered in more detail by The Hollywood Reporter – which opens up some questions. Did committing to Episode VII mean committing to shooting digitally?

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A sneak peek at The Bounty Hunter Code

The Bounty Hunter Code - ContentsThe makers of The Jedi Path and Book of Sith have a new book coming out later this year: The Bounty Hunter Code: From the Files of Boba Fett, and Paul Nicholasi of Idle Hands got a sneak peek of it at BookExpo America this past weekend. Like the previous two books, it is set as an ‘in-universe’ document, comes in an ultracool electronic case, and has a handful of inserts. In-universe commentary is provided by such galactic denizens as Boba Fett, Bossk, Aurra Sing, Greedo, Jango Fett and Hondo Ohnaka!

The Bounty Hunter Code- Page SampleAs items collected by Boba Fett prior to his dip in the Sarlacc, The Bounty Hunter Code includes a copy of the Bounty Hunters Guild Handbook and a volume from Death Watch, and Cradossk’s memoirs, and is scheduled for release in October 15, 2013. Amazon lists the authors as Dan Wallace (author of The Jedi Path and Book of Sith), Ryder Windham, and Jason Fry. Hop on over to the link above to see some pages and art from the book, including instructions on how to hotwire a landspeeder.

From the description on Amazon: Continue reading “A sneak peek at The Bounty Hunter Code“

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Interview with Randy Stradley on Dark Times: Fire Carrier

SW-DarkTimes-FireCarrier-5-finalWith today being the release date of the fifth and final issue of the Fire Carrier story arc for the Star Wars: Dark Times comic, I wanted to highlight this fantastic comics storyline, so I got the chance to discuss the story with Randy Stradley, the writer of Dark Times as well as senior Star Wars editor and VP of Publishing at Dark Horse Comics.

Let’s hear what Randy has to say about writing the latest adventures of the Whiphid Jedi, Master K’Kruhk and a group of younglings under his care, posing as refugees on an Imperial backwater world. We won’t spoil the final issue, but if you want to learn more about the story so far, you can check out my reviews of all individual issues at Big Shiny Robot: #1 #2 #3 #4 #5.
Continue reading “Interview with Randy Stradley on Dark Times: Fire Carrier“

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Corey’s Han Solo novel is Honor Among Thieves

Han.Del Rey’s Erich Schoeneweiss announced today that the James S. A. Corey Han Solo novel – second in the Empire and Rebellion series – will be titled Honor Among Thieves and will be out next spring.

The first novel in the series will be October’s Leia-centric Razor’s Edge by Martha Wells. The third will be by Kevin Hearns and focus on Luke Skywalker.

Meanwhile, the third novel in Corey’s space opera series The Expanse, Abaddon’s Gate was released yesterday. I don’t have it yet, but I do recommend the series.

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Out this week: The Clone Wars Episode Guide

Out today from DK is The Clone Wars Episode Guide by Jason Fry, detailing all 108 episodes of the show. Fry gave us a few details on his Tumblr, as well as in a Twitter chat earlier this afternoon.

Meanwhile, in the comic shop on Wednesday Dark Times wraps up the latest arc with Fire Carrier #5.

Later this month we’ll see the paperback of Aaron Allston’s X-Wing: Mercy Kill, while July brings William Shakespeare’s Star Wars by Ian Doescher and Troy Denning’s Crucible.

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Team Hondo makes it into the Insider

Team Hondo in the Insider

Team Hondo gets a mention in Matt Martin’s writeup of March’s ‘This is Madness’ vote in Star Wars Insider #142, arriving in subscriber mailboxes now. (But for the meantime, here’s a scan.)

The issue also features a short story by Christie Golden that ties into Crucible, a Padme piece by blogger Tricia Barr and a look back at The Clone Wars S5 from Eric Geller. The issue should be on newsstands on or around June 12.

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EUbits: Obi-Wan stares into your soul, not in a good way

Chris McGrath's alternate Kenobi cover. (Detail.)Death is but a door. Time is but a window. Artist Chris McGrath tweeted an alternate cover for John Jackson Miller’s Kenobi. I get kind of a Vigo the Carpathian vibe from it, so I can see why the more heroic final version won out. On the plus side, if they ever decide to do an Infinities ‘Dark Kenobi’ novel, the cover’s all done!

Short stories. Star Wars Insider #142 will feature a Christie Golden story set between Apocalpse and Crucible, ‘Good Hunting,’ Del Rey says. It stars Jaina Solo, Tenel Ka, and Allana Solo and will have new artwork from Joe Corroney. The issue will be on sale June 11.

Chats. The Star Wars Books Facebook chat had a pair of Dawn of the Jedi centric chats this week. Tuesday was comic writer John Ostrander (Roqoo Depot recap) and Wednesday was Into the Void scribe Tim Lebbon (TFN recap.) Lebbon also chatted with Fangirl Blog and TFN since we last checked in.

Reviews. James thinks that Darth Vader and the Ninth Assassin #2 ups the scope with a boom.

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EUbits: Well’s Leia novel moves up, Essential Characters moves back

Empire and Rebellion: Razor's EdgeStreet dates. We got the cover and now Empire and Rebellion: Razor’s Edge – the Leia novel by Martha Wells – has moved up from October 15 to October 1.

It’s been a while since we’ve heard anything about The Essential Characters, but it’s popped up in Random House’s Edelweiss catalog with a brand new far-off date of October 7, 2014. Will it stick? Probably not! (We’ll see.) Pencil it in.

Out now. Dawn of the Jedi: Into the Void came out almost a week ago, and author Tim Lebbon has been making the interview rounds with Suvudu, Jedi News, Star Wars Action News and Roqoo Depot. Meanwhile, there are reviews at Tosche Station, Fangirl, Jedi News, Knights Archive (x2) and Roqoo Depot.

The blogside. Tor’s Emily Asher-Perrin has a list of what Episode VII could lift from the Expanded Universe. I haven’t covered a ton of these sorts of posts, but hey, it’s Tor and she made Mara #1, so. And speaking of… Bria has reached Legacy of the Force.

Audiobooks. Timothy Zahn’s Allegiance and the Hand of Thrawn duology (Specter of the Past and Vision of the Future) are coming as unabridged audiobooks.

Comic reviews.James reviews The Assassination of Darth Vader, Brian Wood’s Free Comic Book Day story, as well as Fire Carrier #4 and Star Wars #5.