Luceno’s Tarkin “beautifully amalgamates the classic trilogy incarnations of Vader and the Emperor with their prequel era counterparts,” says Star Wars Books. We’re also getting a tie-in short story for the Insider by Alex Freed, which is “a refreshing yet gritty take on the destruction of Alderaan.”
More new Star Wars novels from Del Rey: Tarkin, Heir to the Jedi and Lords of the Sith
Earlier today, we had our first official statement on the Expanded Universe’s place in the light of the new films. Now, we get more on the novels going forward. After John Jackson Miller’s A New Dawn (September 2,) we’re getting Tarkin by James Luceno (November 4) and…
Heir to the Jedi by Kevin Hearne (January) was originally announced as part of the loose Empire and Rebellion trilogy pre-Disney… They dropped the subtitle on Honor Among Thieves, but that and Razor’s Edge both fall under Legends with the rest of the old EU, per Lucasfilm editor Jennifer Heddle. In any case, this book is a first-person Luke Skywalker story. (First person? I’m suddenly a lot less excited, but whatever, I’ll read it.)
Lords of the Sith by Paul S. Kemp (March) features Palpatine and Vader “stranded in the middle of insurgent action on an inhospitable planet, they must rely solely on each other, the Force, and their awesome martial skills to prevail.” And Kemp says the book also features “a character who I’m not allowed to name just yet, but who appeared in The Clone Wars animated series.” Subtle!
These are being announced by both Disney Publishing and Random House… Curious, no?
This is not a movie.
Roundup: Star Wars authors consider future movies, Ewan down with a return to the desert
Ponders. Christian Blauvelt asks eight Star Wars authors (Drew Karpyshyn, Paul Kemp, Troy Denning, John Jackson Miller, James Luceno, Michael Reaves, Christie Golden and Aaron Allston) what they’d like to see in Episode VII and the other new films. Lots of love for the EU and female characters, naturally, which is more than I can say for most of the other wishlists that have been popping up daily.
Spin-offs. Ewan McGregor continues to voice his willingness to return as Obi-Wan. “I don’t know what he did in the desert,” he tells MTV. “We could make up some stuff.”
Superfans. Kevin Smith is (still) very excited. Though his casting for a young Han Solo is… the worst I’ve seen yet. Hopefully for the LULZ.
EUbits: The Essential Reader’s Companion approaches
That’s no moon. With the Essential Reader’s Companion only 3 weeks away, copies are landing on the desks of the official types (with, one assumes, an audible thud.) Expect to see a lot of reviewer tweets about it soon. In the meantime, you can get a closer look at some of the portraits and check out the first 28 pages in the Random House catalog. (via)
The blogside. Tor’s Emily Asher-Perrin takes a look at ‘the true nature of the force,’ addressing a lot of the weird and complicated issues at hand with ‘balance’ and all the rest of the simple tricks and nonsense scattered throughout fandom.
Costuming. Trisha Barr interviews Shea Standefer about her great Jaina Solo costumes at CVI. Bria wrote about gender-swapped costumes, including a crossplay Wraith Squadron she took part in at D*C. And, on that note, more Expanded Universe costumes from D*C.
Interviews. John Ostrander talks about the next arc of Agent of the Empire at CBR; Roqoo Depot caught up with Timothy Zahn, James Luceno, and Troy Denning at Celebration.
Blurb. There’s now one for The Last Jedi by by Michael Reaves and Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff. (via)
Audio Random House Audio has a poll up on Facebook asking which of three books – Miller’s Knight Errant, Reaves/Perry’s Death Star or Zahn’s Allegiance – you want to hear on audio first.
Jawajames’ recap in photos of Star Wars Celebration VI Friday
Dunc has covered all the news, and I’m just the guy who takes the pictures. and organizes the Bounty Hunt puzzle hunt event at Celebration. So anyway, here’s some of the best of the photos. If you want to see the full set, I have a photo album just of Friday at Celebration VI (170 shots of the Del Rey panel, cupcakes, Friday Bounty Hunt, random costumes) on flickr. Continue reading “Jawajames’ recap in photos of Star Wars Celebration VI Friday”
Celebration VI: Del Rey annouces Jaina Solo trilogy, new original trilogy series
We got news about two new projects this morning at Del Rey’s panel. The first is a new series, Rebels, featuring the classic characters, which launches with a Leia-centric tale by Martha Wells. The second, focusing on Luke, will be written by Kevin Hearns. These were just approved, so no art. It’s set between ANH and ESB, I believe.
The second is something we’ve all been waiting for and half-expecting: A Jaina trilogy, Sword of the Jedi, written by Christie Golden. Lots of cheers from the audience! It’s set not too long after Fate of the Jedi and does have some (temporary?) art. The Jaina fans are super-excited, and who can blame them?
But most of the panel was, as promised, given to Q&A. Some highlights and updates on other upcoming books, including Crucible, Scoundrels and more beneath the cut. In attendance were Pablo Hidalgo, Aaron Allston, James Luceno, Drew Karpyshyn, Jennifer Heddle, Shelly Shapiro and Timothy Zahn.
Continue reading “Celebration VI: Del Rey annouces Jaina Solo trilogy, new original trilogy series”
EUbits: Considering Padme Amidala and Jaina Solo
The blogside. On Livejournal, Chameleon Irony takes a look at what implications the events of Darth Plagueis may have had on Padme throughout the films. (Contains Plagueis spoilers.) Meanwhile, at Rooqoo Depot, Lane considers fandom, Jaina Solo, and ‘strong female characters.’
Fate of the Jedi. The latest mini-excerpt from Apocalypse features Luke and a Sith.
Celebration VI. Two more authors have been confirmed to be attending: James Luceno and Jason Fry. Paul S. Kemp, not so much.
Art. Two more looks at the interior art of The Essential Gude to Warfare: An Imperial refueling and a fantastic Dave Seeley title page spread showing the Battle of Couscant from Revenge of the Sith. It’s better than the actual cover!
Reviews. Over at Big Shiny Robot, James considers Agent of the Empire #3, Crimson Empire III #4 and Knights of the Old Republic: War #2.
Dear Darth Plagueis: It’s not you, it’s me
I don’t know why I was surprised when James Luceno’s Darth Plagueis failed to blow my mind.
I bought the book on the release date, but didn’t start it until last Monday – mainly because I knew I’d have to recap the Luceno Facebook chat on Wednesday and I didn’t want to be spoiled for what folks on Twitter were labeling AMAZING REVELATIONS. So I forced myself through it in two days.
And I was not blown away. The revelations? Not that amazing. To me, anyway.
There are no overt spoilers for Darth Plagueis after the jump, though there are some references to the content which may be obvious to anyone well-versed in fandom. Continue reading “Dear Darth Plagueis: It’s not you, it’s me”
James Luceno talks Plagueis with Facebook fans
Despite a bumpy start, the Darth Plagueis chat on Facebook with James Luceno today seemed to go quite well. Apologies for doing a straight-up transcript of this, but there were some really good questions… This is the first time I haven’t come out of one of these chats despairing for the typing skills of fandom at large, though I did fix some punctuation and trim a little fat from some of the questions.
The transcript is divided by non-spoiler and spoiler questions. Head below the cut to read, but you want to stay unspoiled, turn back when you see the red text.
Continue reading “James Luceno talks Plagueis with Facebook fans”
EUbits: Chat Darth Plagueis with Luceno
Sith and circumstances. Star Wars Books will be holding a Facebook chat with author James Luceno tomorrow afternoon on Darth Plagueis. It will no doubt be spoilerific, so take some time to finish the book today. I just started it, but will take the bullet to recap the chat tomorrow either way. On that note, here’s yet another review of the book from NJOE.
Interviews. TFN talks to author Ryder Windham about his recent book The Wrath of Darth Maul.
Fate of the Jedi. The second mini-excerpt from Apocalypse features… Boba Fett? Of course.