Mercy Kill Review Roundup From Around the Blogosphere

The reviews are in, and it looks like Mercy Kill is faring very well with readers around the blogosphere. We’ve gathered up some of the reviews and impressions from various Expanded Universe fansites and personalities. As always, venture into the reviews at your own risk if you haven’t read the book yet! If you’ve got a review you’d like us to add to this list, feel free to leave a comment in this post.

So. Have you picked up your copy of Mercy Kill yet?

What Celebration VI Events are you Looking Forward to?

After the whirldwind that was fandom news yesterday, today has been a little more … dry. As is usually the case when there’s nothing else to talk about, we here at Tosche Station crowdsource the content to you! This week, we want your input on Celebration VI. Just what are you looking forward to? Leave a comment or reply to the tweet below and we’ll add your response to the list.

 

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Replace Mara’s Catsuit: Art Entry from Louis

Time’s ticking down until the end of our Replace Mara’s Catsuit contest! Reader Louis sends in another art entry for consideration. His description:

Hey there, just sending along my entry for the Catsuit competition. You’ll find attached to this the entry image, with it I was going for something grounded in the real world to some extent. The main inspiration was the Mongol culture, whose renowned military history for a combination of abominable acts of destruction combined with tactical genius and efficiency seemed to be the same kind of ideals the Empire would instil in it’s top agents most of all. Not to mention that Mara Jade’s green eyes and red hair are a relative genetic regularity in the Steppe tribes, making the match seem even more perfect. With the costume then I looked at common modes of dress and armour from that culture’s history and interpreted that through Star Wars, giving Mara shoulder and leg armour plates and shoes she’s grabbed from Stormtrooper’s gear complimented with a Corellian-style jump suit and a nice cape, because you can’t be a Jedi or Sith without something long and flowing to catch the wind.

Thanks for submitting, Louis! Remember, you’ve got until the 15th to enter.

While we’re on the topic of Mara and the catsuit, be sure to check out Club Jade’s newest column that brilliantly articulates just why we have a problem with it.

Tosche Station Radio #26: Heavy Meta

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On this week’s Tosche Station Radio, we’re joined by author, filmmaker, and Star Wars fan Bryan Young!

Kicking off the show, we highlight new Replace Mara’s Catsuit entries from kataja, Ellen, Bria, and Robert. Brian looked back at Isard’s Revenge and Emily wrapped up our series of X-Wing retrospectives with a fond review of Starfighters of Adumar.

In Fixer’s Flash, both Brian and Nanci have been pretty wrapped up with the Olympics. Nanci did find some time to read The Gathering Flame, the prequel to the Mageworlds trilogy. She also finished her Mirax costume! Brian apologized for live-tweeting the US Women National Soccer Team’s match versus Canada. Over the weekend he jumped into Marvel’s Siege comic arc and started reading Mageworlds again. He also spent the latter part of the weekend nervously watching NASA’s seven minutes of terror.

Deak’s Dirt opens with news that Brian and Nanci are thrilled about. X-Wing: Mercy Kill, the long-awaited tenth novel in the series, has hit bookshelves!  In Celebration VI news, badges were revealed, Warwick Davis was confirmed, the We Love Prequels panel is returning, and the full schedule has finally been revealed. The Old Republic was recently confirmed as going free-to-play, but Brian’s unsure if this is good news for the game. Rounding out the news, Brian and Nanci are pumped that NASA successfully landed Curiosity.

This week’s Camie’s Concerns features author and Star Wars fan Bryan Young. The hosts and Bryan talk his writing and filmmaking career, his love of nerd culture, and all sorts of Star Wars related topics. Bryan dives in and discusses the previous Celebration conventions he’s been at and what you can expect from his Why We Love the Prequels panel. Be sure to check out his novels like Operation: Montauk and Lost at the Con! You can find Bryan at Big Shiny Robot, Bryan Young Fiction, The Huffington Post, and on Twitter.

This time around in Wormie’s Works, Nanci highlights Kate Blankenship’s brilliant Endor Leia costume and Brian cheats and highlights the great costume and art entries submitted to our Replace Mara’s Catsuit contest. Rounding out the show, Brian and Nanci take questions from listeners.

Tosche Station Radio is the official podcast of Tosche-Station.net and a part of the Solo Sound network. If you like what you hear, please leave a review on the iTunes Music Store or the Zune Marketplace. We can also be found on Facebook and Twitter.

Nanci and Brian are the co-founders and writers of Tosche-Station.net. You can find Nanci on Twitter with the handle @Nancipants and you can find Brian with @LaneWinree.

Joss Whedon Returning for ‘Avengers 2’ and … A TV Series!?

Sitting down? Good. Brace yourself. Marc Graser with Variety just dropped this bombshell from Disney:

First off, great news that Avengers 2 will keep on running with Joss at the helm. Second, Joss heading back to TV? Be still my beating fandom heart!

This sounds like it’s the TV show that was rumored to be in the works last week. While it wouldn’t feature any of the current Avengers (because wow that would be an expensive TV series), it looks like it’s going to feature Joss Whedon’s flair for episodic television. Perhaps S.H.I.E.L.D the television series? Given that this is Joss, I’m holding out hope for something featuring Carol Danvers.

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PSA: Drop What You’re Doing Right Now And Go Buy Mercy Kill

It’s Tuesday.

Do you know where your copy of X-Wing: Mercy Kill is?

Is it in your possession? On a UPS truck to your doorstep? If it’s not, stop what you are doing. Log off of your computer, turn off your phone, and get yourself to the nearest bookstore and purchase the first X-Wing novel in thirteen years. If you’ve got a Kindle, buy your copy here. Nook, here.

If you’ve got any interest in the series, the author, or the book at all, go get yourself a copy. We’ve talked about this on the blog and the podcast before, but we’re at a rather critical juncture in Expanded Universe publishing. How well Mercy Kill sells now could very well determine whether or not we get more books like this moving forward. A solid showing in its first week of sales could mean a continued run of X-Wing novels and books from Aaron Allston.

The majority of the early reviews so far have been positive. From all accounts this is the sort of fun and grand adventure the Expanded Universe has been missing for years. Let’s make sure we don’t have to wait another thirteen years between X-Wing books, go buy Mercy Kill now.

Celebration VI Schedule Released

After a long and sometimes torturous wait, the Celebration VI schedule has finally dropped! Here are some highlights.

For Expanded Universe fans:

There’s also numerous writing workshops with authors like Timothy Zahn, Aaron Allston and Troy Denning. 

Celebrity Panels:

This is just a sampling of what will be available for fans at Celebration VI. You can find other panels and events listed on the CVI Mobile App as well as the mobile website

Cosplay Monday: Endor Leia

You know what we’re sick of almost as much as Catsuit!Mara? Metal Bikini!Leia. Yes, we get it. Leia wore a metal bikini on Tatooine and looked attractive in it. We get it. She did wear other things in the movies, you know. At least there’s one intrepid costumer out there that figures it’s time for something other than the bikini. Meet Kate Lomax Blankenship and her Endor Leia costume:

Well done, Kate! To see the rest of her costume pictures, head over to the Lady Lomax Cosplay Tumblr.

DK Publishing Reveals CVI Lineup

Jason Fry will be in attendance with DK

DK revealed their schedule for Celebration VI just a few minutes ago. The publisher known for their reference and children books will be in attendance all four days and encourages attendees to Master the Art of Reading at Booth #813.

Thursday 8/23: 

  • Visit the booth for a free CVI exclusive print featuring the upcoming Star Wars: The Old Republic Encyclopedia

Friday 8/24:

  • Jason Fry from 11am-12 noon
  • Star Wars: The Phantom Menace: The Expanded Visual Dictionary
  • Star Wars: The Secret Life of Droids

Saturday 8/25:

  • Ryder Windham from 10-11am to talk Star Wars: The Complete Visual Dictionary and Star Wars: The Ultimate Visual Guide
  • Chris Reiff and Chris Trevas from 3-4pm to discuss Star Wars Blueprints: Rebel Edition and Star Wars: The Secret Life of Droids

Sunday 8/26 – Kids’ Day

  • First kids to stop by the DK booth will receive a free DK Star Wars Reader
  • Jason Fry from 11am-12 noon
  • Ryder Windham and Ashley Eckstein from 12-1pm

Stay tuned. We’re supposed to get much more CVI related scheduling details today.

Replace the Catsuit: Art Entry From Kataja

We’re ticking down the days until the end of our Replace Mara’s Catsuit contest! Today we’ve got a new art entry from reader Kataja:

My contribution is based on the “no-nonsense tunic/jumpsuit outfits that she usually wore aboard ship” that’s mentioned in The Last Command. I actually found it hard to picture Mara in a tunic – jackets are easier to make look ‘cool’ – but I’ve tried my best. The outfit is matched by a practical hairdo.

Thanks for submitting, Kataja! Remember, you’ve got until the 15th to enter the contest.