Tag: the blogside

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EUbits: Joe Schreiber teases Maul book, more Shakespeare’s Star Wars

Maul: LockdownUpcoming. Star Wars Bookworms attended a Star Wars Reads Day event with author Joe Schreiber, who revealed a few things about his next Star Wars book, Maul: Lockdown. They have the recording and an excerpt. (Not into audio? Check their tweets for some detail.) Lockdown will be out in January.

And it’s official: William Shakespeare’s Star Wars is getting two sequels, The Empire Striketh Back and William Shakespeare’s The Jedi Doth Return . The writing duties will again be handled by Ian Doescher and they’ll be out March 25 and July 1 next year.

The blogside. At the Star Wars Blog, Rich Handley and Abel G. Peña conclude their look at The Wheel. Tosche Station’s Bria has some thoughts on redemption in the recent EU. And Alexander Gaultier at Eleven-ThirtyEight has a case for starting over.

Licensees. Dark Horse has signed a distribution deal with Random House, reports Publisher’s Weekly. Given it’s a distribution deal, it’s not that exciting for our purposes, though if you don’t have a comic shop (which will still get their comics through Diamond) this may mean more Dark Horse in your bookstore.

Interviews. TheForce.net chats with J.W. Rinzler, The Wookiee Gunner has Jason Fry (plus a few other folks) and Star Wars Union talks to Zack Giallongo about Ewoks: Shadows of Endor

Reviews. The Star Wars #2 gets James on board.

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EUbits: Heddle on the Expanded Universe going forward

HeddleInterviews. Eric and Erik at The ForceCast had LucasBooks editor Jennifer Heddle on their latest episode. The discussion segment begins at about 28 minutes in. At about 50 minues in, Eric asks if there really is “a hold” on books for next year. “There was definitely a little bit of limbo,” Heddle said. But “there will be more books in 2014, we’re just not at the point we can announce them yet.”

Comics. Tim Siedell talks to CBR about his next Star Wars mini-series, ‘Darth Vader and the Cry of Shadows.’

The blogside. At the StarWars.com blog, Jason Fry and Paul Urquhart address The Celestials, while Rich Handley and Abel G. Peña go back to the Marvel days for a look at The Wheel. Brian at Tosche Station compares and contrasts the Leia of the Star Wars comic with the Leia of Razor’s Edge. And I posted an intermediate followup to my beginner’s guide to the EU, because apparently I just don’t devote enough time to writing about Star Wars as it is.

Reviews. James is pleased with the mysteries deepening in Legacy #7.

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Episode VII: Release dates, fan speculation, and other horrors of the news void

Stay on target!Release date hijinks. Bryan Young at Big Shiny Robot – with an assist from Variety – writes on why Episode VII probably isn’t getting pushed back to December. And Jeremy Conrad at Furious Fanboys points out that the shooting schedule for Episode VII actually mirrors the one from Star Trek Into Darkness.

And, for the record, there’s another possible date change rumor from Jedi News.

The blogside. Over at Fangirl, there’s a interesting piece on speculation and how having too much knowledge of the franchise puts fan bloggers in a precarious position. Personally, although I do and will continue to report rumors, I’ve been staying away from outright speculation – mostly because it just annoys me, honestly. I don’t mind spoilers, but as an EU and fanfic fan I’ve read more than enough half-baked versions of our favorite characters – and while I have no plans to go spoiler-free (none at all) I am willing to wait and judge on the finished product. Let’s not forget that it isn’t always the basic ingredients that make something succeed or fail – it’s the execution. And that we won’t see in full until the movie is in theaters.

Lucasfilm. Oh look, it’s the fairy musical again.

Actors. The Hollywood Reporter concern-trolls Harrison Ford. Harrison Ford does what he wants, damnit. And they also found a few Sith who’d be up for a return – Ray Park and David Prowse. Somehow I doubt a dude who can’t even get a Celebration invite is going to get a movie part, though.

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EUbits: Ewoks, excerpts, and bugs. Lots of bugs.

ewoks-comicAlready used up my yub yub quota this week, sorry. Heard some things here and there about an Ewoks comic through the recent cons, but not enough to go much on… But here’s a Newsarama interview with writer Zack Giallongo. The TPB is due in October; Start planning your celebratory buffet now. (via)

Officially… From the Del Rey folks, we have a Kenobi mini-excerpt, what other excerpts Razor’s Edge will contain, aand, on StarWars.com, Troy Denning writes about Crucible and his other Star Wars work. And bugs. Prefer not to think about any of that? Rich Handley and Abel G. Peña are exploring the Empire’s alien henchmen.

The blogside At Tosche Station, Nanci addresses the issues with the EU’s Jedi in recent years, but also takes the time to thank Del Rey for having so many women in the recent and upcoming lineup. And MTV has been doing a series on things that the new movies ‘need,’ most of which have been borderline ridiculous, but at least Jaina Solo and Lumiya made it.

Reference. The cover for Death Star: Owner’s Technical Manual

New blog. Check out Eleven-ThirtyEight, which focuses on EU-based meta and opinion pieces.

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Roundup: Will Episode VII help diversify Star Wars?

The prequels didn't do too badly with background characters - will the sequels move diversity to the forefront?The blogside. It’s a hot button issue in many fandoms right now – just ask anyone hanging around Game of Thrones lately – and Bria at Tosche Station explains on why it’s important to have diversity in Star Wars.

Oh, Carrie! Carrie Fisher shares some ideas for Episode VII. They are very… Carrie.

Who wants in now? Star Wars alumni Warwick Davis, Samuel L. Jackson and Ray Park. Spinoffs for everyone?

Disney business. Bob Iger will remain at the helm of Disney through at least 2016. And with The Lone Ranger’s opening-weekend belly flop, Disney has plenty of reasons to be thankful for their recent acquisitions. One expert expects Disney to net about $733M for 2015’s Episode VII alone.

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EUbits: Did George Lucas have Anakin Solo killed?

Anakin SoloMythbusting. Tosche Station got Pablo Hidalgo to dig into his notes to clarify one of the most widespread rumors about the New Jedi Order series. Did the almighty George Lucas order LucasBooks to kill off Anakin Solo? Turns out… Not so much.

Forthcoming. Jeffrey Brown, the author of Vader and Son and next week’s Vader’s Little Princess, told the Full of Sith podcast about his next Star Wars project, Jedi Academy. In a hurry? FOS co-host Bryan shares the relevant details.

Comics. Brian Woods’ Star Wars gets a new artist, Ryan Kelly, for the new arc that starts with issue #7. Meanwhile, Cosmic Book News interviews Wood.

Excerpt. Just a little one from Dawn of the Jedi: Into the Void.

Reviews. James is glad the action picks up in Star Wars #4 and thinks the story gets off to a fast start with a very intriguing foe in Darth Vader and the Ninth Assassin #1.

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As the Star Wars turns: An ever-evolving franchise

Hyperspace

Today on Tor, Emily Asher-Perrin writes about Star Wars and the sequels and the Expanded Universe and generational differences and mostly, how the franchise is always changing along with the audience.

Those who saw it first in the theater will often remark how its title was initially just Star Wars—the “Episode IV: A New Hope” was added later, after the second film was released and one more was on its way. Children of the 90s had the Expanded Universe novels, which arrived just before the Special Edition was released. Those who were born in the 90s might have skipped the the original trilogy altogether, or watched the prequels first and then tracked back. And now that new films are coming, there is no telling how the new generation will see Star Wars, what it will mean to them, whether its history will be worth delving into.

This is a must-read and an important reminder: Star Wars is not a static thing, and it hasn’t been a static thing for decades now.

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EUbits: Movies are not wikis, or why backstory doesn’t mean that book characters can’t be in Episode VII

Mara in 'Vector Prime' art by Darren Tan from the Essential Reader's CompanionThe blogside. Nanci at Tosche Station points out how backstory isn’t an impediment to Expanded Universe characters appearing in the sequel trilogy. (If you really want to make that point, there are plenty of more legitimate reasons!) Meanwhile, on the Star Wars blog, editor Jennifer Heddle talks a bit about editing the roleplaying books.

Upcoming. The Making of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi has a blurb now, and Kevin Hearn’s outline for his Rebels book – the Luke one – has been approved. Making of is due in October, while we’ve got a tentative January 2015 date for the Hearns. And while we’re on the topic, the first Rebels novel, the still-untitled Leia one by Martha Wells, has moved up a week to October 15. (via)

Excerpts. And on that note, the first chapter of Tim Lebbon’s Dawn of the Jedi: Into the Void has appeared in the Random House catalog. That one is out in May. (via)

Podcasts. Our own Jawajames guested on the second episode of Star Wars Bookworms.

Conventions. Dark Horse will be selling a limited edition cover variant of the new Legacy at WonderCon.

Translation. Abel Pena will be translating some vintage Droids and Ewoks comics from Spain into English.

Reviews. James gives Dawn of the Jedi: The Prisoner of Bogan #4 a big thumbs-up, while he’s ‘intrigued’ by the new Legacy #1.

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EUbits: Take a Rebel Mission to Ord Mantell

Rebel Mission to Ord MantellAudio For you audio drama fans, Big Shiny Robot has unearthed Rebel Mission to Ord Mantell a ye olde (scripted by Brian Daley!) tale that takes place between Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back.

The blogside. EUCantina debuts a new column, with a look at what they’d like to see in Kenobi (some Clone Wars spoilers.) Meanwhile, Bria’s Waru Express has pulled into Tosche Station with The Thrawn Trilogy.

Interviews. There’s a real surplus of them since we last checked in, with new writers (Martha Wells, Tim Siedell, Corinna Bechko & Gabriel Hardman) old writers (Kevin J. Anderson) and of course Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff, co-writer of The Last Jedi, which came out yesterday.

Speaking of The Last Jedi… The reviews! NJOE, EUC, Jedi News, Lightsaber Rattling, Roqoo Depot and Bry/Megan at Knights Archive are all fairly positive, while Bria at Tosche Station is unimpressed.

Comics. Preview Dark Horse’s Free Comic Book Day offering, and behold a Legacy variant cover. Also, James has his reviews of the most recent comics: this week’s Dawn of the Jedi: Prisoner of Bogan #3 and ,a href=”http://www.bigshinyrobot.com/reviews/archives/49301″>Agent of the Empire: Hard Targets #5 and Brian Wood’s Star Wars #2.

Congratulations to your publicist. Forbes, of all publications, profiles Dark Horse and their role in making licensed properties cool for comics. There’s some interesting stuff from a generalized viewpoint, but despite use of the term ‘expanded universe’ it’s more focused on video game tie-ins than things like Star Wars and Buffy.

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EUbits: Looking ahead to Rebels

Luke, Leia and HanRebels. Austin at Fandom Apocalypse takes a look at what we know about the forthcoming Rebels series that was announced last summer. He reached out the authors Martha Wells and Kevin Hearne, who are handling books on Leia and Luke.

The blogside. Tor’s Ryan Britt explores the differences between A New Hope and its novelization. What’s a duck? And Tosche Station’s Bria continues her EU retrospective after Endor with True at Bakura and Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor. And over at Big Shiny Robot, Bryan lets the darkness take hold wondering if The Clone Wars won’t be coming back at all.

Podcasting. After something of a hiatus, EUCantina’s EUCast is poised to make their return soon. In the meantime, here’s Episode 0. And if you’re interested in podcasting, Tosche Station host Brian wrote at length about the gear you’ll need and what he uses.

Frames gets cheap(er.) TheForce.net spotted an Amazon listing for a paperback edition of the fancy screenshot book Frames. At $150 retail it’s still not pocket change, but seeing as the original would set you back $3000… Amazon being Amazon, we’d wait for official details before pre-ordering, though.

Interviews. Paul S. Kemp talks about Star Wars, Dungeons and Dragons and his non-franchise work with SF Signal. And Timothy Zahn chats Scoundrels on Fictional Frontiers.