Star Wars with occasional sarcasm
In stores now is Jason Fry’s Clone Wars Character Encyclopedia and the paperback for the third Fate of the Jedi novel, Troy Denning’s Abyss.
In other book news. Paul S. Kemp has posted an excerpt of his upcoming Old Republic novel, Deceived, which is due out in December.
StarWars.com has the cover and title for the second Old Republic MMO tie-in novel, Paul S. Kemp’s The Old Republic: Deceived. It will focus on Darth Malgus, the lead Sith from last year’s game trailer. Here’s a bit of the blurb:
Deceived tells the story of Darth Malgus and gives fascinating insight into his rise to fame and glory as the Sith Lord who destroyed the Jedi Temple. This stunning narrative finds the dark hero battling a veteran Jedi Master, setting the stage for the affairs and betrayals surrounding the last battle of the Great War before the signing of the Treaty of Coruscant.
Deceived is set for release on December 28. Fans following Kemp’s blog will note that he just posted about finishing the first draft yesterday.
Random House (as spotted by Eddie) has posted a new summary for Sean William’s The Old Republic tie-in. Even omitting the intro filler, it’s a lengthy one, so strap in:
Tassaa Bareesh, a matriarch in the Hutt crime cartel, is holding an auction that’s drawing attention from across the galaxy. Representatives of both the Republic and the Sith Empire are present, along with a Jedi Padawan sent to investigate, a disenfranchised trooper drummed out of the Republic’s elite Blackstar Squad, and a mysterious Mandalorian with a private agenda. But the Republic’s envoy is not what he seems, the Empire’s delegate is a ruthless Sith apprentice, the Jedi Padawan is determined to do the right thing and terrified that he can’t, the trooper hopes to redeem her reputation, and the Mandalorian is somehow managing to keep one step ahead of everyone.
None of these guests—invited or uninvited—have any intention of participating in the auction. Instead they plan to steal the prize, which is locked inside an impregnable vault: two burned chunks of an exploded star cruiser, one of which may hold the key to the wealth of an entire world.
But the truth about the treasure is dangerous and deadly. And in the end, Sith and Jedi, Republic and Empire, must do something they’ve never done before, something that all the agents of good and evil could never make them do: join together to stop a powerful threat that could destroy the galaxy.
The current release date for the novel is July 20
Visions. The cat is officially out of the bag on the upcoming art book, and the previews keep on coming. I’m rather taken with the classical styles of the Daniel E. Greene and Will Wilson pieces.
First look. Bonnie Burton’s craft book!
The blogside:Ben Kuchera of Ars Technica draws a parallel between Grand Admiral Thrawn, Exar Kun, and the Sith of The Old Republic; Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff on making up planets.
Interviews: NJOE talks to Invasion’s Tom Taylor.
Lists. Topless Robot’s Adam Pawlus counts down his list of the ten best stories in the Expanded Universe. The vast majority of these are at best unnoteworthy to this EU fan, and I certainly can’t condone anyone who puts a Boba Fett comic above the Thrawn trology. (Zahn may not be perfect… But Boba Fett? How uncivilized.)
Namesake corner. Sideshow says Mara Jade will make “an appearance in one of our lines by 2011.”
Stealthiness. Our pal Mandy at TheForce.Net interviewed author Karen Miller this week, touching on the writing life, tie-ins and (naturally) subtext.
On that note, while I’d like to start doing review roundups for the books, but they can sometimes prove difficult. Witness: Even at almost a month out, I was only able to find two for Clone Wars Gambit: Stealth. NJOE’s MizzeeOH found that she enjoyed the book, but not as much as Wild Space; Hendel D’bu found it engaging, and especially praises the battle sequences. There’s always the review thread on the TFN boards if you’re dying for more.
More interview. Star Wars Books catches up with John Jackson Miller
Fanboy games. StarWars.com has a peek at Pablo’s Head to Head, pitting Chewbacca up against a wampa.
The Old Republic is starting up a new webcomic and adding Belsavis, aka the planet from Children of the Jedi. Random!
Poll. io9 asks which expanded universe is most unnecessarily. I suppose it depends on what you consider necessarily… I mean, I can’t for the life of me get excited about some nice-sized chunks of the Star Wars EU, but I could also care less about BSG or Lost outside of their primary formats. To each their own, I suppose.
Random House’s Summer 2010 catalog has surfaced, and naturally, it contains some Star Wars items. Mostly old news, like for Fate of the Jedi: Allies (page 81,) but the listing for Sean William’s Old Republic novel (page 89) has a summary:
Smuggler Jet Nebula has stumbled across a treasure richer than he ever dreamed. The Hutts want to auction it to the highest bidder, be it the Republic or the Empire, both of whom hope to bolster their chances in the coming conflict. But the Sith are interested, too, and they don’t bargain with anyone; the Jedi High Council is sending someone to investigate; a mysterious Mandalorian is chasing something connected to a long-forgotten crime; while a spy plays every side at once. What Jet has unearthed will surprise all of them, and leave none of them unchanged.
(‘Jet Nebula’? Really?)
There’s also a cover for the book, but don’t get too excited. It’s ‘for solicitation only’ and the art looks like a still from the MMO’s trailer. And given that the listing doesn’t use the full title (Star Wars: The Old Republic: Fatal Alliance) its possible that some of the catalog info may already be outdated.
Also making a showing is Star Wars Generations (page 91) and Clone Wars Gambit: Siege (page 97.)
Sean Williams’ The Old Republic: Fatal Alliance will indeed be a July hardcover. (Though I suspect that date may still be subject to change pending word on the release of the actual game.) But that’s not the only upcoming Expanded Universe work set in the era: The site has announced another Old Republic novel from Paul S. Kemp and a StarWars.com short story from Threat of Peace scribe Rob Chestney.
UPDATE: Kemp has confirmed that his TOR novel is not the Crosscurrent sequel. Given that Crosscurrent sounds like it’s going to playing with timelines, I’m not sure whether this is the “Crosscurrent sequel” Kemp announced a few months ago or a third Star Wars book from him… With things still in the “the early planning stages” it could very well be either. But on a more solid note, an excerpt from Crosscurrent did surface today.
Still nothing official, though. An extended title for the unconfirmed novel by Sean Williams was spotted on Amazon: The Old Republic: Fatal Alliance. (The release date remains listed as July 2010, but we still don’t have a date for the actual game, so count on nothing at this point.) Wonder if this means we’ll get some kind of official announcement soon?
The blogside. Drew Karpyshyn is going on about the Sith again, while Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff writes about filk.
Authors. Aaron Allston is on Twitter. Sort of.
Hyperspace: Go obscure with The Forgotten War: The Nagai and the Tofs by James McFadden.
Comics of an upcoming nature. StarWars.com has Dark Horse’s February 2010 solicitations, including the final issue of Knights of the Old Republic. People also seen to be awfully excited about seeing The Old Republic webcomic in print, but let’s not forget Legacy #45, the Dark Times: Blue Harvest TPB, and a Boba Fett omnibus. Okay, feel free to forget that last one. (I kid. Maybe.) Want a taste of something coming out a little sooner? Darkhorse.com has previews for Knights of the Old Republic #47 and Legacy #42.
Street date shuffle. SWBooks.co.uk spotted that April 13, 2010 is the new date for Fate of the Jedi: Backlash. That’s just a little under a month from the last date of March 9th.
The blogside. Drew Karpyshyn blogs to remind us that Dynasty of Evil is out next month… And tease The Old Republic. Meanwhile, Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff has what goes on in a writer’s head, the casting call, and when characters fall in love.
Interviews. NJOE went round robin with Death Troopers author Joe Schreiber.
Dan Wallace confirmed the book and shared some additional details on Year by Year with us yesterday, but now StarWars.com has an item on the book – including some early cover art and the addition of Gus Lopez as a writer. They also give us a short Q&A on Adventures in Hyperspace, which is being penned by Scholastic regular Ryder Windham.
We’re still waiting on word of Sean William’s The Old Republic novel – as yet, Sue Rostoni is “unable to either confirm nor deny.” (Don’t panic: That’s pretty standard.) Though audio versions have shown up on RandomHouse.com.