A New Secret Mandalorian Star Wars Project by Jason Fry?

Jason Fry's Pile of Awesome

In the things that make me go hmmm department. Jason Fry co-author of The Essential Atlas and The Essential Guide to Warfare, as well as a number of DK Star Wars books, Wizards of the Coast Star Wars gaming books, and material for Star Wars Insider magazine posted an interesting picture on Facebook recently.

The picture above is a big stack of research material related to Mandalorians, Boba Fett, Republic Commandos and a treatise on armor and weaponry.

All accompanied by a single line from Mr. Fry:

"What am I up to here? I'll never tell. At least not for a while." ~Jason Fry on Facebook

What is Mr. Fry up to? Could it be related to a post I made recently pleading with Del Rey to create an Essential Guide to the Mandalorians?

On the immediate horizon Mr. Fry has an appearance at Celebration VI on the "Essential Panel,"

THE Essential Panel #BTS019
Date: Sunday, August 26
1:30 pm - 2:30 pm
Location: Behind The Scenes Stage (W414 ABCD)
Description:
Authors Jason Fry and Pablo Hidalgo discuss their indispensable reference works: The Essential Guide to Warfare and The Essential Reader’s Companion.
LINK TO CVI Schedule

This doesn't look like research for CVI so the obvious conclusion is that it is either work on a new book or consultation work for another Lucasfilm project.  Since Fry is on a recent run of Essential Guide success I certainly hope it is for a future entry in that series.  In the interest of sleuthing, let us examine what books he is reading to the best of my ability.

Books:

1) A Glossary of the Construction, Decoration, and Use of Arms and Armor in All Countries and in All Times: Together with Some Closely Related Subjects by George Cameron Stone. Published 1934

2) West End Games' Galaxy Guide 10: Bounty Hunters by Rick D. Stuart. Published 1994.

3) Republic Commando: True Colors by Karen Traviss. Published 2007.

4) The Scholastic Young Reader book: Boba Fett: The Fight to Survive by Terry Bisson. Published 2002.

5) Unidentified Reference Book: Detailing costuming of Boba Fett.  I never have really gotten into the behind the scenes books so I have no idea which book this photo spread is from.

Magazines:

1) Star Wars Insider #80 from March 2005 which included the feature, "The History of the Mandalorians," by Abel G. Pena.

Topic Summary from Wookieepedia:

History Lesson 

Behind the Masks
Mandalore the Indomitable
Mandalore the Ultimate
Canderous Ordo
Jaster Mereel
Vizsla
Montross
Jango Fett and Boba Fett
Ailyn Vel
Mandalore the Resurrector (aka Alpha-Ø2 or Spar}
Tobbi Dala and Fenn Shysa
Alfreda Goot and Feskitt Bobb
Jodo Kast 

Arms and Armor
Mandalorian Shock Trooper Armor
Mandalorian Crushgaunts
Mythosaur Axe
Mandalorian Manacles
Mandalorian Iron
Battle Legionnaire (BL-Series) Droid
Wing-Blast rocket pack 

Chariots of War
MandalMotors
Mandalorian Dungeon Ship
Pursuer Enforcement Ship
Mandalorian Drop Ship
Gladiator Assault Fighter
Basilisk War Droids
Mandalorian Battle Harness
Lagartoz War Dragons

2) Star Wars Insider #86 from February 2006 which included the feature, "The Mandalorians: People and Culture," by Karen Traviss.

Topic Summary from Wookieepedia:

Origins
Warrior Nomads
What Makes a Mandalorian
Mandalorian Society
The Mandalorian Family
Religion and Spirituality
The Concept of Dar-Manda
Daily Life—and Death
Food and Drink
Armor
Mixing with Mando'ade 

No Word for Hero: The Mandalorian LanguageVerbs
Other Ways to Use Verbs
Nouns and Other Parts of Speech
Pronouns
Adjectives and Adverbs: One and the Same
Vocabulary
Pronunciation
Basic Phrases
Mandalorian Language in its Culture Context

This is a very interesting mixture of sources.  The young reader book focuses on Boba Fett from circa Episode II and immediately after that film, True Colors focuses on the Arcs, Null-Arcs and the Mandalorian training sergeants Walon Vau and Kal Skirata, the role playing game supplement focuses on bounty hunters, and the reference book focuses on real world armor and weapons.  The first Insider article is more focuses on important historical individuals and technologies whereas the second article is more of a cultural overview and linguistic guide.

What ever Fry is working on it would appear that it looks fairly comprehensive with regards to the Mandalorian culture.  I smell an Essential Guide.