So I was curious as to what you guys thought the best Star Wars books are. Right now I'm reading Darth Plagueis by James Luceno and it is fantastic.

I'm looking to read about the Mandalorians & I was curious what books I should pick up. I've heard you should definitely stay away from Karen Traviss as she is an awful author, but I was curious to see what you guys thought.

Any advice you guys have would be great.

So I was curious as to what you guys thought the best Star Wars books are. Right now I'm reading Darth Plagueis by James Luceno and it is fantastic.

 

I'm looking to read about the Mandalorians & I was curious what books I should pick up. I've heard you should definitely stay away from Karen Traviss as she is an awful author, but I was curious to see what you guys thought.

 

Any advice you guys have would be great.

The beginning of Revan is pretty cool

It's difficult to say what the best book is because that's fairly subjective. However, I can say that my favorite book is Yoda: Dark Rendezvous. Mostly because of the development of the characters and the expansion on Dooku's relationship with Yoda. In Dark Rendezvous, we get to see the depth of Yoda's character and how much he cares for his fellow Jedi, even the ones that fall from grace.

We get introduced to good characters like Scout, who has a heart as large as her name, and Jai Maruk, who is pretty much the Darth Maul of the Jedi (trained his body into a living weapon).

On the whole, Dark Rendezvous is a great book if you have any interest in Yoda and Dooku.

Of course this was all before TCW did everything it could to retcon their characters.

Thrawn trilogy is one of my favorites. Introduces Mara Jade, Thrawn, Paellon, Talon Karrade, as well as the Solo twins.

I like the FoTJ series. Really long series though and the books are thick as all get up. Some are more interesting than others but overall worth a read. Named one of my characters in game after the female anti-hero, Vestara Khai.

As far as mandolorian books, I haven't really read beyond some Boba Fett bounty tales, and one Karen Travis Republic Commando book.

I'm looking to read about the Mandalorians & I was curious what books I should pick up. I've heard you should definitely stay away from Karen Traviss as she is an awful author, but I was curious to see what you guys thought

Whoever said that is pretty much an idiot or really hates Mandalorians so if your interest is indeed Mandalorians I'd ignore this guy as he obviously has no sense or is trying to troll you.

Karen Traviss is responsible for the majority of cultural knowledge and linguistics/words we have in Mandalorian in the EU. Her Republic Commando series is stellar and her work in the Legacy series was great (though it is definitely more Mandalorian heavy than the other books).

Knights of the Old Republic Graphic Novels were also fantastic.

As for my favorite ever, it is definitely the X-wing series both the Rouge and Wraith squadron books. Republic Commando series comes a close second and is by far the best look at Mandalorian culture in all the EU.

Whoever said that is pretty much an idiot or really hates Mandalorians so if your interest is indeed Mandalorians I'd ignore this guy as he obviously has no sense or is trying to troll you.

 

Karen Traviss is responsible for the majority of cultural knowledge and linguistics/words we have in Mandalorian in the EU. Her Republic Commando series is stellar and her work in the Legacy series was great (though it is definitely more Mandalorian heavy than the other books).

 

Her first Republic Commando novel was awesome. Then she completely lost herself in Mandalorian-love and the series turned bad. Likewise, her dislike (mildly) for Jedi is also well documented.

As for the books, I still think New Jedi Order series is probably the pinnacle of the books, but of course very long.

Edit: If you like Mandalorians, Legacy of the Force has a whole lot of Mandalorians (though unnecessarily so, but that series won't make much sense if you haven't read NJO)

Whoever said that is pretty much an idiot or really hates Mandalorians so if your interest is indeed Mandalorians I'd ignore this guy as he obviously has no sense or is trying to troll you.

 

Karen Traviss is responsible for the majority of cultural knowledge and linguistics/words we have in Mandalorian in the EU. Her Republic Commando series is stellar and her work in the Legacy series was great (though it is definitely more Mandalorian heavy than the other books).

 

Knights of the Old Republic Graphic Novels were also fantastic.

 

As for my favorite ever, it is definitely the X-wing series both the Rouge and Wraith squadron books. Republic Commando series comes a close second and is by far the best look at Mandalorian culture in all the EU.

Karen Traviss is a horrendous writer, unless you have a love of Mandalorians that is enough to blind you to all the reasons everyone else hates her. If you are that fortunate, more power to you.

But yeh, she's pretty much the most hated Star Wars Author.

Jedi Academy Trilogy by Kevin J. Anderson

"Shadows of the Empire" by Steve Perry

"The Mandalorian Armor" and "Slave Ship" by K.W. Jeter

Anything by Timothy Zahn

Skewer me and put me over the fire...but I enjoyed Revan most.

I have a severely limited perspective as I've only read from Darth Plagueis and prior (in regards to the timeline found at the beginning of the novels)

It was most likely because I was familiar with the characters. When I first started with Deceived, I felt like I was getting half the picture due to the references to Star Wars characters/worlds/items I'd never heard of.

Karen Traviss is a horrendous writer, unless you have a love of Mandalorians that is enough to blind you to all the reasons everyone else hates her. If you are that fortunate, more power to you.

 

But yeh, she's pretty much the most hated Star Wars Author.

She certainly gets no shortage of hate thrown her way for her Mandalorians>Jedi preference, but what is it about her writing itself that's so bad? Setting aside the "my fictional warriors can beat up your fictional warriors" pissing contest, the underlying writing quality seemed on par with most other SW authors.

All I've personally read of hers are the three books she did in LotF, and those didn't stand out as significantly better or worse than the others. The worst I can say about them is that her Mando-love led to inconsistencies in the characters when compared to the other books in the series. But that is (A) hardly a problem unique to her among SW authors, and (B) something I would imagine is far, far less of an issue in all of her other books since those are focused primarily on new characters.

Skewer me and put me over the fire...but I enjoyed Revan most..

Me in a nutshell

She certainly gets no shortage of hate thrown her way for her Mandalorians>Jedi preference, but what is it about her writing itself that's so bad? Setting aside the "my fictional warriors can beat up your fictional warriors" pissing contest, the underlying writing quality seemed on par with most other SW authors.

 

All I've personally read of hers are the three books she did in LotF, and those didn't stand out as significantly better or worse than the others. The worst I can say about them is that her Mando-love led to inconsistencies in the characters when compared to the other books in the series. But that is (A) hardly a problem unique to her among SW authors, and (B) something I would imagine is far, far less of an issue in all of her other books since those are focused primarily on new characters.

LotF is a good example. The entire Mandalore-arc was utterly pointless and had absolutely nothing to do with the overall plot of the series until Revelation.

Likewise, she got completely lost in the Republic Commando Series. The first one is a seriously awesome book (one of the best SW novels imo) but then the second one already starts to have less to do with the Republic Commandos and more with "Mandalore good, Jedi bad". And from that point on, it just turns completely unbearable.

That said:

She does get a lot of hate for being the author that killed off Mara Jade, which in my opinion isn't entirely fair.

As for the books, I still think New Jedi Order series is probably the pinnacle of the books, but of course very long.

/shudder

I stopped reading the EU because I could not stand the NJO books. I forced myself to book six or seven and just stopped...I just could not take it anymore.

And it took me YEARS to start reading Star Wars again.

My long time favorites are:

Thrawn Trilogy (I read it when it was first published and was completely hooked on the EU for a LONG time after)

X-wing series (warning no Jedi)

I, Jedi (first person perspective of the events of the Jedi Academy Trilogy)

Han Solo Trilogy (life of Han Solo before ANH)

Bounty Hunter Wars Trilogy (Boba Fett is the protagonist)

More recently:

Lost Tribe of the Sith (nine ebook short stories; first 8 free)

Labyrinth of Evil & Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader (pre and post RoTS; they add information missing from the film)

Darth Bane Trilogy

Darth Plagueis

Allegiance and Choices of One (early lives of Thrawn Trilogy characters)

Outbound Flight

/shudder

 

I stopped reading the EU because I could not stand the NJO books. I forced myself to book six or seven and just stopped...I just could not take it anymore.

 

 

I guess if you enjoy watching heroes get beat down over and over and over again, and just when you think they are going to get up off the ground they get beat down again....UGH!!!!

 

 

Opinions differ, I suppose. I absolutely loved the fact that it made Star Wars a bit darker, grey and that it was (still is) the only time the enemy wasn't Imperial/Sith. The character development was superb, I thought and the best part was the fact there wasn't anymore "main character invincibility" (Luke being in serious trouble, the Falcon barely escaping and the Solo kids getting captured did get a bit boring after a while)

But I am curious, you said you read until book six or seven...

Karen Traviss is a horrendous writer, unless you have a love of Mandalorians that is enough to blind you to all the reasons everyone else hates her. If you are that fortunate, more power to you.

 

But yeh, she's pretty much the most hated Star Wars Author.

Drew Karpyshyn kinda got "worst SW writer" after the Revan novel so please Sel...

Just because you dislike what she wrote about doesn't make her a bad writer. Her actual writing (as in the stories she told) was good, thought provoking, and enjoyable reading. Unlike a lot of Star Wars writers she brought more passion and morally grey dilemmas that Star Wars is actually well known for avoiding. Not only that, she did so in the context of a society with entirely different cultural views and perspectives to many modern societies.

Like one dude said earlier, aside from the Mando-Jedi pissing contest she and Allston got into how exactly is her work bad? People don't like her from dragging Jedi through the mud, not because her actual writing was bad...

I have what I enjoy, yes, but at least I'm somewhat objective about it. I understand why people dislike her work.

I disagree with them, I don't pretend they don't exist or that they don't have any valid points. I just disagree.

Drew Karpyshyn kinda got "worst SW writer" after the Revan novel so please Sel...

 

I like Drew Karpyshyn...Never read a Travis book, Going to read Republic commando though.Honestly, there is no star wars book I don't like (besides THESE ones that are obviously for kids :http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Star_Wars:_The_Secret_Life_of_Droids http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Star_Wars:_Beware_the_Sith

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Star_Wars:_Mysteries_of_the_Jedi

Theres also a crappy clone one)

She does get a lot of hate for being the author that killed off Mara Jade, which in my opinion isn't entirely fair.

Who's decision was that? I hated that decision. Killing off Mara Jade was a mistake.

I like Drew Karpyshyn...Never read a Travis book, Going to read Republic commando though.Honestly, there is no star wars book I don't like (besides THESE ones that are obviously for kids :http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Star_Wars:_The_Secret_Life_of_Droids http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Star_Wars:_Beware_the_Sith

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Star_Wars:_Mysteries_of_the_Jedi

Theres also a crappy clone one)

Don't get me wrong, his other work was alright but the Revan novel was just terrible not only because it completely ignored some of the established canon of the time and rewrote a lot of the character's personalities but it was in general not well paced, well written, and had several scenes that felt entirely unnecessary.

Honestly, it felt like he rushed out to wrap up KOTOR and link it to SWTOR all in a single compact book. It just didn't work.

Thrawn Trilogy (I read it when it was first published and was completely hooked on the EU for a LONG time after)

X-wing series (warning no Jedi)

I, Jedi (first person perspective of the events of the Jedi Academy Trilogy)

Allegiance and Choices of One (early lives of Thrawn Trilogy characters)

Outbound Flight

These I'll sign, as I've read them and consider them good works. The "Hand of Thrawn" (2 books) was also quite good, but you don't expect less of Zahn. Characters with motivations that you can feel some sympathy for even if they're on the wrong side, or appear to be.

Who's decision was that? I hated that decision. Killing off Mara Jade was a mistake.

Eh, it drove the story and was a pretty epic ending so while I loved Mara I understood it.

As far as I know, it wasn't Karen's goal to kill her off and even so a lot of Lucasarts employees and the other writers probably had to sign off on it so there isn't much reason to heap it all on her.

Don't get me wrong, his other work was alright but the Revan novel was just terrible not only because it completely ignored some of the established canon of the time and rewrote a lot of the character's personalities but it was in general not well paced, well written, and had several scenes that felt entirely unnecessary.

 

Honestly, it felt like he rushed out to wrap up KOTOR and link it to SWTOR all in a single compact book. It just didn't work.

I personally LOVED Revan, but I will respect your opinion.

I personally LOVED Revan, but I will respect your opinion.

Well alright, I can respect that. What exactly did you enjoy most about it? (curiosity)