…But still no name

Sue Rostoni has posted several items on the OS boards about the 9-book post NJO trilogy:

Expect to see — Star Wars. We very much want to go back to the pulp Space Opera feel of the original movies (as opposed to hard SciFi). The focus will be character-driven situations, set against a backdrop of perhaps not galactic proportions, but certainly providing opportunities for spectacular space battles and lots of lightsaber action. Expect to see the major characters (Skywalkers and Solos) and many of the minor characters (Jedi Knights), and some old favorites. And, hopefully, a lot of surprises.

And on Ben Skywalker:

He’ll be 13 when the series begins and one of the main characters.

Added bonus info – the name of Jim Luceno’s post-Episode 3 hardcover will be Star Wars: Dark Lord.

Books and Magazines

Okay. Don’t post for a couple of weeks and you end up with quite the stack of things to tell you about. I hope your budgets are doing well.

Books
Jedi Trial by David Sherman and Dan Cragg – This is a Clone Wars hardcover novel leading up to events in Episode 3. Your position in or out of the spoiler cave will determine if you want to read this one. The premise sounds intriguing.

Inside the Worlds of Star Wars Trilogy by James Luceno – The cool Cross-Section books from DK go back to the worlds of the Classic Trilogy. Many nifty things to explore. I always enjoy these books.

Long Way Round – by Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman – Okay. So this isn’t strictly Star Wars. But it’s Ewan McGregor, isn’t it? And the book is as interesting as the show appears to be. It’s a hardcover, so it might be placed oddly in your local bookstore.

Magazines
Amazing Stories – December 2004 – Hey. We’re kinda partial to Paizo, the publisher of Amazing Stories. But the magazine is full of all sorts of great stories. And we like that they’re willing to give little guys a chance. Like this one guy: Aaron Allston. Oh, wait. We know him! Actually, Aaron is a much-beloved Star Wars writer who was given the chance to write a 1,000 word story to go with a picture. If you were at DragonCon, you might have heard about it.

Dreamwatch – November 2004 – Well, Dreamwatch has started officially publishing in the US. Will it remain as good as its UK counterpart? We’re hoping so. It looks intriguing this issue with its interview of Gary Kurtz and his views of the creation of the original trilogy. No Ep3 spoilers spotted, but there is discussion about the TV show. (Sorry. Can’t seem to find a US website.)

Film Review Special – #54, The Sex Issue – See where your favorite Star Wars actors rate on the Top100 sexiest actors list. (There’s a good number of the men of Star Wars on there.) And find out all sorts of salacious stories about your other fandom favorites, as well.

Starburst – Issue 316 – Christopher Lee is doing video games, now. Is there any medium he has yet to conquer? There’s also coverage of the rumor mill about Episodes 7 through 9.

Until next week!

Old Republic in 2006, Zahn in 2007…

A few interesting bits of news out of starwars.com today… First up, news on hardcover novels due in 2006. The first, by James Luceno is a post-Episode III novel. Also due that year are two Old Republic novels by Elizabeth Hand and Drew Karpyshyn.

The most intriguing announcement, at least for Club Jaders, is a brand new book by Timothy Zahn set sometime between ANH and ROTJ fot 2007… Provided the Outbound Flight novel is still a go, that would make this his 8th Star Wars novel.

Fans of the starwars.com message boards will also note that they’ve launched a regional section.

Novel Announcement: Labyrinth of Evil

In January we get Labyrinth of Evil, a novel featuring Anakin and Obi-Wan that leads directly into the opening on Episode 3. (Note: link contains visual spoilers for Ep3.)

It’s by James Luceno, who seems to be becoming the new KJA – at least as far as quantity goes. Even I really can’t insult any of the NJO authors by comparing them to the quality part. (Not even R. A. Salvatore! Well… maybe.)