Over on the Her Universe Facebook page, Ashley Eckstein posted a photo showing off the upcoming Rogue Squadron tank hoodie.
Yeah. That’s really cool. I’m going to have to buy one of these for everyone on the staff not named Shane, aren’t I?
EU Retrospective: The New Jedi Order Part 1
Welcome back to the Waru Express, dear readers, after a bit of a break. We’re diving right into the New Jedi Order which requires an entire shelf all on its own. 19 books? Let’s go! Before we dive into the book reviews, I figured I’d let you all in on a secret: I don’t hate the NJO. In fact, I like a fair bit of it. There are certainly some books and occurrences that I strongly dislike and I think it could’ve been shorter but I enjoy the vast majority of it. Spoiler Alert: I love the Stackpole, Allston, and Stover books but does that surprise any of you? My point is that I’m not a hater when it comes to these books but neither do I blindly love them so while my thoughts are on these books are likely to be a fair bit more positive than most of the blogosphere, you’re still going to get a decent dose of snark. Starting with this post.
With that out of the way, let’s dive into the first lengthy review post as I discuss the books from Vector Prime to Jedi Eclipse.
Vector Prime
Ah yes. The infamous “Chewbacca is Dead!” book. I feel nothing but pity for R.A. Salvatore having to be the one to pull the trigger on this given how the fandom can be at times. Let’s get the giant wookiee in the corner out of the way. Yeah, Chewbacca dying sucks. Reading through the book knowing what was coming made all the scenes with Chewie that much more painful. He’s a big part of our group of heroes and it is sad that he dies. HOWEVER. His death certainly does signify to the readers that this oncoming threat isn’t going to be easily defeated and that no one will escape unscathed. Also? If you’re going to go out, this is certainly one of the more badass ways to do it. Chewbacca rejects your notion of death by blasterfire and goes down shaking his fist at a freaking moon.
I’d really like to know what the heck happened to Jacen Solo between the end of Crisis of Crystal Reef and the start of this book. It feels like I’m reading about two completely different characters and I’m not even counting the lack of bad jokes because that’s something a person could reasonably grow out of.
Overall, I actually think the book functions quite well in its role. It sets up the Vong invasion, lets us get to see our favorite characters again, and tells us that this isn’t going to be an easy ride. I also find it to be an enjoyable book on its own. It’s nice getting to see the Solo kids have some fun before the galaxy goes to hell even if it’s only for the first half of the book.
The final line of the book sums it up the best: “But to Han Solo, the galaxy suddenly seemed a more dangerous place by far.”
Dave Filoni Involved With New Star Wars Cartoon
IGN has a recap from Dave Filoni’s sit down with Rebel Forces Radio yesterday. Among the highlights? He’s apparently involved in the early processes of a new Star Wars cartoon.
“At this point, I am involved in some early production discussions and exploration of what we’ll be doing with Star Wars animation in the future, which is really exciting for me and I have some friendly faces around me, of course, that are helping me on the project. So it’s a transition time, as I’ve said before, and I think it will lead to an exciting time and hopefully I’ll see things grow again.”
What is this new cartoon? New idea yet, but I kind of figured this would happen. Lucasfilm Animation was somewhat of a redundant department after the Disney acquisition, because if Disney has anything, it’s a world-class animation shop. That said, even if Lucasfilm Animation were to shut down or downsize, Disney is smart enough to pick off that talent and retain them for future projects. Don’t be surprised if not only Dave Filoni but the bulk of his creative crew find their way to this new project.
It’s also worth noting that Lucasfilm isn’t the only company experiencing downsizing in their visual effects and animation departments. Over in the comments at Club Jade, Pablo Hidalgo pointed out that Tippett Studios and numerous other VFX shops were experiencing layoffs. The downsizing at Lucasfilm Animation might have less to do with Disney and more to do with a changing entertainment landscape.
Tosche Station Radio #52: I Call Bull$#!*
On this episode of Tosche Station Radio, the hosts are joined by staff writer Bria and Aaron Goins for a continuity throwdown!
Kicking off the show, Nanci highlights what’s New on the Blog. Shane discussed Bruce Timm leaving DC. For that wonderful holiday known as April Fools, we asked our friend and Star Wars newbie Lisa what she’d like to see in the Sequel Trilogy. Brian called bullshit on the idea that multiple universes can’t exist simultaneously in Star Wars. He also wrote about the Lucasarts closing shop.
In Fixer’s Flash, Nanci made an impromptu trip to Disney’s Hollywood Studios. She’s also kept herself busy reading Night Train to Rigel by Timothy Zahn as well as the Orion Offensive by John Jackson Miller. Somehow in all that, she found the time to finish the first draft of her newest novel, Seer. Brian’s been working through his comic backlog but also started reading Season of Passage by Christopher Pike. Bria continued on her journey aboard the Waru Express by starting the New Jedi Order. She’s also been keeping busy at her other blog, the White Hot Room.
Deak’s Dirt starts with sad the sad news: LucasArts is shutting down. Also ILM employees were also laid off in the process. In convention news from Wondercon, Dark Horse is adapting The Star Wars based on Lucas’s original draft for A New Hope. Features older General Luke Skywalker, Anakin Starkiller, and Darth Vader (not a Sith, not in the suit). Meanwhile, there’s an excerpt for Into the Void by Tim Lebbon over on the Random House website, as well as the finished jacket. The This Is Madness bracket continued on, but are the hosts still paying attention to it? Harry Markov, Science Fiction Frequency Launches ‘Women in Genre’ Month, an effort to raise awareness and celebrate the women working in genre fiction. Doctor Who returned from hiatus and announced John Hurt would be guesting. In addition, BBC confirmed two guest stars for the 50th anniversary episode Game of Thrones also returned to the airwaves. Finally, there was more sad news as legendary film critic Roger Ebert passed away Thursday afternoon.
This week on Camie’s Concerns, the hosts rounded up Bria from our blog and White Hot Room as well as Aaron Goins of the Star Wars Bookworms podcast and the Star Wars Report blog to discuss the Sequel Trilogy, the Expanded Universe, and how they both can (or can’t) get along. Gear up for a bit of a friendly throwdown as the group discuss EU characters, the concept of the Multiverse, and whether or not Marvel is a good model for Star Wars moving forward.
Tosche Station Radio is the official podcast of Tosche-Station.net and a part of Majestic Giraffe Productions. If you like what you hear, please leave a review on the iTunes Music Store. We can also be found on Facebook 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.
This podcast has been brought to you in part by Her Universe and Audible.com.
The Fate of LucasArts was a Decade in the Making
To say fan reaction to the closure of long-time game developer and publisher LucasArts was strong would be an understatement. Emotions ranged from sadness to outright anger at new parent company Disney for shuttering the studio responsible for critically acclaimed titles like TIE Fighter, The Dig, and Escape from Monkey Island. Through the years, this division of the Lucasfilm brand had been responsible for numerous well received games that became benchmarks for the industry as a whole. It’s understandable, then, that fans of the company are bewildered as to why Disney would close down such a prolific studio and monument to gaming history.
While a glance through their catalog reveals a studio that has had more success than the vast majority of their competitors, a deeper look reveals that LucasArts set themselves on a risky path nearly a decade ago.
Lucasarts Shuttered, Employees Laid Off
Kotaku is reporting that Disney has officially shut down Lucasarts and laid off all employees.
Given the lingering hard feelings over Lucasfilm Animation and the cancellation of The Clone Wars, it’s easy to get upset at Disney. I would caution against it, however. Lucasarts was a development studio that was in trouble years before Disney even came into the picture. The number of titles they released plummeted around 2006-2007 and the marquee titles they did release were not well received critically. The Force Unleashed and its sequel were regarded as middling titles and The Old Republic was a huge expenditure that failed to put a dent in the MMO market.
There’s also this to consider:
LucasArts just announced It is moving to a licensing model for games, moving away from development.
— Geoff Keighley (@geoffkeighley) April 3, 2013
Lucasarts has been a development studio in trouble for years. This studio getting shut down doesn’t mean the end of Star Wars games. If anything, I view it as a hopeful thing. For whatever reason, they have been unable to produce quality products internally for a number of years and they probably could have and should have been closed down sooner to redistribute that valuable IP.
If Disney is licensing the Star Wars IP now to other studios, that could be great news for fans.
Edit: Official statement from Lucasfilm
GameInformer received a statement from Lucasfilm discussing the closure of the studio.
“After evaluating our position in the games market, we’ve decided to shift LucasArts from an internal development to a licensing model, minimizing the company’s risk while achieving a broader portfolio of quality Star Wars games. As a result of this change, we’ve had layoffs across the organization. We are incredibly appreciative and proud of the talented teams who have been developing our new titles.”
In addition, Kotaku is now reporting that Star Wars 1313 and First Assault have been canceled
Staff were informed of the shutdown this morning, according to a reliable Kotaku source. Some 150 people were laid off, and both of the studio’s current projects—Star Wars: First Assault and Star Wars 1313—were cancelled. Disney will still use the LucasArts name to license games, but the studio is no more.
Geeky Clothing Item of the Day: Rogue Squadron Hockey Jersey
We’ve all got geeky t-shirts. Maybe even geeky jackets. But do you have a geeky hockey jersey? I didn’t think so. Over on Twitter Nanci and I were alerted to this item that I need in my closet yesterday.
Yes that is a Rogue Squadron hockey jersey and good heavens I want it so much. It even features the Rogue Squadron insignia on the shoulders! If you head over to the product page and you have $95 on hand, you can order yourself up a custom jersey that lets you supply your own name and number. Maybe instead of a Skywalker 77 you want an Antilles 77?
Just Keep Swimming: Pixar Announces Release Date for “Finding Dory”
Just when we thought Disney couldn’t get any more awesome: Disney and Pixar announce that Dory, Nemo, and Marlin will be swimming back into theatres in 2015 in Finding Dory.
Lest you think that this is an April Fool’s joke that didn’t catch on until today, fear not. Deadline.com reported that Pixar had started work on a Finding Nemo sequel back in July 2012.
As for what’s going to happen, MTV.com has offered a quote from returning director Andrew Stanton on what Finding Dory will entail:
One thing we couldn’t stop thinking about was why she was all alone in the ocean on the day she met Marlin. In ‘Finding Dory,’ she will be reunited with her loved ones, learning a few things about the meaning of family along the way.
Finding Dory is expected in theatres 25 November 2015.
Harry Markov, Science Fiction Frequency Launches ‘Women in Genre’ Month
Too frequently fans and the people involved with genre fiction are asking where the women are. This has confused speculative fiction author Harry Markov, who regularly interacts with women who write, edit, and represent genre fiction. He and Science Fiction Frequency believe that this is a problem.
And they’re going to do something about it.
Gender politics is a messy thing and I don’t like to speak for the whole community, but if we’re still in the active pursuit of the answer to where women in genre are, then we have a problem. One heck of a problem. It’s healthy to talk about it, but it’s also healthy to do something about it, too.
Here’s what I will do in April. I’ll dedicate each day to tell a story about how a woman in genre has changed my life for the better through her hard work and dedication. That’s 30 days and 30 kick-ass women – critically acclaimed and small press names, new talent and established names, in the limelight and involved behind the scenes.
This is what the Women in Genre month is about and I’d like to see you talk online about all the wonderful women you encounter and admire. Let’s praise and celebrate and change the tone of the current conversation about gender in genre. I believe that if we push female creators to the forefront, we’ll send the correct message and maybe cure our gender blindness at least a little bit. And men talking about women will make all the difference.
If you want to join the conversation, SFF has ways for you to contribute to Women in Genre month.
Dark Horse Adapting Original Star Wars Concept
At Wodnercon yesterday, Dark Horse revealed just what that Jonathan Rinzler-written project would be. According to BleedingCool.com, it’s going to be an adaptation of George Lucas’ original Star Wars concept.
At WonderCon, Dark Horse announces new eight issue Star Wars series for September – The Star Wars. Based on George Lucas‘ original concept that eventually became the Star Wars films.
Featuring Darth Vader not as a Sith/Jedi but just a General. Anakin Starkiller. An old General Luke Skywalker. Jonathan Rinzler will write and Mike Mayhew will do the art.
Dark Horse also shared some concept artwork for the new series which you can see at the link above. For continuity purists, don’t even try to mesh this into canon and just enjoy it for what it is. A fun Infinities-style what-if.