Tag: catalyst (rogue one novel)

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Star Wars out this week: So many Rogue One tie-ins

Tuesday is a big Rogue One day for releases, with two brand-new novels for younger readers. Beth Revis’ Rebel Rising is about Jyn Erso, while Greg Rucka’s Guardians of the Whills gives us some backstory on Chirrut Imwe and Baze Malbus. There’s also the paperback edition of James Luceno’s Catalyst, which gives us some background on Galen Erso and Orson Krennic, and first came out before the movie.

On the comic front, Wednesday brings Rogue One #2 and Poe Dameron #14.

It also happens to be the first week of May, which means May 4 is Thursday. We expect plenty of puns, some sales, and a movie marathon on TBS. Fair warning: Traditionally this has not been a huge day for news, so don’t get your hopes too high.

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Review: Catalyst offers offers Rogue One backstory, but not much else

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It’s tough to say if any Star Wars novel is really essential these days. With the full attention of the franchise moved back to movies, and the books firmly placed back in a supporting role, does one really need to read a book like James Luceno’s Catalyst? The answer here is a firm maybe: It entirely depends on your focus within the franchise.

Continue reading “Review: Catalyst offers offers Rogue One backstory, but not much else”

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Today in Rogue One: Movie’s second EW cover brings space battle reveal, new stills

With only weeks to go, Rogue One gets a second Entertainment Weekly cover. (The Darth Vader version is a Barnes & Noble exclusive.) They’ve already dropped some things online, including a space battle detail and a gallery of new stills. We learn the names of some of the new senators glimpsed in the trailer, plus a new Vader shot.

→ Amy Ratcliffe over at Nerdist with 7 things we learned from Catalyst.

→ Another new TV spot focuses on Jyn and Cassian

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The catchup: Rogue One posters, Catalyst interviews

We got a pair of new posters this week; The first for IMAX, the second for Dolby. Both are more adventurous than the standard one-sheet, but there’s still plenty of that shiny digital smoothness that’s de rigueur these days. A late addition: New character posters from Japan, on a Spanish website because why not.

→ Rogue One’s first tie-in novel, Catalyst, came out this week and there are interviews with author James Luceno over at StarWars.com (by our own James) and The Verge (by Andrew Liptak.) You can also check out reviews at Big Shiny Robot and Tosche Station. And finally, if you just want the summary/spoilers/infodump, there’s io9. (Or Chris Taylor at Mashable.)

→ EW’s Anthony Breznican (and John Knoll) on the style inspiration for K-2SO.

→ Of course ILMxLAB has a Rogue One tie-in, too.

→ One of the new TV spots offers a glimpse of Warwick Davis’ character.

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Star Wars out this week: The Force Awakens 3D Blu-ray, Catalyst

Out Tuesday we have The Force Awakens 3D Blu-ray, which also includes director J.J. Abrams’ commentary. (Some of it we already know from preview clips and other media, but there’s a decent rundown over at io9.)

In books, there’s the Rogue One prequel novel, Catalyst by James Luceno. It’s our last major release before the film, although we do have Carrie Fisher’s latest memoir coming on the 22nd.

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The catchup: Rogue One commercials, why the movie’s message matters

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First off, there are two new Rogue One commercials out this week:



Anyone seen them in the wild yet?

→ CBR’s Brett White on why, after the presidental election. Rogue One matters more than ever. The film’s screenwriters Gary Whitta and Chris Weitz are also showing solidarity for those fearful of a Trump presidency.

→ Over at Entertainment Weekly, there’s a new excerpt from Catalyst featuring Galen and Jyn Erso. Meanwhile, Jennifer Heddle has 6 reasons the novel is essential.

→ Interviews with Riz Ahmed and Gareth Edwards.

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Meet the Ersos and Orson Krennic in first Catalyst excerpt

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catalyst700USA Today has our first excerpt of the Rogue One tie-in novel Catalyst. The article also contains a few insights from Pablo Hidalgo about the inspirations Lucasfilm drew from for the film. Here’s one:

“It’s no accident that we’ve taken a look at the Manhattan project and what was happening at Los Alamos laboratories during the tail end of World War II. Being able to look at that kind of thing through history and then apply the Star Wars filter to it is really fascinating.”

I do find it interesting that Lyra seems to be a viewpoint character… Here’s hoping she gets more to do throughout the novel.

Catalyst, by James Luceno (Tarkin) is out in hardcover and ebook on November 15 from Del Rey.

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NYCC: More Rogue One books revealed; 40th Anniversary publishing program coming

Details on the Rogue One book tie-ins and 40th Anniversary publishing program for 2017 were revealed at New York Comic Con Friday morning.

In addition to James Luceno’s Catalyst, the Rogue One fiction lineup will include a young adult novel about Jyn Erso from Star Wars newcomer Beth Revis (Across the Universe.) Greg Rucka (Before the Awakening) will return for a middle grade novel featuring Baze Malbus and Chirrut Îmwe. The preliminary versions of the covers above were spotted earlier by Jedi Bibliotek. They’ll both be out on May 2.

catalyst700Catalyst will be the first of the Rogue One books to hit the shelves, on November 15th. The second wave will drop with the film on December 16, and includes The Art of Rogue One, Pablo Hidalgo’s Rogue One Ultimate Visual Guide and ebook versions of the two novelizations: Alexander Freed’s from Del Rey and the junior version by Matt Forbeck from Disney-Lucasfilm Press. Freed’s will be in hardcover on January 3, while it looks like Forbeck’s won’t be in print until March 28.

We’ll learn more about the 40th Anniversary publishing plans in the coming months, although the official site says “legendary Star Wars talent such as Louise Simonson, Walter Simonson, and Tom Palmer would be reuniting” for an anniversary book from Disney-Lucasfilm Press. One component of the program would seem to be a new collection of the newspaper strips, also spotted by – you guessed it – Jedi Bibliotek.

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Blurb for Luceno’s Catalyst novel sheds light on Rogue One

catalyst700Jedi Bibliothek spotted that the Edelweiss listing for James Luceno’s Catalyst: A Rogue One Novel has been updated with a blurb that gives us some context for the film. Stop reading now if you don’t want some (presumably) mild spoilers for Rogue One!

War is tearing the galaxy apart. For years the Republic and the Separatists have battled across the stars, each building more and more deadly technology in an attempt to win the war. As a member of Chancellor Palpatine’s top secret Death Star project, Orson Krennic is determined to develop a superweapon before their enemies can. And an old friend of Krennic’s, the brilliant scientist Galen Erso, could be the key.

Galen’s energy-focused research has captured the attention of both Krennic and his foes, making the scientist a crucial pawn in the galactic conflict. But after Krennic rescues Galen, his wife, Lyra, and their young daughter, Jyn, from Separatist kidnappers, the Erso family is deeply in Krennic’s debt. Krennic then offers Galen an extraordinary opportunity: to continue his scientific studies with every resource put utterly at his disposal. While Galen and Lyra believe that his energy research will be used purely in altruistic ways, Krennic has other plans that will finally make the Death Star a reality. Trapped in their benefactor’s tightening grasp, the Ersos must untangle Krennic’s web of deception to save themselves and the galaxy itself.

Catalyst is due out in hardcover and eBook on November 15th, exactly a month before Rogue One debuts in theaters.

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Video: Star Wars publishing panel at SDCC


With most of the book news (for our purposes) dropping at Celebration – the authors of Catalyst and the Rogue One novelization and Thrawn – the SDCC panel was fairly light on news, but there was plenty of discussion.

There were two cover reveals, though: The Art of Rogue One and the back cover of Aftermath: Empire’s End, which you can see below.

The Art of cover was shared by StarWars.com today. You can also get a closer look at the Thrawn art at Two Dots’ Behance page.