Tag: john jackson miller

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Short story authors, cover revealed for ‘Rise of the Empire’ collection

rise-cropStarWars.com has revealed the cover, release date and short story authors for Rise of the Empire, the “bind-up” that collects A New Dawn and Tarkin that was officially announced at Celebration. The authors who contribute the three original short stories are familiar names John Jackson Miller and Jason Fry, along with Star Wars newcomer Melissa Scott.

Rise of the Empire will be out in trade paperback on October 6, 2015. Check out the full cover below the cut.

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Placeholders abound: Del Rey Star Wars novels and short stories for 2015 and beyond

Del Rey (logo)After finding books for young readers, Jedi Bibliothek (in English) now has the Del Rey listings.

There are short story ebooks from Jason Fry and John Jackson Miller for early 2015, which Florian thinks are 100% real.

However, keep in mind we don’t necessarily know that any of these will be Episode VII related, and both the titles and authors may be placeholders. There’s what appears to be parts of a trilogy called “The Duelist,” (#2 and #3) with Christie Golden listed as author. There’s also a single “Roundtable Trilogy #2,” with Troy Denning listed as an author. Only those three have authors listed – there are also three untitled novels. Again, both the titles and authors may be placeholders, as ISBNs can be reused, so don’t panic just yet. (For instance: What if ‘The Duelist’ ISBNs – and that title – were originally assigned to Sword of the Jedi? The same could go for Denning and that ’roundtable’ thing: Maybe they were originally assigned to another pre-Disney project that was planned but never announced.)

None of them are December releases – “Untitled Novel # 4” has a date of November 3, which seems awfully early for the novelization, so it may be something else entirely. Looks like there’s some kind of nonfiction or reference book in there as well – “Untitled Novel # 33” has a price of $38.00 and a January 2016 release date.

These are all fairly curious: I wonder when we’ll hear more? After that disheartening Stover fake-out, I’m wary of everything right now…

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Out this week: A New Dawn

a-new-dawn-sdcc-cropChances are you don’t need this reminder, given that Del Rey Fancorps members woke up at least 8 emails in their inbox about the release of A New Dawn. It is, of course, the first of the new canon novels, a prequel to Rebels and our first new Star Wars novel since Honor Among Thieves back in March.

In addition the emails, there are the reviews. We have James’, of course, but you can also catch opinions from the usual suspects: Tosche Station (who also did a Go/No-Go) Jedi News (twice,) EU Cantina, Roqoo Depot, Lightsaber Rattling and Making Star Wars (twice.)

We’re also just about a month away from the official premiere of Rebels itself, on October 3rd. The next novel, James Luceno’s Tarkin, is due out on November 4.

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Review: A New Dawn pumps up excitement for Rebels

star-wars-a-new-dawnOn sale today, A New Dawn by John Jackson Miller is the first novel that is part of the Lucasfilm Story Group approved timeline. Set in the dark times between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope, and several years before the upcoming Rebels cartoon, it’s a tale of how two of the show’s main characters, Hera and Kanan, first encounter each other and eventually decide to team up. As someone excited by Rebels, I enjoyed the novel and found it interesting to see the characters before they united for a common cause.

Miller brings his skills in combining likable characters with clashing viewpoints, in a story setting that he has mastered before in Kenobi and Knight Errant: a Jedi alone in hostile territory. Only this time, the Jedi’s not interested in being a Jedi, or even be on the hero’s path at all – while someone else is sorting out what type of people are and aren’t needed for a rebellion to the Empire’s rule. And as with Knight Errant and Lost Tribe of the Sith series, where various Sith philosophies were being forged and tested against each other, the villain, Count Vidian, has his own philosophy being pushed to the extreme, and we witness it in practice.

Minor spoilers beyond this point.

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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!