EUbits: Grubb, Fry short stories coming to Insider

Short stories. David Pomerico revealed that Jeff Grubb and Jason Fry will both have short stories in upcoming issues of the Star Wars Insider, tying into Scourge and The Essential Guide to Warfare, respectively. Both books will be out in April, so expect to see the stories soon.

Authors. Troy Denning wrote a post on climactic scenes for Amazon’s Omnivoracious blog today.

Interviews. Sohaib Awan talks to Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff, while Jedi Journals has James Luceno.

Excerpts. Plagueis is nigh, with excerpts upon excerpts.

Reviews. Over at Big Shiny Robot, James reviews the Phantom Menace comic reprints, Agent of the Empire #1, and Knight Errant: Deluge #5.

Out this week: Agent of the Empire #1

Wednesday brings the debut issue of John Ostrander’s Agent of the Empire, featuring the James Bondesque Imperial agent Jahan Cross. The series spans a few years before A New Hope, or so I hear.

Also gracing the comic shelves will be a pair of digest reprint collections: Episode I Adventures collects some TPM side adventures, while Episode I: The Phantom Menace is the official movie adaption.

You might also want to be on the lookout for the latest issue of the Star Wars Insider, #130, for the new short story by Matthew Stover, ‘The Tenebrous Way,’ though in some places I’m seeing it dated for the 21st.

EUbits: Two new-to-us authors bringing Han, Chewie and the Falcon to Insider; Gear up for Kemp’s Riptide

Short stories. Two brand-new authors have a story coming to the Insider in January. David J. Williams and Mark Williams’ ‘Maze Run’ is a “classic Han & Chewie adventure aboard the Millennium Falcon,” to tie into the release of The Millennium Falcon Owner’s Workshop Manual. Fittingly, the ship is “the star of the story.” Will we see the Williams doing anything more lengthy for the franchise?

Riptide. With Paul S. Kemp’s latest only weeks away, Suvudu has a excerpt, while Kemp himself is doing an e-signing.

More excerpts… This week’s Facebook mini-excerpt is from Drew Karpshyn’s Revan; There’s another from the audiobook as well.

Fate of the Jedi. The manuscript for the final book, Troy Denning’s Apocalypse, is in the hands of Del Rey. In case you were wondering.

Press. Timothy Zahn in the Lansing City Pulse.

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: Zahn and Vader in the Insider, third Riptide excerpt, Padawan Menace on video

Star Wars Insider: Issue #127 hits the shelves this week, with Titan Magazines putting an overview online of its 100 pages. The cover article explains why Han Solo is still the man, and other features include a look at the new Star Tours attraction, an interview with Timothy Zahn, a look back at the radio dramas, and an extract from Drew Karpyshyn’s forthcoming The Old Republic: Revan novel.

Meanwhile, Del Rey announced on Facebook that a Darth Vader short story (not written by Haden Blackman) will be coming to an upcoming issue of the Insider.

Riptide: Just as Comic-con was getting going, Del Rey released a third mini excerpt from the upcoming novel Riptide by Paul S. Kemp.

LEGO Star Wars: The Padawan Menace: After being broadcast over this past weekend on Cartoon Network, the animated LEGO Star Wars special will be coming to DVD and Blu-ray on September 16, coinciding with the Star Wars saga Blu-ray release. Also, Scholastic is putting out an adaptation for the kids of the show, sayeth Amazon. Stay tuned for our review of the hilarious adventure.

EUbits: Zahn will have Heir bookplates for con season, Riptide mini-excerpt

Checking in with the Zahns. Since the anniversary edition of Heir to the Empire is coming out too late for summer con season, Del Rey has made Tim Zahn some bookplates to sign. (He’ll be at SDCC and Dragon*Con this year, among others.) Don’t count on getting any through the mail yet, though.

And don’t forget there’s a new Lando short story in the latest Insider, which is apparently arriving to subscribers now. (I don’t have mine yet, though. Look for it to show up in bookstores in a week or so.)

Mini-excerpt. Star Wars Books gave Facebook fans a quick peek at Paul S. Kemp’s Riptide yesterday.

Interviews Sean Williams talks about The Old Republic: Fatal Alliance at Suvudu.

Podcasts. The new Jedi Journals is out. Chris and Jay talk reboots and more.

Out this week: Allies paperback, comics

The paperback reprint of the fifth Fate of the Jedi book, Christie Golden’s Allies, will be in bookstores tomorrow. (Be sure to check out Erika’s review when you’re done.) And while you’re buying, keep an eye out for Star Wars Insider #125, which features a brand-new Vestara Khai short story from Golden, ‘First Blood.’

Meanwhile, comic fans will have a few things waiting for them on Wednesday. Both Legacy: War #5 and Darth Vader and the Lost Command #4 made the shipping list.

StarWars.com also lists a few trades that may be making their way to the bookstores… But I wouldn’t count on seeing them in the comic shops until Diamond lists them.

EUbits: Crimson Empire III blitz blasts off

Crimson Empire III. I’m sure we all have things in fandom whose popularity mystifies us. I have many – enough for a complete post, probably – but perhaps one of the oldest is the appeal of Crimson Empire. Is it the eternal love of Dark Horse’s fanboys for bland musclebound men kicking ass? Or that, for years, the third series was dead and the story of Kir Kanos unconcluded? I don’t know. I’m not sure I really care. But for those who do, it’s on now — and mere months away. On Friday, Dark Horse revealed Dave Dorman’s cover for Crimson Empire III #1 and two interior pages from the Dark Horse Presents story. Meanwhile, Mike Richardson and Randy Stradley talk about the series with StarWars.com

Deceived. Gotta love it when the author does their own review roundup. Got questions for Kemp? He’ll be doing a chat on the Star Wars Book Facebook page on Wednesday.

Historic! Shadowlocked takes a look at 20 years of the Expanded Universe. I have a few quibbles – Shadows of the Empire didn’t have a video game based on it because it was popular, but because the whole enterprise was a marketing test run for the PT… And I’m pretty sure Traviss never claimed to have Zahn’s blessing to kill off Mara – but it’s still a fairly interesting primer.

Interview. John Jackson Miller at MidSouthCon.

And finally… You can get an Insider subscription no matter where in the world you live. Handy!