Star Wars with occasional sarcasm
Lest anyone confuse the issue (reported on first by Lightsaber Rattling and, today, The Hollywood Reporter) Star Wars Insider short stories are canon from the current story, ‘Blade Squadron’ on. The first part of the story, in Insider #149, came out shortly before the official announcement regarding the Expanded Universe.
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.”
Star Wars Books announces a new two-part short for the Insider. David J. Williams and Mark S. Williams, who wrote ‘Maze Run’ in #131, are following up with ‘Blade Squadron.’ The first part will appear in #149, on sale April 22.
Coming to the comic store on Wednesday is The Star Wars #4 and a second printing of The Star Wars #1 .
If you’re a Star Wars Insider subscriber, keep an eye out – looks like issue #146 may be arriving soon, and it contains a tie-in story to Maul: Lockdown, our January novel release.
Releasing Tuesday are the eBook versions of J. W. Rinzler’s Making of books for the original trilogy, featuring video, audio and other extra content. Random House has them priced at $17.99, but check your device’s marketplaces.
Comic fans can head to the shops on Wednesday for Legacy #8.
It’s also time to keep an eye out for the new Star Wars Insider, which features a Leia short story bu editor Jen Heddle.
Next week brings The Bounty Hunter Code: From the Files of Boba Fett (now dated to the 29th) and the still-pricey-but-not-ridiculously-so version of Frames.
And there’s a fairly recent update to our book release schedule – the Crucible paperback is scheduled for May 27.
Street date shuffle. James S. A. Corey’s Honor Among Thieves, the Han-centric second novel of the Empire and Rebellion series, has appeared in the Random House catalog with a release date of March 4. Per usual this is subject to change – we’ve already seen Martha Wells’ Leia book move up twice – so pencil it in.
Upcoming. There’s an excerpt from John Jackson Miller’s Kenobi on the Random House catalog. There’s also a new short story from him, ‘Incognito,’ in the latest issue of the Star Wars Insider, which should be hitting subscriber mailboxes soon if it hasn’t already.
Interviews. Crucible author Troy Denning talks to TheForce.net, Hollywood.com and Roqoo Depot. There are spoilers in these, so be cautious.
Reviews. James finds that the start of the new story arc in Brian Wood’s Star Wars #7 is full of tension, but light on action, and brings in a new artist, Ryan Kelly, who had previously worked with Wood elsewhere. (Plus a female Moff?!)
Team Hondo gets a mention in Matt Martin’s writeup of March’s ‘This is Madness’ vote in Star Wars Insider #142, arriving in subscriber mailboxes now. (But for the meantime, here’s a scan.)
The issue also features a short story by Christie Golden that ties into Crucible, a Padme piece by blogger Tricia Barr and a look back at The Clone Wars S5 from Eric Geller. The issue should be on newsstands on or around June 12.
Death is but a door. Time is but a window. Artist Chris McGrath tweeted an alternate cover for John Jackson Miller’s Kenobi. I get kind of a Vigo the Carpathian vibe from it, so I can see why the more heroic final version won out. On the plus side, if they ever decide to do an Infinities ‘Dark Kenobi’ novel, the cover’s all done!
Short stories. Star Wars Insider #142 will feature a Christie Golden story set between Apocalpse and Crucible, ‘Good Hunting,’ Del Rey says. It stars Jaina Solo, Tenel Ka, and Allana Solo and will have new artwork from Joe Corroney. The issue will be on sale June 11.
Chats. The Star Wars Books Facebook chat had a pair of Dawn of the Jedi centric chats this week. Tuesday was comic writer John Ostrander (Roqoo Depot recap) and Wednesday was Into the Void scribe Tim Lebbon (TFN recap.) Lebbon also chatted with Fangirl Blog and TFN since we last checked in.
Reviews. James thinks that Darth Vader and the Ninth Assassin #2 ups the scope with a boom.
John Jackson Miller, author of Knight Errant and the upcoming Kenobi novel, has recently started a new original story, Overdraft: The Orion Offensive as a Kindle Serial. The first episode was released on April 2, and today is the release of the second installment, ‘Golden Handshake.’ Miller was kind enough to answer a few questions for us, as well as give us a prize to give away: copies of the short story prequel to the series, ‘Human Error’.
I’ve enjoyed Miller’s work as writer of the Knights of the Old Republic comics, as well as the Knight Errant comic series and novel, and the Lost Tribe of the Sith short stories, and I think that this serial, while set in an original universe, will delight readers with its characters, world building, and Miller’s mix of action and humor. Let’s get into the mini-interview on Overdraft:
Jedi News has a brief excerpt from the Timothy Zahn eBook ‘Winner Lose All,’ which will be released next Monday. The excerpt features Scoundrels characters Tavia and Bink Kitik, and the eBook focuses on Lando Calrissian.
Scoundrels is due out in hardcover January 1.
