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.

Words. Just WORDS!

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I don’t know how this escaped us for this long.
Now, in further research you’ll find that, disappointingly, it’s a ‘social rpg’ for iOS and Android. Starting to sound more like a Facebook game than a real game. On the other hand, it will be our first opportunity as fans to interact with the world that we’ve come to love so very much. Now, here’s my real question, why couldn’t some BIG name company pick up this IP and do something with it? Don’t you think that BioWare would have done a knockout job of this?

“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.

Review: The Star Wars #1

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This is not your father’s Star Wars: it’s your alternative red-tinged universe’s father’s Star Wars.  The Star Wars has taken George Lucas’s original rough draft screenplay of A New Hope and has been translated into a comic by writer J.W. Rinzler and artist Mike Mayhew.  The names are similar and so is the basic galaxy but otherwise, this is absolutely a different story.

It is a somewhat familiar tale at the start: the Jedi-Bendu are all but extinct as the Knights of Sith hunt them down for being enemies of the New Empire.  Jedi Kane Starkiller and his two sons are on the run while the Emperor announces to defeat the last frontier and conqueror the final refuge for the Jedi: the Aquilaean system.  King Kayos of Aquilas prepares for war along with General Skywalker.  In the midst of all this, the Princess Leia leaves the palace for her studies and Starkiller arrives on Aquilas with a plea to Skywalker.

This first issue is very much about exposition and establishing this alternative universe and yet it never feels boring.  If nothing else, the familiar names and places that continuously pop up in different ways than fans know them will definitely keep readers intrigued.  The elements and archetypes are familiar but they’re put together in a completely different order.  I’m actually mostly unfamiliar with the original script aside from the basics but Rinzler has definitely done a good job with his translation.  He manages to make you care about some of these new characters in just a few short pages and to hook your interest by the final page.

The artwork by Mike Mayhew with colors by Rain Beredo is a perfect fit for the story.  It gives it that very classic and almost retro feel while still being dynamic.  Seeing all the visual changes and tweaks from the original script is fascinating.  Characters like the stormtroopers and Darth Vader and ships like the Star Destroyers look both familiar and yet quite different.  It helps establish the story as being in its own universe and they even include a few pages in the back with sketches and commentary on “redesigning a universe.”  Princess Leia will still look familiar to readers with her double hair buns while characters like Darth Vader present more of a mental what if? scenario.

At the end of the day, The Star Wars is a visual treat with a “new” twist on a story we all know so well.  Is it essential reading for all Star Wars fans?  No.  Was the first issue enjoyable and does it warrant a read if you’re even the least bit intrigued?  Absolutely.

A.C. Crispin bids farewell to her fans.

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150px-TheparadisesnareA.C. Crispin, author of the Star Wars Han Solo Trilogy, posted a farewell to her fans yesterday on StarTrek.com.  Ann, who has written for a variety of franchises, including Star Wars, Star Trek, Pirates of the Caribbean, as well as her own original Starbridge universe, made the announcement that her battle with cancer is nearing its end.

Crispin thanked her fans for their support and assured them that she was receiving excellent care, let them know that her husband was collecting messages sent to her, but warned them that she may not have the strength to post to her Facebook or website again.

In addition to being a prolific science-fiction writer, Crispin has also served as the Vice President of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, and with colleague Victoria Strauss, founded Writer Beware, a offshoot of SFWA that helps writers avoid publishing scams and assists law enforcement in shutting down criminal activity in the publishing world.  She has also been a leader in ensuring female voices and representation among the science-fiction community.

Ann’s Star Wars resume includes the Han Solo trilogy and two short stories, one for both Tales of the Mos Eisley Cantina and Tales from Jabba’s Palace.

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.

Continue reading →

Stuff We Love: Welcome to Night Vale

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nightvaleImagine Neil Gaiman got drunk and started writing the local dispatches for a small town NPR station.

Welcome to Night Vale.

Here at Tosche Station, we like to bring you the very best of non-Star Wars geekery and flail about the awesomeness of things like Mageworlds and Pacific Rim, in addition to our main mission.  Now we are adding Welcome to Night Vale to our collective list of things to be enthusiastic about.  In June, Welcome to Night Vale overtook NPR’s This American Life to become the #1 most downloaded podcast on iTunes.  (You can listen to NPR’s interview with Night Vale creators Jeffery Cranor and Jeremy Fink here.)

Night Vale has slowly been taking over Tumblr lately.  It’s the second best podcast on iTunes (after Tosche Station Radio, of course), featuring the news and events from Night Vale, a small desert community somewhere in the American Southwest where all sorts of strange things happen.  Narrated by the sonorous tones of Cecil, listeners can keep up with what’s going on around town, what new civic works are opening (like the dog park), public service announcements (people and dogs are not allowed in the dog park), and be reminded that the sheriff’s secret police and a vague, but menacing government agency are always watching.

It may take a few episodes for the humor to truly sink in, but Night Vale also produces a number of incredibly quotable comments that you can then use to torment your friends and relatives, such as “The future is here, and it’s about a hundred feet above the Arby’s”; “Wednesday has been cancelled, due to a scheduling error”; and “ALL HAIL THE GLOW CLOUD” (The Glow Cloud now being the Night Vale school board president).  Citizens of Night Vale include Cecil, the radio broadcaster, Carlos the Scientist with his perfect and beautiful hair, Teddy Williams, owner of the Desert Blossom Bowling Alley and Arcade Fun Complex and its mysterious city under Lane 5, Old Woman Josie and her angels, the Hooded Figures, City Council, and Hiram McDaniels, a 3600 lb. 5-headed dragon currently incarcerated for insurance fraud, among other notables.

If you listen to only one podcast, it should be Tosche Station Radio.  But if you listen to only TWO podcasts and have have a yen for something that might have resulted if H.P. Lovecraft had lived in the American Southwest and had a sense of humor, and you also have about thirty minutes twice a month, then we suggest adding Welcome to Night Vale to your iTunes subscription list.

(Trust us, you won’t regret it.  Until you will.  Good night, dear readers, good night.)

(Also, if you *do* listen to Night Vale and didn’t read this post in Cecil’s voice, you totally should have, because that was completely how I wrote it.  For shame, readers, for shame.)

Tosche Station Radio #68: Women and Minorities in Star Wars

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It’s the first of two Dragon Con themed episodes! This week, we sit down with Aaron Goins in the mobile podcast command base (it’s a thing we just made up, run with it) to discuss the first few days of Dragon Con. We dispense with the usual format this week, but we do have an installment of Camie’s Concerns to bring to you.

While at Dragon Con, Nanci and I were on a Women and Minorities in Star Wars panel along with Luci Lockhart, Amy Ratcliffe, and our staff writer Bria. The hour-long recording has been included as a part of this podcast episode and we do hope you enjoy it.

Next week, we’ll be back to normal and should (hopefully) be featuring author Janine Spendlove to recap Dragon Con, talk about her books, and writing in general.

Tosche Station on Location: Conspiring for Fun and Profit

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Now that we’re back home, we can get a stable internet connection to deliver a few more recordings of panel audio from Dragon Con. This one was a real treat. Timothy Zahn, Mike Stackpole, and Aaron Allston got together to discuss what it was like collaborating on the Expanded Universe. As a bonus, listen as a book idea is born (and as Mike said, look out for the Kickstarter).