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Latest Comic Guest Announcement - Timothy Zahn Appearing: Sat & Sun FIRST UK APPEARANCE MANY credit author Timothy Zahn with kick starting the revitalisation of what, in 1991, was a moribund property. Eight years after the release of Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, director George Lucas's Star Wars Trilogy was something of fading memory but then Bantam Spectra published Star Wars: Heir to The Empire. Written by Zahn, the novel – together with Dark Horse's Star Wars: Dark Empire six-parter that followed hot on its heels –was the spark that reignited interest in the franchise. The first book in a trilogy, it hit the New York Times best seller list as did its sequels: Dark Force Rising (1992) and The Last Command (1993). Four years later came Specter of the Past with Visions of the Past, the second book in what was dubbed The Hand of Thrawn duology, following in 1997. Over the next two decades, the author further developed what had now become known as the Star Wars Expanded Universe. Between 2004 and 2013, he wrote half-a-dozen more Star Wars including Fool's Bargain (2004), Allegiance (2007) and Scoundrels (2013). But Zahn – who also scripted Star Wars: Mara Jade (a 1998 Dark Horse six-parter) in collaboration with Michael A Stackpole – did neither begin nor end his writing career in Lucas's cinematic sandbox... The author made his professional debut with a short story – the first of many – published in a 1980 issue of Analog. After further contributions to that magazine and to such others as Space Gamer, Amazing Stories and The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, he released his first novel. Published in 1983, The Blackcollar generated two sequels – The Backlash Mission (1986) and The Judas Solution (2006) – while 1985's Cobra was the start of a trio of trilogies with Cobra Traitor (the final chapter in the third saga) set for release in 2016. Among Zahn's various other series are the Conquerors trilogy (1994-1996), the Dragonback series (2003-2008) and the Quadrail saga (2005-2012). Recently he has embarked on two new series. Launched in 2014, Manticore Ascendant is in collaboration with David Weber. Begun the following year, the line of Basil and Moebius Adventure books is another of the writer's solo projects. The prolific author has also written many standalone novels, among them A Coming of Age (1984), The Icarus Hunt (1999), The Green and The Gray (2004) and Cloak (2015). UPDATE: Timothy will be signing autographs in the guest signing area for £10 each.