Official (Gospel according to The Slicer)

August 25, 1997: Just a tad bit of old news coming back: the real title for Blue Harvest is I, Jedi. As in I, Robot or I, Claudius. The comparisons aren't appropriate (since Jedi is neither a thing nor a single person), but I won't nitpick that one. Point is, it's a self-referential statement. I wonder who it refers to? Just to clarify this for everyone (such as those who don't always get a chance to read the Upcoming page), IJ takes place partially during and after Champions of the Force. Got that? Mr. Allston's X-wing books take place in the timeframe between The Bacta War and Courtship of Princess Leia. I don't know about Mr. Stackpole's #8, but I find it unlikely that he would jump to the priod during his IJ (though that would be pretty neat and unprecedented) for the last X-wing novel's plot. It will probably continue right where #7 left off. Hear that, all those people who misheard KJA at the con? The X-wing books are not going to take place after the JA trilogy, except with the slim chance of Stackpole's. Understood? I hope I put that one to rest.
Back to the I, Jedi title flap. Somebody asked one of the sysadmins of JN to remove the title a few standard time parts back, you know who you are, instead of asking me to remove it myself. You know who you are. Problem is, *I* don't. Would you kindly stand up and introduce yourself? If anybody else would like to try a little stunt like this, I will be very happy to ignore them. Whatever information you ask to be removed will not be, unless you send your requests to me. Even then, I would ask that you justifying my doing so. Saying things like "[fill in author's name] would probably appreciate it if the title were kept secret," or some nonsense of that sort will not motivate me to remove what you request. If you don't work for or represent any Lucas companies or LFL licensees, then don't bother making these types of requests. Of course, if anybody doesn't like the fact that I put up as much information as possible on these projects, you can go elsewhere, there are plenty of other SW literature sites out there. That's what my Link page is for, just go ahead and use it!

August 23, 1997: Hello everybody! just received some interesting news. Since we haven't had much info on the SWC, I'll start with that. It's rolling along smoothly (when you've got so much to cover, and so much time to do it in, you can't go wrong), and it will be big. As in oversized coffee-table sized big. It'll be out in hc and pb at the same time. "Expect it to be heavy on the art w/ high-quality paper, etc., sort of the coffee-table book for 1998 (or 1999)," were my source's exact words.
Blue Harvest is/was just a front for Stackpole's spring '98 hc. It never was an official or working title. Cute, eh? What I want to know is *why*? How many of the other books had this sort of treatment? None of Crispin's books. Or McDowell's, or Zahn's (we hope). <g>
None of my sources have confirmed the scrapping of the Hand of Thrawn series title as reported by Mike Beidler, so I'll sit tight on this one. You'll all get the word when I do. Or a few hours later.
I've put up a publishers page, with links to the printers of SW novels and their parent companies. Later, I'll put up DHC and Chronicle Books, and whatever else anyone tells me. This page may or may not be incorporated later into my newsletter page for the SW Alliance. Time, and Steve Almond, will tell.

August 19, 1997: Well, there have been a lot of intersting developments of late, so I am proud to present updates in the upcoming list to: Han Solo Trilogy, #5-8 X-wing, The Novel formerly known as Blue Harvest, the former "Hand of Thrawn" series, 3rd story arc of YJK, and Galaxy of Fear. Keep me posted everyone!

August 14, 1997: I regret to inform everybody who read my 08/12 report that you MUST NOT distribute a certain title of a SW novel by Stackpole until next month. There was some miscommunication with some of my sources and others, and it was all messed up. So, please, don't spread the title any further than it has already. Thank you for your understanding.

At the end of that report, I told everyone to keep an eye out for some SW novels coming out in the next few months, but I left off exactly why. In the paperbacks, as everyone knows, there are occasionally (though not lately) excerpts from forthcoming works after the novel proper. In addition, the inside front cover sometimes has approx release dates for novels. What I'd like everyone to do, is look for any mention of the prequel novelizations and/or Zahn's new SW books. Got it?
I went to my local Bookstar (which, like B. Dalton, is owned by Barnes & Noble) to research and update release dates and what did I find? THE HUTT GAMBIT! Apparently, it's been on sale for a couple of days now, and nobody told me. I hope next time everyone will inform me immediately when they see a SW book on sale before I mention it on this page. <g>

Some new stuff I learned yesterday, and hopefully this won't get stricken off the record: Charles L. Grant (erstwhile X-Files novel author) has been signed to write ONE SW novel, but not a bounty hunter trilogy as we heard from Rich Handley. No, it's a prequel to SotE! What, I don't hear too many cheers?! Well, I'm cheering. SotE was a very good work in my opinion, as was Perry's MiB novelization (I think it was much better than the movie). I think this will be the SPRING HC for '99. Looks like BDD did get the license extension, but nobody's been allowed to say it officially.
The other bit of news that's related to the Grant/bounty hunter tril news brought in by Rich is that a bh tril IS in the works, but K. W. Jeter is developing that storyline. For those of you who have read some of his work (such as his continuation of BLADE RUNNER with THE EDGE OF HUMAN and REPLICANT NIGHT) you KNOW he's the appropriate choice for this series. Bounty hunters and blade runners aren't all that dissimilar, I would think. Good luck to both Mr. Grant and Mr. Jeter on their journeys into the SW universe . . . and mtFbwy!

August 12, 1997: I started to update on the 9th, but I didn't finish. Please read the entry for the 0th anyway, as it refers to some of the things in today's news.
First off, I was wrong about which X-wing book Stackpole is writing. Did I say first? Welll . . . I meant LAST. I misinterpreted one of his statements and botched the whole thing. There's a first time for everything. I am so-o-o-o ashamed. Aaaand in other news . . .

From the BDD insider, "I'm afraid no deal has been confirmed for novelizations of the SW prequel books at this time." Bummer. I don't know when BDD's license expires (I suspect in December '99, with Zahn's VotF) and whether or not they received an renewal à la DHC, until 2005. This means that the prequel novel license may still be up for grabs, with Del Rey most likely being the main challenger for the prize. I don't pretend to know the rules and regulations in the game of licensing, but there may be the possibility that BDD will retain the rights to continue publishing novels in the current vein, mostly post-RotJ, some anths, etc.; while some other publisher gets to do the prequel novelizations, with possible spin-offs. Of course, I have left Penguin/Putnam/Ace-Boulevard out of this mix, since I have no idea where they are at this time. They came to the party kinda late, decided jointly with Rebecca Moesta and KJA not to bring in a new writer to continue the YJK series, so it looks like they'll wrap their SW publishing stint right there. Bear in mind though, this is strictly conjecture on my part, I have not received word one way or the other from Putnam or anyone else as to the status of their license/negotiations (if any).

I also received a communication from KJA and he informed me that he and Rebecca should complete YJK #12 sometime next week. Now, I haven't heard the titles of any of the last three YJKs until now, so this is a real treat. RETURN TO ORD MANTELL is the first of a trilogy storyline and we can deduce that it should have something to do with:
a) smugglers and b) Han Solo's past.
I know these must be revelations for you all, but hey, somebody has to interpret the gospel for the amateurs, right? <g>
This title would be a reference to a remark made by Han near the beginning of TESB, for those of you who need a smack on the head. KJA did not disclose any plot details at all, which is why I'm fooling around trying to figuure out what this is going to be ABOUT and whether or not to subscribe to KJA fan club what's-it-or-other. If you're interested here's the little blurb he gave me on it. Funny thing I hadn't ever heard of it before, even at WordFire.com.
"Join our fan club to get all the full and regular updates on stuff. It's only $10 and you get an original manuscript page, signed bookplates, bios, photos, all sorts of cool stuff. AnderZone, P.O. Box 767, Monument CO 80132-0767. That's the way I try to disseminate the most information on all projects." There you have it.

That's it for the , here's what to watch out for in the next few weeks give or take (I suggest you give, very generously):
1) THE HUTT GAMBIT. Probably out between the 16th to the 20th, but I'm probably being very liberal with my estimates.
2) THE NEW REBELLION. Pb printing, of course. This was pretty good, except the ending seemed a little rushed. 576 pages compared to the hc 448. Amazon says October 1.
3) TALES FROM THE EMPIRE. SWAJ compilation, BDD was too cheap to have everybody do all-new stories.
4) SPECTER OF THE PAST. Look for it mid/late November to early December. Amazon says 12-1 for this and TftE.

Better not look at the upcoming page just yet, that'll be updated in a day or so.

August 9, 1997: According to a rumor (as far as I know, that's all it is) BDD will publish a pb trilogy dealing with bounty hunters. This information courtesy of Rich Handley. ACPoV says that Charles Grant (X-Files author) has signed to write a trilogy, so this may be it. It also could be the X-wing books, since Stackpole is only writing one of the new ones. There has been some confusion as to which volume that might be: I heard either first or last. The rest of my on-going monologue on SW Publishing News is continued on August 12th's entry.

August 3, 1997: Just checked Amazon.com . . . here is a link to The Hutt Gambit's cover. Not a great scan, but it's a lot bigger than the one on BDD's site!!! ;-) Amazon says the book can be shipped within one to two weeks, so everybody in the US and Canada can count on seeing it then. If someone sees it before then, notify me.
I just recently found out for sure about Tales from the Empire, a new anthology, this time edited by Peter Schweighofer. A big round of applause for Scott Chitwood and Steve Almond for bringing this to my attention! I'd heard rumors about a project like this for some time, but I totally forgot about it. Anyway, it should be out in a few months, since it is in the latest issue of PREVIEWS magazine along with Specter of the Past.
Amazon also has a listing for SotP, with the publication date listed as December 1, 1997, meaning we can look for it in November according to my fuzzy calculations. I still don't have this sales versus pub date figured out yet. Stinkin' industry.

August 1, 1997: I have just recently received a communication from Mike Stackpole, who confirms BDD and Dark Horse Comics have been granted license renewals "which [referring to the BDD license] has enabled us to do new novels, including BH [Blue Harvest]. I have not heard that Bantam has the license to the new movies or that novelizations are scheduled." I'd just like to comment on this information. It stands to reason that if BDD has the license through May 1999 (I have not been told exactly when the renewal expires), then they will most likely publish the novelizations. Del Rey, an imprint of Random House, had the original novel license, but only published the three novelizations and one original work (Alan Dean Foster's Splinter of the Mind's Eye). I have no idea what the current status and nature of DR's license, although they haven't published a single work of fiction, rather just documentary-type books, most notably The Essential Guide series. So, I don't think DR has any rights to produce SW novels or noveilzations at this time. My most recent reports tell me that BDD will officially announce that they have the renewal and novelization rights, along with the first novelization's title, in the fall, possibly November. This last licensing information is unreliable, however, gather from second- and third-party sources, so take this as you will. Rumors of LFL's announcements also add confusion to the mix: some sources say that LFL will reveal the first prequel's title on or around Christmas, giving up SW fans a little holiday cheer. Personally, I wouldn't bet on it. Remember ANH's 20th anniversary in May? Went by with no oficial comment from Lucas or any of his companies. Keep that in mind everyone. I'm rooting for a BDD announcement around Thanksgiving and I hope the novelization and first prequel's titles are exactly the same.
I've been receiving a few rumors from a number of people concerning Zahn's forthcoming two works. As many of us know, there have been numerous rumors lately of Luke and Mara getting married. Zahn denied this was ever his intention for his character to become romantically involved with our beloved Jedi. However, everyone at BDD is tight-lipped about even the smallest plot detail (still, you can't blame them, they're all bound by those nasty enemies of news-seekers everywhere: non-disclosure agreements), so it's extremely diffucult to get any information on these stories. Nobody I've talked to knows whether or not the rumor has any truth to it. I've put some feelers out, and I'll keep everybody informed.

July 21, 1997: We've got some updates on Mike Stackpole's projects (exciting news on that front), bad news on the Jedi Knight front, a few tidbits on Zahn's SotP, and a tiny update on YJK.
I finished reading The Paradise Snare and I am really looking forward to Hutt Gambit. It was an excellent story, though the beginning was too much like Oliver Twist. I can tell you that there will be a whole bunch of cameos in HG, following in the footsteps of TPS (notice Bornan Thul on Alderaan? If you don't get it, read the second YJK story arc).
I'm almost done with Bacta War, looks like this great series ends with a bang. I can't wait for the new ones.
Next on my reading list is Tyrant's Test. Any good? I haven't heard too much one way or the other about this trilogy. Once I read that, I'm all caught up on the adult (Bantam Spectra) novels, so I'll be sitting around reading the Zahn trilogy, waiting for Han Solo #2 two show up at my bookstore. That's all for now folks, keep the news coming. I need all the help I can get. ;-)

May 11-12, 1997: The Paradise Snare by Ann C. Crispin has been in general release for over a week now in the United States. Looks VERY good. I've only read the first chapter and I'm hooked. I told you there would be none of this "Young Han Solo" crud on the cover. For Indy, it's ok, but to apply that title to TWO Harrison Ford characters would have been going too far. What would have been next, the Young Richard Kimble Stories?! Thanks goes out to whoever did this.
My apologies to anyone and everyone who missed me, though there was absolutely no indication of that whatsoever. I guess I'm not as well-loved as my fellow geek, Harry J. Knowles. I'll work on it. I had major-mondo state and local tests all in a row, so I haven't had a chance to update and upload in a long while. I did, however get lots of correspondence done, so I'll release full transcripts as soon as I work around some non-disclosure agreements. ;-)
There's stuff going on between LFL and BDD that's just as well we common lowly fans don't know about, which is why nobody knows about next years publishing schedule, and why it looks so bare. Except for the Zahn air strike at the end. They still have to get a spring hc, maybe a new pb trilogy, and if the contract extends up until the release of the first movie, another spring hc at least. You authors have your work cut out for you. I just hope BDD doesn't count TSWC as a spring hc in '99, which would be the most logical spot to release it, right before the premiere of the most-awaited and longest-awaited movie of the century. I want MORE!!!
Everybody's refusing to comment on who's got the rights to the Prequel novelizations. Looks like LFL is trying to get big bucks for that too. I know I would. But most of all, I want to read them at least three months before the movie is released. Hear that, powers-that-be? I want major spoilers for me, so don't hold back. Or set up really interesting leaks, but keep me transfixed.
I am trying to get 100% confirmation on the Zahn #2 (or #5, however you're counting SW-wise) title change, but it seems even the authors I've contacted about it have no idea what I'm talking about. But they are busy people and I'm not. I'll back to you folks on that later.
Kevin J. Anderson has told me that The Star Wars Chronology is on schedule on coming along great. To help out with getting the galactic side of the story straight, he's recruited Dan Wallace, whom all REAL SW fans should know as the man who created and maintains the SW Planet Guide, whose latest updates (as far as I know) can be found at the Echo Base ezine's website, http://www.echo.simplenet.com. We at JediNet wish them the best of luck with this wonderful and eagerly-awaited project.
Rebecca Moesta and KJA WILL be continuing and finishing the YJK series on their own with three additional books, other than the ones you've heard about here and other sites dedicated to the cause. This will be the third storyline in the series, not a continuation of the current, second story arc. In case you don't know, the final breakdown of the series is this:
Shadow Academy Arc: Books #1-6
Diversity Alliance Arc: Books #7-11
Secret (that's code for unkown to me) Story Arc: Books #12-14
Got it? All right! KJA tells me this'll be fun. So I guess this shoots down Rich Handley's reports of Dave Wolverton taking over the project. There WAS discussion of Wolverton stepping in, but was scratched for obvious reasons. I will disclose details as I receive permission to do so.
Kristine Kathryn Rusch has written (or in this case, compiled) a SW trivia book. This latest one, however, is OFFICIALLY sanctioned. So now we find out some of the stuff in the novels, comics etc. that LFL considers canon. At least, I hope that's what this means. Anyway... you can read a short excerpt at it's page on the Random House Del Rey site. If you don't want to fool around clicking from here to there like I do, and just cut to the chase, click here. For those of you who like to know exacly how to get this and other clips without any help (why do that when I do it for you) click there ---> to mail me. I will get lots of mail for this one, I feel the conflict within you. B') Look for this great challenge for your neurons in early June.
It seems some of these lucky insiders have gotten to take major peeks at Zahn's first new book (like say, read the WHOLE thing). They obviously can't tell me much (and I certainly wouldn't tell me either), but according one one who told me outright that it had been processed by the little gray matter after receiving transmissions from their optical nerves, we will not be diappointed. There. I just made a big deal out of the whole thing and told you totally zero. Sorry guys, this ain't AIN"T IT COOL NEWS. I guess people in the publishing industry have more self-respect or some such quirky trait. <G>

April 12, 1997: First things first, Hambly's new book Planet of Twilight is in general release now, so start reading! There has been a change in the title of Zahn's second book. As you know, originally only one book was planned, Hand of Thrawn, then was split into two books, the latter of which still retained the old name. Now, the final (so far) titles for the two novels are: Specter of the Past and Vision of the Future. Too bad this isn't as ground--shaking news as the stuff Mr. Knowles has been putting up lately. ;-) But its something. Not a peep as to what these two will be about.
More DHC news: The Vader Job will be a new Boba Fett single-shot, probably by Andy Mangels. Steve Perry has informed me that the first issue of Evolution is written and being penciled, the second one was just turned in after he finished writing. That was as of a bit over a week ago. I've heard Anthony Daniels will be co-writing some single-shot (I think a Droids comic) but I'm not sure so anybody who's got info on that or anything else, get back to me!

March 25, 1997: I forgot to tell everybody about some of Dark Horse's future SW plans. Remember, nothing is concrete at this juncture: Crimson Empire is due out in late '97. It's the story of a member of the Crimson Guard who is forced to join the rebels to save his own skin.The really big news is that DHC is planning a miniseries on Grand Admiral Thrawn.

March 23, 1997: In an e-mail Mr. Stackpole informed me he IS in talks for, in theory, a one-shot hardcover SW book. He will have to use at least some of the major characters. "I'm not going to get to do one with my old cast, picking up where I left off after #4."

March 16, 1997: Michael A. Stackpole is currently in talks to do another SW novel, this time a general interest, non-X-Wing book.

February 20, 1997: Received in an e-mail from Kevin J. Anderson
(presented in a buffed up table format, courtesy of yours truly ;-))

KEVIN J. ANDERSON, REBECCA MOESTA, & DOUG BEASON
Visit their site at http://www.wordfire.com

Scheduled Publicity & Travel

1997

Last modified: August 26, 1997
Created on October 11, 1996

literate Jedi Knights have passed through these gates since Thursday, July 31 14:03:51 1997.

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