So last time, the traffic killed his server, but now he’s back with the third and final installment… Plus Zahn.
TFN talks to Timothy Zahn
TheForce.net has a brand-new interview with Tim Zahn, their first since 2000. He talks about Allegiance, Outbound Flight, his creative process, and of course, the ever-popular character deaths question.
The big news here may be that he’s writing a Terminator novel, From the Ashes, a prequel to next year’s Terminator Salvation movie.
Preaching to the choir, maybe
Mighty God King asks the question that has been floating in the head of many Expanded Universe fans. (Or is it just me?)
If we’re going to get an animated Star Wars film, why on earth are we getting the Clone Wars, which has already had live-action movies and an animated series and potentially a live-action series in the future about it – instead of, and this is just off the top of my head, an adaptation of the Heir to the Empire trilogy by Timothy Zahn, AKA “the only good Star Wars novels ever?”
We know the answer: Because George Lucas loves his shiny new Clone Wars, and it’s not like folks aren’t going to watch it. But really, why can’t we take the post-ROTJ books and feed them into the animation mill? By end of LOTF, we’re going on 40 years worth of raw material. True, they aren’t all the Thrawn trilogy, but even the worst could hold a glimmer of possibility in the hands of a competent scriptwriter. And it’s not like other endless franchises haven’t been doing it for decades.
I’ve nothing against The Clone Wars in theory – but didn’t we just leave that party? Maybe I’m just a sad old-school fan who simply isn’t all that interested in further exploration of the prequel era (okay, drop the ‘maybe’) but… Seriously. Forty years of imperfect but infinitely useful raw material with established movie characters that people actually mostly like and have fond memories of. And starting off with the Thrawn trilogy will bring in a lot of people who just weren’t feeling the prequels and other casual fans who might not make the time for The Clone Wars. (Plus, it would probably boost book sales. Books that are already written, edited, and sitting around in stores.)
I’ll keep holding out hope it happens eventually. You?
What would you do for a Thrawn trilogy movie?
NOTICE: As of at least March 2008, the site at createstarwars.org is no longer live. Your guess is as good as mine.
CreateStarWars.org isn’t the first fan-produced attempt we’ve seen at the post-ROTJ EU, but they are quite clear on their goal: to create 3-D movies out of The Thrawn Trilogy. Period.
Sadly, I’m not entirely buying their manifesto, or at least the focus on how awful the prequels were. Look: they’re here, they’re done, lay off the whining already.
Still, I can’t say I entirely disagree with the concept as a whole. Not exactly blown away here (it’s Heir to the Empire,) but it’s a nice goal. Never say never…
The “Thron Trilogy”? I missed that one.
Rebelscum points towards a new magazine, License!, which is doing some features on Star Wars. Alas, they get off to not-so-great start on their publishing feature (warning: PDF download) with the above misspelling. Did their web staff bypass the copy editors, perhaps?
Elsewhere in the article, they do mention something I haven’t heard of before:
A collectible limited-edition, six volume set, entitled Star Wars; Frames will debut in fall 2008. Overseen personally by George Lucas, and available exclusively through Sideshow Collectibles and limited to 950 numbered copies, the suggested retail will be $1,999 for each mammoth set.
And in the final paragraph, a hint at continued relations with Random House, of which both Del Rey and Bantam are imprints:
What’s next for the Star Wars empire? Roeder says, “We’re looking at the ‘Legacy of the Forceful’ next year with the ninth book and we’re talking to Random House about what the next series will be.
Legacy of the Forceful? Umm….
Up close and personal with EU figures
RebelScum has pictures of several of the new comic packs, including HttE Luke and Mara, Infinities Leia and Vader, and A’Sharad Hett and Dark Woman.
Suddenly I feel way less guilty about not looking too hard for these figures. The fug is strong with them…
Long-time fandom pipe dream rises again
John Campea of The Movie Blog begs George Lucas to make the Thrawn trilogy into movies. Yeah, cause that would totally work.
Look, I love those books. They’re one of the things that really got me into Star Wars fandom. But I just can’t see them as movies. They work great for what they are – novels.
Thoughts? (Note: If anyone starts a ‘casting’ discussion I will shot them on sight. I hate those kind of discussions the way some people hate Jar Jar Binks.)
First look at new EU figures
Rebelscum has a scan from Lee’s Toy Review #175 featuring several figures based on comic books: Vader and Leia from Infinities: A New Hope, Dark Woman & A’sharad Hett from Republic and Mara and Luke from the Heir to the Empire comic adaption. No longer will Mara fans have to depend on eBay for a figure, though I’m actually kind of digging the Dark Woman…
Filk Friday
This week’s featured filk is inspired by events in the Heir to the Empire trilogy, the book series that brought a group of online fans together and resulted in the inception of Club Jade. I Wanna Clone Your Hand by Echo was one of Club Jade’s first filks, and remains a classic. Every now and then, one finds a song and matching parody idea just begging to be filked, and I have to imagine this was one of those times. I’m not sure what I find more amusing: the clever twist on the original Beatles lyrics, or the mental image of Joruus C’Boath singing them!
Geek Beat takes on the EU
Cinematical’s Mark Beall talks ‘extended’ universe. He wants an X-Wing TV series. And no KJA. And lots of Zahn. Can’t argue too much with that. Okay, it’s a typical fanboy wishlist, but one I mostly agree with.
However, the fangirl in me is compelled to point out that the proper term is Expanded Universe. Extended just makes me think of this. Which may, depending on your point of view, be rather apt…