The Kemp duology was announced 2-3 years ago, so probably not that. But since they had the continuity people creating EU soucebooks for the screenplayer/director since early this summer, and the blurb of Crucible clearly is indicating a major transition, LFL was saying the Big Three would finally "pass the torch" but still have plenty of adventures (now we know what that means), and the last 2 FOTJ books show signs of rewriting. No "official" confirmation but all the signs are there. I'd bet on it.
You could even extrapolate that the EU forced the sequels to be made. 1. George Lucas has a ban on Luke dying in a novel. 2. Luke is fast getting up there in EU years. Either he just kinda drops off the radar, or he dies where George doesn't necessarily have control over how. 3. Luke is George's pet character. If George wants his doppelganger to have a death that suits George, he almost has to make another batch of movies.
I actually said something similar in another thread the other day. Like you say, George has always been very protective of Luke, as he's "his" character just as much as Darth Vader, and just like he never wanted Vader cloned or resurrected after ROTJ, he's never wanted someone else to whack Luke. That's why I can very, very easily see Luke "dying" or ascending, or whatever, so that Lucas can sleep soundly at night, happy in the knowledge that he's finally "finished" the Skywalker story, and need not fear anyone at Del Rey or Disney doing it their way rather than his.
I'm almost wondering if we're going to wind up with another six films. I mean, George is correct when he says the saga as it is now is the story of Darth Vader. That story is obviously over, what with Darth Vader being pretty dead Soo....time for another cycle. Edit: Also-I wonder just how long Episode 7 has been percolating. When did the FOTJ "last big series, we're going to focus on trilogies and one-offs" announcement come? I remember it was at least a year ago. In hindsight, that seems hinged to a decision to make new movies-strictly speaking, there's no particular reason to not do big series, even if the fanbase hates them ...unless there's something bigger coming along.
Agreed. As much as I accept that Del Rey may well have had "no idea" what was coming, I strongly feel the same as you: that internal gossip by the big whigs at the top of LFL had been discouraging them from "starting anything major" because "big things are coming". Even if they had no idea that meant new films and were just guessing about what was going on, the decisions by both Del Rey, Dark Horse -- even LucasArts to some extent -- not to begin work on anything long term has just felt too suspect. After all, you don't just decide to do a $4 billion deal overnight -- heck knows how long it took Disney to arrive at a final valuation of what they thought it was worth.
Yeah, acquisitions of a company, particularly one that's not about to go bankrupt or anything like LFL, is not a short process I'm sure. I guess we'll see if he comes: @Ender_Sai-you work in finance now. Any guesses as to how long this sort of deal would normally take?
I'm also thinking that Sue Rostoni probably retired not long after hearing the news, for wanting someone new with more energy to carry on the task, "passing the torch" just in time for the new person to prep for the ST, just like how Lucas has finally "passed the torch" to Kathleen Kennedy.
Short prophetic statement from Luke when he knighted her. He went into a mini trance and was all, "I NAME YOU THE SWORD OF THE JEDI! Basically your life will suck..."
It kind of bothers me that "Episode VII" is going to be "Episode VII". I appreciate that, in terms of branding, it makes the most sense... but, damn, if I wouldn't rather they just subtitled the current Saga and started on "Episode I" of "Chronicle II" (or whatever). Actually, for the sake of tradition, I feel the present Saga should be subtitled as the fourth, leaving room for three prequel sagas.
I think the sole reason for that is the major disappointment with the FOTJ series. As good as the NJO was, the following EU has been mediocre at best. I highly doubt that Lucas has been in contact with Del Ray about the sequels.
Anybody else having problems enjoying whatever current EU book they're reading due to the Sequels being announced? I'm sitting here reading and thinking to myself, "Why am I bothering? This is all probably going to be invalidated by the new movies, so what's the point?" I WAS excited for this book, now I don't know if I'm gonna bother picking up anymore EU stuff until I know which way this is gonna play out. Save some money, anyway.
I've had problems enjoying most of the post ROTJ books for the past 2 years. It may have something to do with the quality of the books. I had a hard time getting through FOTJ. I've been trying to finish Mercy Kill for two months. Rehashed stories and ideas, writers turning into hacks, etc. If anything, the announcement of the sequels has got me excited for some fresh writers, new directions and ideas. I'm not overly concerned with continuity snags, as long as the story is good and I feel like I'm experiencing Star Wars. Sadly, I haven't felt like that for awhile with a lot of the novels.
When I'm more interested in a novel that features unknown characters (like scourge or lost tribe of the Sith) instead of one about the big 3, that tells me there is a problem with the product. I'm not sure I can get through another Christie Golden book. I hope they cancel this series. Wrap it up with Crucible and enter the new era.
Thats what got me....this deal had to be going on forever. And it is very big news. How did they keep it completly under wraps without a single leak? Sounds like Lucas was mind-tricking everyone into submission....
I'm still loving ALL the post RoTJ books, though. It's just since the Disney announcement I've been having trouble enjoying them as I'm reading. Even though I'm enjoying the stories. I don't get the hatred towards the Post NJO stuff. Maybe it's because I take breaks from Star Wars now and then, up to 6 month periods sometime, before I dig back in. I have a feeling a lot of people are reading all this stuff as soon as it comes out, all the time, and might be suffering burnout. I know after I've read 5 or six SW books in a row, I start getting bored. That's usually when I'll finish up whatever novel I'm reading, and take a break and concentrate on some of my other interests. Saves me from SW burnout syndrome.
I remember some "leak news", but I have no way to know whether they were truly leaks or just part of the general sequel trilogy rumors we have had since ROTS came out.
I haven't loyally read EU since the Killik books-I wait for particular authors (specifically, Stover and Luceno) to publish something.
I still enjoy what I read, but I'm not buying any SW books or comics until we learn if the continuity is safe or not.
Indeed. I mean, sure, I expect internal gossip at LFL ranged from "Is Katie Lucas taking over?" to "Is he finally doing the TV series and wants the books to focus on that?" with no real idea what was going on, but I've got no doubt that people would have had a feeling that something was going on -- even if they feared Star Wars was 100% ending.
I personally don't care about the fact the Episode VII would retcon the EU, that won't kill my pleasure. I'm still waiting the Sword of the Jedi trilogy as I waited so long to have Jaina as the main character (and the possibility to see the foundation of the Imperial Knights and his first child).
I think many of these novels are worth reading, even if they are branded as infinity level. But i hope they don't do a reboot. If they do, reboot after Unifying Force.
I've actually been thinking about that over the weekend... As much as all of us of the Bantam era would prefer to keep TTT than LOTF, I realised the other day that I've known younger fans who have only read the more recent stuff -- Legacy, LOTF, FOTJ, etc -- and who are a long way from "catching up on that old stuff". Lots have preferred LOTF due to more lightsabers, etc. Which puts Disney in a bit of an awkward spot when it comes to "half reboots" as the up and coming fanbase who they'd be targeting are the ones whose exposure to the EU is the stuff more at risk depending on where the axe falls. I'm reminded of that guy who asked for recommendations in that other thread recently, whose interest was in Sith and Jedi action, and who didn't enjoy the Thrawn books and Imperial Warlord era stuff.
