What’s a parent to do to while away the time with the kids? If you’re filmmaker and Star Wars fan Sam K. Hale, you enlist your kids and their friends to film a new episode of Star Wars called Star Wars Episode 7: Return of the Junior Jedi.

I’m not saying this is Oscar material, but it’s pretty darned good and these kids actually did a better job under Sam than Samuel L. Jackson did under Lucas’s direction.

Bam!

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Martha Wells has posted the cover art of the her upcoming Star Wars novel Razor’s Edge, which features Princess Leia in an adventure that takes place shortly after the detruction of the Death Star in Star in Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope.

Here’s the synopsis:
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What? Another Star Wars parody?

Yes. Yes it is.

But here’s the unique part: kittens!

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I don’t envy the daunting task of screenwriter Michael Arndt. The enormity of extending the Star Wars franchise has to be daunting at best. Here, recording a video diary, he sits down to write the start of the new Star Wars film…

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Patton Oswalt appears on tonight’s epsiode of Parks and Rec, where he gives the following awesome filibuster. On Star Wars.
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Paul Di Filippo sent us a link to the song “Everything Changes” by Eytan and The Embassy which, while not sf-related itself, pays homage to Star Wars in the following version of their video.
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Garrett Calcaterra is author of the epic fantasy novel, Dreamwielder, released earlier this month by Diversion Books, and touted by steampunk legend James P. Blaylock as “fast-paced, colorful, and richly detailed.” His previous titles include The Roads to Baldairn Motte and Umbral Visions. In addition to writing, Calcaterra teaches literature and composition at various academic institutions. When not writing or teaching, he enjoys hiking with his two dogs and quaffing good beer.

by Garrett Calcaterra

With Disney’s recent purchase of the Star Wars franchise and a new movie looming, everyone seems to be talking about Star Wars. I’ve been no exception. In a guest post at the very cool Inkpunks blog I confessed how the ending of Return of the Jedi inspired me as a young lad to go off and write sprawling stories with multiple viewpoints and climatic endings. More recently, I was a guest on the Defective Geeks podcast where I talked with the delightfully nerdy Gizzy B and Space Pirate Queen about why the original Star Wars trilogy is so much better than the prequels. The consensus among the three of us was that Episodes 1-3 are little more than Star Wars porn-sure we get our fix of exotic planets, light saber duels, and space battles, but the plot premise and characters are about as plausible as a buxom babe inviting a plumber inside to “check her plumbing.”

To me, the most disconcerting aspect of Episodes 1-3 is the fact that in the back of our minds we all know Anakin Skywalker is going to turn into Darth Vader. We all know the Republic will fall and Palpatine will create the Empire. This makes every one of the protagonists-even the most powerful ones like Obi-Wan and Yoda-utterly impotent. They can do nothing to change the fate of their civilization, and therein lies the weakness of the prequels. George Lucas had it right the first time when he started the story with Luke, Leia, and Han: the heroes who actually save the galaxy. But Lucas is hardly the first person to make this mistake. In fact, the grand-daddy of epic fantasy, J.R.R. Tolkien himself, made a similar miscalculation a good 80 years before Lucas.
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Much like the Nerd’s Guide to Football, this video caters to the sports-challenged by explaining March Madness in terms that any Star Wars fan can understand.

I, for one, strongly object to the stereotype that nerds and geeks don’t grok sports. But let these haters have their fun. I’ll be the one whooping it up next Monday night watching the California Pacers hike the puck upcourt.

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I cannot tell you how much I am tickled by this mashup of The Empire Strikes Back and Schoolhouse Rock. Something about the plucky tune as background music to Star Wars just…makes sense.

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The internet is abuzz with the possible news that J.J. Abrams will be directing the newly announced Star Wars Episode VII. Ever since the announcement that Disney had acquired LucasFilm Limited, a parade of potential contenders have surfaced among fansites: Matthew Vaughn, Steven Spielberg, Neill Blomkamp, Alfonso Cuarón, Darren Aronofsky, Joss Whedon, Jon Favreau, Joseph Kosinski, Colin Trevorrow, J. J. Abrams, Brad Bird and Rian Johnson. Out of that list, there are some who are better candidates than others – and Abrams is in the top tier, and appears to be the one.

Consider his resume: He’s managed several highly successful television shows: LOST, Alias, Fringe, and Felicity (the first two of which belonged to ABC, which is in turn owned by Disney), and a number of highly successful films: Mission Impossible III, Super 8, and Star Trek (with the second Star Trek: Into Darkness, coming out this year). His name is invariably attached to a huge list of other projects at any given time.

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REVIEW SUMMARY: The first issue of Dark Horse Comics latest Star Wars offering, returning to the characters from the original film.

MY RATING:

BRIEF SYNOPSIS: Shortly after the battle at Yavin IV, both the rebellion and the empire struggle to recover from their losses and make headway in their campaigns. A rebel scouting party is ambushed, leading to the conclusion that something threatens the rebellion from within.

MY REVIEW:
PROS: An interesting glimpse at our heroes, and some great scenes communicating just what a galactic rebellion entails.
CONS: Uneven pacing, with a lot of soul-searching and catch-up information interrupting the narrative and sapping the story of momentum. By issue’s end the story has barely started. It fails to feel like a continuation of the movie.
BOTTOM LINE: An imperfect first issue showing hints of promise, but its too early to judge. Not quite up to the standards Dark Horse has maintained with the property.

Warning: spoilers ahead.
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Of all the parodies I’ve seen regarding the Disney purchase of Star Wars, this one is the most…musical.

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REVIEW SUMMARY: A unique and interesting resource when looking at history.

MY RATING:

BRIEF SYNOPSIS: Science Fiction tends to be closely linked with contemporary history in more ways than one would expect. In this collection of papers, historians examine the parallels between real-world history and the Star Wars franchise.

MY REVIEW:
PROS: A neat and interesting way of looking at history.
CONS: Oversteps its bounds at points.
BOTTOM LINE: Know a Star Wars fan who’s having trouble with history? This volume might be the best way to get them interested.

When I was in grade school, I had trouble reading early on: the books that I had for my classes weren’t doing it for me, and it wasn’t until my parents gave me a couple of youth mystery novels (Encyclopedia Brown and the Hardy Boys), that my appetite for reading was realized, and I began consuming books with an ever increasing pace. I bring this up because this was the first thing that sprang to mind while reading through this history text: this is THE book for any kid in high school who’s struggling with the basics of history, and simply needs to look at it in a different light.

Star Wars and History examines various types of real-world history by comparing it to the events in the Star Wars franchise, and for the most part it works. As a fan of George Lucas’s franchise and as a professional historian, the mere existence of this book is exciting, because it combines two passions. On the face of it, it looks like a bit of a strange mash up much like those Victorian era novels juxtaposed with zombies or androids. But, the book reaffirms my belief that science fiction is an inherently political and relevant genre at the time of it’s creation: Star Wars being no exception. Cobbled together from a variety of source material, this book links a number of connections between the franchise and the real world. The topics are pretty far reaching, too: subjects such as insurgency and rebellion are covered, women in warfare, the American Civil War, leaders and power, trade and a whole host of others.

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Amazon has the cover art and synopsis of the upcoming Star Wars novel The Last Jedi by Michael Reaves and Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff.
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REVIEW SUMMARY: Zahn channels the spirit and energy of the original trilogy.

MY RATING:

BRIEF SYNOPSIS: The Emperor and Darth Vader may be dead, the Death Star destroyed, but the war has not yet been won. Struggling under the responsibility of politics and diplomatic duties Luke, Han, and Leia now face a new challenge. On the outskirts of the New Republic a brilliant Grand Admiral is gathering the remnants of the Empire in order to strike at the heart of the Rebels.

MY REVIEW
PROS: Zahn accurately portrays well known characters, the fight against the Empire didn’t end with the Ewoks on Endor, Grand Admiral Thrawn is a superb villain, author’s notes enhance the experience.
CONS: Luke is sort of a sissy, too many cases of coincidence, Mara Jade isn’t all she’s cracked up to be, Grand Admiral Thrawn might be too smart.
BOTTOM LINE: Despite some flaws this is still better than anything offered in Episodes I-III and the 20th Anniversary Edition is a great collector’s item.

The news of Disney buying Lucasfilm accomplished something that I never would have thought possible. It got me excited about Star Wars again. I used to be a major fan of the series as I think most kids are. My aunt took me to see the original trilogy when the movies were re-released to theaters in the 90′s. At the time Taco Bell had promotional Star Wars toys and I also got my first battery-powered lightsaber. It was the Golden Age of my childhood. I continued to love the series well into my teenage years. It wasn’t the new trilogy that killed it for me (although that was the start), but the CGI movie, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and the Cartoon Network show it spawned. I hadn’t looked back since…that is, until the news of Disney’s acquisition.

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In episode 163 of the SF Signal Podcast, Patrick Hester and his rag-tag band of panelists, discuss:

Star Wars, Disney, Marvel, Timothy Zahn, The Thrawn Trilogy, Star Wars: Episode 7, the Star Wars Extended Universe, Star Trek, Pathfinder Tales, Tie-In novels, George Lucas, Stargate, The X-Men, the 501st Legion, Lucasfilm, Disneyland, Family Guy, Robot Chicken, Pixar, Disney Princesses, Disneyland’s overhaul / rebranding of the iconic Submarine Ride as the new “Gungan Undersea Extravaganza’, Marvel Comics, Joe Quesada, Terry Brooks, The Sword of Shannara, Triumph over Tragedy, Attack of the Show, Newsroom, Pirates 101, Baldurs Gate, The Jar-Jar Binks Live Action Generic Non-Traditional Holiday Special with guests Tinkerbell, Wolverine and The Incredibles, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Ship Breaker, The City’s Son, and Reboots…

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Because the world hasn’t quite yet run these mash-ups into the ground…
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Welcome to a new column here on SF Signal: …And Another Thing, a weekly commentary on issues and news from the speculative fiction community! We feel that there’s a lot of news that comes flying out from every corner of the internet on a number of issues: the incident at ReaderCon, the extreme popularity of the summertime releases of Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises, to the landing of Curiosity on the surface of Mars. This column will feature a roving band of SF Signal Irregulars and their takes on the world around us.

As John and I were getting ready to launch this, a proverbial earthquake happened: Disney announced that they were purchasing LucasFilm Limited for $4.05 billion dollars in cash and stocks. Almost immediately, my Twitter and Facebook feeds exploded with people excited, freaking out and everything in between. The noise is going to continue for a while, I suspect, and while I was initially skeptical, I realized that this isn’t something that’s unexpected.
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By now, you’ve heard the news that LucasFilm, producers of the Star Wars franchise, was purchased by Disney. The bigger news is that George Lucas’ treatments for the legendary third Stars Wars trilogy will likely be coming to theaters within a few years. That’s right, Star Wars: Episode VII is coming.

This sounds like great news for fans (besides the mashup crowd), but is it? It seems everyone has their own opinion, so tell us:

Do you think the Disney/LucasFilm merge is a good one for science fiction fans?

To help you decide, here’s Lucas himself talking about the deal:
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Del Rey announced at New York Comic Con the release of two upcoming books set in the Star Wars universe.

The first, Kenobi by John Jackson Miller, shows us the Jedi’s life right after the events of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and chronicles his attempts to, as the author says, “stop being Obi-Wan — and learn to live as Ben”. Kenobi is set for release in late 2013.

The second book announced is the 3rd book in the upcoming Rebels standalone novels, all of which take place between Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back and focus on the main characters from the original trilogy. The new, as-yet-untitled book announced will focus on Han Solo and will be written by James S. A. Corey), the pseudonym for Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck, authors of the well-received space opera novels Leviathan Wakes and sequel Caliban’s War.