Category Archives: SWEU

Bria’s ‘Razor’s Edge’ cosplay featured on Suvudu

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Our own Bria was featured in an interview over at Suvudu to discuss cosplay and one of her latest costumes: Leia from the cover of Razor’s Edge.

What inspired you to create this costume?

From the minute I saw the cover for Razor’s Edge, I knew that I wanted to do the costume. I’ve said to my friends in the past that so many of the book covers with Leia bore me because they almost all show her in her film costumes. This was absolutely not something she wore in the films but it works so well for not only her character but also for the role she’s filling within the book as a leader of the Rebel Alliance on a vital mission. She gets to wear an outfit that shouts ‘this is meant for action!’ without automatically having to wear a catsuit. I had an idea for how I wanted to make the costume and one day, I challenged myself to complete the costume in 12 hours because I loved the look of it that much.

For the rest of the interview and for more photos, head over to Suvudu.

“Honor Among Thieves” Gets a Blurb

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re-honor-245x372The Star Wars Books Facebook page has released the full blurb for Empire and Rebellion: Honor Among Thieves, by James S.A. Corey.

When the mission is to extract a high-level rebel spy from the very heart of the Empire, Leia Organa knows the best man for the job is Han Solo—something the princess and the smuggler can finally agree on. After all, for a guy who broke into an Imperial cell block and helped destroy the Death Star, the assignment sounds simple enough.

But when Han locates the brash rebel agent, Scarlet Hark, she’s determined to stay behind enemy lines. A pirate plans to sell a cache of stolen secrets that the Empire would destroy entire worlds to protect—including the planet where Leia is currently meeting with rebel sympathizers. Scarlet wants to track down the thief and steal the bounty herself, and Han has no choice but to go along if he’s to keep everyone involved from getting themselves killed. From teeming city streets to a lethal jungle to a trap-filled alien temple, Han, Chewbacca, Leia, and their daring new comrade confront one ambush, double cross, and firestorm after another as they try to keep crucial intel out of Imperial hands.

But even with the crack support of Luke Skywalker’s X-Wing squadron, the Alliance heroes may be hopelessly outgunned in their final battle for the highest of stakes: the power to liberate the galaxy from tyranny or ensure the Empire’s reign of darkness forever.

They had me at “Luke Skywalker’s X-Wing squadron.”

The Han-centric novel is scheduled for release on March 4, 2014, in hardcover and ebook formats. The first book in the Empire and Rebellion series–Razor’s Edge by Martha Wells, starring Leia–releases on September 24.

On Kenobi’s Cast of Characters and Evaluating My Assumptions

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The Kenobi concept art by Chris Scalf.

The Kenobi concept art by Chris Scalf.

If you’re regular listeners of the podcast, you already know that the Tosche Station staff greatly enjoyed Kenobi, the latest Star Wars novel by John Jackson Miller. This post isn’t a proper review, but I’ll get this out of the way: I loved the book. It is by far my favorite novel of the year, and exceeded my expectations with flying colors. Despite my enjoyment, however, one of its plot points bothered me–not because of what happened, but because of my assumptions prior to it. And I immediately knew I had to write a blog post about it.

THE REST OF THIS POST CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS FOR KENOBI. PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK, AND DON’T SAY I DIDN’T WARN YOU.

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Brian’s Review: Kenobi by John Jackson Miller

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Let’s just get this out of the way: Kenobi is one of the best entry points to the Expanded Universe available to readers.

That’s really saying something, because in the last year there have been some great additions to EU bookshelves in that regard. I can’t emphasize this enough; anyone can pick up this book regardless of how much Expanded Universe content they have. Whether you’re a new reader or a reader of twenty years, you can enjoy this book and not feel in any way lost. So with that in mind, go buy this book right now.

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Review: Kenobi (Spoiler Free)

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KenobiCoverKenobi by John Jackson Miller is just plain awesome.  Miller has exceeded expectations and written the pitch perfect story about Obi-Wan Kenobi as he adjusts to life as a hermit in the desert after the devastating events on Mustafar.  It’s a book that will make you laugh, it’s a book that will make you tear up at times, it’s a book that will surprise you, and it’s a book that you’ll find adding to your pile of yearly rereads.

Picking up immediately when Obi-Wan Kenobi lands on Tatooine, Kenobi tells the tale of a Jedi who must learn how to live a quiet life in hiding after decades of being a hero.  Despite his best efforts, Ben finds himself soon entangled in the events of a small community and the conflict between them and the Sand People even though he only wants to stay out of sight and protect the infant Luke Skywalker.

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Go/No-Go: Kenobi

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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: Kenobi. Just how much will the staff like this western about Obi-Wan Kenobi adjusting to life in hiding and the residents of a small community on Tatooine? To mission control for the ruling!

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KOTOR: It doesn’t get any more Star Wars than this

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KOTOR logoIt’s been ten years since the first Knights of the Old Republic game was released and after playing it through again recently for the first time in years?  I can happily report that it still holds up awesomely.  The game is just as enthralling to me now in my early 20s as it was when I was in my teens.  A lot of that has to do with how distinctly Star Wars the game is despite being set thousands of years before anyone named Skywalker was of any relevance to the galaxy.  Obviously it has all the superficial markings of Star Wars like the name, lightsabers and Jedi, spaceships, and such but it’s the overall feel of the epic tale that makes it so very obviously a part of the galaxy far far away.

Let’s take a look at some of what not only make this game pure Star Wars but makes it an excellent example for other stories told within the galaxy.

Note: Obviously one of the neatest things about the game is that you make your own choices through your own character and therefore the game could go any number of ways.  I’m writing this piece assuming a light side Revan which is technically canon.  This piece will also have a heavy bias towards playing with a female Revan which sadly isn’t canon but that’s my preferred storyline so canon can deal for the duration of this piece.

It’s a mission to save the galaxy

While it’s hardly a trope unique to the galaxy far far away, it is one of its pillars.  Your character is just an ordinary person (or so you think) who, through a series of circumstances, has to go on a quest through the galaxy to find pieces of the Star Map to help win the war against the Sith.  Along the way, you pick up a number of companions with whom you build friendships and you also often help others out even if they have nothing to do with your main quest.  At the end of the day, you save the day by defeating the evil Sith leader and destroying the space station that was giving them the edge in battle.

Does any of this sound familiar?

Although a story doesn’t always have to have galactic ramifications to be one where good triumphs, that’s a part of what makes this game so good.  The fate of the galaxy is literally in your hands.  You choose whether to be a good guy or a bad guy and whether or not you’re going to save the Republic or take back the Sith Empire for yourself and rule and galaxy.  Granted, the galaxy sort of falls to pieces five years later anyways but the Ebon Hawk and her crew still saved the day!

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Review: Star Wars: Legacy #5

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If you weren’t already sold on the brand new Star Wars: Legacy comic, you almost definitely will be after this issue.  Legacy #5 by Corinna Bechko and Gabriel Hardman is out in stores today and draws the first story arc to a spectacular close.  If you haven’t been reading the book thus far, I would definitely suggest find yourself copies of the first 5 issues or preordering the trade.

As with before, this review contains mild spoilers for the issue.

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Catch Nanci and Brian on Dragon Con panels at the Star Wars track

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dragon conAre you going to be at Dragon Con this year? If you are, you can catch Brian and Nanci on a trio of panels on the Star Wars fan track.

  • Friday 1PM: Intro to the Expanded Universe. We’ll be discussing how and where to get into Star Wars literature and offer our recommendations on books/comics/games. Daniel Eisenhauer and Tom Hutchens will be on this panel with us.
  • Saturday 7PM: Blogs, Podcasting, Vidding, and FanFic. We’re joining Riley and Bethany Blanton of the Star Wars Report and Bryan Young of Big Shiny Robot (and Force knows how many other media outlets) for a grab bag discussion of blogging, podcasting, vidding, and fan fiction.
  • Sunday 11:30AM: Where are the Women and Minorities in Star Wars? In a surprise to absolutely no one, Nanci and I will be discussing the role of women and minorities in Star Wars and offer our thoughts onto how the Galaxy Far, Far Away can be a more diverse and inclusive franchise.

The dates and times above are subject to change, but these are definitely the panels that you can find us on. It’ll be like the podcast! Except in front of a live audience. What could go wrong?

The Monolithic Jedi

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Awhile back, I wrote a post on EUCantina about the prequelization of the post-Return of the Jedi era of the Expanded Universe. The article’s basic point was that in the early days of the EU, the authors had no official knowledge about the Jedi Order in the Old Republic. None of us did–all we had was our imaginations. We didn’t know that Jedi lived in a Temple on Coruscant, were taken from their families as babies, and trained from the time they were children. As such, Luke Skywalker’s Jedi Academy was full of adults from many different worlds, of different ages, and varying careers. Some of them even came from families of Jedi. Tionne was a historian, Corran was a pilot and a cop, Mara was a smuggler, Kirana Ti was a warrior, Streen was a hermit, etc. etc. No matter what your opinion of the Jedi Academy Trilogy, I have to give credit to Kevin J. Anderson for creating a diverse group of Jedi, personality and background wise (although in retrospect there could have been more non-humans and people of color). Even in other eras, like the Tales of the Jedi comics, being a Jedi seemed to be more “what you did” and less “who you were.”

Then the prequels came out, and everything changed.

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