Star Wars with occasional sarcasm
Our third look at Timothy Zahn’s annotations for the 20th anniversary edition of Heir to the Empire takes on the Noghri.
Originally, I had had Rukh and his fellows being Sith, keying off Vader’s title of Lord of the Sith. Since at that point the term hadn’t been defined, I figured I was safe. But Lucasfilm was concerned that George would want to use the Sith at some future date (which, as we all know, he did) and told me to pick som…e other term for them.
If nothing else, Season 3 certainly has lived up to its tagline. Secrets were revealed all over the place – secrets about the Sith, secrets about the Separatists, secrets about the Hutts, the Clones, and of course, the Force. There’s also been some cool action, some very impressive animation, and a whole bunch of memorable new characters. (Are you there, Hasbro? It’s me, Stoogey. My request is the same: an Arok the Hutt figure.) The one thing that’s been missing has been emotion, and if it takes a death or two for me to feel something like I felt in Season 2… well, bring on the carnage. And spoiler alerts – bring those on, too. ‘Cause they’re needed. Continue reading “The Clone Wars review: ‘Citadel Rescue’”
“In the next 8 weeks,” Reed’s Lance Fensterman says, we may be getting the “when and where” of the next Celebration. Best part? The host city will be “a real surprise.” Does that mean… Not Orlando? PRAISE GEORGE.
Alas, that DOES mean, if nothing else, that we’re up for at least eight weeks of teeth-grating location speculation. Oh, joy.
Lucasfilm has announced who’s handling the 3-D conversion: Prime Focus, a company that’s worked on Avatar, Shrek, Tron: Legacy and Sucker Punch. Check out the press release on StarWars.com.
The Phantom Menace will be the first out the gate in 3-D on February 10, 2012, with the other films following yearly.
NJOE’s Max Jaybo noticed the other day that a good chunk of the Star Wars backlist has gained a new format: eBook. To see it for yourself, go to Random House’s Smart Archive and search for ‘Star Wars.’ (Sorry, can’t link directly, but you’ll have to scroll a bit – the eBook selections begin, at least at the moment, with Coruscant Nights I: Jedi Twilight.) The titles vary from Zahn and other classic Bantam titles to the NJO and beyond, all with a August 17th release date. The full spread – 96 titles – take up the better part of 3 pages in the database, so it’s a nice chunk. (via)
Del Rey has been offering up new titles as eBooks for the varied formats – The Old Republic: Deceived, for instance, is available in iBooks and for Kindle and the Nook, among others – so it’s likely you’ll be able to purchase the new additions for your device of choice as well.
Lightsaber Rattling has more database patience than me, and he got it to spit out a list – with prices! Looks like most of the eBooks will be going for $7.99.
UPDATE: Erich Shoeneweiss tells Lightsaber Rattling all may not be as it seems. Wait and see, yet again.
Want to check out the database for yourself? Head under the cut for instructions and a screenshot. Continue reading “Yearning for Star Wars eBooks? They’re coming soon”
The third event in the Club Jade Craft-athlon came down to a food fight between veggies and dessert. In the end, the innovative use of sweet potatoes and avocados won out over the detailed decorations of a tauntaun cake.
Michelle Brzozowski uses her “Calrissian Coolness Cloud Car” to reach victory in the “Food for Thought” event, with Doug and Dajuan Kinney’s “Frozen on the outside, Luke warm in the middle” getting honors for having the guts to make guts.
Still want a chance to win some cool prizes from Del Rey, including copies of Bonnie Burton’s The Star Wars Craft Book? There’s still time to cut up an old Star Wars tee shirt and turn it into something else in the “Vader’s Custom Tee” event, deadline midnight Pacific time! Get the full scoop on submission rules and stay tuned for the results of the Roll Model event.
Get your creative juices flowing with The Star Wars Craft Book by Bonnie Burton, out today. Don’t forget, you could win Bonnie’s book or other cool prizes in our Craft-athlon. The final challenge – your apparel entries – are due today.
Meanwhile, Wednesday will bring Darth Vader and the Lost Command #3 and Legacy: War #4.
Though originally set for September 27 (that’s still the date on Amazon,) StarWars.com is now confirming that the three box sets will be coming out on September 16. Better swap out your vacation days, superfans.
Crimson Empire III. I’m sure we all have things in fandom whose popularity mystifies us. I have many – enough for a complete post, probably – but perhaps one of the oldest is the appeal of Crimson Empire. Is it the eternal love of Dark Horse’s fanboys for bland musclebound men kicking ass? Or that, for years, the third series was dead and the story of Kir Kanos unconcluded? I don’t know. I’m not sure I really care. But for those who do, it’s on now — and mere months away. On Friday, Dark Horse revealed Dave Dorman’s cover for Crimson Empire III #1 and two interior pages from the Dark Horse Presents story. Meanwhile, Mike Richardson and Randy Stradley talk about the series with StarWars.com
Deceived. Gotta love it when the author does their own review roundup. Got questions for Kemp? He’ll be doing a chat on the Star Wars Book Facebook page on Wednesday.
Historic! Shadowlocked takes a look at 20 years of the Expanded Universe. I have a few quibbles – Shadows of the Empire didn’t have a video game based on it because it was popular, but because the whole enterprise was a marketing test run for the PT… And I’m pretty sure Traviss never claimed to have Zahn’s blessing to kill off Mara – but it’s still a fairly interesting primer.
Interview. John Jackson Miller at MidSouthCon.
And finally… You can get an Insider subscription no matter where in the world you live. Handy!
We’re just under a week out from the Clone Wars finale on April 1. I’m sure the media blast has only just begun, but here’s what we have so far.
Lucasfilm held a screening of the season finale at the Presidio Friday evening. Jeff Ellis send the ForceCast a spoiler-free report.
There have been a number of interviews: Dave Filoni in USA Weekend, head writer Christian Taylor at Hero Complex, Peter Mayhew with the Daily Record, and Chewbacca himself at Yahoo.
And over at Big Shiny Robot, Bryan Young talks about getting rid of his cable and (mostly) the annoyance of different air dates and times. It’s certainly made a lot of folks cranky this week!
And after the finale, if you happen to be in San Francisco and/or attending WonderCon, there will be a panel there on the 2nd with Filoni, Mayhew, and Ashley Eckstein! Rumor has it they might show a peek at S4. And Pablo is hosting it.