Star Wars with occasional sarcasm
And so the Making of eBook poledance continues, with video clips on Yahoo (stormtrooper on fire!) and Mashable (Hamill and Fisher’s chasm jump). Today, Entertainment Weekly heads to the Sarlacc.
Weighing the purchase? StarWars.com has a complete listing of the additional content for each book.
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.
Rebels. Lucasfilm’s Tracy Cannobbio tells Lightsaber Rattling that John Williams is “not composing music for Star Wars Rebels.” So keep on speculating, I guess.
Video. There’s another Jett Lucas interview; Harrison Ford continues to not say much about Episode VII.
Nonfiction. Star Wars Books has posted some screencaps from the enhanced Making of eBooks, which will be out next week.
Can’t end the year without a list, can we? Here are our staff’s picks for the ten best books of the year.
Be sure to check out more favorites at StarWars.com. They asked us to do the literature portion, but other contributers include Kyle Newman, Ashley Eckstein, TFN’s Eric Geller, Steve Sansweet, and Bonnie Burton!
10. Star Wars Year by Year: A Visual Chronicle by Daniel Wallace, Pablo Hidalgo, Gus Lopez, and Ryder Windham
Rounding out the list is the one book that has it all. Expanded Universe history? Check. Oddball merchandise? Check. Museum exhibits? Early versions of Yoda? Mark Hamill on Broadway? Check, check, and you better believe it. Star Wars Year by Year compiles over four decades (yes, four) of highlights, lowlights, and trivia – think of it, perhaps, as The Essential Franchise Chronology. But its scope goes beyond Lucasfilm productions. The authors also spotlight various milestones in science, pop-culture, and politics, giving readers a sense of the events that helped shape Star Wars, as well as how Star Wars changed the world. – Stooge
9. The Old Republic: Fatal Alliance by Sean Williams
Setting the stage for the eventual release of The Old Republic MMO, Fatal Alliance builds up the worlds and character types, and then throws them all into the fray against a new threat. Sean Williams captures the look of this era, and brings together some new enjoyable characters. It’s a heist caper that unfolds into a tale of espionage and war. It takes a little while to set up the players, but the endgame is well worth it. – James
8. Millennium Falcon: A 3D Owner’s Guide by Ryder Windham
The saga’s most iconic ship is revealed! Ryder Williams’ text is sparse but clever, the illustration work by Chris Trevas and Chris Reiff shines, and the layer-by-layer design is icing on the cake. Kids will love it and adults will delight in the technical specs and (in-character!) modification notes. It’s a just plain fun book – certain to entrance even the most jaded fan for at least a little while. – Dunc
7. Fate of the Jedi: Vortex by Troy Denning
With Luke and Ben and their new Sith allies having defeated a more sinister evil, you’d think that Troy Denning would take it easy on the Jedi Order, but Abeloth’s demise in Allies is just the beginning of a series of explosive events. Faster that you can say “Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal”, the Sith bring it. Chief of State Daala brings it. The Mandalorians bring it. Tahiri’s prosecutor brings it. So it’s up to a couple of Jedi, and Han and Leia to strike back – and when they bring Lando and droids to help, you know it’s going to get heavy as the Jedi shake things up against their adversaries. – James
6. The Sounds of Star Wars by J. W. Rinzler and Ben Burtt
A book that needs a volume button? Not to worry, this is more than just a gimmick. To fully explore the audio awesomeness of Ben Burtt, The Sounds of Star Wars has a built-in soundboard which plays over 200 (unmixed!) effects from that galaxy far, far away. So you can read about the crazy ways he made these sounds, then listen to the fantastic end results! Plus, Mr. Burtt has enough behind-the-scenes stories to fill ten volumes – and for a quadruple Oscar-winner, he’s remarkably humble. – Stooge Continue reading “Our top 10 Star Wars books of 2010″
The Making of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back has now been out for a whole week and the coverage just keeps coming. The hightlight is almost certainly Vanity Fair’s interview with Irvin Kershner about reviews, George, the actors, and whether he would have directed a prequel.
Vanity Fair has a nice selection of photos from The Making of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. Meanwhile, author J. W. Rinzler talks with the folks at Star Wars Action News.
Keep an eye on our Twitter for (hopefully!) more updates throughout the day.
Two big releases this week! Coming up first, on Tuesday, is J.W. Rinzler’s eagerly anticipated The Making of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, the follow-up to 2007’s The Making of Star Wars. I was lucky enough to find a copy early this weekend, and while I haven’t had a chance to do a proper read, I can say one thing: It is huge.
I suspect we’ll see a good deal of press on this, but so the biggies are Vanity Fair’s interviews with Rinzler and Jeremy Bulloch (Irvin Kershner coming soon.) Meanwhile, io9 has some tidbits out of NYCC.
The other new release that’s been getting a lot of buzz in fandom is Knight Errant #1 by KOTOR’s John Jackson Miller. Look for it in your comic store on Wednesday.
I’m generally not a huge fan of book trailers, but in this case it makes total sense. Enjoy! (via)
So I finally do an EUbits and then we get more news? Such is the life. But Sue Rostoni posted an updated book schedule today – and revealed two new reference/nonfiction books – so no sitting on/twittering this, thank you very much. Here’s what’s new:
Meanwhile Internet Rockstar/Man Who Never Sleeps Pablo Hidalgo will be penning The Essential Reader’s Companion. And I am forced to devolve into aged memes. (I hate you, Pablo. Okay, not really.) Seriously now, Sue describes this as “a non-fiction guide to fiction, with side-bars calling out related comics and events.”
Meme or no meme, our schedule is updated, so go check out a new sneak peek at The Making of The Empire Strikes Back. (Holy heavy metal!)
Nonfiction StarWars.com offers up a peek at J.W. Rinzler’s The Making of The Empire Strikes Back. The book’s release was recently pushed back to October, but there’s little doubt that it will be worth the wait.
Street date shuffle. On that note, our book release schedule has been updated. The most notable change: A double shot of Fate of the Jedi paperbacks as Omen and Abyss are moved up to spring.
Podcastery. Star Wars Action News talked to Paul S. Kemp earlier in the month, while the ForceCast caught up with John Jackson Miller at C2E2.
The blogside. Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff on the end game and the last period.
Morsel. Sue Rostoni says that Joe Schreiber’s Black Orchid is getting a new title because some people thought it sounded like a romance novel. Personally I think old school Neil Gaiman/Dave McKean…
Toys. Rebelscum reports that the Legacy Collection’s Expanded Universe action figures (the wave that includes Jacen and Jaina) have begun showing up at Toys “R” Us stores.