Tag Archives: Timothy Zahn

Awesome Con 2014 Convention Report

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ACDClogoAwesome Con 2014 lived up to its name with its second annual show and was indeed awesome!  Everything about this year’s convention made it feel like a convention that had been around for years instead of just a year.  The range of media, literary, and artist guests was incredibly impressive for a second year show.  Congratulations DC: I think we finally have a comic con.

Before we get into more about my positive experience with the convention, I did want to touch on a few things.  First, I have to offer my utmost respect to Ben Penrod and others involved with running Awesome Con for their willingness to stand up and admit that there were issues with lines and other aspects on the convention this year.  Not everyone would be as readily willing to admit that there were a few problems.  To be completely honest, if there hadn’t been growing pains for Awesome Con this year, I would’ve been absolutely shocked.  In its second year, Awesome Con went from 5000+ attendees to almost quadruple that.  That’s a huge leap.  There were bound to be problems.  So we’re going to go a bit into the feedback portion of the report before I dive into everything that helped make the convention so awesome.

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Tosche Station on Location: Conspiring for Fun and Profit

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Now that we’re back home, we can get a stable internet connection to deliver a few more recordings of panel audio from Dragon Con. This one was a real treat. Timothy Zahn, Mike Stackpole, and Aaron Allston got together to discuss what it was like collaborating on the Expanded Universe. As a bonus, listen as a book idea is born (and as Mike said, look out for the Kickstarter).

Tosche Station on Location: Star Wars Expanded Universe Authors Panel

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Another treat from last night at the Star Wars track at Dragon Con: the Star Wars Authors panel. The event featured audience questions and was moderated by Bryan Young. The lineup:

  • Mike Stackpole
  • Aaron Allston
  • Kevin J. Anderson
  • Timothy Zahn

Some interesting tidbits in there about the process behind creating Star Wars novels and there’s even some debunking of rumors.

Today Nanci and I will be on the Podcasting/Blogging/Fanfiction/Vidding panel at the Star Wars track. Audio from that panel will be available tomorrow morning.

Kickstart Time Traveled Tales

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How would you like a speculative fiction anthology featuring works by authors like Timothy Zahn, Aaron Allston, Mike Stackpole, Janine Spendlove, and Bryan Young? Good news, there’s a Kickstarter for that.

At the $5 level, you’ll get an ebook version of the anthology. At $20, you’ll get the limited Kickstarter edition.

EU Retrospective: Scourge and Survivor’s Quest

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The two books for today’s post probably could not have been more different if they’d tried.  On the one hand, we have the Luke/Mara go on an adventure in Chiss space book and on the other hand, we have a book about a Jedi trying to take down a Hutt spice ring.  The good news is that they were both fun reads.  The bad news is that I don’t get to be snarky in this post.

Scourge
I must admit that I wasn’t expecting much from Scourge mostly because I hadn’t heard much buzz about it.  All I knew is that it involved Hutts.  I was, however, very pleasantly surprised and that is always a good thing.

Overall, this was a solid book.  Personally, I always enjoy getting to see other aspects of the galaxy besides the galaxy shaking problem of the week and the Solo/Skywalker clan regardless of how much I love them.  It’s nice to see a new member of Luke’s Jedi Order especially one who doesn’t fall into the stereotypical Jedi mold.  Mander Zuma is an archivist who is only a warrior when he absolutely has to be.  He can also be a very surprising person who doesn’t fit neatly into the a box.  Plus, he gets to go through a nice arc of character growth as the story progresses.  Reen Irana and Eddey Be’ray are the other two people helping investigate the death of Toro Irana, a Jedi Knight, and they both prove to be interesting characters in their own rights as is Angela Krin.  Heck, even the Hutts are all very distinctive characters who don’t all fall into the Jabba category.  In all honesty, I would mind reading more about these characters.  I don’t love them yet but they are certainly intriguing.

The plot itself was fairly expected for this sort of novel but that’s not a bad thing because if you’re expecting a book about a drug smuggling ring then you’d probably like to get one.  The story felt timeless though and that’s another good thing.  Although there were clearly references to the New Jedi Order and Yavin 4 and such that tied it to the post-RotJ era, the book could have easily been tweaked and set in the Old Republic era and I rather appreciated that.  Like I said above, not every plot line or story needs to be galaxy shattering to be enjoyed.

Oh!  And I actually love the series of twists at the end.  In retrospect, I probably should’ve figured it out a lot sooner than I did but the storyline certainly kept me guessing which in turn definitely kept me reading.

Bottom line is that I recommend it.  It should probably be distributed to certain characters in certain books to reinforce the message of Don’t Do Spice.

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EU Retrospective: Hand of Thrawn

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Thrawn Returns!  Except not really.  But Zahn is back and that is always a good thing.  Both the Bantam Era and the Empire are about to draw to a close so sit back and enjoy a lovely end to this chapter of the Star Wars story.

Specter of the Past
Zahn gets the team back together again.  Okay, maybe it takes til the end of the book for that to really happen but from the start, we get to see all of our (or at least my) old favorites.  Obviously, we get to see our heroes from the films but then Zahn gives us Karrde and Mara and Wedge and the Rogues!  It thrills me so much to see Tycho get some page time outside of the X-Wing books.

On top of that, we really get to meet Shada D’ukal for the first time.  While this isn’t her first appearance in the books, it’s the first time we really get a chance to get to know her as a character and see her take the spotlight.  She is honestly one of my favorites of the more minor characters and her decision to leave the Mistryl in this book is definitely a part of that.  It’s a struggle between honesty and loyalty and those are always interesting to read.

One thing that occurred to me while I was reading this book is that I think a lot of the authors just… forgot about the Noghri.  Of course, I skipped over a large chunk of the books set between the two Zahn series but I don’t seem to really remember them having a presence.  Maybe that could’ve helped prevent some of their twelve thousand kidnappings…

As far as the book itself goes, I adore the set up.  I love the juxtaposition of Pellaeon and his realization that the Empire can no longer continue to fight and with Disra and his plan to try and make the Empire a force to be reckoned with by use of a Thrawn impostor.  On the other side, there is the New Republic struggling to adjust to being a “peacetime” government that deals with peacetime issues.

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Rumors: Episode VII focusing on Solo spawn, Disney wants Three Zahn Books

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And it’s time for the rumor mill to sputter to life one more time.

An insider with Nerdvana claims that the Sequel Trilogy will be focusing on a Solo child and grandchild, adding to other rumors and reports that the new films would place a premium on a younger generation of heroes rather than putting Han, Luke, and Leia back in the saddle.

The insider supposedly also had information covering the extent of J.J. Abrams involvement with Lucasfilm and Disney:

JJ’s contract has a clause for all three movies and an additional three of Lucas/Disney choosing if everyone melds well on the first one. This is typical of these types of contracts; gives everyone an out if needed.

So perhaps he’ll be around for more than just Episode VII. Stay tuned? On a final note, there was also a note about Timothy Zahn. If this insider is to be believed, Disney and Lucasfilm are keen on getting Zahn to pen three additional novels. Would these be film novelizations? I wouldn’t think so, but you never know.

Via Club Jade

EU Retrospective: Thrawn Trilogy

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Ahhhh the Thrawn books.  Honestly, is there anything more classic than Zahn’s trilogy when it comes to the Expanded Universe?  If you’re here for the snark, you’ll have to wait a little bit longer because between these three books and another X-Wing novel?  I have nothing but praise this go-round.  (Shocking, I know.)

Heir to the Empire
One of the first things that occurred to me while I was reading this book is how much the Star Wars universe owes to Timothy Zahn.  There is so much about the universe that I just take for granted that I’m now realizing/remembering is all thanks to Zahn.  Coruscant?  Zahn.  Personalities for character who really only cameoed in the films but are integral parts of the EU?  Zahn.  Bringing Wedge Antilles to the forefront?  Zahn.  Introducing the best character ever, aka Winter?  Zahn.  I mean, I’m not saying that Zahn is god but the amount of canon he contributed is amazing.

What I love about this book and the entire trilogy is that the story still clearly feels like Star Wars but still has its own tale to tell.  It’s not a rehashing of the Emperor or Vader because the villains have their own motivations and characterizations.  (I’ll save my ‘Why I love Pellaeon’ ramble for another post.)  Thrawn is most certainly his own character who takes a very different approach to winning the war than any other Imperial we’ve seen before.  It’s pretty cool that he can study art and figure out how someone will react.  And then you have C’boath who is just bonkers.  His original model wasn’t much of a charmer to begin with so this probably shouldn’t be surprising.

And then we have the introduction of the ever fabulous Mara Jade.  If there are people in our universe who dislike her, I don’t want to know about them.  I positively adore everything about her and what she brings to the story.  I’m also a huge fan of Talon Karrde and his smuggling organization that doubles as the best intelligence agency not controlled by a government.  I’d happily read a book all about Karrde and his organization.  Pretty please, Del Ray?  Also, I will admit to also not really getting the Wild Karrde joke either until a few years ago because I pronounced the ‘e’ in my mind.  Nanci isn’t alone here.

Of course, all the familiar characters are always great to read about.  Zahn clearly gets Luke, Han, Leia, and Lando and writes them all quite well.  Plus, I think he did a great job of bringing each of them five years forward from Endor so we see the same characters but we also get to see a logical progression for each one.

The story is good too.  It’s a set up novel for the rest of the trilogy but never feels like it’s only there as exposition because it has its own tale to tell before the final page is turned.  Enjoyable all around.

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Zahn Talks Writing Han Solo and Standalone Films He’d Like to See

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With the barrage of rumors surrounding standalone films in the Star Wars, Hollywood.com decided to catch up with Expanded Universe author Timothy Zahn to discuss what it takes to write Han Solo and the kinds of standalone films and spinoff projects he’d like to see in the Disney Star Wars era.

On the topic of new projects beyond regular episodic installments:

Hollywood.com:First of all, none of this has been confirmed by Disney or Lucasfilm, and I’m not looking to you at all to confirm it. I’m just interested in your perspective as a Star Wars author, and even more importantly, as a Star Wars fan, on the rumor today that the first two standalone Star Wars movies will be about Young Han Solo and Boba Fett respectively.

Timothy Zahn: All of this is at the rumor stage of course, but, the fact is, I would like to see more Star Warsbeyond the core saga. I’d like more Star Wars TV, and certainly more Star Wars books. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens. The Galaxy Far, Far Away is impossibly huge with story ideas and possibilities.

On writing Han:

HW: Is there a difference between the way you wrote Han in Scoundrels as opposed to the way you wrote him in the Thrawn Trilogy or Hand of Thrawn Duology?
TZ: Oh yeah, he’s much more mature in the later books. He’s taken on more responsibility. He still chafes at it at times. But he does the jobs that need to be done. He’s more aware of what’s at stake, what the consequences could be if he succeeds or fails. And that’s because he has a family at that point, which brings a whole new set of responsibilities with it. In Scoundrels on the other hand, since that’s set right after A New Hope, he’s much more footloose and fancy free. But even then you can see that once he’s assembled the team he’s working with, he’s not going to abandon them. The seeds of “Responsible Han” are already there. But he would deny it probably.

On spinoff Star Wars projects he’d like to see:

HW: What other characters from the movies would you like to see get the movie spinoff treatment?
TZ: Lando is an obvious one. You could do a lot with Lando during the time leading up to The Empire Strikes Back. If we’re going post-Jedi era I would frankly like to see Wedge put together Rogue Squadron. I think you could have a whole series of Rogue Squadron movies that would be great. Wedge is peripheral, but he is verypopular and rightfully so. Who else helps take out two Death Stars? You could even do an X-Wing TV show focused on Rogue Squadron that, just like the books, would be peripheral to the main Skywalker-Solo saga. That means you could introduce a lot of new characters anchored by Wedge. You could make wonderful stuff out of the X-Wing books.

See, I’m not the only one who thinks a Wedge-centric film and an X-Wing television series would be absolutely fantastic viewing.

The whole interview is fantastic and there’s a lot more to read. Head to Hollywood.com’s interview for more with Timothy Zahn.

Tosche Station Radio #43: Heist

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The hosts are joined by Bria and Emily this week  to discuss the latest Episode VII news and have a spoiler-filled discussion of Timothy Zahn’s Scoundrels!

Kicking off the show, Nanci highlights what’s new on the blog. Emily talked about why J.J. Abrams will be good for Star Wars. Meanwhile, Bria continued on with the Waru Express with two post-Endor books.

In Fixer’s Flash, Nanci has kept herself busy by reading through I’ve Got Your Number and starting Old Man’s War by John Scalzi. Brian FINALLY finished reading Scoundrels and found the time to read through the latest issues ofAvengers Assemble, Captain Marvel, and Hawkeye. Bria, meanwhile, has been reading all of the Mageworlds novels and working on costuming for Katsucon. Somehow she’s also found time to do work for her geek fashion blog White Hot Room. Emily has also joined the Mageworlds circle and read through the first three books. She also found the time to read Batgirl #16.

Fandom appeared to explode and this week’s Deak’s Dirt attempts to make sense of it. Her Universe released a new set of quote tees just in time for Valentine’s Day. Book of the Sith by Dan Wallace is getting the trade paperback treatment on May 4th.The surprise Star Wars novel? Darth Maul: Lockdown by Joe Schreiber. Over on the film side, the 3D treatments for the remaining Prequel Trilogy have been indefinitely postponed. The big news, however, is that Episode VII finally has a director. Lucasfilm announced late last week that Star Trek andSuper 8 director J.J. Abrams will be taking the lead for the first installment of the Sequel Trilogy. The hosts, Bria, and Emily break down their thoughts on Abrams and what this means for Star Wars.

Camie’s Concerns this week is a roundtable discussion looking at Timothy Zahn’s Scoundrels. Did the somewhat radical departure from typical Expanded Universe conventions and tropes work? Listen in to see what everyone thought of Zahn’s latest addition to the world of Star Wars literature.

Finally, the hosts wrap up the show with their 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 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.