May 15

Next update June 6

Wow – time for another update already? Seems like the days are just flying by for me… probably because of all the traveling I’m doing. Just got back from my cousin’s wedding in Cancun, heading to New Orleans next week, and I’m squeezing in a few trips to San Antonio here and there to watch the Spurs as they march toward their fifth championship!

So, what to talk about with this update? Well, I think I promised to delve a little deeper into Star Wars: Annihilation. But first, I want to mention the Mass Effect Marathon 2.5: a charity event to raise money for Child’s Play, a very worthy cause. You may remember me mentioning the Mass Effect 2 marathon back in November; well, the crazy folks at G33kWatch are at it again now that ME3 has finally been released. Because I’m so slow with my updates, I’ve missed a couple of the days they’ve been promoting, but there’s one more day you can tune in – May 26. Check the link above for all the details. 

Now, let’s talk Annihilation. This is my fifth Star Wars novel, and my second Old Republic novel.  The book comes out on November 13. Here’s the official summary:

Republic agent Theron Shan and his Twi’lek compadre, Teff’ith must contend with a Sith Empire counter-attack against the Republic, spearheaded by the lethal apprentice of Darth Malgus. Satele Shan and Jace Malcom co-star in what will be a fast-paced and tension-fraught tale based on the award-winning video game from BioWare and LucasArts.

It’s a bit vague, but that’s the problem when you try to stay spoiler free. But I think I can add a bit more without ruining anything. It’s a stand alone story – it has no connection to Revan, and it doesn’t tie in directly with any of the storylines from the SWTOR video game, though it is set in that era. It actually takes place just after the events of the game, and the novel will reflect the Empire and the Republic as they stand at the end of the game’s storylines. (I won’t say anymore to avoid spoiling people who play the game but aren’t finished.)

The game features Theron Shan, a character who first appeared in the Lost Suns Dark Horse graphic novels, written by Alex Freed – my former co-worker at BioWare and the lead writer for SWTOR.

Annihilation is a little different than my other Star Wars books. The Bane trilogy focused on Darth Bane, one of the most powerful Sith Lords who ever lived. Revan obviously focused on Revan, another incredibly powerful Force user. Annihilation is different, because the main character is not a Jedi or Sith. Theron Shan, despite being a descendant of Revan and Bastila, isn’t Force sensitive. That makes for a very different type of novel, and a very different type of main character.

That doesn’t make Theron any less interesting, of course. My personal favorite character in the original trilogy is Han Solo, and I think he’s a good example of how you can be a hero and change the galaxy even if you can’t call on the Force at will.

That’s not to say Theron is an “ordinary” guy: he’s a highly trained field agent working for Republic Strategic Information Services. He has a number of cybernetic implants, along with a host of customized weapons and gadgets, and he’s supplemented his SIS training with his own ecclectic and esoteric studies. Sort of like Batman. Or Jason Bourne. Or James Bond. But in Star Wars.

So let’s call Annihiliaton an action-spy-thriller-sci-fi-epic set in the Star Wars universe. If that doesn’t make you want to buy it, nothing will.

Okay, that’s all for this update. Hopefully by my next update we’ll have a cover and maybe some more interesting news about Annihilation.

Drew