Thrawn Trilogy Retrospective: Heir to the Empire Chapters 9-11

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Welcome back for another installment of the Thrawn Trilogy retrospective! We ended last time with our heroes escaping the Noghri and Leia being sent back to Bimmisaari. In this episode the Imperials launch another attack, and Luke visits Dagobah. Let’s get on with the show, shall we?

Schlacht_Bpfassh

The Imperial assault on Bpfassh

First I would like to lodge a formal complain to Timothy Zahn for using another crazy planet that starts with a B. This time it’s Bpfassh. I know I’m to mess up this spelling, so I apologize in advance. The Imperials are launching a three-pronged attack and using C’baoth to coordinate the attacks. Pellaeon realizes it’s not only a test of C’baoth’s battle meditation, but also his ability to take orders. While watching the battle, he reluctantly admits how effective C’baoth is. He doesn’t want to think that the Emperor was controlling the Battle of Endor, but now he’s not so sure.

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Review: Tarkin

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tarkinThe Star Wars universe turns to view the galaxy from the other side with its second book in the new canon. Veteran writer James Luceno makes his return to the galaxy and his debut in the new canon with Star Wars: Tarkin due out on November 4th. Set five years after Revenge of the Sith, Moff Wilhuff Tarkin finds himself stationed on the remote planet overseeing the construction of what all of us know will become the fearsome Death Star. The story, of course, leaves the fledgling battle station behind as the Emperor first summons and then sends both Tarkin and Darth Vader to Murkhana to investigate Separatist communications technology.

Without a doubt, Luceno is the master of weaving together all the pieces into one cohesive tale that makes sense of things you didn’t even realize you wanted clarity for. The time period between the trilogies has been deemed the Dark Times and rightly so as there have been relatively few stories placed in those years. Unlike Darth Plagueis, Tarkin doesn’t cover years and years of the protagonist’s life; instead covering perhaps a week supplemented with looks back into Tarkin’s formative years and moves seamlessly between the past and the present.

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New Tarkin Excerpts

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tarkinYesterday Del Rey posted another Tarkin mini-excerpt to their Star Wars Books Facebook page. Check it out here.

And also according to the Star Wars Books Facebook page, Star Wars Insider issue 153 comes out on October 22 and will contain another excerpt from the novel. Read more about that here.

Tarkin, by James Luceno, will be released in hardback and ebook formats on November 4.

Geek Girl Con 2014 Convention Report

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geek girl con logoGeek Girl Con is not a very large convention, only taking up the atrium of the Seattle Conference Center, and this year it happened to fall on the same weekend as New York Comic Con. Understandably, there were not a lot of big names present at Geek Girl Con 2014. But GGCs fourth year (and my third year attending) was, once again, a very fun time.

What makes Geek Girl Con stand out is its focus. It doesn’t specifically emphasize comics or anime or games or any particular medium or fandom like that. Instead, it is focused on celebrating geeky women and creating a safe, inclusive space for people of all types to enjoy the things they love and you could really tell, both from the make-up of the attendees and from the panel topics. Not only were a very large portion of the attendees women, but throughout the conventions various forms of non-traditional gender presentation were on display, even beyond the cosplay. The whole convention just has an open and friendly atmosphere and there really does seem to be a sense of community. Continue reading →

Tosche Station Radio #95: A New Dawn with John Jackson Miller

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On this all-new Tosche Station Radio, author John Jackson Miller joins us to discuss A New Dawn!

Kicking off the show, the hosts highlight what’s New on the Blog. Welcome Ryorin, our new staff writer. She’ll be handling news and occasional columns. She wrote about some possible directions for diversity in the Sequel Trilogy. We hope to have her on the podcast sometime soon! Bria wrote about what Sabine Wren means for Star Wars. There’s loose ends in the old Expanded Universe, so we’re Lighting the Legends Fanfiction Signal. Nanci started her Thrawn Trilogy retrospective. Bria pleaded for everyone to stop being mean to Del Rey. We roundtable reviewed of Spark of Rebellion. Bria also reviewed Droids in Distress. Nanci wrote about why Wedge Antilles needs to be in Rebels.

In Fixer’s Flash, Nanci’s been keeping busy re-reading Heir to the Empire and is about to crack open Tarkin.

Deak’s Dirt starts with Random House releasing a 50 page excerpt of Tarkin. They also revealed the full blurb for Heir to the Jedi. The Ventress/Vos novel gets a title, Dark Disciple. It’ll be released in July 2015. Clone Wars story reels- Crystal Crisis on Utapau, online now. The Lost Missions DVD/Blu Ray will be released on November 11. Rebels gets an order for a second season. Also lots of new clips, including one featuring Hera and Sabine. ABC will air Spark of Rebellion on October 26, featuring a new Vader scene. The Star Wars: Battle Pod arcade game was unveiled at NYCC. Not a lot of other news out of NYCC, but a big comic announcement: Kanan by Greg Weisman

This week on Camie’s Concerns, author John Jackson Miller comes on to discuss A New Dawn. There are major spoilers in this discussion, so if you have not read the book yet, come back to this episode later! You can find John Jackson Miller at Faraway Press and on Twitter at @jjmfaraway.

Wrapping up the show, the hosts discuss news that Warwick Davis will be appearing in Episode VII.

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.

This podcast has been brought to you in part by Her Universe and Audible.com.

Her Universe - Flaunt Your World - www.heruniverseshop.com Listen to a bestseller for $7.49 at audible.com!

Review: Star Wars Rebels: Droids in Distress

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rebels logoStar Wars Rebels began airing in its usual time slot last night at 9pm on Disney XD with its very first regular sized episode: Droids in Distress. How does the next episode hold up after such a fantastic pilot? Read on for a spoiler filled review and find out!

The Ghost is running low on funds so they agree to take a job that involves intercepting a shipment of highly dangerous weapons to the Empire. The job seems simple enough until Zeb discovers what the weapons are… and two familiar droids wander into the path of the Ghost’s crew.

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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.

Thrawn Trilogy Retrospective: Heir to the Empire Chapters 6-8

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Welcome back to the Thrawn Trilogy retrospective, in which I reread the trilogy and overload you with my feels, as the kids say. In the previous post, we met two of our antagonists. In today’s installment, the crap hits the fan–for the first time of many.

The Millennium Falcon arrives on Bimmisaari

The Millennium Falcon arrives on Bimmisaari

The New Republic envoy–Luke, Leia, Han, Chewie, and the droids–arrive on Bimmisaari. (How Timothy Zahn was able to keep track of how to spell all these crazy planet names is beyond me. Don’t fault me if I misspell them.) We learn that Leia never fully realized how to understand Shyriwook. I guess she’s not as adept at Wookiee as Ahsoka. They’re greeted by the Bimms, who ask Han to leave his blaster on the Falcon. They overlook Luke’s lightsaber, however, which turns out very good for him later on. After a half-hearted attempt to split up the group, Han and Leia go to explore the marketplace while Luke heads off to explore a nearby exhibit. Chewie stays on the Falcon, because he’s the only smart one of the group.

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