Star Wars, Geek Culture, and Power Converters
The Daily Blam has word that Dan Wallace’s Book of Sith will be releasing as a trade paperback on Star Wars Day, May 4th (still a silly day to celebrate Star Wars because ugh bad puns). If you haven’t had a chance to read this yet, here’s your chance!
No immediate word yet on pricing for the paperback version.
(Via)
What are you up to tonight at 5PM Pacific? Nothing? Great! You should join us in the Livestream chat for an all-new episode of Tosche Station Radio.
Joining the usual hosting duo today are staff writers Bria and Emily as part of a Scoundrels roundtable discussion. We’ll also be discussing the Prequel Trilogy 3D postponement as wel as the J.J. Abrams news and what it could mean for Episode VII and Star Wars as a whole.
As always, we would love to take your questions! If you have questions specific to the topics we’ll be discussing, send them our way and we’ll work them into our roundtable. Any other questions relating to Star Wars or geek culture you can also submit and we’ll answer them at the end of the show.
The Waru Express is moving once more! Did you miss my weekly descent into madness? I return to my journey through the Star Wars universe with the two books that take place right after the Battle of Endor. The Empire defeated just because the Death Star blew up again and some people tore down some statues? Hardly!
The Truce at Bakura
It may not make my Top Ten list but I definitely enjoy reading Truce at Bakura every time I pick it up. It’s a fun read that could work quite well as a starting point for a new reader to the Expanded Universe. Even though the Rebels and the Empire have a very tentative truce against a common enemy, it still has a very Star Wars feel to it. It feels like the logical next part of our heroes’ adventures. The more I think about it, the more I like that Kathy Tyers chose to write an immediate sequel but had them facing a different enemy while simultaneously having to keep an eye on the Empire.
I also really enjoy getting to see Leia handle the startling revelations that she and Luke are twins and that she too is the child of Darth Vader. Obviously news of that magnitude isn’t going to be accepted calmly and without question. Can anyone really blame her for having less than warm and fuzzy feelings for the man who tortured her? On a similar note, I like that Kathy Tyers also shows us that Luke did have some medical issues from being electrocuted with Force Lighting a lot. Actions and their consequences are the best, folks.
Also, if you don’t love Eppie Belden when you read this book then you’re probably reading this book wrong. There is undoubtedly some trope pertaining to sassy old ladies who put up with nobody’s crap and kick some butt along the way. Whatever that trope is, I adore it and also adore Eppie who really is having none of that rotten Imperial Governor’s $#@!. I also like the character of Gaeriel Captison. In a way, she’s what Leia might have been like if Alderaan had been a more remote planet with leaders who didn’t stand up to the Empire. Gaeriel gets to go through a nice character arc in the books and then she and Luke decide to break each others’ hearts and not try out being together because they have too many responsibilities. It’s kinda sweet in a way.
At the end of the day, this is another book that I’d recommend you check out if you skipped it in the past and it’s also one that I recommend if you’re looking to ease your way into the Expanded Universe.
Looks like the mystery of what the unannounced Star Wars project will be has been solved! The official Del Ray Star Wars twitter account just tweeted a link to io9 announcing that Joe Schreiber will be turning his horror expertise to focus on Darth Maul. The book is due out at the end of 2013.
The synopsis of the book, taken again from io9, is as follows:
From the mind of Joe Schreiber, New York Times bestselling author of Star Wars: Death Troopers, comes the delirious follow-up to last year’s Darth Plagueis. In a tale of retribution and survival set before the events of The Phantom Menace, Darth Plagueis and Darth Sidious dispatch Sith apprentice Darth Maul on a secret mission to infiltrate a criminal empire operating from inside Cog Hive Seven-a hidden prison teeming with the galaxy’s most savage criminals. There, he must contend against the scummiest and most villainous in gladiatorial death matches while carrying out his masters’ clandestine commands. Failure is not an option; success will ignite the revenge of the Sith against the Jedi Order.
I’m fairly sure that this never came up in speculation the other week. Surprise.
Kicking off the show, Nanci highlights what’s new on the blog. Bria’s Waru Express visited Return of the Jedi and is perhaps mercifully taking a week-long hiatus so she can read some non Star Wars tales. Meanwhile, Shane discussed the end of the Wheel of Time series.
In Fixer’s Flash, Nanci finished Scoundrels (while Brian is still reading at his glacially slow pace). She’s also working on her new original novel. Both the hosts went and saw Les Mis and X-Men First Class. Brian also attempted to get Nanci to read a comic by giving her copies of the first three volumes of Astonishing X-Men.
Deak’s Dirt starts with news of a Shakespearean Star Wars novel. Meanwhile, the live Action Series is not dead yet. In the Episode VII rumor mill, Zack Snyder is NOT working on a Star Wars movie! In Expanded Universe news,updates on Rebels and Kenobi hit the interwebs. Ashley Eckstein hinted that a Rogue Squadron product from Her Universe might be on the way. Finally, Dawn of the Jedi: Into the Void had its cover revealed!
On this week’s Camie’s Concerns, the hosts took issue with TOR’s article on what books new readers to the Expanded Universe should pick up. Brian and Nanci offer up their suggestions on what novels to pick up based on genre.
Wrapping up the show, the hosts answer questions from the livestream chat in our Ask Us Anything segment.
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 Xbox Music Store. We can also be found on Facebook, Google+, 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.
Well this is certainly… something. Spotted over the weekend was a new Star Wars book on Random House’s Page. What is it, you might ask? Star Wars in the style of Bill Shakespeare.
May the verse be with you! Inspired by one of the greatest creative minds in the English language—and William Shakespeare—here is an officially licensed retelling of George Lucas’s epic Star Wars in the style of the immortal Bard of Avon. The saga of a wise (Jedi) knight and an evil (Sith) lord, of a beautiful princess held captive and a young hero coming of age, Star Wars abounds with all the valor and villainy of Shakespeare’s greatest plays. Reimagined in glorious iambic pentameter, William Shakespeare’s Star Wars will astound and edify learners and masters alike. Zounds! This is the book you’re looking for.
So if you’ve ever wanted Shakespearean Alternate Universe Star Wars fan fiction published by a major publishing house, boy howdy you’re in luck!
No word as to whether or not this is the surprise book announcement we heard about two weeks ago.
Hollywood.com revealed the cover of Tim Lebbon’s upcoming Dawn of the Jedi: Into the Void cover today. The official summary of the book:
On the planet Tython, the ancient Je’daii order was founded. And at the feet of its wise Masters, Lanoree Brock learned the mysteries and methods of the Force—and found her calling as one of its most powerful disciples. But as strongly as the Force flowed within Lanoree and her parents, it remained absent in her brother, who grew to despise and shun the Je’daii, and whose training in its ancient ways ended in tragedy.
Now, from her solitary life as a Ranger keeping order across the galaxy, Lanoree has been summoned by the Je’daii Council on a matter of utmost urgency. The leader of a fanatical cult, obsessed with traveling beyond the reaches of known space, is bent on opening a cosmic gateway using dreaded dark matter as the key—risking a cataclysmic reaction that will consume the entire star system. But more shocking to Lanoree than even the prospect of total galactic annihilation, is the decision of her Je’daii Masters to task her with the mission of preventing it. Until a staggering revelation makes clear why she was chosen: The brilliant, dangerous madman she must track down and stop at any cost is the brother whose death she has long grieved—and whose life she must now fear.
And the cover …
The Kenobi concept art by Chris Scalf.
The age of Twitter and blogging is awesome, if only because it allows authors direct contact with their readers. This week, several Expanded Universe authors have given updates on their upcoming novels. To the jump!
I’ve finally made it through the Battle of Endor. The Emperor is dead, the Rebels have won, huzzah! (Cue everyone who knows otherwise laughing hysterically.) Cue me also laughing hysterically because even though I’ve read through thousands of chronological years in the Expanded Universe, I’ve still only read 45 out of 130 books on my list. Send help. Please?
Tales of the Bounty Hunters
“Bounty Hunters. We don’t need that scum.” WELL SAID ADMIRAL PIETT.
Okay, okay, I jest. Mostly. This book is actually something that I would like to see more of in the Expanded Universe albeit with different characters and I’m thrilled we’ll be getting it with the digital novellas. It’s five stories of about 70 pages each and they are essentially character studies for each bounty hunter. If we could get these about members of Rogue and Wraith Squadron, I’ll be happy. (Have you figured out my preferred characters yet? If you have, you’ve probably also figured out my cunning plan to talk about my desire for more Rogue/Wraith short stories until Del Rey notices.)
The stories themselves are fine, I guess? None of them really thrilled me but then again, I don’t really care about most bounty hunter characters. I do, however, want to know if there are any other smugglers in the galaxy aside from Han Solo and Han Solo Light/Dash Rendar because the books I’ve been reading lately make it seem like there aren’t. But there really should be because I’m really not sure how Han had enough time to do all the things he’s supposedly done and tick off all the people he supposedly has.
I think my favorite of the stories was probably the one with Bossk although Zuckuss’s does get bonus points for using Toryn Farr. Boba Fett’s story amused me because it spends a solid couple of pages on Han Solo trying to figure out the best way to cause trouble and get thrown in jail for a few days because he’s bored. (Let’s have a moment of silence for all the previously canon material about him that got blasted to smithereens by Attack of the Clones though. Honestly, I’m more amused by how he was written here than anything else.) Nothing else about these really stands out to me though. Except that Dengar is just… sad. In multiple meanings of the word.
It’s Cosplay Monday again, aka the post we fill with a cool costume every week to try and make your Monday morning more bearable.
This week, we’re spotlighting an awesome costume from the Knights of the Old Republic video games. Check out DarthCuddle‘s costume of Darth Traya, aka Kreia from Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords! Not only is it a cool looking costume that you don’t see very often but she looks amazing! I’m especially impressed by the work she put into the headdress.
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