I have recently gotten back into Star Wars and was wondering if there are any good series or novels/movies out there that someone could recommend? I just read the Darth Bane series and really enjoyed that, if that helps

Thanks.

Dig deeper and you'll find the series of novels from the 90s that timeline wise span from the day after Episode 6 (The Truce at Bakura) to almost 20 years after (Specter of the Past & Vision of the Future) stopping just before the New Jedi Order series, which people have mixed feelings about.

notable series in this time frame are the Thrawn trilogy by Timothy Zahn, Rogue Squadron/Wraith Squadron by Michael Stackpole and Aaron Allston, the Jedi Academy trilogy (can't remember author or series' name but its about Luke starting his Praxeum and the search for new Jedi, plus Daala!) and my personal favorite The Black Fleet Crisis by Michael P "Cube" McDowell. Ofcourse they're not all good, avoid The New Rebellion and The Crystal Star among a couple others I've mercifully forgotten

all in all it'll be about 20 books but many great stories.

as to the New Jedi Order it starts off good but gets really really bad after Star By Star, Destinys Way, and Balancing Point. The rest of that series after those three I hated but form your own opinion

enjoy!

I have recently gotten back into Star Wars and was wondering if there are any good series or novels/movies out there that someone could recommend? I just read the Darth Bane series and really enjoyed that, if that helps

 

Thanks.

A good one, especially for this expansion, is the Revan novel. Deceived, Fatal Alliance, and Annihilation are other good novels in the old republic timeline.

If you're interested in the continuing adventures of Luke, Leia, and Han I would definitely suggest starting with the Heir to the Empire trilogy by Timothy Zahn. It is completely accessible based off of only having seen the movies and introduces some characters who become as important to the Expanded Universe/"Legends" continuity as the movie characters themselves.

If you're going to be reading a lot of the Expanded Universe/"Legends" novels, I would follow that trilogy up with Courtship of Princess Leia since it is a decent read (though not as good as Zahn's work) and, like Heir, introduces characters and locations who are featured/referenced repeatedly throughout the rest of the EU (it's actually set chronologically a couple years before Heir to the Empire, but I think Heir is the better starting point just because of its quality and scope).

These books and comics form kind of the 'main' storyline for the characters set after the movies (comics in blue, YA novels in yellow, in case you're not interested in reading either of those types of media - I would suggest reading a synopsis of them though):

• Truce at Bakura: Set literally the day after Return of the Jedi ends, but not really that good and doesn't have much of an impact going forward, I'd suggest just reading a synopsis.
  
• Courtship of Princess Leia: Continues the Han & Leia romance started in the movies, introduces some 'key players' in terms of planets and governments who show up repeatedly throughout the rest of the EU. Writing is okay.
  
• Heir to the Empire Trilogy: A must-read for a SW book fan. They're well-written and really feel like they progress the story of the major Star Wars characters. (Just ignore some time-line issues regarding Vader/the Clone Wars since these came out years before the Prequels.)
  
• Dark Empire Comic Meta-Series (Dark Empire, Dark Empire II, Empire's End): Definitely a love-it or hate-it series, both in terms of the writing and the plot/concept, but it is an influential one and tells the story of one of the key conflicts of this part of the timeline.
  
• Jedi Academy Trilogy: Another love-it or hate-it series. Not nearly as well written as Zhan's Thrawn trilogy, but noteworthy in that they progress the main story of the characters and set up a lot of the new characters who play a role in this and future eras. An OK read overall.
  
• Children of the Jedi/Darksaber/Planet of Twilight/The Crystal Star/The Black Fleet Crisis Trilogy/The New Rebellion/The Corellia Trilogy: In my opinion, these 11 books are probably not worth your time. They fall into the "Status Quo is God" trap in that they really don't feel like they make any sort of impact on the characters or progress their stories. All of them can be summed up as: A random Imperial Warlord/new alien enemy/Han's evil cousin shows up -> causes trouble (probably kidnapping Leia's kids in the process) -> is defeated; rinse and repeat. If you're going to read any of the books set after these, I'd just skim through a quick synopsis online somewhere (or in the Essential Reader's Companion guidebook) to get the jist of what happened.
  
• Young Jedi Knights Series: This is a Young Adult Series, so an adult reader may or may not care for them. I think they're okay, but I may be biased by nostalgia. The first six books, however, set up some key characters and relationships for the adult novels in The New Jedi Order and beyond (and all six combined only takes about as long as a single adult novel to read).
  
• Hand of Thrawn Duology: Another series by fan-favorite author Timothy Zahn, so worth a read on that alone. They also established the Chiss species/government and act as a kind of capstone for the New Republic era of books before the license went to a new publisher and The New Jedi Order started really shaking things up. Definitely worth reading.
  
• Union comic: Actually a pretty optional read, but it does cover a major event in Luke's life.
  
• New Jedi Order series; Dark Nest Trilogy; Legacy of the Force series; Fate of the Jedi series: Just for length, my thoughts on these series (which total 40 novels) are here in another post.
  

 

[*]Children of the Jedi/Darksaber/Planet of Twilight/The Crystal Star/The Black Fleet Crisis Trilogy/The New Rebellion/The Corellia Trilogy: In my opinion, these 11 books are probably not worth your time. They fall into the "Status Quo is God" trap in that they really don't feel like they make any sort of impact on the characters or progress their stories. All of them can be summed up as: A random Imperial Warlord/new alien enemy/Han's evil cousin shows up -> causes trouble (probably kidnapping Leia's kids in the process) -> is defeated; rinse and repeat. If you're going to read any of the books set after these, I'd just skim through a quick synopsis online somewhere (or in the Essential Reader's Companion guidebook) to get the jist of what happened

]

8/11 Agreed. Those others are pretty bad and you're right: Status Quo Is God trope is in full play in them, and most of the pre-NJO EU which caused me to quit reading Star Wars

HOWEVER! I stand by my favorite series, The Black Fleet Crisis as it has many things the other books didnt or at at least that others didn't do well. Its heavy on war and political intrigue. It has more characterization of Chewbacca and wookies in general, somewhat humanizes the Empire, is critical of Leia and her Chancellorship, shows Han out of his element as a General, features new craft and tech and so much more. That's just the main plot. Landos subplot with the Vagabond is interesting and mysterious and characterizes Lobot. My only criticism is Lukes subplot which boring as all hell. I skipped most of it.

finally, while Good triumphs over evil just like we knew it would it feels good in this series considering what bastards the the Yevetha are

I have recently gotten back into Star Wars and was wondering if there are any good series or novels/movies out there that someone could recommend? I just read the Darth Bane series and really enjoyed that, if that helps

 

Thanks.

I recommend the Legacy comics. They are REALLY good. Set over a century after episode six, the galaxy has completely changed. The empire is back in power but the sith tried to overthrow it splitting it in two. The new emperor is my new favorite sith, Darth Krayt and cade Skywalker is awesome. It is a must read

A good one, especially for this expansion, is the Revan novel. Deceived, Fatal Alliance, and Annihilation are other good novels in the old republic timeline.

I haven't read the Revan one yet, but the others you mention are good reads. Not great, and not something I'd recommend to anyone who isn't a SWTOR fan, but for those that are they add a lot of depth to the game lore.

Edit: On the subject of Annihilation, perhaps someone could answer a question I have:

On the subject of Annihilation, perhaps someone could answer a question I have:

 

I'm only partway into it, but there's been mention of histories between characters - Theron and the Twi'lek girl, plus Theron and his adopted Jedi father figure (forget his name) and the mission they were on when said father figure died. Does anyone know what novel/comic/whatever this story is featured in?

I believe that's all in Dark Horse's Lost Suns comics, which also feature Karrid's master Darth Mekhis.

I haven't read the Revan one yet, but the others you mention are good reads. Not great, and not something I'd recommend to anyone who isn't a SWTOR fan, but for those that are they add a lot of depth to the game lore.

 

 

It was interesting to read Fatal Alliance immediately before playing SoR, with the cooperation between republic/empire to take down a common enemy.

 

 

Edit: On the subject of Annihilation, perhaps someone could answer a question I have:

 

I'm only partway into it, but there's been mention of histories between characters - Theron and the Twi'lek girl, plus Theron and his adopted Jedi father figure (forget his name) and the mission they were on when said father figure died. Does anyone know what novel/comic/whatever this story is featured in?

I am a big fan of the SWTOR era, but most of its novels are not awesome, decent at most.

I believe the comic is the The Lost Suns

I agree with pretty much everything said here, except for the comments about "Darksaber" which kept me laughing thru most of the book. (I found myself saying "this isn't gonna end well" by the time I'd made it half way thru the book lol.)

Also a book no-one has mentioned that I though was really good is "I, Jedi" it's about Corran Horn, takes place at the same time as the Jedi Academy trilogy, and is written so everything is seen from Corrans point of view.

I have recently gotten back into Star Wars and was wondering if there are any good series or novels/movies out there that someone could recommend? I just read the Darth Bane series and really enjoyed that, if that helps

 

Thanks.

The only things that are similar to the Bane books in quality is the Darth Plagueis book and the kotor 1/2 games.

* * *

If you are gonna delve into comics don't bother with anything else except Tales of the Jedi.

PS:swtor related material is recommended by default ,because it's good(1) and we are on their website.

(1) with the exception of the huge fail at depicting the Exile.

For game related: Deceived is pretty good and is the story of Malgus...

For after episode 6 from the movies the Thrawn trilogy. They were the SW books I enjoyed the most out of all I have read.

I believe that's all in Dark Horse's Lost Suns comics, which also feature Karrid's master Darth Mekhis.

Thank you!

I've just read Scoundrels by Timothy Zahn. It's about Han Solo setting up an Ocean's 11-style caper in the time period right after the Battle of Yavin.

Highly recommended and there's no Sith or Jedi in the story.

on the subject of comics the KOTOR comics are proably my favorite of the dark horse SW run

While I enjoy the on-going story of the characters from the movies, I do think the best SW fiction has been the stories set in different time periods, since the writers actually have a lot more freedom and there can be actual jeopardy for some of the characters.

The KOTOR comic series and the Legacy comic series are both great and definitely worth a read (although I will say that while Legacy may be my favorite EU product overall, I think it works best if you're familiar with the movie-era EU up to at least the start of Legacy of the Force)