Around the Web

May 2, 2014 at 12:00 am | Posted in Around the Web, Books, News, Regular Feature, Star Wars Books, Star Wars News | Leave a comment
Tags: michael a. stackpole, timothy zahn

Here is this week’s Around the Web news roundup of Star Wars and beyond.

Book News

LEGO Star Wars The Visual Dictionary Expanded and Updated came out yesterday. In addition to the newly added material in the book, it also comes with a Luke minifigure. For more information, you can check out DK Books official product page.
Disney also announced a series of interactive story books for younger readers called Star Wars Journeys. First up is Star Wars Journeys: The Phantom Menace which you can get as an app for iOS devices.

And then there’s Star Wars author Timothy Zahn‘s response to the new state of canon.

Having now had a few days to process the news from LFL, a few thoughts:

First, since many of you are wondering, I have *not* yet been asked to write any new Star Wars books. But that doesn’t mean I won’t receive such an invitation in the future. If that happens, whether or not I accept will depend on what kind of story I’m asked to write, what input I’d have on the content, what era the story will be set in, etc. I would certainly *like* to return to the GFFA, but at the moment that’s not my decision to make.

Second, as far as I can tell from the announcement, LFL is *not* erasing the EU, but simply making it clear that nothing there is official canon. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, nor does it immediately send everything into alternate-universe status. If nothing from the Thrawn Trilogy, say, is used in future movies (and if there’s nothing in the movies that contradicts it), then we can reasonably continue to assume that those events *did* happen. It looks to me like the “Legends” banner is going to be used mainly to distinguish Story-Group-Approved canon books from those that aren’t officially canon but might still exist.

Third, even if something from the Thrawn Trilogy *does* show up in a movie in a different form, we authors are masters of spackle, back-fill, and hand-waving. For example, if Ghent appears in the movies but never mentions Thrawn, I can argue that he simply doesn’t want to talk about that era, or else has completely forgotten about it. (Which for Ghent isn’t really much of a stretch.)
Finally, there’s nothing inherently demeaning in the term “Legends.” Think back (a little farther…a little farther) to Disney’s 1950s “Davy Crockett” TV series, (a show I grew up with) which presented stories and legends about the King of the Wild Frontier. Historians have Crockett’s genuine history, but there’s nothing that says these TV adventures *didn’t* happen, right? So until and unless the legend puts Davy in Tennessee at the same time the real history puts him in Virginia, we can still believe those adventures happened. That’s how I expect it to be with the “real” Star Wars history versus the “legendary” adventures of the EU.

Bottom line: let’s all sit back and relax and see what new adventures are offered to us, both in new books and new movies. It’ll be Star Wars, and that’s what counts.

In other book news, Michael A. Stackpole talks a little about I, Jedi, working with Kevin J. Anderson, and squashes any ideas about rivalry.

Convention & Event News

If you’re in the Los Angeles, CA area on May 2 through 4, you can check out the Star Wars Legion exhibition at the Robert Vargas Gallery. For more info, you can check out StarWars.com.
Star Wars author Daniel Wallace will be at Wild Rumpus Books in Minneapolis, MN for Star Wars Day.
Star Wars artist Joe Corroney will be in Sandusky, OH for Free Comic Book Day at The Pop! Shop from Noon to 6:00 PM.

Fandom News

You can catch Mark Newbold from Jedi News on BBC News.

TheForce.Net posted some Twitter coverage of the C2E2 Star Wars Panel and conducted an audio interview with upcoming Star Wars author Kevin Hearne talking about Heir to the Jedi.
Star Wars author Michael A. Stackpole also shared some thoughts on the diversity issue with Star Wars Episode VII.

Casting news about the new Star Wars® film has created lots of controversy because of a lack of diversity among the cast. Many folks have been eloquent in expressing their disappointment and brilliant in their use of statistics to show why the cast should be more diverse.

I agree with them, but for a different reason entirely. Story.

The continuation of the Star Wars® saga demands diversity. Without it, the previous stories are just wasted.

Here’s my thinking: We start with the ethnically and gender diverse Old Republic. It is overthrown and replaced with a racist, speciesist, misogynistic Empire. That Empire, then, is overthrown by an ethnically and gender diverse rebellion (two leaders of which are strong women), and the New Republic is put in its place. The return to a balanced society, which was only disrupted for a generation, is not only inevitable, it is the only logical outcome of the first six films. To suggest otherwise is to devalue the events and character sacrifices made in the original saga.

Sure, I know this is all make believe. I know this is all big business. It was my hope that folks who wanted to follow in the grand tradition of Star Wars wouldn’t divorce themselves from everything that Star Wars created. Fans of every gender and background have felt included because we can all sympathize with the fight against oppression. To fail to reflect the fruits of victory over oppression in the new films and casting just means that someone decided to let the Sith win.

With the announcement of the main cast for Star Wars Episode VII also came the excellent observation of there only being two females out of a total of the 13 revealed. Nanci, over on Tosche Station, did a break down of all the female speaking roles in each of the Star Wars films which further brings to light the disparity of female roles in the franchise. It’s something worth seeing and rather surprising to boot. Be sure to check it out.

Movie & Television News

Plastic Galaxy: The Story of Star Wars Toys is getting its first theatrical screening on May 4th at the Cape Ann Community Cinema in Gloucester, MA. Directory Brian Stillman will be there for a Q&A after the show. They’ve got quite the event lined up with fan films starting at 1:30 PM, Plastic Galaxy at 4:00 PM, Kurosawa’s The Hidden Fortress at 6:30 PM and the 501st Legion will be on hand. Just $15 for the whole day. If you’re in the area, be sure to check it out. You can find more info here.
The first Star Wars Rebels trailer will be debuting on May 4th at 3:01 AM ET/12:01 AM PT on StarWars.com and Disney.com. It will also air Sunday night during The New Yoda Chronicles on Disney XD at 7:00 PM ET/PT.
Dave Filoni did an interview with IGN talking about Star Wars Rebels.

Toy & Collectible News

Sideshow Collectibles posted a video of their new deluxe sixth scale R2-D2.

They also unveiled a life size Boba Fett. Perfect for those collectors with deep pockets and an urge to add to their Han Solo in carbonite display.
The sixth scale Jango Fett will be unveiled today as part of their ramp up to May the 4th, followed tomorrow with a life sized Yoda. Pre-orders for the R2-D2 will be open on Sunday.
Plus you can enter to win a life size bust of Darth Vader.

Rebelscum has some nice coverage of the Disney VIP that happened and the new merchandise revealed: plush toys and figurines, 12″ talking figures, and diecast vehicles.
Ewok fans can get a cool Ewok Big Face shirt over on ThinkGeek. Use the promo code PINDROID for a free R2-D2 pin with any $20 purchase. R2 fans can also get a measuring cup set to Star Wars up your kitchen.
And be sure to keep an eye out for deals on May 4th. Amazon will have some, LEGO will have a new Darth Revan minifig, and be sure to check out sites like Yoda News and Jedi News UK for other exclusive items going up on May 4th. StarWars.com also has a heads up on some Star Wars Day deals.