EU Retrospective: The Best and the Worst

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It was pure chance that put the best book in the Expanded Universe and the worst one next to each other in the Waru Express reading list.  It was also a blessing because after rereading The Crystal Star?  I don’t think I could’ve kept going on this project without Starfighters of Adumar being there to hug me and tell me that everything’s going to be okay.  So with no further ado, let’s talk about the Best and the Worst that the Expanded Universe has to offer.

The Crystal Star

This book has the distinction of being so awful that I had managed to block everything about it from my memory (except the existence of Waru) until the other night.  For those of you who joined me on my livestream, you got to witness my descent into madness.  (I believe Brian noted that the Waru Express finally broke me around 9:16 EST.)  There was drinking, there was cursing, there was defeated sobbing.  There was also the world’s worst Han Solo impression and some singing and some off-color jokes.  And then more cursing and more drinking and more pleas to be released from my agreement to read the book.  But most importantly, there was Waru.  He loves you.

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Tim Curry Joins The Clone Wars Cast, Demands for Rocky Horror Mashup Increase

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Tim CurryWith the unfortunate passing of Ian Abercrombie last year, The Clone Wars has been in need of a new voice talent to play the role of Palpatine. It appears Lucasfilm has found the new voice to play him. Bryan Young over at the Huffington Post has the exclusive news that Tim Curry will be joining the cast.

I have been given the go ahead by Lucasfilm to reveal here exclusively that Tim Curry has joined the cast of Star Wars: The Clone Wars in the role of Chancellor Palpatine/Darth Sidious. Tim Curry might be best known for his roles in The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Clue, but he has been doing more than his fair share of excellent work over the last few decades and can now add “Future Emperor” to his resume.

While most people will be hoping for Rocky Horror references now that Curry is on board, I’m hoping for an episode that pays homage to another great film of his: Clue.

Her Universe Secures Expanded Universe Merchandising Rights from Lucasfilm

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Under way right now is a chat on the Star Wars Books Facebook page with Her Universe founder and  The Clone Wars voice actress Ashley Eckstein. You should go there and read answers to things and such! Early on there was an announcement that’s sure to catch the eyes of Her Universe and Expanded Universe fans. When asked about potential EU gear in the future, Ashely responded:

YES! We are designing Several NEW Star Wars designs this year. Everything will be debuting in May. We are making shirts, dresses, jewelry…We have Rogue Squadron designs AND I am SO excited to announce that Lucasfilm has given us the rights to design shirts for the women in the EU, so expect more Mara Jade and Jaina Solo designs!

Rogue Squadron material launching in May, licencing rights to the Expanded Universe. If you’re a Her Universe fan, you’re appear to be in for some real treats.

EU Retrospective: The Jedi Academy

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I’ll go ahead and fess up before we even start this.  I like these books.  Actually, I love these books.  In fact, these books have a very special place in my heart because they are the reason why I tumbled head first into the Expanded Universe.  Dark Apprentice is the first Star Wars book I stumbled upon after my grandmother bought me two random Young Jedi Knights books.  The YJK had already made me fall in love with the Solo twins, Tenel Ka, and Lowbacca and when nine-year-old Bria picked up Dark Apprentice for the first time, there was no turning back.  I do recognize that these books certainly have their faults but I could never hate them.  Instead, I am forever grateful to Kevin J. Anderson for writing books that were my gateway drug.  Therefore you have been warned of my nostalgia for this trilogy.  Onward!

Jedi Search
In retrospect, it’s possible that this trilogy is what started my “Han and Leia are the worst parents ever” way of thinking.  I do, however, make this comment with love for the Solo family to my friends.  But seriously: why would you ever let these two raise your daughter?  (I’m looking at you, Tenel Ka.)  Somewhere out there about ohhhh 30 years farther into the time line, Winter is shaking her head and saying “It’s not my fault” for what happened with the Solo children.

Okay, I shall stop ragging on the Solo’s questionable parenting skills.  For now.

The subtitle of this book should probably be “Han Solo Has A Series Of Really Bad Days”.  Honestly, it takes some serious talent to go from getting tossed into the spice mines of Kessel to stumbling into a secret Imperial research facility and being subjected to interrogation.  On the other hand, he does manage to escape intact and with a new sidekick.  Shut up, I love Kyp Durron.  He gets the long con character development over the course of the EU and I love it so freaking much.

As for Luke, it’s about darn time he decided to try and rebuild the Jedi Order!  I get that he’s worried about having a new Vader on his hands but I would’ve thought that Luke would’ve gotten over his worries there earlier.  But then again, I’m always surprised when Leia isn’t more trained in the Jedi arts than she is.

The blob races, on the other hand, make me laugh because of how ridiculous they are.  Really?  Blobs?  You didn’t even try on that one, KJA.  Aside from that though, I find the book to still be an enjoyable read.

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Tosche Station Radio #47: Too Corellian To Function

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On this episode of Tosche Station Radio, the hosts are joined by Bria from the blog to discuss the lessons the new Star Wars films can learn from the Expanded Universe.

In a bit of housekeeping, we’ve got another sponsor for the blog and podcast! Listeners of this podcast can get a free audio book from Audible.com when they sign up for a free trial subscription.

Kicking off the show, Nanci highlights what’s New on the Blog. The Waru Express stopped at The Thrawn Trilogy and Bria got to enjoy some of the EU’s better novels. Cosplay Monday featured an Adorable Airbender family. Finally, Bria reviewed The Last Jedi by Michael Reaves and Maya Kaathryn Bonhoff. In other words, Bria’s been manning the blog over the last week.

In Fixer’s Flash, Nanci’s been busy writing and visiting the new Fantasyland at Disney World’s Magic Kingdom. Both the hosts caught up on The Clone Wars, so stay tuned for our Season 5 retrospective! Brian’s been gearing up for the start of a couple sport seasons, so he neglected to pay attention to his nerdier pursuits. Bria, on the other hand, revisited an old favorite novel and marathoned Season 2 of Game of Thrones.

Deak’s Dirt this week starts with an Oscars recap. Did any genre fiction fare well? Eh. Kinda. Star Trek Into Darkness is bringing back some old enemies. The Leia novel and Kenobi get new release dates – October 29 and August 27, respectively. The Last Jedi is released, should you go pick up a copy? In the Episode VII rumor department: Simon Pegg and Alfonso Cuarón may be involved? Are the writings looking to draw from the Original Trilogy’s tone and themes?

This week in Fixer’s Flash, the hosts and Bria take a look at the Expanded Universe and wonder what kind of lessons the new Star Wars films can take away from the novels. Are there things worth saving? Ignoring? Fixing? While some might want the EU to be ignored completely or preserved entirely, there are elements worth saving and chucking.

Wrapping up the show, the hosts field questions in the Ask Us Anything segment.

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.

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

Rumors: Cuaron, Pegg, and Matching the Original Trilogy Tone

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simon-peggGrain of salt, etc.

MarketSaw’s insider sources claim that Alfonso Cuaron (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and Children of Men) and Simon Pegg are being courted for roles for the sequel trilogy. MarketSaw has had a decent track record reporting details of both Avatar and The Hobbit, so allow that to influence what you think of this rumor if you like.

Cuaron could make some sense as a director for one of the films, but Pegg’s role would be more uncertain. Perhaps he’s being considered for a role of some sort in the Abrams-directed Episode VII, but given that the screenplay isn’t even finished yet, it’ll be some time before we know whether or not he’s actually involved. That said, Pegg is a uniquely talented actor that would offer a lot to any film.

Edit: Pegg responds

So much for that. Also of note from the MarketSaw post:

The focus is on the original trilogy in regards of reverence and tone. Remember I told you before that the tone was important, well I believe they are really taking that seriously. From everything I know, they’re focusing on that directly. Remember everything has the ability to change drastically, as Star Wars right now apart from the twin trilogies is a huge blank canvas. However, the trilogies ongoing narrative will continue to focus on that particular branch, whereas the stand alone movies, will fill and expand the voids in between in multiple timelines, and have potential to then be franchised themselves in regards to the worlds they open up.

That certainly would be in line with what Mark Hamill is hoping for. A return to the more hopeful tones of the Original Trilogy and a step away from the fatalism of the Prequel Trilogy.

And again, grain of salt, exercise caution.

Review: The Last Jedi

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thelastjedicoverThe adventures of Jax Pavan, Jedi Purge survivor, continue in The Last Jedi by Michael Reaves and Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff.  Jax, Den Dhur, I-Five, and Laranth Tarak are on a top priority mission for the Whiplash underground resistance.  They must safely smuggle one of Whiplash’s top leaders off of Coruscant before the Empire can successfully assassinate him.  In route, however, something goes terribly wrong and it’s up to Jax and his crew to set things right while simultaneously staying very far away from Darth Vader.

For the rest of the review, to the jump!

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Housekeeping: Advertising on the Blog and Podcast

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If you’ve taken a look over at the sidebar on the right or listened to the last episode of the podcast, you’re probably aware that we’re running with advertisements now. Specifically, we’re running Her Universe and Audible.com advertisements.

I’ve been hesitant to run with advertising on the blog/podcast for all sorts of philosophical reasons, but the reality is I could use a bit of help financially to cover the costs of webhosting and keeping the lights on here. Thankfully we can be picky with the ads we run, so we decided to chose these two programs because the products offered are pretty cool. Chances are you already know about Her Universe‘s line of geek-inspired wardrobe and jewelry aimed at female fans. Audible is an Amazon.com affiliate that sells digital audiobooks.

In the interest of full disclosure, here’s the breakdown of what we’re getting with these ads:

  • Her Universe: 10% of each sale (before tax/shipping) that originates from an ad on this site.
  • Audible.com: $10 for each free trial subscription, $25 for each paid subscription, 10% per single download.

As for what we’d be using this advertising money for, primarily it’s going to go to paying for our webhosting and domain registration costs. Occasionally we might use some of it to get some material (books, comics, movies) for the staff to review. Honest, we won’t be squandering this on the quarter slot machines in Vegas.

For reference, every 18 free Audible trial subscriptions that originate from the blog/podcast will pay for one year of webhosting for the blog. /ShamelessPlug

If you’ve got any questions or feedback (even if it’s that you don’t want to see us run advertising), feel free to leave a comment here in the post.

Star Wars Books Hosting Facebook Chat with Ashley Eckstein

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Clear your calendars for 3PM EST on Wednesday. Star Wars Books will be having The Clone Wars voice actress Ashley Eckstein on for a Facebook chat.

 

Cosplay Monday: Airbender Family

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It’s time for another Cosplay Monday where we try to brighten the start of your work week with some awesome looking cosplay.  One of the best/worst things about a conventions is that there is so much amazing cosplay that you can’t possibly catch it all so you have to look at everyone’s pictures afterwards.  Today’s costume group is one that I saw across the way at Katsucon but couldn’t get away from what I was doing to take a picture.  Luckily, David Ngo snapped a great picture of this amazing Airbender Family group from Avatar: Legend of Korra.  The entire group is nothing short of perfect.  I don’t even need to say anything else.  Just look at their perfection.

Airbending Family DavidNgo