Mercy Kill is coming…

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Tomorrow, folks: tomorrow (!!!) marks the long-awaited return to the X-Wing series with X-Wing: Mercy Kill by fan-favorite author Aaron Allston. And, understandably, the EU blogosphere has been very excited. We here at Tosche Station have been looking back on the classic novels in preparation for tomorrow’s release. Look for our final retrospective on Starfighters of Adumar by Emily later today. If you want to start your own retrospective, you can purchase a nine-book bundle of the classic novels, available for Kindle and other ebook formats.

For those of you who just can’t wait until tomorrow, Suvudu released the first 50 pages of Mercy Kill as part of their 50 Page Fridays feature. (I am resisting and haven’t read it yet, although that might change today.) And, of course, the Star Wars Books Facebook page has given us several mini-excerpts throughout the summer. This month’s Star Wars Insider also has an interview with Aaron Allston as well as a short story (with art!) featuring Myri Antilles, written by Karen Miller.

Early reviews have been popping up as well. Check out reviews from Knights Archive, Lightsaber Rattling, Big Shiny Robot, and the Star Wars Report. They’re mostly spoiler-free and mostly positive. Roqoo Depot also has a nice summary of one of Mercy Kill‘s main characters, the scientifically-altered Gamorrean named Voort saBinring, also known as Piggy.

And if you really can’t wait for the novel, go back and check out our interview with Aaron Allston, where he reveals some insights about what it was like to return to Wraith Squadron after 13 long years.

Amazon tells me that my copy is in the mail. I’ll probably also buy the Kindle version so I can sneak peeks during breaks at work tomorrow. I’m so excited! Are you? These guys are:

Touchdown! Curiosity is Wheels Down on Mars!

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There’s a few dozen celebrating mission control members at JPL right now as Curiosity, the newest and biggest rover from NASA, has safely gone wheels-down on Mars. The absolutely crazy, insane landing procedure looked like something out of a Michael Bay film, but the engineers at JPL and NASA have pulled it off.

Curiosity is the most advance rover to set wheels on Mars. It’s intricate and complex science equipment will hopefully be able to give us a glimpse as to the history of water on the Red Planet and whether or not it was ever capable of supporting life and, more importantly, whether life has ever been there. Here’s one of Curiosity’s first images from Gale Crater.

To celebrate the occasion, Curiosity quoted the philosopher Wheaton

Space. It’s frakking awesome.

Replace the Catsuit: Costume Entry From Ellen

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With less than two weeks to go in our Replace Mara’s Catsuit contest, we’re starting to see a flood of new entries. Earlier this week we got a submission from Bria and today, we’ve got another costume entry from reader Ellen. I’ll let her describe it for you:

Here’s my entry for the contest to replace Mara’s catsuit. This is inspired by her outfit on the cover of Vision of the Future, but I made several changes to it, so I hope it still counts as a redesign. I tried to take the look of the cover illustration and combine it with the look of Jedi robes–this is definitely a Jedi outfit for Mara, not an Emperor’s Hand outfit! I plan on making a few additions/changes to the costume before Dragon*Con, but I don’t think I will have a chance to do that by the contest deadline, so my entry is just as it appears in the photos here. Unfortunately the green light from the saber tones down the red in her hair, and makes it look pretty blonde, but it is a red-gold, I promise!

Thanks for submitting the costume, Ellen! Who says Mara can’t rock the robes?

Remember, you’ve got until the 15th to submit your entry!

X-Wing Retrospective: Isard’s Revenge

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­­­­­­The eighth book in the series marks a rather dramatic departure from what we’ve seen to this point. Gone are the multi-book arcs. Instead, the final two novels in the original nine-book run are more standalone tales. The first of these books is Isard’s Revenge, Michael Stackpole’s return to the franchise after taking time away to write I, Jedi. Perhaps more importantly, it’s a return to the tales and adventures of Rogue Squadron, the new Republic’s premier military outfit.

When you’re a part of Rogue Squadron, danger and the impossible are all part of the job description. That’s no different in Isard’s Revenge, which means the Rogues and the readers had best strap in for another white-knuckle adventure.

Continue reading →

Latest ‘Mercy Kill’ Mini-Excerpt Takes a Shot at the Hutts

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We’re less than a week away from Mercy Kill’s release and the return of the X-Wing franchise from a 13-year hiatus. Star Wars Books has released one more mini-excerpt to lead up to the August 7th release.

“Besides . . .” Myri suddenly sounded cheerful. “Did you hear what Trey said? You’re going to Si’klaata Cluster. That’s Hutt space. I can stay here, wallow in the mud, and eat worms all day, and I’ll still be in a cleaner, nicer place than you two will.”

Have you pre-ordered your copy yet?

Celebration VI Roundup: One Panel Revealed and Shiny Badge Art

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Catching up from yesterday, a pair of interesting Celebration VI tidbits dropped. First off, the Official Star Wars Blog unveiled all of the attendee badges that will be handed out. Interestingly, the media badge features a grinning Palpatine. Wonder if they’re trying to tell us something?

In panel news (we’re still waiting for the full list, but hey, at least we’ve got something), Bryan Young and Pablo Hidalgo will be back and putting on their “Why We Love the Prequels” panel. You’ll be able to catch them at the Behind the Scenes stage at 10:30AM on Sunday.

Celebration VI Exclusive Art Prints Available Now For Pre-Order

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Remember those nifty Celebration VI exclusive art prints that have been previewed over the last month and change? They’re now available for pre-order!

You can pre-order one print per artist and must pick them up at Celebration VI in person. The name on the order must be the same as the person picking it up. To get your print, head over to the official pre-order page.

Replace the Catsuit: Costume Entry from Bria

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Reader, podcast listener, costumer, Pop Culture Shock writer, and all-around-awesome-person Bria sent us another costume for our Replace Mara’s Catsuit contest. Her inspiration for this entry came from the Allegiance and Choices of One covers.

Sleeves! Pockets! A jacket! Armor! To see other pictures of the costume, head on over to Bria’s photobucket.

We really dig the costume, Bria. Thanks for sending it in! Remember, you’ve got until August 15th to submit your art and costume entries for a chance to win some books featuring Mara Jade.

R.A. Salvatore on Fan Fiction

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Over on Reddit today, former Expanded Universe author R.A. Salvatore is conducting an Ask Me Anything. One intrepid redditor asked the author his thoughts on fan fiction in light of the hardline stance other authors have taken against it (*cough*GRRM*cough*). His response? Rather positive.

I am supposed to tell you that it’s evil and wretched and destroys anything and everything I’ve ever tried to accomplish.

Truth is, this is supposed to be fun and entertaining, and when I hear about fan fiction using my characters, or when I see variations of my characters running around in an MMO, I think it’s the coolest thing ever. Truly flattering. Now, I can’t read the fan fiction, for obvious reasons, nor can I consider it “canon,” but I’m still flattered.

What a remarkably positive and honest answer! To read his answers to other questions (and perhaps to ask your own), head over to his AMA thread.

The Old Republic Goes Free-To-Play, Attempts Stem Falling Subscriber Numbers

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Earlier this year, The Old Republic went free-to-play until level fifteen. Yesterday, it was announced that the game would be modified further by offering a restricted free-to-play model to level 50 and an unrestricted subscription model. The dinstinction from BioWare’s press release:

Subscription – A service designed for players who want unrestricted access to all the game features via ongoing subscription or by redeeming a Game Time Card. In addition to gaining access to all game content as our current subscribers do now, subscribers will receive ongoing monthly grants of Cartel Coins, the new virtual currency that will be introduced later this fall. Cartel Coins can be used to purchase valuable in-game items including customizable gear and convenience features that will enhance the game play experience.

Free-To-Play – The first 50 levels will be Free-to-Play, with restrictions on access to new content and advanced player features. Some restrictions can be “unlocked” with Cartel Coins.

BioWare also provided the following chart to explain the difference between the two game models:

In addition, purchase price of the game itself will be lowered to $15 starting on August 7th. In all, this looks like a good thing for people who are curious about the game but didn’t want to be tied down by a monthly subscription. Still, why is BioWare and Electronic Arts taking this drastic step in restructuring how the MMO is played and paid for? The unfortunate answer appears to be rapidly falling subscriber numbers.

Electronic Arts has revealed that the number of people paying to play its online video game Star Wars: The Old Republic has dropped below one million.

The title is the US firm’s biggest investment to date.

Launched in December, it initially attracted more than 1.7m subscribers.

The firm said the news was “disappointing” adding that it was switching to a new pricing plan which would allow users to access much of the content for free.

While the new free-to-play model is good for gamers, this appears to be more bad news for BioWare and Electronic Arts. Hopefully this new pricing model will allow The Old Republic to avoid the same fate as the Galaxies.