So very true…

5 Lame Things in Star Wars Canon?

Star Wars canon is a dangerous thing. You start out wondering why Han Solo wears those striped pants, and a few weeks later you’re on a message board arguing with someone calling himself “Sebulba Fett” over whether Dash Rendar’s Outrider has an integrated rotating cockpit section.

If you’re going to play in the vast, multifarious fields of Star Wars canon, you might want a little protection against the sharp rocks, land mines and soul-sucking pits of eternal despair scattered throughout. Think of this video as a map of the terrain with a few locations circled in a panicky shade of red.

You can see the video discussion here.

(via)

Someone once said something about a club…

So I was thinking, why don’t we try and get a book or discussion club going over the winter? What I mean about this that all of us contributors read/view the same thing and then we each do a post on it. We also invite any of our readers (if there are any) to contribute too.

Some suggestions of topics:

Since Dark Knight is coming out soon we could do watch that and read the Killing Joke and compare them. They have some serious similarities but I think important differences.

Or maybe we could do something on Dune, I’ve been looking for an excuse to reread that book for awhile.

Maybe, we do something Star Wars – we could read Traitor and Betrayl and talk about the nature of the Force and morality in the Star Wars universe.

We could read a history book too – or something philosophical – or whatever. I’m up for suggestions.

What does everybody think of my (crazy?) idea?

Interesting…

Today is the day that Nixon gave his infamous not a crook speech:

Today is also the day that the first teaser to The Phantom Menace dropped:

Is there a connection – morally, perhaps – between the two? I will leave that for you, dear reader, to decide.

The obvious is awesome…

The very much obvious and long awaited Bioware Star Wars MMO has been announced. This is great news, though I remain skeptical. I was – as they say – burned by Star Wars: Galaxies.

All of the revelant info is here. What looks interesting is that they are trying to “humanize” the Sith, which doesn’t really makie sense in the Star Wars context but if you’re going to go the WoW route it seems necessary. I am dubious that this “story-driven” concept will work. But if it does I think it’ll solve a  lot of problems I have with MMO – namely that you are a walking, talking, murdering math equation and not much else.. But we will have to see.

Consider me very interesting in how this project is going to shape up.

Oh and the graphics (righ now) kind of suck. But whatever.

(via)

Hoped…

I’m sure you’ve all seen this:

You can buy the poster or shirt here.

(via)

Riding the sun…

More details on upcoming Star Wars books.

Just a few words: Nomi Sunrider! Score.

(via)

Two in one day…

To make it two upcoming book solicitation blurbs in one day. The blurb for the next Star Wars novel series, Fate of the Jedi, has been released:

Fate of the Jedi launches a huge story arc, with heroic roles for the galaxy’s most beloved characters — Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa Solo, and their surviving children, Ben Skywalker and Jaina Solo. While Luke and Ben set off on the journey of a lifetime — of discovery and hardship, of obstacles and victories—the others remain in more familiar territory, dealing with the aftermath of the civil war that rocked the galaxy in the Legacy of the Force.

Interesting but unrevealing.

(via)

I can’t think of a ‘clever’ title… (#1)

I really don’t have much to say about this list of some of the stuff coming down the pike in Star Wars fiction. I could not care less about Karen Traviss’ upcoming storm-trooper novels (thought I generally like Traviss). And if there was ever a character I never thought I see get his own novel it was Zekk. But I like Zekk, so I’ll certainly be checking that book out.

There really aren’t any surprises on that list (except for the fact that Cunningham’s book will be about Zekk… again… Zekk!).

So. Yeah…

(via)

Invading our space…

Following in the foot steps of Troy Denning and R.A. Salvatore (and to a lesser extent Elaine Cunningham), it seems that Lucasbooks has tapped WOTC go-to guy Paul S. Kemp to write a new Star Wars novel in 2010.

While I’m all for add new voices to the Star Wars EU, I’m ambivalent about adding more voices from the world of D&D novels. While I have read a not-insignificant amount of D&D novels (especially Forgotten Realms books) and enjoyed a good number of them, they have their own internal logic and themes that don’t always mesh well with the Star Wars milieu. And some writers for WOTC who have made the transition to big name Star Wars EU writers have not been able to completely leave behind the D&D tropes when tackling the galaxy far, far away (yes, I’m looking at you Troy). This sometime inability to remember that Endor is not part of Faerun has harmed otherwise enjoyable work (why must you hurt me so, Troy?).

This is not to completley disreguard whatever output Kemp will produce. In fact his novel sounds interesting;

I want to let you all know that I’ll be writing a novel in the Star Wars line from Del Rey. I’m both honored and excited to be a part of Star Wars. The novel, currently untitled, will be a standalone, occurs after the events of the Legacy of the Force series, and will feature a Jedi who has been mentioned by name only a handful of times in previous Star Wars novels, and who has (as far as I know) never been developed at all (I tried very hard to convince the Del Rey editors to allow me to use a previously unused character, and they were gracious in that regard; the story is also entirely of my own creation, so that’s pretty cool, too).

But still I am wary.

(via)

Like a fool…

The good news: Del Rey has had its contract with Lucasbooks renewed until 2013 (!). That equals 35 (!!) new books over the next five or so years; including a brand new post-Legacy of the Force series, the Fate of the Jedi.

FotJ will feature Aaron (Rouge Squadron) Allston, Troy (D&D) Denning, and Christie (Buffy novels) Golden as the creative team. And as a special 24th birthday present to me the first novel is out in April.

The bad news: The entire Fate of the Jedi series will be in hardcover. HARDCOVER! Do you know how ridiciously expensive that is going to be? Star Wars hardcovers, despite whatever their quality, always to tend to be a massive economic disappointment. The page to dollar ratio is always weak.

So, will I make the rational choice of waiting until they come out in paperback? No, of course not.

Thus it is really bad news for me and good news for Lucasbooks.

(via)