Here is this week’s Around the Web news roundup of Star Wars and beyond.
Book News
Edelweiss has some Star Wars books updates…
Blurb for Lost Stars by Claudia Gray (304 pages, September 4, hardcover)
This thrilling Young Adult novel gives readers a macro view of some of the most important events in the Star Wars universe, from the rise of the Rebellion to the fall of the Empire. Readers will experience these major moments through the eyes of two childhood friends–Ciena Ree and Thane Kyrell–who have grown up to become an Imperial officer and a Rebel pilot. Now on opposite sides of the war, will these two star-crossed lovers reunite, or will duty tear them–and the galaxy–apart?
Star Wars: Lost Stars also includes all-new post-Star Wars: Return of the Jedi content, as well as hints and clues about the upcoming film Star Wars: The Force Awakens, making this a must-read for all Star Wars fans.
Blurb for Smuggler’s Run by Greg Rucka (240 pages, September 4, hardcover).
Han Solo and Chewbacca the Wookiee team-up for an all-new adventure in this thrilling upper middle grade novel. Set between Star Wars: A New Hope and Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, the story follows everyone’s favorite pair of smugglers as they fly the Millennium Falcon on a top-secret mission for the Rebellion. Hidden in the story are also hints and clues about the upcoming film, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, making this a must-read for fans old and new!
Blurb for Moving Target by Cecil Castellucci (240 pages, September 4, hardcover).
Princess Leia returns for an all-new adventure in this thrilling upper middle grade novel. Set between Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars: The Return of the Jedi, the story follows the warrior princess as she leads a ragtag group of rebels on a dangerous mission against the evil Galactic Empire. Hidden in the story are also hints and clues about the upcoming film Star Wars: The Force Awakens, making this a must-read for fans old and new!
Blurb for The Weapon of a Jedi by Jason Fry (240 pages, September 4, hardcover).
Luke Skywalker returns for an all-new adventure in this thrilling upper middle grade novel. Set between Star Wars: A New Hope and Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, the story finds Luke Skywalker, C-3PO, and R2-D2 stranded on a mysterious planet, and explores a dangerous duel between Luke and a strange new villain. Hidden in the story are also clues and hints about the upcoming film Star Wars: The Force Awakens, making this a must-read for fans old and new!
Blurb for Star Wars Rebels Original Novel #4 by Jason Fry (160 pages, October 6, paperback).
The exciting conclusion to Jason Fry’s Servants of the Empire series, starring rebel spy Zare Leonis.
What if you uncovered a conspiracy that reached to every corner of the Galactic Empire–and you were the only one who knew about it? This action-packed conclusion to the Servants of the Empire tells an original story of intrigue, espionage, and coming of age, all set in the world of Star Wars Rebels.
Blurb for Star Wars Rebels: The Epic Battle: The Visual Guide (144 pages, October 6, hardcover).
An in-depth look into the characters, locations, and themes from the first and second season of Star Wars Rebels.
Star Wars Rebels(TM): The Epic Battle: The Visual Guide is a fact-filled companion to the first and second series of the newest Star Wars animated television series. Star Wars Rebels(TM) is set between the events of Episodes III and IV, and The Visual Guide depicts all the galactic escapades, interesting vehicles, and fun characters fans have come to love.
At the Del Rey panel at Star Wars Celebration Anaheim it was revealed that A New Dawn and Tarkin would be re-released as a bind-up with additional short stories. John Jackson Miller confirmed on his blog that he’ll be writing one of the short stories. Rise of the Empire we’ll be out in October.
John Jackson Miller, Alan Dean Foster and James Luceno also did an interview for the livestream which you can watch here (note that Alan said he’s 90% done with The Force Awakens novelization).
Also in the news, John’s Star Trek novel Takedown made #2 on Locus Online bestsellers for April in the Media-Related category.
You can also pick up John Jackson Miller‘s book Overdraft: The Orion Offensive in digital format for just $2 on Amazon.
Comic News
- Dark Horse Comics is doing a four year digital anniversary sale which means 50% off everything in their digital store. Use the promo code DHD4YEAR for an extra 10% off at checkout. Sale ends Sunday.
- Star Wars: Journey to the Force Awakens – Shattered Empire will be written by Greg Rucka, drawn by Marco Checchetto, and cover by Phil Noto. It will cover the events that happened immediately after Return of the Jedi and will be out in September.
Convention & Event News
Star Wars Celebration Europe tickets are already on sale. Next year’s Celebration will be in London England from July 15 to 17th.
- Fox Cities Book Festival is April 25 in Appleton, WI at the public library. Author John Jackson Miller will be there.
- Disney Star Wars Weekends May 15-17, 22-24, 29-31, June 5-7, and 12-14 in Orlando, FL. Star Wars guests include James Arnold Taylor.
- Phoenix Comicon is May 28th to 31 in Phoenix, AZ. Star Wars guests include Livio Ramondelli and Kevin Hearne.
- Supanova is June 18 to 30 in Sydney and Perth. Star Wars guests include Kevin J. Anderson and Rebecca Moesta.
- Botcon is June 19 to 21 in Chicago, IL. Star Wars guests include Livio Ramondelli.
- San Diego Comic-Con is July 8 to 12 in San Diego, CA. Star Wars guests include Carlos Ezquerra, Livio Ramondelli.
- TFCON is July 17 to 19 in Toronto, ON. Star Wars guests include Livio Ramondelli.
- DragonCon is September 4 to 6 in Atlanta, GA. Star Wars guests include Kevin J. Anderson, Rebecca Moesta and Livio Ramondelli.
- Amazing Hawaii Con is September 18 to 20 in Hawaii. Star Wars guests include Livio Ramondelli.
- New York Comic-Con is October 8 to 11 in New York, NY. Star Wars guests include Livio Ramondelli.
For more events, be sure to check out Star Wars Actors Appearances.
Fandom News
- Disney is adding a Millennium Falcon theme to their Star Wars cruises. The Disney Parks Blog has details and a picture.
- TheForce.Net has some interviews with the Star Wars Rebels cast and crew from Celebration Anaheim.
- Star Wars posted some YouTube interviews with: J.J. Abrams, Kathleen Kennedy, Bob Iger, Tom Spina, John Knoll, Paul Scheer, Darren Hayes, Peter Mayhew.
- IGN posted a Star Wars Celebration Anaheim cosplay video.
- IGN also interviewed Simon Kinberg, Ashley Eckstein, Vanessa Marshall, Taylor Gray, Steve Blum.
- Verizon FIOS also did a bunch of interviews with The Wookiee Gunner rounded up right here.
- Tosche Station did an interview with Ashley Eckstein.
- FirstShowing.Net has some nice screen grabs from the Star Wars Celebration livestream that show some behind the scenes photos from The Force Awakens.
- Here’s something special, Star Wars Adventures in Hyperspace: The Big Switch by Ryder Windham and Jeff Carlisle, which was never published, is now online. While it’s not a finished book, it includes preliminary artwork and notes by Ryder Windham.
Movie & Television News
- BBC News spoke with Kathleen Kennedy about The Force Awakens. She revealed that the movie isn’t quite done, “JJ is editing the third act as we speak. We’ll probably take a look at the film early summer. We’ve been working on effects as we’ve been moving along. We’ll score the movie a little bit in June, and then throughout the summer. So it’ll be a process as it comes together. But everything I’ve seen has been fantastic. I mean it just gets better and better and better as it all comes together.”
- Star Wars Rebels Season 2 will debut this Summer with a one hour special “The Siege of Lothal” and then will start regularly in the Fall.
- Disney XD will be doing a Star Wars Rebels marathon from May 1 to May 4th.
- Making Star Wars has some leaked Kylo Ren art here and here.
- Beyond Star Wars, there’s a trailer for The Visit which looks pretty creepy and will be out September 17th.
- Black Mass will be out September 18th, and just going off the trailer, Johnny Depp could be getting an Oscar nomination for this one.
- Fantastic Four now has a second trailer.
- And then there’s the trailer for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
Star Wars Celebration Anaheim
So much happened, but did you catch it all?
- Aaron Allston Tribute Panel audio via Tosche Station Radio.
- Cloud City Diorama time lapse video via Jedi Temple Archives.
- Closing Ceremony liveblog via StarWars.com.
- Collecting Track Day 1, Day 2, Day 3 and Day 4 recaps via Rebelscum.com.
- Conversation with Gareth Edwards liveblog via StarWars.com.
- John Jackson Miller: Rule the Galaxy Together: Writing in a Shared Universe Panel audio via Tosche Station Radio.
- Livestream coverage: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3 and Day 4.
- One Big Story – Star Wars Canon Panel liveblog via StarWars.com and audio via Tosche Station Radio.
- R2-Me2 Art Exhibit via Rebelscum.com.
- Ralph McQuarrie: Star Wars Art Panel recap via Rebelscum.com.
- Rebel Women Who Fought The Clone Wars liveblog via StarWars.com and audio via The Wookiee Gunner.
- Restored Music From The Empire Strikes Back Panel audio via Bombad Radio.
- Secrets of the Mos Eisley Cantina liveblog via StarWars.com.
- Star Wars at Del Rey Panel audio via Tosche Station Radio.
- Star Wars Battlefront 15 minutes demo recap via EGM Now.
- Star Wars Battlefront liveblog via StarWars.com and audio via Bombad Radio.
- Star Wars Comes Home to Marvel liveblog via StarWars.com.
- Star Wars Costumes Panel liveblog via StarWars.com.
- Star Wars Journalism Panel audio via Tosche Station Radio.
- Star Wars Rebels: Past, Present and Future liveblog via StarWars.com.
- Star Wars Rebels Press Conference via The Wolfpack Podcast (these guys were actually right in front of me at the conference).
- Star Wars Rebels Season Two Panel liveblog via StarWars.com.
- Star Wars The Force Awakens liveblog via StarWars.com.
- The Force Awakens Exhibit pictures via Jedi News Facebook page and a full tour via The Wolfpack Podcast.
- The Untold Clone Wars Panel liveblog via StarWars.com, recap via The Wookiee Gunner (which includes pictures) and audio via Bombad Radio.
- What Princess Leia Means to Me Panel audio via Tosche Station Radio.
Toy & Collectible News
First off, there was a ton of stuff at Star Wars Celebration Anaheim, so for any collectors out there, be sure to head on over to Rebelscum.com for some good coverage of the booths and collectibles.
- Hasbro revealed their 6″ Ahsoka figure.
- And 3-3/4″ Ahsoka and Darth Vader.
- Sphero, the company behind the technology for BB-8, is planning on making a version for collectors. They have an email list you can sign up for to get updates.
- Jedi Temple Archives also interviewed Hasbro and got some details on upcoming figures including a new 3-3/4″ Jabba the Hutt.
Video Game News
- Konami has release a Star Wars/Contra mini-game for their Star Wars: Force Collection.
- GameStop has posted a developer series video for Star Wars Battlefront.
Posted By: Skuldren for Roqoo Depot.
