Also in Episode VII today: More clothes, A New Dawn, enter the Calamari

Was it really necessary for everyone to unload every Star Wars ‘scoop’ they have today? We were bored out of our skulls most of the week, and then it all comes through at once. Can’t we have some pity? It’s Friday! In any case, since we’re already touched on the villains and Han Solo’s clothes, here’s what else came up:

STAR WARS RUMORS: Take seriously at your own riskMaking Star Wars has some description of what Daisy Ridley’s character will be wearing. I’m happy to see this because a) unlike Han, we haven’t the faintest clue and b) to remind us that some women do actually exist in this movie. More lady character-centric rumors that don’t involve fancasting Lupita Nyong’o as various aliens, please.

Latino Review’s Dave Gonzales has finished A New Dawn and speculates about how it (and Rebels as a whole) and the new rumors seem to fit into the new tapestry of Star Wars. Possible spoilers for some of the book, naturally.

Jedi News claims there will be a Mon Calamari/Mon Cal character ala Admiral Ackbar, “not just in a background role.” And, you guessed it, Making Star Wars has more context, including what the connection may be to Skellig Michael shoot. You know exactly who’ll get pinpointed in this role, don’t you?

→ Episode VIII director Rian Johnson talks about visiting the Episode VII set.

→ Not a rumor, but: John Boyega met Samuel L. Jackson the other day and it was adorable.

John Jackson Miller on canon: “The universe is the same.”

star-wars-a-new-dawnNewsarama has another interview with John Jackson Miller about A New Dawn.He does have some wise words on canon and the Legends label:

I really think it’s a mistake for people to play the canon/not-canon parlor game. What they said when they made the announcement is that the previous material wasn’t being discarded, it would be drawn from – inspirations and ideas would come from it. The planets are the same; the species are the same. You know, the Rebels series uses the same manufacturer of the TIE fighters that was introduced in the Role Playing Games years ago. My book revolves around a strategic compound that I introduced back in KOTOR years ago! The universe is the same.

The thing about “Legends,” and that’s the word on the cover of the previous material: Legends can be true, in part or in whole. They inspire, they are sort of like the King Arthur story – parts of that, little bits of that here and there are true.

He goes on to talk about A New Dawn specifically and some of the other things he’s working on. And don’t forget to check out James’ video interview!

SDCC: Del Rey announces Asajj Ventress and Quinlan Vos novel by Christie Golden

delrey-asajj

Killing two birds with one stone, Del Rey has annouced a new novel starring Asajj Ventress and Quinlan Vos for next summer. Christie Golden is writing, but it’s based on unaired scripts from The Clone Wars S7, a storyline scripted with George Lucas. It will deal with some very “adult themes,” though probably not the sexy kind.

Meanwhile, comic fans, Pablo said that we can expect to hear from Marvel about their Star Wars plans at their Cup O’ Joe panel on Saturday (2:45 PDT/5:45 EDT.)

Dan Brooks once again live-blogged at StarWars.com, and TFN has audio. Head below the cut to see the tweets – some interesting things were said about the state of canon and the Legends label.

Continue reading “SDCC: Del Rey announces Asajj Ventress and Quinlan Vos novel by Christie Golden”

Out this week: Del Rey sampler, Son of Dathomir #3

del-rey-samplerWell, now that we’ve got had our first look at a new/old upcoming comic, let’s see what you can actually pick up this week…

Today, send your eBook reader of choice to your eBook retailer of choice to download the free sampler containing previews of all four of Del Rey’s announced upcoming books. It gives us our first look at John Jackson Miller’s A New Dawn, James Luceno’s Tarkin, Kevin Hearne’s Heir to the Jedi and Paul Kemp’s Lords of the Sith. I skimmed it last night, and let’s just say that ‘underwhelmed’ seems to be the word of the day…

Meanwhile, comic readers will have Darth Maul: Son of Dathomir #3, the second-to-last issue, waiting for them on Wednesday.

Get an early look at Miller’s A New Dawn at SDCC

a-new-dawn-sdcc-cropDel Rey will be holding giveaways for special (paperback) advance editions of John Jackson Miller’s A New Dawn, the first of the new canon novels, at San Diego Comic-Con next month. Miller will also be on hand for signings.

The special edition of the book will also contain excerpts of the other forthcoming novels that have been announced so far: Tarkin, Heir to the Jedi, and Lords of the Sith.

A New Dawn will be out in hardcover/eBook on September 2, followed by James Luceno’s Tarkin on November 4.