Tag Archives: SWEU

Send Us Your Expanded Universe Questions!

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On today’s podcast recording (which will air live on Livestream at 5PM Pacific/8PM Eastern), Nanci and myself will be looking at the state of the Expanded Universe and what we’re expecting moving forward.

In addition, we’d like to field any Expanded Universe questions you might have, whether they be about the current state of things, what the future might bring, or even recommendations on what you should read. Tweet us your questions, leave them on our Facebook page, or just drop a comment in this post and we’ll add them to our show notes for today’s recording!

Reminder: Star Wars Reads Day is Approaching

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Don’t forget, Star Wars Reads Day will be taking place soon at a library or bookstore near you! Some of you will be able to see authors as well as volunteers from the 501st Legion and Rebel Legion. You’ll also get the chance to support a good cause thanks to a partnership with the Today Show.

FANS AND VOLUNTEERS GEAR UP FOR STAR WARS READS DAY
Over 1200 Bookstore and Library events throughout the US to be held October 6, 2012
 
NEW YORK, NY., September 18, 2012 – On Saturday, October 6, 2012, over 1200 bookstores and libraries across the United States will host events in celebration of a national Star Wars Reads Day.  Star Wars Reads Day is an initiative of Lucasfilm and its publishing partners to celebrate reading and Star Wars.  Participating publishers include Abrams, Chronicle Books, Dark Horse Comics, Del Rey, DK, Klutz, Random House Audio, Scholastic, Titan Magazines, and Workman.
 
At Star Wars Reads Day events, officially participating bookstores and libraries will offer a range of activities such as raffle prizes; promotional giveaways; trivia; and more.  Sponsors for various raffle prizes include Thermos, Kotobukiya, Uncle Milton, Mimoco, and Comic Images.  Select events will feature appearances by the more than 30 Star Wars authors and artists located throughout the United States.  Participating authors include Chris Alexander, Aaron Allston, Tom Angleberger, Jeremy Barlow, Haden Blackman, Charles Boyd, Jeffrey Brown, Troy Denning, Dave Dorman, Ashley Eckstein, Alexander Freed, Jason Fry, Henry Gilroy, Christie Golden, Jeff Grubb, Paul Gulacy, Pablo Hidalgo, Hall Hood, Drew Karpyshyn, Rick Leonardi, Steven Melching, John Jackson Miller, John Ostrander, Chris Reiff, Matthew Reinhart, Mike Richardson, Ian Ryan, Chris Scalf, Lara Starr, Randy Stradley, Marc Thompson, Chris Trevas, Daniel Wallace, and Ryder Windham.
 
Nearly 1,000 volunteers from the international fan-based costuming organizations, the 501st Legion, the Rebel Legion, the Mandalorian Mercs, and the R2 Builders Club will also participate at select Star Wars Reads events around the country. 
 
To help extend the celebration to readers everywhere, NBC’s The Today Show Charitable Foundation has signed on as the official charitable partner for Star Wars Reads Day. Each participating publisher will donate Star Wars books from their respective libraries, and The Today Show Charitable Foundation will distribute the books to their affiliate organizations nationwide.
 
“Star Wars Reads Day is the perfect way to celebrate with our Star Wars fans” says Carol Roeder, Director of Publishing at Lucasfilm. “Our publishing program has always been an essential component of the Star Wars Expanded Universe, as there are so many more stories to tell than what we experience in the films, TV series, and games.  We at Lucasfilm are proud to be a part of initiatives like Star Wars Reads Day and hope that it will encourage more young people to read.”
 
There are currently over 120 million Star Wars books in print and more than 110 Star Wars titles have been New York Times bestsellers.
 
For a list of Star Wars Reads Day events visit the following link: http://www.starwars.com/reads/

Trope Tuesday: Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism

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It’s Tuesday! You’ve survived another Monday, so treat yourself to our weekly look into the literary themes and devices that helps our favorite bits of entertainment chug along. This week’s trope: The Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism.

Which best solves problems? The Power of Friendship, or a bullet between the eyes?

The answer depends on where the series falls in the Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism.

A story can be idealistic or cynical towards any idea. In general, if the story values or is hopeful for a particular ideal, then it is idealistic. If the story criticizes, assaults, and accentuates the negative about that expectation, then it is cynical.

For a simple, archetypal example, let’s assume that the idea to believe in is Humans Are Good/Rousseau Was Right. In idealistic series, those who believed it got lots of friends and a Happy Ending (therefore, Right Makes Might), while cynical series are Crapsack Worlds where those who believed itgot ruthlessly bullied by everyone else (therefore, Might Makes Right). Of course, the definitions of “Right” and “Crapsack” in the above can technically mean whatever one wants them to mean.

Star Wars, the Expanded Universe in particular, has been at both extremes over the last twenty or so years. In the earlier Bantam days, it could be argued that the books erred heavily towards idealism. These days, the EU has shifted to the cynical side of the spectrum.

This is perhaps best demonstrated with Luke Skywalker’s character over the years. The man who could find the good in Darth Vader and countless villains in the early Expanded Universe has been replaced of late with someone much quicker to judgement. Take a look at his treatment of Vestara Khai in the latest megaseries.

Established IPs that sprint to either end of the Sliding Scale have to be careful. Too far in one direction and it’s possible to lose track of the tonal themes and qualities of the source materials. In this case, it’s the films. The movies (original trilogy in particular) are far more hopeful feeling than the bulk of the post Return of the Jedi novels over the last seven or so years. When the books in this universe go too far into the cynical side of the scale, fans may have a tough time swallowing that these books are part of the same franchise.

Stover Returning to Finish Imperial Commando?

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Andrew Liptak spotted an interesting Expanded Universe tidbit on, of all things, a Kickstarter involving Shadows of Mindor author Matthew Stover. The relevant bit:

In other news Matt is replacing Karen Traviss as the author of the 501st novels for Star Wars.

You all should not only drop him a line congratulating him but you should also tell a friend or three about the great news.

Well that’s certainly something. Of course as Dunc over at Club Jade points out, you should take this with a massive grain of salt because this has not been confirmed or so much as spoken about by anyone in any official capacity with Lucasfilm or Del Rey. Keep in mind, however, that Shelly Shapiro alluded that there might be reason to be hopeful for something Imperial Commando related during Celebration VI.

Here’s my take, as unpopular as it might be. If this is true, I’m glad that Matthew Stover is back and I hope it sets precedence for additional novels from him. That said, I do wish it was anything other than Imperial Commando. This is somewhat of a poisoned well. Those who haven’t read the prior novels, or simply have no desire to, will have a hard time picking up a Stover book to wrap up that particular series. Those who have may not like the dramatic shift in author styles going from Traviss to Stover, and it’s a stark difference.

So, hold on to your butts and let’s see how this plays out.

Tosche Station Radio #30: The Next Generation

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Tosche-Station.net writers Emily and Bria join the hosts this week for an in-depth roundtable discussion of X-Wing: Mercy Kill!

We kick off the show with some housekeeping. Wormie’s Works will be moving off the podcast and onto the blog as a regular Friday feature. Meanwhile on the blog itself, we’re having Cosplay Week by Bria. She’s highlighting some of the best costumes spotted at Dragon*Con and Celebration VI. So far we’ve seen Mary Poppins, the Hapan Queens, Darth Talon and Cade Skywalker, as well as the all-new Captain Marvel. We also introduced the gender-swapped Wraith Squadron with a bonus appearance by Aaron Allston.

In Fixer’s Flash this week, Nanci’s been busy watching Captain America: The First Avenger and getting into Avatar: The Last Airbender (FINALLY). Brian finished up Marvel’s Siege comic arc and is reading through War of the Seasons by all-around awesome human being Janine Spendlove. Emily is up to her eyeballs in her dissertation, but has found time to watch the brilliant Slings and Arrows television series. Bria’s found time between costuming to get into a decent vampire novel.

Deak’s Dirt starts with news of a survey sent out to Celebration VI attendees that asks where you’d like to see a future Celebration held at. Brian and Nanci are still in favor of Orlando. Emily is very excited about the title of the new Star Trek film. The hosts implore readers to pre-order Pablo Hidalgo’s Essential Reader’s Companion for a mere $20. Meanwhile, Bria’s thrilled that Joss Whedon is coming back to television with a S.H.I.E.L.D series.

This week’s Camie’s Concerns looks into X-Wing: Mercy Kill by Aaron Allston, the first entry in that series in thirteen years. This spoiler-filled roundtable discussion dives into the plot and setting before spending the bulk of the time discussing the returning characters and new additions to the franchise.

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

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 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.

Pre-order the ‘Essential Reader’s Companion’ for $20

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While at Celebration VI, Erich Schoeneweiss of Del Rey was kind enough to show Nanci and myself a laser print of the upcoming Essential Reader’s Companion by Pablo Hidalgo. I’ll just get right to the point: this book is an absolute must buy for any Expanded Universe fan. The art is gorgeous and plentiful. Pablo’s writing is fantastic. This is a book that needs to be on your bookshelf.

Need a little more incentive? If you pre-order ERC now, you can get it for only $20.

Trope Tuesday: Became Their Own Antithesis

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After a few weeks off, Trope Tuesday is back! Each Tuesday (provided I’m not being lazy) we dive into that time sink in the cloud known as TV Tropes and investigate a literary theme or device that makes our favorite entertainment chug along. This week, we’re looking at how a character can Become Their Own Antithesis.

After Character Development, some people regress into a vulnerable state. Others become betterpeople, somebecome much worse, and others turn into a fragile, highly poetic and a bit irrational version of themselves.

Another group of people tend to reject everything that seemed to define their identity for the viewer, their appearance, their values, their main quirk, and their general attitude towards The Hero, Save The World, and Good Versus Evil. Then, they manage to become a negative picture of themselves, the complete antithesis of what they formerly were known for. This is this trope.

The trope is mostly used to make a Face Heel Turn more dramatic, using The Dark Side Will Make You Forget, but can also serve the other way around, to prove how much someone can better himself when under the influence of Good.

Now who can relate to this trope? Someone that was compassionate at one point, but became a vile and inhumane person? Someone whose love of all living things was tossed away? Someone who …

Well that works.

Tosche Station Radio #29: Dragon*Con Special

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On this week’s Tosche Station Radio, we’re recapping Dragon*Con 2012 and attempting to recover from Con Plague!

Kicking off the show, Nanci highlight’s what’s new on the blog. There was all sorts of convention coverage that you can find in the archives. Brian bought a toy at Celebration VI that made him cry. Meanwhile, Bria looked into gender-swapped cosplay. Yes, there’s even a picture of us in costume at Dragon*Con.

In Deak’s Dirt, news dropped that ABC has officially picked up a pilot for a Joss Whedon-led S.H.I.E.L.D television series. In other TV news, The Clone Wars is heading for syndication and airing in chronological order. Finally, Lucasfilm President and COO Micheline Chau is retiring and will be replaced by Kathleen Kennedy on an interim basis.

This week’s Camie’s Concerns looks back at the hosts’ visit to Dragon*Con 2012, highlighting the sights and sounds of the four-day fan convention. They spend a lot of time talking about three Expanded Universe panels featuring authors Aaron Allston, Michael Stackpole, Timothy Zahn, and Kevin J. Anderson. Will they ever go to back-to-back conferences again? Listen in and find out!

Wrapping up the show, the hosts dive into the Trope of the Week and answer questions from listeners and readers.

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 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.

Dragon*Con Recap: Expanded Universe Authors talk Masculinity in Star Wars

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It’s day two of Dragon*Con! Nanci and I are settling in for the second major Star Wars Expanded Universe panel, Masculinity in the Star Wars universe. Once again, Expanded Universe authors Timothy Zahn, Aaron Allston, Michael Stackpole, and Kevin J. Anderson are on hand for the discussion. Also here is Doctor Carol White. Highlights under the cut:

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