Harry Potter Turns 15, Gets Shiny New Paperback Covers

Posted on by

Fifteen? Really? I mean. Wow, those years kind of flew by.

As Harry Potter hits its fifteenth birthday, Entertainment Weekly reports that Scholastic plans to celebrate by re-releasing the series in trade paperback form. A bit of a welcome surprise, however, is all new cover artwork for the novels.

The new artwork will be illustrated by Kabu Kibuishi, the artist behind the Amulet graphic novels.

I do have a fondness for the original covers, but I must say this updated look is quite nice in my eye.

Lucas not Cashing out Disney Stock

Posted on by

And here’s the return to the aforementioned fandom inanity.

Last week, George Lucas registered for the ability to cash out his Disney stock in order to build Scrooge McDuck’s Moneybin. Or use it for philanthropic efforts, one of the two. The Bearded Trio tracked down a Lucas representative to see if he was planning to cash out.

George Lucas has no intention of letting go of his Disney stock he acquired as part of the deal selling Lucasfilm to Disney. Now this is a clever move as the stock can only go up with another Avengers, Pirates Of The Caribbean and more Star Wars movies in the works. Disney’s shares are likely to rise quite dramatically. Good move!

Who needs stock in Lucasfilm when you can have stock in Disney and their various money-printing licenses? Probably a wise call by Lucas. Disney as a company seems to be heading nowhere but Up* these days so hanging onto that stock for a while seems like a sound move.

*Up! Get it? I’m sorry. 

There’s not a whole lot here to get excited about, mostly I just wanted to link to this story because of a fabulous photo of George Lucas The Bearded Trio dug up.

Lucas without beard 1987

Is that not incredibly unsettling?

The Bearded Trio via Club Jade

Tosche Station Radio Joining Majestic Giraffe Productions

Posted on by

ToscheStationbig

I mentioned on Twitter last night that there are some big changes for the podcast coming in the next few days. I also said I’d be detailing the specifics this morning. Well, here we are, so let’s get to it.

Tosche Station Radio will be leaving the Solo Sound Network to join Majestic Giraffe Productions.

Nanci and I were recently given a new hosting opportunity that was extraordinarily generous and could allow the show to grow in new directions. Still, weighing this opportunity against the time we’ve spent with Solo Sound was extremely tough. We’ve been incredibly fortunate to be able to work with Austin and the rest of the Solo Sound staff. Without their framework and expertise, we couldn’t have made it four episodes let alone forty-four. Parting from Solo Sound to this new venture is exciting, bittersweet, and one of the hardest decisions we’ve had to make since we started the podcast over a year ago. We can’t thank Solo Sound enough for putting us in a position to succeed and thrive.

What does this mean for the podcast, though? More after the jump.

Continue reading →

EU Retrospective: The Han and Leia Love Boat

Posted on by

Welcome aboard the Han and Leia Solo looooooooove boat.   We provide music and history lessons at the low low cost of only two books.  And possibly your sanity unless you just roll with the ridiculousness.  Someone cue up the Bollywood soundtrack because here we go!

The Courtship of Princess Leia
Why yes.  This book is the Star Wars equivalent of a Bollywood musical.  You’ve probably heard us at Tosche Station repeat Dunc’s declaration a time or two.  Honestly though.  This book comes complete with a musical break where Threepio serenades the group with “Han Solo! What a man, Solo!” complete with orchestration and a tap dance routine.  You only think I’m making this up.  Of course, we can’t forget the opening number where the Hapans enter the grand audience chamber and make an elaborate presentation of gifts with women singing “Hapes Hapes Hapes” over and over again in the background.  If they were to film this, I would expect it to end much like Mirror, Mirror with a giant wedding Bollywood number.  Bonus points if they managed to get Sean Bean to play some role and just look miserable in the back ground.  But anyways.  Let’s be clear: this book is indeed ridiculous but it’s still entertaining and somewhat endearing in its own strange way.

Not that any of this excuses the characterization of Han or Leia.  It’s all just… off.  Very off.  Han is crazed and obsessed and Leia is just… yeah.  It’s just all so very very very wrong.  Also, I’m pretty sure that at this point in the timeline?  Han still finds Threepio irritating and even if he didn’t, I’m fairly sure that he is the LAST person or droid you should go to for love life advice.

Aside from the ridiculous characterization and strange plot, there are some good things about this book.  First and foremost, we get the planets of Dathomir and Hapes which I shall always insist are wonderful additions to the Expanded Universe.  Are they somewhat strange societies?  Sure but they make for fascinating reads.  Not only that but this book lays the foundation for one excellent character in the Expanded Universe: Tenel Ka who shall forever be my favorite warrior princess/queen but more on that in a few weeks.  Honestly, I wish that we’d gotten a chance to see more of both worlds in canon.

Also, this book gives us the infamous “Kiss My Wookiee!” line.  Come on, how can you not find that in the least bit amusing?

I am honestly convinced that Winter must have been off on some sort of mission for Intelligence while this was happening.  When she got back and Han and Leia told her the whole story, she listened calmly without comment and then smacked them both over the head, confiscated all of their spice, and gave them a stern lecture about the dangers of drugs.

Continue reading →

EU Retrospective: Wraith Squadron

Posted on by

Only books I adore get sticky-noted like this

I love Wraith Squadron.  There are not enough words in any of the languages I know to properly express how much I love the Wraiths and these three books.  Reading these has never been anything less than a joy and I have strong emotional attachments to these characters.  Heads up, there’s going to be a lot of gushing in this post.  There are also going to be a lot of rambling emotions in this post.  If you want proper reviews of the X-Wing books, go read the retrospectives the rest of the staff wrote last year.  Yes, there will be more flailing and emotions than in the Shatterpoint and Revenge of the Sith reviews.  Brace yourselves.

Wraith Squadron
Rogue Squadron has officially rejoined the New Republic and Wedge Antilles, not content with the stack of medals and accolades he already has, is going to create a brand new squadron that will totally kick some Imperial behind but in their own distinctive way.

It’s actually Wedge himself who iterates why I love the Wraiths so much, even more than the Rogues.  Wedge assembles the Wraiths from the pilots in Starfighter Command who appear to be chronic screw-ups and are dangerously close to washing out.  He finds the men and women who are good to decent enough pilots and have skills to offer the New Republic but who’ve just had trouble making it.  In contrast, the Rogues were mostly from backgrounds that were quite the opposite.  Wedge specifically cites Corran’s CorSec and Bror’s Bacta Prince roots.  Not everyone can relate to something like that.  On the other hand, the Wraiths and their backgrounds make it a lot easier for the everyday person, including myself, to relate to them.  Allston lets us watch throughout these three books as these characters not only overcome their personal issues but also as they becomes heroes.

I enjoy both the plot and the characters development in Wraith Squadron equally.  It never feels like one is dragging the other along but rather that they go hand in hand which is absolutely how a novel should be.  It’s easy to become invested in how quickly this unit goes from not even being operational to capturing spaceships and doing some serious damage to Warlord Zsinj.  Plus, as Wedge and Wes both note, the Wraiths have a tendency to look at a problem and jump outside of the box that the main box is inside of and come at it from a completely different angle.  It’s what makes them dangerous and it’s why I love them.

Obviously, this is Kell Tainer’s book and wow does he have a lot of character development to go through.  In a lot of ways, he’s Corran Horn’s opposite.  Both of them are naturally gifted pilots with dead fathers but that’s where the comparisons stop.  Kell knows that he’s a good pilot, gifted with demolitions, and a more competent mechanic but he is plagued with the biggest case of self-doubt and fear of screwing up and letting others down.  It’s rather neat getting to watch him slowly get over both his fear of Janson and his fear of being a failure.  It doesn’t happen over night and it doesn’t happen without some encouragement from his friends but it happens.

The other thing that I really like about the Wraith books is that I feel that the readers actually get to know the entire squadron instead of just the leads and a few others.  Kell and Face may battle it out all the time for who’s my favorite Wraith but it just wouldn’t be the same if I didn’t finish the book feeling like I knew who each of the Wraiths was.  As a comparison, I can name every single member of Wraith Squadron in these three books but I don’t think I can say the same about all the Rogues in the X-Wing books.  (Peshk who?)

Okay, I think that’s enough emotions about the first book for now.  I have to save some for what’s coming next.  You know what’s about to happen.  And if you don’t, please go read these three books before reading the rest of this review.

Continue reading →

Kinberg and Kasdan Talk Episode VII, Standalone Films with IGN

Posted on by

Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi writer Lawrence Kasdan as well as Simon Kinberg sat down with IGN over the weekend to discuss Episode VII and the subject of standalone spinoff films. The first question, of course, was how did Kasdan feel being asked to come back and do more Star Wars:

Kasdan: I was pleased that there would be new ones, that there was a chance to capture some of the spirit of the original trilogy that I’d worked on. I thought there’s an audience out there — my grandchildren, lots of original Star Wars people — and there always will be. It’s only good that we try to do some more great ones.

On what the new trilogy will be like:

GN: What can you tell fans about this new version that you’re working on? There are so many rumors going around.

Kasdan: They’re going to be fun. J.J. (Abrams)’s a great director for the first sequel. Perfect. We’re very happy to have him. The writers I’ve been working with — Michael Arndt, who’s going to write the sequel, and Simon Kinberg, who has, like me, been sort of consulting — they’re great. I’ve never really collaborated a lot, and I’ve never been a room with a bunch of writers thinking, “Well, what should this thing be?” It’s fun. It’s really fun. And J.J.’s a writer. Yeah, lovely guy. I’d met him but didn’t know him. But now I’m totally enamored by him. He’s really funny and so enthusiastic.

Simon Kinberg was also asked about whether the standalone movies would work with established characters or try something different:

IGN: Is there anything you can say in terms of working with established Star Wars characters, or are you coming from a whole new plot and characters for your standalone movie?

Kinberg: This is what I would say: as a fan, I wouldn’t want to know too much. I know that’s impossible because it’s not the ’70s or ’80s anymore, but part of what was so exciting about A New Hope for me was I was entering into a universe I didn’t know. Even in Empire, I was surprised by a twist I never would have seen coming. But it’s different nowadays. I understand the excitement, and I’m happy that people are interested, obviously. But I’d rather people have something left to discover when they go in.

For more, head to IGN to read the full interview.

Hasbro’s Mara Jade Figure Shifts to Black Series

Posted on by

hasbro-jedi-mara-500x691The good news is the Mara Jade figured many feared was cancelled will be hitting store shelves after all. Yay! The bad news is that Mara is still wearing the catsuit. Boo.

The figure will be released as part of the second wave of Hasbro’s Black Series, a lineup that’s geared towards collectors. That, of course, means that this figure will be even harder to find than it would have been before. So if you’re hoping to get your hands on one, prepare to hit eBay and don’t hold your breath.

(via)

Cosplay Monday: Boromir

Posted on by

We’re back with another Cosplay Monday to try and take your mind off the dreary work week ahead.  This week, we’re featuring a Lord of the Rings costumer who went above and beyond the call of duty.  Check out this fantastic Boromir costume by Anduril9226 over on DeviantArt.  The attention to detail is amazing enough is that I could easily believed he smuggled this off the set.  This is a job seriously well done.

Boromir anduril9226

Tosche Station Radio #44: Spinoff

Posted on by

Logo

Play in new window | Download
On this episode of Tosche Station Radio, the hosts talk spinoffs and Star Wars!

Kicking off the show, Nanci highlights what’s new on the blog. Brian noted that one of his favorite baseball writers realized sports and geek fandom are the same thing. Meanwhile, the Waru Express visited Rogue Squadron and laid the smack down on Corran Horn.

In Fixer’s Flash, Nanci kept herself busy by reading Old Man’s War by John Scalzi. She also has been working on her current novel and planning out future writing projects. Of course, there was also the Puppy Bowl, the most important event of the last week. Brian, on the other hand, watched a whole lot of QI and is eagerly anticipating the return of Community to the airwaves.

Deak’s Dirt starts off with Ashley Eckstein revealing upcoming plans for Her Universe products. The Super Bowl happened and there were trailers for geeky films such as Iron Man, Star Trek Into Darkness, Oz the Great and Powerful, World War Z (via clubjade). Billy Dee Williams is attending Dragon*Con.Make-up artist Stuart Freeborn passed away at 98. In the big news, Bob Iger confirms standalone Star Wars films are in the works. Ain’t It Cool News reported a Yoda film while Entertainment Weekly reported Han Solo and Boba Fett films. Meanwhile author Timothy Zahn talked standalone films, along with writing Han Solo, with Hollywood.com.

This week’s Camie’s Concerns takes a look at the confirmation that Star Wars will be getting non-episodic spinoff films and perhaps other projects. Brian and Nanci discuss what they would (and wouldn’t) like to see as well as why this news is good for the fandom and doesn’t mean that Disney is ruining the franchise.

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.