Tag Archives: Star Wars

EU Retrospective: The Clone Wars Part II

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It’s a shorter post this time as the Clone Wars books begin to wrap up.  Once again, we have a pretty stark contrast between two books which is a shame.

Jedi Trial
Wow.  This book has some of the worst pacing ever.  The book is basically one giant battle on a planet and Anakin and Nejaa don’t even get there until 100 pages in.  To top it off, about half the book is centered around two soldiers from the planet that I never end up caring about.  If this is supposed to be the Anakin book to balance out the Obi-Wan book… it kinda fails because of that ratio.  Oh.  And the villain is just one big tropefest and not in an entertaining David Eddings sort of way.

This might be the first book that I’ve reread for this project that is worse than I remember it being and I honestly have always wanted to like this book.  I remember being incredibly excited when I heard that it would also be featuring Nejaa Halcyon and he really is the saving aspect of the book.  I do actually like the friendship between him and Anakin and it’s nice that they are this little fraternity of Jedi Who Shouldn’t Be Married But Are.  (Mark Nejaa down as another friend that Anakin desperately needed and should’ve chatted with BEFORE making horrible life decisions.)  Unfortunately, Nejaa never really gets much character development outside of the mission and his friendship with Anakin.  It would be nice if we could get an e-short story about him one day.  (HEY DEL REY.  MAYBE GIVE STACKPOLE A CALL.)

Bottom line is that it’s not terrible but it’s not good either.  To take that a bit further, I think that the moral of my Clone Wars book reviews has been that most of these books are good… except for the ones focusing on our main heroes from the films which is rather unfortunate.

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Cosplay Monday: Luminara Unduli and Barriss Offee

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Welcome back to Cosplay Monday!  We hope you’ve all recovered from the cuteness attacks the past few weeks.  Today, we’re diving back into the galaxy far far away .  Check out this stellar Master/Padawan team with hiron as Luminara Unduli and her friend as Barriss Offee.  Not only do they look amazing but both of their costumes clearly took a lot of work.  Awesome job!

Kathleen Kennedy Announces an Episode VII Announcement

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According to ComicBook.com, Kathleen Kennedy told ABC News Radio that we should be hearing an announcement for Episode VII sometime in January and that pre-production for the film will begin this coming spring. What’s the announcement? No one knows, since this is just an announcement of an announcement. One presumes that it could be a director.

So if that’s the case, speculate while you still can.

(via)

Tosche Station Radio #39: 2012 in Review – Star Wars

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 On this episode of Tosche Station Radio, the hosts are joined by Bria, Shane, and Emily to take a look back at Star Wars in 2012.

Kicking off the show, Nanci highlights what’s new on the blog. Bria continued her comic suggestions with non-Big Two titles. She also continued her EU retrospective with Republic Commando and Clone Wars titles. Nanci gave us all an etiquette lesson for when you visit a live theater performance.

In Fixer’s Flash, Nanci’s caught up on Once Upon a Time and participated in one of her favorite Christmas traditions, watching Love, Actually (and she made Brian watch as well). Both Nanci and Brian visited New York together to catch a show. Brian’s got a new issue of Avengers Assemble sitting on his iPad. Emily’s been busy playing Minecraft now that she’s free from grading papers. Shane has been reading the Taltos novels by Steven Burst and listening to the Hobbit soundtrack. Bria’s been reading Star Wars novels and writing the occasional Star Wars fan fiction.

Deak’s Dirt starts with the Star Trek Into Darkness, Man of Steel, and Pacific Rim trailers. Gail Simone was fired from the Batgirl comics and we’re less than impressed with DC. Details of the new Legacy comic series dropped. In obligatory sequel trilogy news, Sam Jackson says he wants to be in on it. The Hobbit just released!

This week in Camie’s Concerns, it’s a roundtable discussion to look at just what happened in the Star Wars universe in 2012. From books, to conventions, to new films, there’s a whole lot of ground to cover, so strap in!

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.

EU Retrospective: The Clone Wars Part I

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We’re neck deep in the Clone War books now and in case there was any doubt, the war really sucked but we got some pretty great books out of it.  This week, I started a love letter to Matt Stover, continued the one to Barriss Offee, and there was some other book that got lost in the middle.  Oops.

Shatterpoint
This book is one of my favorite books in not only the entire Expanded Universe but of all time.  Why?  Two words: Matthew Stover.

Matthew Stover… How do I begin to explain Matthew Stover?  Matthew Stover is flawless.  I hear his writing hand is insured for $10,000.  I hear he does lightsaber commercials… on Coruscant.  His favorite movie is ‘How To Destroy A Reader In 300 Pages’.  One time he met GRRM on a plane and he told Stover that he was good at killing people’s emotions.  Lots of times he punched us in the feels… it was awesome.

Mean Girls joke out of the way, I positively adore Shatterpoint because this is the book that really establishes Mace Windu as an incredibly powerful Jedi Master who should not be messed with.  The best part?  It has absolutely nothing to do with SLJ playing him.  Mace Windu is a force to be reckoned with and he is going to get his former Padawan off Haruun Kal or else.  He’s also going to deal with this war and secure the planet for the Republic but that’s just quick task for after lunch.

Before we get into the book itself, I have to briefly mention the perfection that is Nick Rostu.  I am forever sad that no one decided to write more about Mace being a general and Nick as his military aide.  They are honestly the last two people who should probably be getting along and yet they have this wonderful dynamic.  (“Are you crazy?” “Shut up, Nick.”)  Plus, how can you not love someone with that sense of humor?  Of course, there’s a lot more to him than just his ability to crack jokes.  Underneath, he’s hardened by the lot in life he was dealt and he’s also a pretty good shot and cares about his friends.  He’s one of those characters that I would happily buy books about on a routine basis.  Or even short e-stories.  Please?

Right from the start, this book never fails to draw me in.  I get chills every time I read the recording of Depa: “I use the night and the night uses me.  I have become the darkness in the jungle… Because nothing is more dangerous than a Jedi who’s finally sane.”  Stover deconstructs both Mace and Depa but only one of them makes it out intact. It’s told almost purely from Mace’s point of view and even includes some first person entries and really puts you into his head in a way that no other Star Wars novel has really done.  This book is Mace Windu.  It’s honestly very difficult for me to describe why I love this book so much because it’s more of an experience than anything else.  This is what perfection looks like.

Besides that, the only other thing I’ll say is that this book never fails to make me want a book set pre-Phantom Menace where we get to see Mace and Depa on a mission together, either as Master/Padawan or else after she’s on the Council.  Not only could it be something unaffected by the new films but we’d get to read more about one of the most underused Jedi Masters.

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EU Retrospective: Republic Commando

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When I first started this reread, I couldn’t decide if I was looking forward to or dreading getting to the Republic Commando books.  It wasn’t because they were controversial in some circles of the fandom but rather because I knew they were going to kick me in the gut with feelings.  Omega Squad and Etain Tur-Mukan found their ways into my heart and never left.  Needless to say, I was absolutely not looking forward to rereading Order 66 but more on that later.  At the end of the day though, I think I’m rather glad that I took the time to reread these four books because gosh do I still love them even if they did make me have an emotional meltdown on Twitter.

Hard Contact
Overall, Hard Contact remains a solid action book.  I actually think that it could serve as a decent starting point for someone who’s really interested in the Clone Wars.  There’s not much continuity that you need to know outside of the films.  Additionally, it’s only peppered with the Mandolorian culture that fills the next three books.  In short, it can stand-alone and that’s a good thing in the epic Expanded Universe.

I still really like how Karen Traviss gives each of the clone commandos a distinct personality.  It’s been awhile but I think that this might’ve been one of the first Clone War era novels I read that really did that.  At the same time, she doesn’t shy away from presenting the mentality that the clones are raised with: they are soldiers who follow orders and they are expendable.  Plus, these are the early days of the way and the Jedi and the clones are still trying to figure each other out.  It’s some nice insight into that thought process.

I’ll also freely admit to loving Etain because I am a total sucker for the underdog.   Heroes of the Jedi Order are great and everything but I like seeing the everyman too. (Sorry.  I’ll stop giving Anakin a hard time for being the Chosen One some day.  Maybe.)  She’s a good kid who just wants to prove herself to the world and you have to respect that.

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Samuel L. Jackson wants to be in Star Wars sequels

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Because being in three Star Wars movies isn’t enough for the biggest BAMF in film:

“I can come back as one-armed or a one-handed Jedi that’s still around that didn’t actually die,” he said. “I could do that or be a ghost hologram. I don’t care!”

Adding, “I just want to stay associated with the franchise. Not that I won’t, because I’ve been in three of them.” As for why the actor is drawn to the sci-fi world, Sam said he loves the concept of life in other in galaxies far, far away.

Mace Windu in a Holocron as a possible plot point for Episode VII? We’ve heard crazier rumors.

via Yahoo!

Happy Hanukkah from Tosche Station!

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Tonight is the first night of Hanukkah, and to celebrate, if you’ve not seen StarWars.com’s instructions on how to make a Hanukkah Droidel, here’s a link on how to geek up your Hanukkah celebrations; this particular dreidel still has the traditional Hebrew inscription referring to the miracle of the eight nights of light celebrated by Hanukkah.

All joking aside by our “Keep Han in Hanukkah” graphic, we here at Tosche Station would like to wish you a very Happy Hanukkah. May love and light fill your hearts and homes.

Fanwork Friday: Metal Covers by Eric Calderone

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Every morning I listen to The Morning Stream, a really great podcast hosted by Scott Johnson and Brian Ibbott. The other day they played a cover of “Call Me Maybe” by Carly Rae Jepson.

Surprisingly I found myself dancing along. It’s a really awesome cover! I searched the internet to find a YouTube link. Lo and behold, I learned that the artist is Eric Calderone, and he does tons of other covers, some of them very relevant to our geeky interests.

Behold, heavy metal Indiana Jones and Star Wars. Check out Eric’s YouTube channel for all his videos. He also has a Facebook and Twitter.

Tosche Station Radio #38: 2012 in Review – Geek Entertainment

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This week on Tosche Station Radio, the hosts are joined by staff writers Bria and Shane to discuss 2012’s geeky (non-Star Wars) entertainment!

Kicking off the show, Nanci highlights what’s new on the blog. Bria gave a tutorial on how to get into Marvel comics. Bria continued on the Waru Express with The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones era books. Fanwork Friday featured the Geek Art blog and Smuggler’s Gambit. Cosplay Monday featured the Hogwarts Founders and The Wampug (courtesy of Emily).Trope Tuesday featured Off With His Head. Emily revisited the Coruscant Craft Fairwith Star Wars snowflakes. In another edition of Brian gets his staff to write ridiculous blog posts, Bria made Star Wars/Disney mashup princesses.

This week in Fixer’s Flash, Nanci’s kept herself busy by finishing Nano and treating herself to a trip to Disney to ride Star Tours a few times. Brian’s been reading Mageworlds and the latest issue of Captain Marvel. Bria’s been going through her comic pull list and went to see Lincoln. She’s also been reading through Expanded Universe novels as well as Star Wars fanfic. Shane’s blasted through Redshirts by John Scalzi, read the new Dresden Files book, and has been playing a lot of League of Legends.

In Deak’s Dirt, we kick off with news that Rick McCallum retired from Lucasfilm. Don’t forget to pre-order Winner Lose All, a digital short story by Timothy Zahn that ties into Scoundrels. It’s only $1.99 and comes out December 10. Speaking of the EU, new Legacy comic! Lucas talks his role as creative consultant on Episode VII. As far as who’s directing Episode VII? We still don’t know. The Disney/Lucasfilm buyout was okayed by federal anti-trust regulators. There’s a new Star Trek Into Darkness poster. Harrison Ford showed up in an Ender’s Game picture.

Camie’s Concerns this week takes a look back at the year in geeky entertainment. 2012 had a number of highs (and lows) and the hosts, Shane, and Bria dive in to talk about the nerdy books, films, conventions, and comics this year has given us. The snark is high in this discussion!

Wrapping up the show, the hosts and guests answer questions from listeners in a segment we like to call Ask Us Anything.

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 Zune Marketplace. 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.