Star Wars Books

[The J Pizzel]

So my friend, a severe SW nut, loaned me Vector Prime, which is one of the books of the New Jedi Order. Now, I'm not a ubber fan, but I do love and respect SW. He loaned it to me thinking I'd like it since it was written by R.A. Salvatore. I freakin hated it. "No biggie", my firend says "I've got another for you to try". At this point he loans me Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader. For those who don't know, this book picks up right after Episode III and tell the story of Vader/Anakin getting used to his new suit and the story of the Jedi Purge. A vast improvement, but I still read it very slowly. He then realized that I've always been much more interested in the past stories of the Sith and Jedi order. And he remembers how much I loved KOTOR. So he says to me "JP, I have the book you won't be able to put down...at this point he finally loans me Darth Bane: Path of Destruction. HOLY SHNICKIES!!!! This is what I've been waiting for. This is the story of the Sith Lord Darth Bane. For those who don't know, Bane is the one who re-iniated the "rule of two". As in, one sith lord and one apprentice. It is a very easy read and actually read it in about 3 days. Has anyone else read this book? What did yall think of it? Are there any other books set in the Old Republic like this that I can read?

[Om]

SW books I find to be poor in the extreme. There's almost no merit to them. The only exception that I would make is Zahn's very entertaining Thrawn trilogy.


Bane is the one who re-iniated the "rule of two"Were any of his other actions as stupid? :smallwink:

[Wippit Guud]

Thrawn Trilogy
Spectres of the Past and Visions of the Future (both by Zahn)
Bounty Hunter Wars - I'm a Boba Fett Nut (not by Zahn)

[ampcptlogic]

Interestingly enough, Zahn has written a book about the Outbound Flight project. Has anyone read it?

[Lord Iames Osari]

I think I have... or is that the other one? Argh.

[Dragonrider]

ALL HAIL TIMOTHY ZAHN:

His Star Wars books are (in order of writing, which is the best way to read them):

Heir to the Empire
Dark Force Rising
The Last Command
Specter of the Past
Vision of the Future
Survivor's Quest
Fool's Bargain (an e-book)
Outbound Flight

The seven (not including Fool's Bargain) have a name and I can't seem to remember...the Thrawn Septology? In any case, they're the only Star Wars books I really care for, although Roger MacBride Allen's Corellian Trilogy isn't bad.

[sun_tzu]

Interestingly enough, Zahn has written a book about the Outbound Flight project. Has anyone read it?
I have. It was awesome. We got to see Thrawn before he joined the Empire...And he rocked just as much as in the Thrawn Tilogy.

[Jerthanis]

While I consider the Thrawn books to be overrated, they are some of the better Star Wars books.

My favorites of the Star Wars books are the X-wing books, particularly the ones about Wraith squadron (I like underdogs, Rogue Squadron was too perfect) and the book Traitor specifically in the New Jedi Order. Traitor is unique in that it falls directly in the middle of a long series, yet doesn't require much context to enjoy. It had an amazing plot which doesn't let up, and has some of the most profound thinking on the nature of the force. Thinking that is being misunderstood in later books. Traitor actually ruined Star Wars books for me in that it was so good that nothing else could really compare. It also introduced me to Matthew Woodring Stover, who is one of my favorite authors today.

Now, Darth Bane's ideas on the force are pretty silly. The force as a finite resource? How exactly did he decide that? The best way of preserving sith traditions is to have only two people at a time who know the information, and then have the less knowledgeable kill the master when THEY think they're ready? That plan sounds like it's the worst plan possible!


Now, Darth Bane could be totally awesome, as most ancient jedi and sith are. (compare Nomi Sunrider to say... Kyp Durron) but his rule of two and the philosophy behind it are both ludicrous in my mind.

[Bears With Lasers]

For quality gems among the general SW-book crud, check out Matt Stover's Shatterpoint and Traitor. I read'em because of the author, even though I normally don't read, essentially, licensed fan-fiction; I wasn't disappointed.

[Ashildr_the_Bard]

If anyone here has read a good bit of the Expanded Universe stuff, perhaps you can help me with a fanfic I'm writing. I'm looking for any books (or other sources) that have a lot of information in Jango Fett, specifically his personality, manner of speech, etc. I read all the entries about him on Wookiepedia, but I need to get more of a feel for his character.

[Amotis]

I liked the X-Wing series...but then again I was in middle school so I'm not sure what to think now.

[WampaX]

I have. It was awesome. We got to see Thrawn before he joined the Empire...And he rocked just as much as in the Thrawn Tilogy.

Curious if it was a redo of the Story in WEG's Star Wars adventure Journal . . . umm, can't remember the number right now.

Rummage Rummage Rummage

Aha - SWAJ #7 - Mist Encounter and it does appear to be reprinted in the paperback Outbound Flight. Nice reuse of an 11 year old story.

[TheThan]

My personal top picks are:
The Thrawn series by Timothy Zahn
The X-wing series by Michael A. Stackpole and Aaron Allston
I Jedi by Michael A. Stackpole
Tatooine Ghost by Troy Denning


The outbound flight books (Specter of the Past, Vision of the Future, Survivor's Quest, Outbound Flight) by Zahn are pretty good too but they’re not my favorites. Most of the stuff in the New Jedi Order series, or the Clone Wars are generally crap. For some reason the older stuff tends to be better than the newer stuff, I can’t seem to figure out why this phenomenon takes place but it does.

[Dragonrider]

Because at the point when the older stuff was written, George Lucas had not yet trashed Star Wars with his episodes I, II, and III.

:smallbiggrin: Just my humble opinion....

[Matthew]

They dropped a moon on Chewie for crying out loud!

The best Star Wars novels were, as has been said and without a doubt, Timothy Zahn's Thrawn trilogy, but even that had a rather unhappy ending. I quite enjoyed the Comic Book Series with the Emperor's clones as well, but that again had a disappointing ending.

[Logic]

Matthew, you should probably spoiler that event.
I thought Vector Prime was readable, but barely.
The Yuzzan Vong seemed to be a convieniant reason to sell more Star Wars books.
I really don't like to read a story where the first few books are about an undefeatable antagonist that your only hope is to run away. At least with the Empire, you could fight back and destroy a Star Destroyer or two before hightailing it.

[Matthew]

Good point.