Star Wars with occasional sarcasm
We’d be the first fansite on the internet to tell you that being an Expanded Universe fan is not always a picnic. Every publishing cycle brings a new mystery: Will it work? Will it not? Glide on, my little mookas, for our take on the year in the Expanded Universe.
Today’s Star Wars Books Facebook chat with Tim Zahn was… Well, a Star Wars Books Facebook chat, which means a lot of the same questions that Tim has been patiently answering over and over again on his own page. (Mara’s death, DFR/TLC reissues. ) A lot of them. But thankfully, a few other topics also got some play. Continue reading “Tim Zahn chats Star Wars and Heir to the Empire“
First look. Suvudu revealed the cover for Jeff Grubb’s Scourge today. Yet another generic musclebound dude with a lightsaber, ho-hum. But given it’s a book featuring an all-new character and Hutts, I’m clearly not the target market here. Still, let’s hope it looks better on the actual book.
Staffing. Editor Betsy Mitchell, who’s been with the Star Wars novels since their rebirth in the early 90’s at Bantam, is leaving Del Rey. New hire Frank Parisi is taking over Star Wars and other tie-ins.
Hey! We know that guy! Dan Wallace in the St. Petersburg Times.
Casting games. Suvudu has the ‘winners’ of their attempts to cast Heir to the Empire. The less I say the better.
Excerpts. A new one for Riptide.
Reviews. James reviews Jedi: The Dark Side #5 and Knight Errant: Deluge #2 at Big Shiny Robot.
Namesake corner. Still no Mara Jade tee from Her Universe, but at least you can grab a fan-made one.
More Heir. The Star Wars Books Facebook chat will be hosting a live chat with Timothy Zahn next Wednesday, September 28th. And on that note, Suvudu has a brief interview with editor Betsy Mitchell.
Events. Author Jason Fry dresses as a stormtrooper for a baseball game and tells the tale in his Mets blog.
Trailers. There’s one for Darth Vader: A 3-D Reconstruction Log. Of course.
Theories. Anarchist William Gillis’s vision of what happens to the Star Wars galaxy after Return of the Jedi.
Photo finish. Del Rey’s collection of Star Wars books.
Entertainment Weekly has an brief interview with Timothy Zahn to celebrate the re-release of Heir to the Empire. They do refer to Mara as “crimson-haired,” which makes my 17-year-old self wince, but I’ll forgive them. Just this once. If only because they’re not trying to cast the thing.
Suvudu has no such excuse. It’s no secret that faux-casting games drive me batty, so I’ll just point you at theirs: Captain Pellaeon, Talon Karrde, Joruus C’baoth, Wedge Antilles and, finally, Mara Jade. Remember, what goes on at Suvudu stays at Suvudu, kids: No casting games here, or you’ll make me redo this. Only worse.
As a palate-cleanser, Wired also has a tribute to Heir.
Today is the release day for the 20th anniversary of Heir to the Empire by Timothy Zahn. As Erich points out on Facebook, this new edition contains:
Also out today: Paperback version of Sean Williams’ The Force Unleashed II.
Comics: Out this week (check your store for possible Labor Day-induced shipping delays): Dark Times: Out of the Wilderness #2
Pete Morrison has posted his review of the Heir to the Empire: 20th Anniversary Edition. It’s spoiler free (well, assuming one can spoil a 20-year old book that forms the basis for so much of the modern EU) but for the the brand-new novella as well. The book will be out next Tuesday.
As the new edition of Heir to the Empire approaches, so does a flood of excerpts and extras and the like. Today we have an excerpt from the audiobook (via) and a text one featuring actual pages. (And a chance to win an actual copy.)
For our final teaser annotation of September’s Heir to the Empire: 20th Anniversary Edition, Zahn talks about stormtroopers and namechecks the 501st.
After the 501st Imperial Legion fan group began, it was also established that Vader similarly liked to grab the Empire’s best stormtroopers and add them to his personal legion. I got to play with that idea a bit in later books..
We’re just two weeks and change away from the book’s September 6th release.
In the, err, cardboard. Del Rey’s Erich Schoeneweiss treats us to a look at a just-printed copy of the Heir to the Empire: 20th Anniversary edition under the jacket. I still wish they’d gone with brand-new art, but making the original black and white does make it slightly less horrible. Slightly.
Listage. The Star Wars Report has ten Expanded Universe characters who could be in The Clone Wars. Some of you may hate the very concept, but hey: That’s what you get for reading prequel EU in George’s driveway. And hey: It means greater possibility for action figures! Just ask Quinlan Vos.
Giveaway. Paul S. Kemp is giving away two unbound galleys of his October paperback, Riptide.
Preview. Another look at The Blueprints from Laurel Woods at MTV. She also has an interview with Bonnie Burton.