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Timothy Zahn discusses the history of Scoundrels and more

At his Star Wars: Scoundrels signing in San Diego on January 12, Timothy Zahn gave a talk on how the novel came to be and then held a Q&A session. He discussed the real world publication timeline he worked with, his initial idea to make it a heist using a who’s who of the main characters and top smugglers in the GFFA (Luke, Han, Leia, Mara, Lando, Corran, Mirax, Talon and more) just before the New Jedi Order, and how even the cover art influenced the final story.

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“If someone has a good idea, it’s Leia.” Work on the Corey Han Solo novel has begun!

ANH: Han and LeiaTy Franck – one half of James S.A. Corey, who’s working on a Han Solo book for the Rebels series, gave fans the first progress update yesterday:

Ground has been broken on the Star Wars novel. An outline has been approved, and chapters are being typed. Things I’ve learned so far: It is important to know ahead of time how you will handle Chewie talking, the Star Wars universe has instantaneous communication and nearly instantaneous travel but space is STILL big enough to hide things, hyperspace is how you get away from badguys but jumping through hyperspace ain’t like dusting crops kid, and Leia is the brains of the operation. If someone has a good idea, it’s Leia. Han is always always always wrong when he makes a plan or predicts the future, but man does he improvise gracefully. More robots. Always more robots.

The post got passed around quite a bit today, and well:

Ha. Welcome to the, ah, family. Keep your seatbacks and tray table in the locked and upright position…

You can learn a little more about Franck and writing partner Daniel Abraham in an excerpt from a recent interview in Locus. I also recommend checking out their first two novels – Leviathan Wakes and Caliban’s War. I have horrible luck with Star Wars writers outside of Star Wars (sorry, it’s true, no recs please) but these books are pretty fantastic. Hopefully that means good things for this Han book.

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The Empire responds to White House nixing Death Star construction

Construction_of_the_Death_StarWith the White House responding to the petition to research and build a Death Star, the Empire has issued its own statement on the decision by the United State not to build a giant planet-destroying space station in a post on the StarWars.com blog.

Calling Earth an unimaginatively named planet, the press statement quotes both Governor Tarkin and Admiral Motti on their views for why our world has decided against building the Death Star, and smoothing over any concern about that design flaw that was cited by the White House.

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Zack Snyder’s rep denies report of Star Wars project

Zack Snyder filming Sucker Punch

Vulture reports that director director Zack Snyder (300, the forthcoming Man of Steel) is developing a Star Wars project for Lucasfilm that will be “parallel to the next trilogy.”

It will be an as-yet-untitled Jedi epic loosely based on Akira Kurosawa’s 1954 classic Seven Samurai, with the ronin and katana being replaced by the Force-wielding knights and their iconic lightsabers.

Within hours, Snyder’s representative denied the rumors to The Hollywood Reporter. “While he is super flattered because he is a huge fan, Zack is not involved in any way with the new Star Wars. He is currently in post on his two films, Man of Steel and 300: Battle of Artemisia.”

Vulture is standing by their report, claiming their source says Snyder had met with Lucasfilm. They say the denial has to do with studio politics regarding the possibility of a Man of Steel sequel.

Meanwhile, Variety’s Jeff Sneider tweeted:

Alrighty then.

I admit I rather hope the denial stays the status quo… Snyder’s made some decent action flicks, but he’s not someone I’m salivating to see take on Star Wars.

This isn’t the first rumor regarding possible side projects. Still unconfirmed are the reports of a Kasdan/Kinberg project, which was also described as being “separate” from the new episodes.

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Interview: Timothy Zahn on Scoundrels

With Scoundrels just released in hardcover, author Timothy Zahn has been on a book tour of the West Coast. I was able to spend a few minutes with him before his signing at San Diego’s Mysterious Galaxy bookstore on Saturday to chat about Scoundrels and what else he’s got in the pipeline. Stay tuned later this week for more video from the signing, including Tim discussing how Scoundrels came to be, and audience Q & A.P1160317

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White House responds to Death Star petition

death-star-7The White House has given an official response to the online petition “Secure resources and funding, and begin construction of a Death Star by 2016”, which has over 34,000 signatures. In a response entitled “This isn’t the petition you’re looking for”, Paul Shawcross, Chief of the Science and Space Branch at the Office of Management and Budget, points out some of the key issues against building the not-quite-ultimate power in the universe:

  • The construction of the Death Star has been estimated to cost more than $850,000,000,000,000,000. We’re working hard to reduce the deficit, not expand it.
  • The Administration does not support blowing up planets.
  • Why would we spend countless taxpayer dollars on a Death Star with a fundamental flaw that can be exploited by a one-man starship?

With plenty of links, Shawcross continues the response with examples of what the U.S. is doing to develop other Star Wars-esque technologies, including laser-wielding robots on other planets (Mars Rover), and fostering greater interest in STEM careers.

Probably another key consideration would be the additional security risk to prevent the Death Star plans from being stolen.

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Nine ways George Lucas changed movies forever

George Lucas The recent recap of last year’s biggest events reminded me of something that has been largely overlooked: George Lucas is retiring. Granted, he’s tried to retire before – a couple of times, if memory serves – with limited success. And the news was understandably overshadowed by the double-whammy of the Sequel Trilogy and the sale to Disney. But still. The Flannelled One is stepping down, off to work on experimental films or build a working X-wing or become a lumberjack or whatever retired billionaires do. Yes, there were the starwars.com videos, where he talked a bit about his future plans, but in general, this story has been ignored. Heck, I saw more chatter about Rick McCallum’s retirement. Rick McCallum is a wonderful guy, but there’s only one George Lucas. He deserves a little more attention.

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Star Wars #1 sells out, getting second printing

Star Wars #1 (Dark Horse)The new Star Wars comic sure looks like a hit: It’s sold out and Dark Horse is already going back to press for a second printing. Editor Randy Stradley says the second printing will have a slightly different cover design:

The second printing cover is the Alex Ross painting with no text at all. The logos, price, etc., will all be on the back cover.

There may be some copies still in stores with light traffic, but if you’re in a hurry to read a copy or don’t have it on your pull list, try digital.