Latest Updates: Tuesday, September 9, 2008
There has been quite a bit of news today regarding the upcoming Clone Wars novels by Karen Traviss and Karen Miller. Karen Miller will be taking the reins with the fifth and final book, due to scheduling conflicts, while Karen Traviss will remain the author for the third book.
The first bit of news is from Karen Miller's livejournal page, where she states:
Because she's such a great writer, and so insanely in demand, Karen Traviss has found herself up against horrific deadlines that can't be switched around. As a result, I've been asked to take on the fifth of the Star Wars Clone Wars novels ... and have said yes. So now I'm writing #s 2, 4 and 5. Wheee! Also, yikes! Have I mentioned how scary this is?
Source
Karen Traviss's page also has the following notice:
Folks, I have to apologise - I've hit yet another log-jam of books, and that means I need to drop something. Schedules change, deadlines shift, and I had to make tough choices, because my diary now says I can't do it all. So I've pulled out of the fifth Clone Wars book to accommodate other novels. My good friend Karen Miller - who's already writing the other two books in the series - has stepped up like a good 'un to take it on. So that's one more beer I owe her. (Thanks, mate!)
So, Karen Traviss is slated for books 1 and 3, while Karen Miller is slated for 2, 4 and 5. Karen Traviss is certainly busy, with her next book being released in a week's time, Order 66, which is the final installment of the Republic Commandos series.
Finally, The official Star Wars site has also announced the shakeup, and also some tidbits regarding the next book, by Karen Miller, entitled Wild Space:
Following the New York Times-bestselling Star Wars: The Clone Wars, the Karen Traviss novel that brought the animated movie of the same name to the printed page, Del Rey Books will publish four more Clone Wars novels to tie-in to the forthcoming animated television series. Beyond novelizations, these books will serve as companion adventures, featuring new stories set against the backdrop of the television episodes.
The first of these new adventures, The Clone Wars: Wild Space, is due out in trade paperback format this December. In this tale by Karen Miller, Senator Bail Organa has received some explosive intelligence that could turn the tide of war in the Republic's favor--if his information is legitimate. While Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano embark on a risky mission against General Grievous, Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi accompanies Bail Organa on a journey of discovery... and deadly danger.
Karen Traviss will return to pen the third book, The Clone Wars: No Prisoners. While it was originally planned that Traviss would also write the fifth book in the series, she's had to pull out because of clashing deadlines. Karen Miller will continue the series with the remaining two Clone Wars novels.
Source
With the television series being released on October 3rd, I'll be interested to see just how these five books follow the action - Karen has been noted to saying that the books are loosely based off of the movie, which, in my opinion, was a step up. Hopefully Miller will be able to carry on the action and prove to be another fantastic addition to the Star Wars lineup.
Labels: Books, Karen Miller, Karen Traviss, The Clone Wars
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Latest Updates: Monday, July 28, 2008
Randomhouse.com has posted up an interview with Clone Wars author Karen Traviss, and an excerpt of the book on their website.
Here is an excerpt from the interview:A Conversation with Karen Traviss
Question: Your new novel, The Clone Wars, is an adaptation of the animated film set for release in August. What's it like to write an adaptation? How do you turn the script into a novel, and do you have any freedom at all in terms of plot and characters?
Karen Traviss: The words "based on" mean just that — in fact, the phrase "very loosely based" would probably comply better with the UK's Trades Descriptions Act!
It's an animated feature film, and this is a novel, so the book can't be the same as the movie; there's already a gulf between what works in movies and what works in books anyway; you have two completely different products. Readers expect (and need) much more complexity and much deeper characterisation, and they're more demanding of plot logic - you have to tweak plots, because what is convincing to people watching a visual spectacle in a cinema very often doesn't work at all in print. And, inevitably, there's only so much movies can ever cover — they can never, ever see inside a character's head like a novel can. They have what's known as an omniscient viewpoint, and my books are all very tight third-person POV. So it's as different as chalk and cheese.
I'm pretty process-driven when I tackle a job like this, so I read the script, noted the main plot points, then worked out how I was going to cover the ground so that it started and ended in the same place as the movie and hit the same plot beats. Then I just...wrote it.
Now that movies are available on DVD, people buy books to get an experience that's different from what they can see on screen. They don't need or want a print version of the movie. They want something extra. It's my job to see they get it.
Q: The animated film is kicking off the new Clone Wars animated TV series. Does this new series pick up where the old Clone Wars series left off?
KT: No, it doesn't. It covers the same ground, although some of the continuity in the movie has changed from that in the last CW animated series. Because this is such familiar territory to SW fans —- I wanted to give them some things they'd never seen before. So they'll see the characters from a whole new perspective. Jabba, Ventress and Dooku may be a big surprise for some readers, as will some of the droids.
Q: Are you going to be involved in the new series–perhaps more novels set in this era of the Star Wars universe?
KT: I'm doing three of the five books from this series, with the other two being written by my good friend Karen Miller. It's a lot of fun to work with a buddy, and especially with someone who has the same take on fiction — that it's about character, character, and more character. We spend hours on the phone having debates about the psychology of the characters — often at weird hours, because she's in Australia and I'm in the UK.
Full interview
And you can read the entire excerpt here:
Excerpt
Or, pick up the book, cheaply, at Borders
Labels: Books, Karen Traviss, The Clone Wars
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Latest Updates: Monday, July 21, 2008
StarWars.com has posted up information about a new Clone Wars reference book, entitled Inside Star Wars: The Clone Wars: The Visual Guide.
The book is being published by DK, who is responsible for other Visual Guide releases for each of the prior movies. The release date is slated for July 26th. Here's what TOS had to say about it:
As they have with the Star Wars feature films, DK books is set to visually explore the rich universe of the animated Clone Wars adventures with their forthcoming Visual Guide, written by Jason Fry. Mining the feature film and the television series, the Guide examines heroes, villains, technology and events with authoritative text, crystal clear illustrations, and detailed callouts. The Jedi heroes and Separatist villains are showcased, as are pirates and bounty hunters, creatures, aliens and exotic worlds.
The book, like most of the initial Clone Wars products, hits shelves on July 26. StarWarsShop.com, in conjunction with DK, is making available an exclusive Limited Edition of the book, with bonus content: a card pocket on the inside cover that includes special reproductions of the distinctive Republic gunship nose art. Also inside this edition is a six-page gatefold with details on the various lightsabers seen in The Clone Wars.
Source
Labels: Books, DK, The Clone Wars
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Latest Updates: Thursday, July 17, 2008
Karen Miller's announced Clone wars book has been given a title, according to Randomhouse's website, Clone Wars: Wild Space.
Karen Miller, a newcomer to the Star Wars Universe, will be writing two of the five books along with author Karen Traviss. The announced release date for this book will be November 25th of this year, and seems to be a trade paperback, coming in at $15.00. More information as we get it!
Source
Labels: Books, Clone Wars, Karen Miller, Wild Space
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Latest Updates: Friday, July 11, 2008
Karen Traviss has announced on her website a short, five stop book signing tour starting with the 2008 San Diego ComicCon.
No word yet on whether there will be any more dates added to this, but here's what we've got thus far:
- July 24 - 27 - check Comic-Con schedule for appearances.
- July 28, TEMPE, AZ - Changing Hands, 7pm
- July 29, DALLAS -Borders, Greenville Ave., 7pm
- July 30, DECATUR, GA, - Wordsmiths Books, 7.30pm
- July 31, NEW YORK - Borders, Columbus Circle NYC, 7pm
Source
Labels: Books, Karen Traviss
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Latest Updates: Tuesday, July 8, 2008
5 Book Series Coming!
Over the past couple of months, news has slowly leaked that authors Karen Traviss and Karen Miller were both working on upcoming Clone Wars novels. Now, Karen has officially announced what the project is, clarifying things and revealing that this will be a five book series based off of the animated movie, and that Karen T will be taking three of the books. Here's the announcement from her webpage:
Yes, there is a NEW SERIES out this month, and judging by the mail I'm getting, folks don't seem to realise what it is. There's a NEW FIVE-BOOK STAR WARS SERIES for adult readers based on the Clone Wars movie and TV cartoon show, and I'm writing three of them. But because the movie and the TV show are for the youngsters, and I write adult fiction, then you can deduce that the novels will show you stuff you won't see on screen. (This is separate from the young adult books that are also being published. ) With me so far? Good.
CLONE WARS, the hardcover based on the movie - loosely based, so no griping that it's different, please, because that's the whole point - is out on July 26. Full of the gritty, off-message, character-testing, question-raising, grey-area, military-oriented stuff you've come to expect from me. And clones. Plenty of clones. And familiar characters from the movies that you won't see quite the same way ever again.
My good buddy Karen Miller is writing the other two novels. She doesn't write predictable, lightweight stuff either, so stand by for a challenging series that will make you take another fresh look at the Clone Wars.
I'll be pimping the books at Comic Con in San Diego, July 24 - 27, with a short book tour immediately afterwards. I'll post cities and dates when they're all confirmed.
Karen Miller also chimed in on her webpage:
And now it's official!
[Posted 27-Jun-2008]
Yes! I am writing two Star Wars novels. They're part of a new 5 book series set during the Clone Wars, and connected with the new animated series that's coming out this year. The truly awe-inspiring Karen Traviss (NYT #1 bestselling author) is writing the other 3. She is da bomb, with big fat bells on. More info will be shared as it comes to hand ...
This is fantastic news, especially for Clone Wars fans. This is also in addition to the final Republic Commando novel, Order 66, which is also being penned by Karen Traviss.
Labels: Books, Karen Traviss
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