Solo: A Star Wars Story Junior Novel
Star Wars Junior Novelizations
Paperback | Kindle | Audiobook
Written Joe Schreiber
Audiobook narrated by Sean Henin Bradford Hastings
Publisher: Del Rey Books | Random House Audio
Audiobook Release date: September 4, 2018

I’d like to preface this by saying that the next week or so is going to be interesting. I just finished the audiobook of Solo: A Star Wars Story Junior Novel (which I will review here in short order) and then I’m embarking on Solo: A Star Wars Story Expanded Edition. Both are novelizations of the same movie, but with different authors and different voice talents on each. I want to liken it to watching the theatrical and director’s cuts of a film, but I don’t think it’s going to be like that at all, to be honest, because the interpretations by the authors should be slightly different and the lead voice will have a different sound entirely. Bear with me, okay?

I began with the Junior Novel audiobook because I knew I could tear through it pretty quickly and because I’m already familiar with author Joe Schreiber‘s work in the Star Wars Universe having read both Death Troopers and Maul: Lockdown. (I’m pretty sure Death Troopers is the final book I purchased before Borders Books & Music shuttered forever).

Star Wars fans, it may be time to update to the digital era of reading: recently, Random House FINALLY released a vast majority of the expanded universe novels in e-book format. The release had been long awaited by fans, and vendors such as Amazon are now offering the full catalog of Star Wars titles from Bantam and Del Rey, both owned by Random House.

To coincide with the release, Del Rey released an e-book trailer, which you can check out at the bottom of this post.

Fans who are new to the expanded universe may find our recent post, 10 Star Wars Novels Worth Checking Out, as a good starting point for choosing which book(s) to start with.

For the more seasoned fans, here is a list of the new e-book releases, listed in chronological in-universe timeline order…

May the Force be with you all! Geeks of Doom will be posting a couple of Star Wars articles today, May 25, for Universal Day of the Jedi, which celebrates the anniversary of the release of the first Star Wars movie.

This year, Universal Day of the Jedi also celebrates the anniversary of Timothy Zahn‘s novel, Heir to the Empire. The initial release of this novel 20 years ago this month is significant, because it was quite literally groundbreaking: its impact would open the floodgates for an amazing deluge of Star Wars novels and comics – turning the Expanded Universe into an EXPANDING Universe.

Zahn’s Thrawn Trilogy, of which Heir to the Empire is the first part, is widely regarded by many fans as one of the best series of Star Wars books to ever have been released. Some fans even consider the trilogy to be the equivalent of the closest we may ever get to a Star Wars Sequel Trilogy. Timothy Zahn has continued his journeys into the Expanded Star Wars Universe through the years – exploring deeper into the history and legacy of Grand Admiral Thrawn, the continual growing relationship between Luke Skywalker and Mara Jade, and also the mysteries behind the enigmatic Outbound Flight.

I figured with this month being the anniversary of Zahn’s masterpiece, and also with today being Universal Day of the Jedi, it would be a good opportunity to take a look back at some of the finer examples of Star Wars novels over the years.

Supernatural: The Unholy Cause
Paperback
By Joe Schreiber
Titan Books
Release Date: May 4, 2010

So now that the Season 5 finale of Supernatural has passed, we have some time before we are going to see Sam and Dean get into trouble again in the new season. What better to do with that time than read a book of one of their crazy adventures? Surprisingly, I can’t think of anything better. So Joe Schreiber, author of Star Wars: Death Troopers, Chasing the Dead, Eat the Dark, and No Doors, No Windows, gives it a shot with Supernatural: The Unholy Cause.

First of all I didn’t pick up on the Supernatural “bug” until a few months and went back and watched the entire series in a couple of weeks. I immediately loved the show and all of the characters. All that being said there is definitely a formula to the adventures of Sam and Dean and this book definitely captures the feeling of an episode of the show. Basically Sam and Dean start investigating a weird murder involving Civil War re-enactors and prop weapons. This obviously leads to trouble when the demons involved decide that Sam and Dean need to be taken care of. The story definitely seems to be a lot more serious than some of the others that have been told by dealing with some of the very important overarching themes especially when dealing with Sam’s predicament.

Star Wars: Death Troopers
Hardcover
By Joe Schreiber
LucasBooks
Release Date: October 13, 2009

Are you looking for a new adventure in the Star Wars Expanded Universe? Well if you are then you have to pick up Star Wars: Death Troopers. Obviously it is not the ordinary Star Wars story, but that is what makes it so great. All that and you get to add a zombie-like virus to the mix. Be warned though, this isn’t your grandmother’s zombie virus so you will be fairly interested in seeing what is different about these particular zombies.

The story centers around a prison barge called Purge that transports the galaxy’s worst criminals to their final destination. When the ship seems to have broken down, they find that their only refuge and only saving grace is a Star Destroyer that has been found to be empty and drifting in a rarely traveled region of space. Seem odd to you? Well it should because this is where the craziness is going to come to a head and you will see it all unfold from the eyes of a couple of fan favorites and some new characters as they fight to survive the whole ordeal.