Is Matthew Stover Writing Imperial Commando II?

Image Source: io9

When it comes to Star Wars book rumors the provenance of this one may be subject to some doubt, but as a Commando Fanboy I cannot ignore this juicy morsel.

I saw this first on Club Jade but by this point it has made the fan site and social media rounds.

"In other news Matt is replacing Karen Traviss as the author of the 501st novels for Star Wars." 

The rumor comes from an associate of Matthew Stover, a man named Moe Suliman who is involved in a Kickstarter to fund the OverWorld comic book series.

Star Wars novel fans may remember Matthew Stover from such novels as; Traitor (New Jedi Order), Shatterpoint (Clone Wars), Revenge of the Sith (Film Novelization), and Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor (New Republic).

Stover also has recently written the Insider Magazine short story, "The Tenebrous Way," which tied into James Luceno's Darth Plagueis novel.

Stover does have some experience writing clones.  As part of the 2003 Hasbro Short Story Collection he wrote a story called, "Equipment."  This short story was available in a book form with Hasbro toys as well as as a PDF on StarWars.com  You can still find an archived version of the PDF HERE.


"Equipment" tells the story of a LAAT/i bubble turret gunner, CT-6/744.  It is written as a tie-in to the novel Shatterpoint and is set in a space battle around Haruun Kal.

The story itself is a quick read and while it is hardly Stover's greatest contribution to the SWEU, it does play with the issue of the dehumanization of the clone troopers.

I really enjoyed all of Stover's Star Wars novels and I think he would give a darkness and intensity to the series that makes sense based on the events of Order 66 and Imperial Commando 501st.  I do wonder however if Stover does take over, we see a shift in focus of the series away from Clan Skirata and more to the 501st Legion and a healthy dose of early Rise of the Empire Era Vader.



SOURCES: Club Jade and Kickstarter