Category Archives: Books

JJM Answers Fan Questions on Suvudu

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new dawnDel Rey hosted another author Q&A over the past week with John Jackson Miller, author of A New Dawn.  Thankfully, they changed up the format from a free-for-all in the comment section to a ‘submit your questions and we’ll have JJM answer them all at once’ deal.  One of the responses in particular caught my attention:

Is Hera Force-sensitive or just really good at what she does?

John Jackson Miller: That’s really more of a question for the TV producers. From my point of view, I think Hera certainly is very good at what she does, and while there’s a tendency to ascribe all exceptional talent to the Force, I’m not sure links are always necessary. As readers of my earlier works may know, I enjoy like writing non-Jedi characters that excel on their own.

And we all love reading those characters, John, we all love reading them.

You can read all of the questions and answers here on Suvudu.

Review: A New Dawn

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new dawnIt’s a new day for Star Wars as A New Dawn by John Jackson Miller is released today.  Fans won’t have to wait a month to meet Kanan Jarrus and Hera Syndulla.  But just how good is Miller’s latest foray into the Star Wars universe?  We’re off on an adventure to a remote planet to find out!

Gorse.  Not the best planet in the galaxy to visit but it’s home or at least a place where Kanan Jarrus has a job.  He’s just happy to avoid the Empire’s attention, fly his cargo, and have a couple of drinks at the end of the day.  But there are two newcomers to Gorse will change this: Count Vidian of the Empire and Hera Syndulla, a revolutionary with her own agenda.  Vidian’s plans have the potential to bring more terror and death to the far reaches of the galaxy.  How long can a former Jedi sit back before he must act?

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Go/No-Go: A New Dawn

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nasa-mission-control-3

Welcome back to Go/No-Go, Tosche Station’s regular feature where we offer our spoiler-free opinion as to whether or not you should spend your hard-earned money on a book, film, or other entertainment. Today on the launch pad: A New Dawn by John Jackson Miller. How does the first book of the new overarching canon and the tie-in to the forthcoming Rebels series hold up?  To mission control for the verdict!

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Review: The Serpent’s Head

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What happens when a lone hired gun ends up responsible for a trio of children who have lost everything and want revenge?  The Serpent’s Head by Bryan Young is a science-fiction western that asks not only that but so much more in a enjoyable and fun novel that will keep readers turning the page.

The gunslinger known as Twelve comes to the planet of Glycon-Prime looking for work but instead of finding any he stumbles upon Nine Mine City.  It’s your typical frontier town except for one thing: the entire city has been massacred leaving three children as the only survivors.  Twelve soon finds himself caught up in the children’s quest not only for revenge but to rescue Miri, the only other survivor, from the mutant Glicks.

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John Jackson Miller wins Scribe Award for Kenobi

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KenobiCoverStar Wars Books announced on their Facebook page today that John Jackson Miller won a Scribe Award this weekend for Kenobi.  The Scribe Awards are hosted by the International Association of Media Tie-In Writers.  Novels for franchises like Star Wars often are often no longer considered serious contenders for Hugo or Nebula awards, no matter how excellent they may be.

Tosche Station has plenty of coverage of Kenobi, including a podcast with John Jackson Miller as our special guest, so be sure to check out all of our posts with the Kenobi tag.

SDCC 2014: Rebels and Books

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Two days down of San Diego Comic-Con and we’re already rolling in Star Wars news.  Well sort of.

Last night was the Rebels panel that featured the main cast along with Dave Filoni.  You can read StarWars.com’s liveblog of the event here.  While we didn’t get the official release date for Rebels (groan!), we did learn a few things.  The cast agrees that Vanessa Marshall is the biggest Star Wars fan out of all of them although apparently Freddie Prinze Jr. makes all the Force motions while recording.  The show will definitely be embracing the idea of this crew as a family and bringing in some comedy; both concepts they’re taking from the Original Trilogy.  Another point of note from the panel is that Filoni made mention of establishing a hierarchy of villains so if Darth Vader shows up, people should definitely be running.  Also, Rebels will be much more of a contained story than the Clone Wars as they won’t be jumping from character to character and creating new locations each week.

In addition to showing several clips from the show, they also debuted a second brand new trailer which you can watch below.

The Star Wars Books panel just wrapped up and needless to say, the highlight was the new book announcement.  Christie Golden will be penning a novel about Asajj Ventress and Quinlan Vos.  The book is due out in Summer 2015 and is taken from a plot line for the intended Season 7 of The Clone Wars.

asajj vos

As for the rest of the panel, it was moderated by Vanessa Marshall and there was a lot of discussion about John Jackson Miller’s forthcoming A New Dawn.  Vanessa has apparently read the book already and said it gave her a lot of insight into Hera.  Tarkin will be, as expected, akin to James Luceno’s Darth Plagueis and will take place very close to Revenge of the Sith.  Heir to the Jedi was described as a character study of Luke Skywalker and Lords of the Sith was dubbed “kind of a Vader/Palpatine road trip novel” by Jen Heddle.  You can read the rest of the live blog of the panel by the main site here.  I’d particularly suggest that readers take note of their comments about the newly minted Legends books.

If you’re looking for comic news though… well that’ll be dropping tomorrow during Marvel’s Cup of Joe Panel.  You’ve been warned.

We’ll Always Have Coruscant

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It happened. The news broke today that the existing Expanded Universe would be shifted into a ‘Legends’ label and all books from here on out would be a part of the new overarching cohesive canon.  I think it’s fair to say that we all know the fandom went a little crazy from the news even though, to be honest, it wasn’t entirely unexpected.

Let’s get a few things out of the way first. One, no one should take this as an opportunity to gloat. That’s tacky and tasteless and if you do so, you are a disservice to the fandom. Two, no one will ever be able to take these books from you nor the chance for you to introduce people to your favorites. Del Rey will continue to publish them under this new Legends banner. Three, suggesting that those involved in the decision hate the Expanded Universe is just false and I invite you to watch the video they put together if you think they do.

This moment was coming, folks. We’ve all been talking about the probability of it for almost as long as we’ve known about the Sequel Trilogy. And to be honest, I think that those of us who have been quietly mentally preparing for it are handling the news a little better than those who didn’t.  I’d also like to take the time to note there that I am not immune to the completely losing my mind just a little and spinning around as a whirlwind of questions about just what all of this means in the long run go through my mind.  So apologies if anything in this piece seems rambling or a bit poorly phrased at times.

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Kevin Hearne’s Luke novel set for release in January 2015

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sunset-luke

Over on the catalog Edelweiss, Knights’ Archive spotted a listing for the audio version of Kevin Hearne’s upcoming debut Star Wars novel. It will star Luke Skywalker and round out the unofficial “Empire and Rebellion” trilogy.

In an attempt to distract the Empire from important Rebel Alliance activity, Luke Skywalker draws the attention of Imperial Security, leading him-along with Princess Leia Organa, Han Solo, and Chewbacca-into a deadly trap right in Darth Vader’s sights!

No mention of Rogue Squadron of X-Wings in there, but I’m still really excited for a book starring Luke Skywalker, the most underappreciated of all the Star Wars Original Trilogy characters.

The novel is scheduled for release on January 13, 2015, which is the day after my birthday. Thank you, Del Rey, for a lovely birthday present.

Review: Maul: Lockdown

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MaulLockdownCoverIt’s a dark side sort of day with the first Expanded Universe book release of 2014.  Out today is Maul: Lockdown by Joe Schreiber. What happens when you send one of the most dangerous beings in galaxy on a do-or-die mission?  A heck of a lot of carnage for starters.

Cog Hive Seven has a new inmate: Darth Maul.  Sent by his Master Darth Sidious to infiltrate the prison and find the elusive Iram Radique, a legendary arms dealer.  What might seem like a simple task is layered in complications.  No one’s actually seen Radique and lived to tell the tale.  Some think he’s just an urban legend.  On top of his mission, Maul must survive the nightly fights to the death organized by the warden and the gamblers across the galaxy want to see their newest champion fight.

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Go/No-Go: The Jupiter Pirates: Hunt for the Hydra

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It’s hard to write a review of Jason C. Fry’s The Jupiter Pirates that isn’t just me saying “It’s really fun! Go read it!” But that’s the truth. It’s really fun. You should go read it.

In case you’re not willing to blindly follow my recommendations (and why not?), allow me to describe the book a bit more.

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