Star Wars with occasional sarcasm
It’s likely today is our last big release day of the year, with Star Wars Costumes: The Original Trilogy dropping, along with two reprints: The ‘Royal Imperial Boxed Set’ of William Shakespeare’s Star Wars Trilogy and the paperback of Martha Wells’ Razor’s Edge.
These aren’t our final release of the year – there’s still James Luceno’s Tarkin on November 4.
UPDATE: A trailer for Star Wars Costumes!
Razor’s Edge. Fangirl has some exclusive art of the book’s cast, plus an interview with artist Magali Villeneuve. (Follow the link to see the whole thing!) Author Martha Wells chats with This Blog is Full of Words, Geek with Curves and Jedi News. (I’ll have more Razor’s Edge links later in the new release post.)
The blogside. At the official blog, editor Jennifer Heddle talks about the process behind Kenobi, while Bryan Young discusses the cinematic influences behind some of the books. Meanwhile, on my personal blog, I wrote a guide to the Expanded Universe for casual fans.
Street date shuffle. Can we still call it ‘street’ date for an eBook? The enhanced eBooks for Making of Return of the Jedi, The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars have been pushed back to October 22, Star Wars Books has announced. The hardcover Making of Return of the Jedi will still be out on October 1.
Interviews. Suvudu had the transcript of John Jackson Miller’s Facebook chat, plus Shelly Shapiro and Brian Wood. Eleven-ThirtyEight chats with Jason Fry, Star Wars Union with Alan Dean Foster, and Target Audience magazine has Timothy Zahn.
Reviews. James was impressed with Dark Times: A Spark Remains #3.
Lots of Leia. Lots of goodies are coming up on the Razor’s Edge blog tour. There are Martha Wells interviews at Fiction State of Mind and TFN and, with excerpt, on the Her Universe Facebook. Plus another excerpt from Star Wars Books and on Suvudu, an interview with White Hot Room’s Bria about her Razor’s Edge Leia costume.
Upcoming. Has the new Essential Characters been pushed back to 2016? It looks like it, from what Knights’ Archive has discovered. Making room for Episode VII characters? They also spotted the first Rebels tie-ins, which are coming in August 2014 from Disney Press.
Kenobi. John Jackson Miller got some pixels at Publisher’s Weekly upon the occasion of Kenobi being a bestseller; He’ll be chatting with Star Wars Books next Wednesday. In the meantime, there’s a new interview at Knights Archive.
Review. James thinks Star Wars #9 has good revelations for Vader and Leia, but only meh on Han’s part.
Razor’s Edge is the first book of the Empire and Rebellion series but it is, as promised, very much a standalone story.
I found the book to be a bit of a throwback – in a good way. Like Kenobi, it’s a straightforward, streamlined Star Wars story, though this one wouldn’t have been out of place back in the Bantam era… If you look back at it with a warm fuzzy glow that erases most of the silly parts.
Minor spoilers beyond this point.
Continue reading “Review: Wells’ Razor’s Edge is old-fashioned Star Wars”
Star Wars Books has posted our first mini-excerpt of Empire and Rebellion: Razor’s Edge by Martha Wells.
Han took two long strides to catch up with her, shouldered past Jerell, and said, “I know what you’re doing.”
“I know what I’m doing, too,” Leia said, and congratulated herself on her even tone. She stopped at the first pod hatch and opened the control pad to initiate the automatic systems check. The pods were meant for the larger crew complement of the Gamble’s pre-conversion state; each one had room for five large passengers.
“Yeah, you’ll either talk them out of this, or die trying.” Han leaned against the bulkhead beside her, his voice low and grim. “Or make sure they die trying.”
Leia’s hand froze on the control pad. It was odd that, in this moment, it was Han of all people who seemed to understand what this meant to her.
Razor’s Edge is due out in hardcover on September 24.
Knights Archive spotted that the Random House catalog has posted the blurb for Martha Well’s Empire and Rebellion: Razor’s Edge:
Times are desperate for the Rebel Alliance. Harassment by the Empire and a shortage of vital supplies are hindering completion of a new secret base on the ice planet Hoth. So when Mid Rim merchants offer much-needed materials for sale, Princess Leia Organa and Han Solo lead an Alliance delegation to negotiate a deal.
But when treachery forces the rebel ship to flee into territory controlled by pirates, Leia makes a shocking discovery: the fierce marauders come from Leia’s homeworld of Alderaan, recently destroyed by the Death Star. These refugees have turned to pillaging and plundering to survive—and they are in debt to a pirate armada, which will gladly ransom the princess to the vengeful Empire . . . if they find out her true identity.
Struggling with intense feelings of guilt, loyalty, and betrayal, Leia is determined to help her wayward kinspeople, even as Imperial forces are closing in on her own crippled ship. Trapped between lethal cutthroats and brutal oppressors, Leia and Han, along with Luke, Chewbacca, and a battle-ready crew, must defy death—or embrace it—to keep the rebellion alive.
The novel, a hardcover, recently moved up to a September 24 release date.
Street dates. We got the cover and now Empire and Rebellion: Razor’s Edge – the Leia novel by Martha Wells – has moved up from October 15 to October 1.
It’s been a while since we’ve heard anything about The Essential Characters, but it’s popped up in Random House’s Edelweiss catalog with a brand new far-off date of October 7, 2014. Will it stick? Probably not! (We’ll see.) Pencil it in.
Out now. Dawn of the Jedi: Into the Void came out almost a week ago, and author Tim Lebbon has been making the interview rounds with Suvudu, Jedi News, Star Wars Action News and Roqoo Depot. Meanwhile, there are reviews at Tosche Station, Fangirl, Jedi News, Knights Archive (x2) and Roqoo Depot.
The blogside. Tor’s Emily Asher-Perrin has a list of what Episode VII could lift from the Expanded Universe. I haven’t covered a ton of these sorts of posts, but hey, it’s Tor and she made Mara #1, so. And speaking of… Bria has reached Legacy of the Force.
Audiobooks. Timothy Zahn’s Allegiance and the Hand of Thrawn duology (Specter of the Past and Vision of the Future) are coming as unabridged audiobooks.
Comic reviews.James reviews The Assassination of Darth Vader, Brian Wood’s Free Comic Book Day story, as well as Fire Carrier #4 and Star Wars #5.
io9 has our first looks at the cover for Martha Wells’ Empire and Rebellion: Razor’s Edge. No blurb – the provided text is just the stuff we already know about the series, but hey. Cover!
It’s another new look for Star Wars books – kind of a melding of the stark Fate of the Jedi covers with the old-school photo montages. It’s crisper than the montages, but less severe than the stylized Fate covers – will fandom as a whole like it? Who knows!
Razor’s Edge – we just learned the title last week – is due out in hardcover on October 15. The next entries in the series will probably come in 2014 – we know that James S.A. Corey (Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck) are working on their Han novel, while Kevin Hearne’s Luke novel is still in the outline stage.
So much for the era of short titles: Martha Wells writes today that her Leia novel is titled Empire and Rebellion: Razor’s Edge.
UPDATE: Del Rey confirms that Empire and Rebellion is the official series title for what we’ve been calling Rebels.
Razor’s Edge, a hardcover, is currently scheduled for an October 15 release. Further entries in the Rebellion-era series, a Han novel from James S.A. Corey and a Luke one from Kevin Hearne, are expected in 2014.
We’ve got details this morning on the forthcoming Rebels series, most notably a brief blurb for Martha Wells’ still-untitled Leia novel:
Nebula Award finalist Martha Wells makes her Star Wars debut with a brand-new classic Star Wars: Rebels adventure starring Princess Leia and her new friends, Luke Skywalker and Han Solo, in the time just after the destruction of the Death Star in Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope!
Princess Leia Organa is on a mission for the Rebel Alliance when Imperial forces attack. Now she, Han, and Luke are on their own, working with pirates and dealing with traitors as they race the clock to protect the secrecy of a crucial meeting of Rebel conspirators!
The listing also gives us (presumably tentative) dates for the other books in the series: March 2014 for James S. A. Corey’s Han book and January 2015 for Kevin Hearn’s Luke novel. (via)
John Jackson Miller’s Kenobi also gets a blurb:
In this original novel set between the events of Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith and Episode IV A New Hope, Obi-Wan Kenobi comes to the aid of the residents of Tatooine during his exile. But he struggles with his new mission when he realizes that protecting Luke Skywalker-the last hope of the galaxy-means setting aside his compassion and his Jedi warrior training, for the future of the galaxy lies not with Obi-Wan Kenobi, but with a mystical desert recluse known only by the name of Crazy Old Ben.
There’s also a listing for William Shakespeare’s Star Wars (with the cover and a few interior pages.)