Tag Archives: Timothy Zahn

EU Retrospective: The Empire Strikes Back

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Remember everything I said about dropping Shadow Games from the list?  Yeah, scratch that.  It arrived the day after New Year’s so I felt obliged to read it anyways.  Sorry, New Rebellion.  This retrospective is like fashion: one day you’re in and the next day you’re out.  But it’s okay because I’ve had A Very Zahn New Year which is making this go much faster.  Except for the part where I drank my way through a certain book.  That’s right, folks, you get another spam of my face via reaction pictures.

Shadow Games
When I first picked up this book, I was relieved to find out that it wasn’t about Jax.  No offense, buddy, but I just didn’t want to read about you again this soon.  Unfortunately, I don’t think I really care about Dash Rendar either.  Seriously though: it’s been awhile since I’ve read the books in this era.  Am I supposed to care about him beyond this rivalry with Han Solo?  I’m sure I’m forgetting something about him besides a tragic history.

Allow me to sum up the plot of this book for you: Lies, lies, lies, “I ain’t in this for your revolution, sister”, “I expect to be well paid”, and “Well, you’re pretty.”  Okay, it’s not a bad book and once I finally got myself to sit down and read it, it was fairly entertaining.  Unfortunately, it felt a little too much like I was reading an AU version of Han and Leia.  (Seriously though: I bet there’s a fanfic out there where Leia’s a popstar and Han is her bodyguard.)  Dash is going to be so offended when I call him a poor man’s Han Solo but oh well.  Like I said, the story was interesting enough but wow did all the levels of “Okay, so what I told you before was a lie” get to be a bit much at times.  Javul’s lucky she managed to stay alive with basically the entire galaxy after her.

I did like the droid though.  He was snarky and entertaining.  Leebo, you and your pet Mouse Droid can stay.

(In all fairness, my general exasperation with the book and with how much I’m looking forward to taking a break could be unfairly coloring my opinion here so take it with a grain of salt.)

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Free Science Fiction Novel of the Day: On Basilisk Station – Honor Harrington Book One

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It’s always nice to see a good science fiction novel become available for free. Even for a limited time. Today you can get your hands on an e-copy of On Basilisk Station, the first book in David Weber’s Honor Harrington series.

INTRODUCING
HONOR HARRINGTON

Having made him look a fool, she’s been exiled to Basilisk Station in disgrace and set up for ruin by a superior who hates her.

Her demoralized crew blames her for their ship’s humiliating posting to an out-of-the-way picket station.

The aborigines of the system’s only habitable planet are smoking homicide-inducing hallucinogens.

Parliament isn’t sure it wants to keep the place; the major local industry is smuggling; the merchant cartels want her head; the star-conquering, so-called “Republic” of Haven is Up To Something; and Honor Harrington has a single, over-age light cruiser with an armament that doesn’t work to police the entire star system.

But the people out to get her have made one mistake. They’ve made her mad.

You can pick up the book from Amazon or directly from the publisher’s website. As a note, Expanded Universe author Timothy Zahn has recently teamed up with Weber to write a Honor Harrington spinoff trilogy.

Zahn talks Scoundrels on the Official Blog

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Scoundrels-coverAuthor Timothy Zahn stopped by the Official Blog to talk about his love for (and trouble solving) jigsaw puzzles and his latest Expanded Universe release, heist caper Scoundrels.

I’ve never been very good at jigsaw puzzles.

It’s a skill I’ve just been unable to master. I can’t see where a given piece fits into the picture on the box; sky and cloud pieces completely baffle me; and the red blob that has to be on the piece I’m looking for (because it extends from the red blob on this piece) is always smaller and more inconspicuous than I expect it to be. Generally, once any pieces with words had been connected (I’m pretty good with the word pieces), my job at family jigsaw parties was cheerleading for the others and making sure there were plenty of snacks.

But I do like jigsaw puzzles. So if I can’t put them together, maybe I could try creating one.

For more, head over to the Official Blog and have a read.

‘Scoundrels’ Audiobook Clip

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Scoundrels-coverCurious about the Scoundrels audiobook? Random House has released a preview for your listening pleasure.

Jabba the Hutt has placed a bounty on Han Solo’s head. Not a great situation for the gruff captain of the Millenium Falcon to be in, especially just after he was integral in the blowing up the Death Star, and he needs help. Sure, his heroics earned him some credits but those are long gone and now he needs help. Luckily, a mysterious stranger approaches Han with a less-than-legal way to pay off his debt. Chewbacca, Lando Calrissian and seven other rogues join together to attempt to infiltrate the ultra-fortified stronghold of a Black Sun crime syndicate underboss and crack the galaxy’s most notoriously impregnable safe. Written by Timothy Zahn, a fan-favorite writer of Star Wars novels, and read by Marc Thompson, this Ocean’s Eleven-type tale is sure to adventure worth taking.

To listen, click the media button below! Head to the Random House page if you’d like to purchase a copy.

 

‘Scoundrels’ Reviews from Around the Blogosphere

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Scoundrels-coverAround the web the reviews for Scoundrels are coming in. Some of the highlights:

The early reviews definitely have trended towards positive and indicate that Scoundrels is a novel well worth your time. Another bit of consensus seems to be that this is a great entry point for those unfamiliar with the Expanded Universe, so if you’ve got a friend that needs a place to start, this may be a great novel to consider.

The rest of the staff here will be chiming in with late reviews as we read through the book. In addition, we’re planning a roundtable discussion on the podcast, so stay tuned!

Review: Winner Lose All

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Scoundrels is coming and because we were all good little girls and boys, Del Ray and Timothy Zahn teamed up to give us a short digital exclusive story that serves as a sort of prequel to the forthcoming novel as an early Christmas present.

As the title might indicate, Winner Lose All takes place around a sabacc tournament and stars none other than the king of gamblers himself, Lando Calrissian.  Lando just wants to win the tournament and get rich.  Obviously, because this is Lando, things don’t go his way and he finds himself involved in a scheme he hadn’t planned on once he encounters the Kitik twins and learns that the grand prize could very well be a fake.  Things end up spiraling out of control as they quickly realize how convoluted the scam is and it’s going to take a master scheme and a fair bit of luck for them to wind up on top.

Winner Lose All is a fun and entertaining read and exactly the sort of thing I hope we see more of with these e-stories.  It tells a good story and lets you get to know all of the characters and also plays in a corner of the Star Wars universe that might otherwise have gone unnoticed.  Zahn does a good job with each of the characters, not letting just one overwhelm the story.  The plot also has enough twists and turns without becoming ridiculous and keeps the reader engaged and wanting to know what happens.

Above all, the story serves its purpose well: to serve as a prequel and to introduce readers to some of the new characters who will be appearing in Scoundrels.  In just fifty pages, I already found myself getting attached to Tavia and Bink Kitik, the twin ghost thieves who have differing levels of approval for their business.   They may share the same face but they definitely have their own distinct personalities and don’t fall into the any tiring twin tropes.  Zahn also introduces the twins’ partner in crime, Zerba Cher’dak who will also be appearing in the forthcoming Scoundrels.  He’s definitely not someone you’d want to play against at sabacc though because he is just that good at cheating.

Bottom line is that I suggest you all go get this because not only is it a fun read but it’ll help tide you over these last two weeks until we can all finally read Scoundrels.

Timothy Zahn Talks ‘Scoundrels’ and Episode VII with Hollywood.com

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2012-04-06-swscoundrelsSMHollywood.com put up a great interview with Expanded Universe author Timothy Zahn today as part of the promotional blitz for his upcoming novel Scoundrels. One question posed to Zahn was how best to deal with the daunting size of the EU and what authors and editors can do to address that problem:

HW: It’s a departure for you as well, because it feels more like a one-off, standalone adventure. It doesn’t feature some of the characters that recur in your work like Thrawn or Mara Jade. 
TZ: Actually, that was part of the goal with this. Shelly Shapiro, the Del Rey editor, and Sue Rostoni, who was handling these things for Lucas Licensing at the time, were looking for a story that could appeal to Star Wars fans who weren’t necessarily Star Wars readers. There are 150+ Star Wars novels out there and for someone who isn’t already familiar with them the whole thing can look a little intimidating. So my goal was to do a story that could draw in fans who don’t know anything about the Expanded Universe. What kind of story could do that? That story is Scoundrels. If you’ve seen the Original Trilogy, you’re good to go.

And of course, what are Zahn’s thoughts on Episode VII?

HW: What do you, as a Star Wars fan par excellence, want to see from the new trilogy? 
TZ: You got a couple of hours here? First of all, I think they need to skip a generation and have either Luke, Han, and Leia’s kids, or even grandkids, and have the Original Trilogy characters be the older, wiser mentor types. But one of the things I’d really like to see, and this would fit very nicely with Disney, as far as I can remember we’ve never seen a really good family relationship in Star Wars. We’ve had neurotic relationships and even outright antagonism with Luke and Vader. But I’d like to see Luke and his son or grandson have a true bond, a functional family relationship. And of course I want a really good storyline and space battles. I’d like to see something different than a Skywalker turning to the Dark Side. The Star Wars universe is so rich with storytelling possibilities that you don’t need to repeat the “turning to the Dark Side” concept of the previous films. I don’t want to see the same stuff over and over.

There’s other great questions and answers in there as well tackling everything from continuity to whether or not major characters should die in future books and movies. For more, head to the link above and read the three-page interview.

‘Winner Lose All’ Available December 10 for $1.99

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Excited for Timothy Zahn’s upcoming Scoundrels? You’ll be able to whet your appetite with an all-new ebook novella on December 10:

Star Wars: Winner Lose All-A Lando Calrissian Tale” by Timothy Zahn is a special eBook original novella. The tale is a prequel of sorts to Zahn’s upcoming novel STAR WARS: SCOUNDRELS (available in hardcover, eBook, and Audio on Jan 1) and will be available for all eBook devices on December 10 for only $1.99. Pre-order now for this fun adventure and don’t forget to begin 2013 with some scoundrels!

That certainly sounds like some great fodder for your e-reader.

Original Novels by Timothy Zahn now Available on Ebook Format

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Fans of Timothy Zahn’s Expanded Universe entries can check out his original works in ebook format thanks to Open Road Media.

Timothy Zahn is best known for reviving the Star Wars Expanded Universe with his bestselling Thrawn Trilogy novels. But Zahn is also the author of many original works, including the Blackcollar Series, Spinneret, and A Coming of Age, now available as ebooks.

To celebrate the release, we have created a mini-documentary on Timothy Zahn. You can find the video on YouTube here.

Additional novels include: Deadman Switch, The Backlash Mission, Triplet, and Warhorse. For more about these new releases and to see the brand new covers, visit his Author Page.

  • The Blackcollar Series is a military science fiction series about a group of superhuman combatants.
  • A Coming of Age is a thoughtful tribute to what it means to come of age, face your fears, and even save the world. Readers of Dune, A Wrinkle in Time, Ender’s Game, and The Chronicles of Narnia will be delighted to discover another tale that records the difficult yet crucial passage into adulthood.
  • Spinneret poses a scientific puzzle whose answer could threaten humanity¹s salvation, or destruction.

Both Nanci and I have greatly enjoyed Zahn’s original works. In addition to these new Ebook releases, you may want to also check out The Icarus Hunt, which for my money is Zahn’s best work.