Star Wars books - where to get started?

[Shikton]

Heya!

I guess the title says pretty much all you need to know. Suddenly got the urge to get to know the Star Wars universe a bit better, so I'm wondering what books I should pick up?

Thanks in advance :)

[Ditto]

There was a thread about this (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=157492&highlight=star+wars+books) about a month ago.

[Tirian]

Let me summarize. Start with the Thrawn trilogy. End with the Thrawn duology.

[Mr. Scaly]

Death Star. The Darth Bane series if you want to more about the Sith. And everything by Zahn. Other than that things can get pretty hot or miss.

[JonestheSpy]

I would say read the Han Solo trilogy by Brian Daley that came out in between Star Wars and Empire, when no one really knew anything about the 'official' SW universe. Enjoy, then walk away briskly and don't look back.

[hamishspence]

I dunno- there's a lot of good Star Wars authors out there besides Brian Daley.

Michael Stackpole, Aaron Allston, Timothy Zahn, and possibly Matt Stover all spring to mind. Steve Perry & Michael Reaves as well, though theirs vary a bit. Darth Maul: Shadowhunter isn't nearly as well regarded as Death Star, for example.

[Athaniar]

Once again, read Zahn (chronologically: Outbound Flight, Thrawn Trilogy, Thrawn Duology, Survivor's Quest). The New Jedi Order megaseries is also a good read, if you enjoy more militaristic Star Wars.

[hamishspence]

And one fairly new Zahn one between Outbound Flight and the Thrawn trilogy- Allegiance- which is set immediately after A New Hope and does not have Thrawn. Still good though.

[Closet_Skeleton]

Let me summarize. Start with the Thrawn trilogy. End with the Thrawn duology.

There are plenty of Star Wars fans that agree that while the Trawn Trilogy is excellent and better than 90% of the crap that got published, the sequels by Zahn don't really live up to it and the few other decent books are better than them.

[hamishspence]

Really? I thought the Hand of Thrawn Duology at least was up to par. And the others (Survivor's Quest, Outbound Flight, Allegiance) all seem to be somewhat liked.

On TV Tropes, in particular, the Hand of Thrawn books seem to be well regarded:

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HandOfThrawn

[Zevox]

My comments in the previously-linked thread are still a good summary of what I'd recommend:


As others have said, best place to start is the Thrawn Trilogy by Timothy Zahn. Takes place about 5 years after Return of the Jedi, great stuff. Other books by Zahn are generally quite good as well - the Hand of Thrawn Duology, Outbound Flight, and Survivor's Quest are the ones I recall off the top of my head.

I'll also add my recommendation to the X-Wing series of novels, if you're not just interested in the Jedi. They're among the rare novels of the EU that have practically nothing to do with the Jedi or Sith, just starfighter pilots.

I'll also recommend the three Darth Bane novels, stories which focus on the Sith who founded the Rule of Two, the strand of Sith to which Palpatine and Vader belonged.

On other novels, well, all I can say is you'll mostly have to take a look at them for yourself, as opinions will vary. I tend to read anything set after the original trilogy or long before the prequels (KotOR/Darth Bane type long before), but avoid anything set during or just prior to the prequel era, or, in most cases, those set during the original trilogy. The quality definitely varies, as does the degree to which I will criticize and complain about different books, but I generally find the stories set in the eras I do read about enjoyable.
Just to give it the emphasis it is due, as most posters have said, regardless of what else you decide to read, the place to start is definitely the Thrawn Trilogy by Timothy Zahn (Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, and The Last Command).

Zevox

[Closet_Skeleton]

Really? I thought the Hand of Thrawn Duology at least was up to par. And the others (Survivor's Quest, Outbound Flight, Allegiance) all seem to be somewhat liked.

Plenty of people like them. All I said was that some people don't automatically put everything by Zahn above everything else and quite a few people would put most of Stackpole and Stover's works above Zahn's later works.

There are of course people who really hate Allegiance, Survivor's Quest and Outbound Flight (It's mostly just Allegiance that gets seen as "a bit pointless") but almost no one claims to hate the original Thrawn books.


On TV Tropes, in particular, the Hand of Thrawn books seem to be well regarded:

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HandOfThrawn

That article was probably written entirely by 1 guy.

[Tirian]

Really? I thought the Hand of Thrawn Duology at least was up to par. And the others (Survivor's Quest, Outbound Flight, Allegiance) all seem to be somewhat liked.

To be honest, it could well simultaneously be the second best arc in the Expanded Universe AND a big step down from the Thrawn Trilogy. But I don't think it was trying to be as influential or memorable, it's a coda to the New Republic Era and isn't going to have the impact that the introduction of all the characters and dynamics of that era.

I joked earlier that these were the only five books you needed to read. But I've really been through the majority of the books written in the era between the Battle of Yavin and the Solo children coming of age and very few of them are painfully unreadable. Most are forgettable but if you're a reader you wouldn't mind reading them. To be candid, I tended even to enjoy the Jedi Academy trilogy before learning that Kevin J. Anderson is the only person Star Wars fans hate even more than George Lucas. :smalltongue:

I can't speak to the prequel novels or anything that happened during or after the New Jedi Order, though.

[Closet_Skeleton]

To be candid, I tended even to enjoy the Jedi Academy trilogy before learning that Kevin J. Anderson is the only person Star Wars fans hate even more than George Lucas. :smalltongue

He's not so bad in collaboration. As long as the guy he's collabourating with isn't also a total hack. Tales of the Jedi (the comic series KotOR is a very loose sequel to) starts okay, starts getting interesting when KJA joins the creative team and then takes a nose dive when KJA is left as the sole creative force until he starts colabourating with his artist and somehow pulls off a sublime finish.

[snoopy13a]

I would say read the Han Solo trilogy by Brian Daley that came out in between Star Wars and Empire, when no one really knew anything about the 'official' SW universe. Enjoy, then walk away briskly and don't look back.

I read some of those books really back in the day. It seems kinda hard to find, especially with the newer Han Solo trilogy out. I believe there is also a pre-Zahn Lando series of books as well.

[hamishspence]

They are hard to find. I've read the Brian Daley books, but still haven't managed to read the Black Fleet Crisis, or the Lando Calrissian trilogy.



I can't speak to the prequel novels or anything that happened during or after the New Jedi Order, though.

Of the prequel-era novels, for me, Outbound Flight is one of the best, though Matt Stover's Shatterpoint is pretty good, and his Revenge of the Sith novelization very good. Not least because it tends to chuck out some of the more dire lines from the movie.

James Luceno's The Rise of Darth Vader is also quite good.

[Daimbert]

For ones that were missed:

The "Tales of ... " short story collections are actually pretty good and tie directly into moments around the movies, so if you can find them they're worth checking out. As an added bonus, some of the authors -- like Zahn and Stackpole -- wrote in at least one of them ("Tales from the Empire", I think, has a long short story collaboration between Zahn and Stackpole) which will introduce some of the characters before they appear in the later novels.

"Shadows of the Empire" is good for this as well.

The Thrawn trilogy is indeed good, and the duology is not as good.

The X-Wing series is pretty good, and if you read it you'll probably want to read "I, Jedi" as well, which is one of my favourites. And I think "Starfighters of Andumar" is an excellent introduction as to why Allston is one of my favourites.

The Bounty Hunter trilogy is good and, I'd say, required if you like the bounty hunters, or Boba Fett.

NJO is okay.

Legacy of the Force is okay.

Avoid the Joiner trilogy like the plague.

I haven't read much that was associated with the prequels, so can't say much about them.

[Yora]

The Thrawn trilogy is even more Star Wars than the movies are.
Zahn takes everything that is great about the idea of star wars, but avoids the problem with George Lucas' filmmaking.
Probably Star Wars at its best.

But the X-Wing novel series is also very good.

Looking back, and I've read almost all novels until New Jedi Order came along, these two series are probably the best there are. There are many other novels that are okay, but many are really not that great.


("Tales from the Empire", I think, has a long short story collaboration between Zahn and Stackpole)
*nerdgasm* I have to read that. :smallbiggrin:

[Platinum_Mongoose]

The Thrawn trilogy is even more Star Wars than the movies are.


Seeing as how the movies are "Star Wars" in their purest state, I don't see how this is mathematically possible. Opinion may vary, but math never will! :smallbiggrin:

[Daimbert]

*nerdgasm* I have to read that. :smallbiggrin:

Three guesses as to which characters are prominently featured in it ... and the first two don't count.

[Yora]

Pallaeon, Corran Horn, and Mara Jade.

At what time does it take place? If he's not yet dead, also Thrawn.

[hamishspence]

Vader is in it, as is Thrawn. Its been a while, so I can't remember who else.

[Daimbert]

Pallaeon, Corran Horn, and Mara Jade.

At what time does it take place? If he's not yet dead, also Thrawn.

It's before the Thrawn trilogy, so, yes, Thrawn is in it. And Corran Horn. So, interestingly, is HAL Horn. I can't remember if Mara Jade is actually in that one, though. Or Pellaeon.