Is there a new Matt Stover Star Wars novel in the pipeline?

UPDATE: Del Rey is shooting this down. Maybe the listing is actually Golden’s Ventress book? (But how the hell did Stover get on there?) New edition of his Revenge of the Sith novelization, maybe?

Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor by Matthew Stover: For my money, the last truly great Legends novel.
Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor: For my money, the last truly great Legends novel.
Max at Jedi News spotted an Amazon listing for a (June?) 2015 Star Wars novel from Matthew Stover.

Now, the last time we heard anything at all about Stover and Star Wars it was 2012, and it was a rumor that he was going to continue/finish the Imperial Commando series. Nothing was ever confirmed, and just over a month later Episode VII and the sale to Disney were announced, putting much of the Expanded Universe in a holding pattern.

We never had any official confirmation that Stover was or had been working on another Star Wars book after 2008’s Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor. But if he had been under contract or working on something with Lucasfilm, it’s entirely possible that he may have been set to write something else in the new line of canon novels, just like Paul S. Kemp, Christie Golden and Kevin Hearne.

The publisher, Century, rereleases the Del Rey Star Wars books in the U.K. (They even seem to be keeping close to the U.S. release dates now – Tarkin is out only two later.) Of course, it is an Amazon listing, but the hardcover status makes it hard to write this off as a reprint of one of his older books. (And it seems unlikely the rumored Comando book would have been hardcover, if it somehow made it into the database regardless.) A June release date makes it unlikely this is the Episode VII novelization, alas, but who knows?

Well, I’m curious… And I hope this doesn’t turn out to be some sort of mistake, or some sort of special edition of his Revenge of the Sith novelization. (Admittedly, it’s excellent, just not new.) Fingers crossed!

EUbits: Fan artist takes on Rebels-era Mara Jade

ENGELHA5T's Mara Jade and Palpatine (crop)Fan art. Lucasfilm may not have revealed what (most) of the Rebels character design will look like yet, ENGELHA5T on DeviantArt has created several OT-era characters in the style of The Clone Wars. Of particular interest to us would be Mara Jade, but there’s also Han and Chewie, Thrawn and Pellaeon, a teen Leia and even a Luke, may of them with cardbacks as well. You can check out his full gallery, but be warned it does contain some more adult works, though they do seem to be hidden if you’re not logged in to DA.

Del Rey. We actually heard about it way back at Celebration, but now Del Rey has officially announced their Star Wars Action Team. It’s not quite up and running yet, but the general gist is that you “spread the word” and get points. Please don’t break down any doors. On that note, here’s some of the swag they’ll have at SDCC.

Comics. Newsarama has a first look at the next arc of Dark Times, A Spark Remains.

The blogside. At the official blog, Dan Brooks praises Matthew Stover’s Revenge of the Sith adaptation, while Jennifer Heddle talks about why Leia is awesome.

Reviews. Over at Big Shiny Robot, James reads Darth Vader and the Ninth Assassin #3,The Clone Wars: The Smuggler’s Code and Legacy #4, where Ania Solo learns sometimes shooting first isn’t the best solution.

Rumor mill: Stover continuing Imperial Commando?

Take this one with a GIANT grain of salt: According to this Kickstarter, Matthew Stover is “replacing Karen Traviss as the author of the 501st novels for Star Wars.”

I’m assuming this means the Imperial Commando series, which has remained unfinished since Traviss bowed out of the franchise in 2009 after the release of 501st. LFL and Del Rey folks have talked about handing over the series to another author before, but the last attempt, with Aaron Allston, ended up turning into Mercy Kill instead. However, at Celebration VI, Del Rey’s Shelly Shapiro did say “Big maybe with positive thoughts. Can’t say anything yet but I think you’ll be happy.”

Keep in mind that this is far, far from a confirmed source… And, quite honestly, I’m hoping it’s false. Stover is far better than picking up Traviss’ scraps, no matter how beloved the series may be in some circles. (Hattip to Andrew Liptak.)

EUbits: Apocalypse reverb continues with Denning chat

Chat season. Troy Denning will be chatting Apocalypse tomorrow afternoon on the Star Wars Books Facebook page. (He’ll also be at San Diego Comic Con in July… A behind-the-scenes FOTJ panel, perhaps?) Also chatting, on the 11th, will be Essential Guide to Warfare author Jason Fry. We’ll likely be recapping both.

Scoundrels. Del Rey editor Frank Parisi was on last week’s ForceCast where he revealed two of the established characters that will be on the team. (If you want the fairly minor spoilers, highlight this: Kell Tainer and Winter. If Kell means nothing to you, he’s in the X-Wing series.)

Upcoming. We can expect news on something post-Fate of the Jedi what’s next “sometime this summer, if not sooner,” Erich Schoeneweiss said in response to a fan question. Not at SDCC, I hope.

Blurbs. Knights Archive spotted a longer summary for Pablo Hidalgo’s Essential Reader’s Companion in the Random House online catalog.

Interviews. Roqoo Depot talks to Matt Stover – mostly about his new book, Caine’s Law, which was out in stores yesterday – but they also touch on Star Wars. Meanwhile, Angela Slatter interviews Karen Miller and Sean Williams about working in franchises.

EUbits: Celebrating the ‘regular’ people, Apocalypse page count, peek at Stover’s Insider short

Listage. Lane over at Roqoo Depot gives the regular folks of the GFFA their due with his list of the top ten non-Force sensitive Expanded Universe characters.

Fate of the Jedi. Lightsaber Rattling reports on Troy Denning’s comments about the likely Apocalypse page count.

Short stories. Get a peek – though not a particularly readable one – at Matthew Stover’s Insider short story, ‘The Tenebrous Way.’

Interview. Writer John Ostrander talks Agent of the Empire with Nerd World News.

Artists. Five contributers to Star Wars Art: Comics share their thoughts on the franchise and comics at CBR.

Excerpts. Two more from Darth Plagueisa mini on Facebook, and a larger one at Random House’s online catalog.

Pretties.Concept art from Genndy Tartakovsky’s traditionally animated Clone Wars cartoon. It graced Cartoon Network in the gap between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, and I’m sad to hear that the DVDs have apparently gone out of print, because it was an amazing series of shorts.

EUbits: New Stover story coming to Insider

Short stories. Del Rey editor David Pomerico broke the news on Facebook yesterday: Matthew Stover’s ‘The Tenebrous Way’ will be December’s addition to the ever-growing pile of shorts making the Star Wars Insider.

The story will tie into James Luceno’s Darth Plagueis, which is due out December 27.

Blurbs. Knights Archive was first to spot the synopsis for The Millennium Falcon Owner’s Workshop Manual.

Poll. Again on Facebook, the Del Rey folks want to know which of the remaining 2011 releases you’re looking most forward to. At the moment it’s pretty close between Heir to the Empire 20th Anniversary Edition and Darth Plagueis.

Random. Since the latest Fate of the Jedi is hanging out on the bestseller list with his new novel, The New York Times asked author Lev Grossman about Star Wars. (This belongs in a different roundup entirely, but: Grossman just won the Campbell.)

EUbits: Blood Oath, Invasion, Rebel Force, Insider and Matthew Stover branches out

The Blood Oath mysteryCannot predict now. Despite the reappearance of Elaine Cunningham’s Blood Oath in the Del Rey online catalog with a 2010 release date, we still don’t know if the book will make it to publication. Sue Rostoni said yesterday: “Can’t say yet. Still don’t have the entire manuscript.” (She also answers some questions about the Crosscurrent cover.)

  • Invasion. EU Cantina has an interview with Tom Taylor and Colin Wilson.
  • Holostar. Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff on the Force and the light/dark divide.
  • Rebel Force. Randy Martinez talks about his covers for the Scholastic series.
  • Star Wars Insider. #111 has a Clone Wars cover (how novel!) and a peek at The Essential Star Wars Atlas. It’s due by the end of the month.
  • Authors. Matthew Stover is writing at least one God of War book for Del Rey, or at least that’s what several gaming sites are saying. There’s something in the Random House catalog at any rate.

EUbits: Bohnhoff, street date, Stover maybe

  • A Padwan’s Journal: Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff writes about dealing with icons in her tenth entry.
  • Street date shuffle: Drew Karpyshyn’s Dynasty of Evil has moved up a week to December 8. Book release schedule is thatta way.
  • The blogside: Matthew Stover has updated his blog with news of some upcoming projects, including two more tie-ins. Now note, there’s nothing about them being Star Wars, but they certainly could be.

EUbits: Deathtroopers format upgrade; Interviews with Stradley, Stover, & Hale

Updates from Sue Rostoni: Deathtroopers is becoming a hardcover, and the release date has been moved up to October 13th – all the better for Halloween sales, no doubt. Also moving is the newly-titled Fate of the Jedi: Backlash, back a week to January 26. Our book release schedule has been updated.

  • Comics: Dark Horse’s Randy Stradley talks Star Wars with Newsarama. The big news here is that Invasion, like Rebellion, will alternate with Dark Times: “five months on, five months off.”
  • More interviews! In podcast form! Author Matthew Stover on the Dragon Page; The EUCast has voice actress Jennifer Hale.