The force will be with Star Wars fans on the eastern seaboard for the next two weeks, as DK Books launches a two-week Star Wars Attack of the Authors tour. While the tour won't begin until this weekend, here's a glimpse of what’s in store for Star Wars fans living on the East Coast.
The tour, which features several authors and illustrators of DK’s 54 Star Wars books, will visit bookstores, libraries, and schools from Massachusetts to Florida. The tour kicks off at Buttonwood Books in Cohasset, Mass., on May 7; in all, 10 stops in nine cities are planned before the tour wraps up at Barnes & Noble West Kendall in Miami. Authors participating in the tour include Ryder Windham and Jason Frey, and illustrators include Chris Reiff and Chris Trevas.
Of course, no Star Wars-related gathering would be complete without colorful characters milling about in the background, and this tour is no exception: costumed characters from the 501st Legion of Darth Vader’s Imperial Stormtroopers will participate as will members of the R2 Builders Club. A life-size, specially-commissioned replica of R2D2 is also coming along on tour; the replica will be signed by the 501st Legion and R2 Builders Club members present at each event. The droid will be auctioned off and the funds raised donated to a charitable organization after the tour winds down. Ashley Eckstein, the voice of Ahsoka Tano in Star Wars: The Clone Wars and the founder of the science fiction clothing line Her Universe, will join the group at the May 7 event at Barnes & Noble Tribeca in New York City.
DK started organizing Star Wars-related tours featuring its authors and illustrators two years ago. They’ve set up about 200 such events to date. In 2012 a West Coast tour will extend from Seattle to San Francisco. DK has collaborated with Lucasfilm for more than a decade to produce books for adults and children inspired by the Star Wars movies. There currently are 72 Star Wars related titles in print, including two April releases, Star Wars Battles for the Galaxy and The Ultimate Sticker Collection: Star Wars Clone Wars Secrets. The Star Wars Character Encyclopedia pubs in June. DK has sold close to 10 million Star Wars books.
