Greetings,

I was a casual Star Wars fan. Now however, after spending many hours with SWTOR and watching what, is in my opinion, the fantastic Clone Wars series I'm interested in delving deeper into the expanded universe. After bumbling around the internet and coming across Darth Talon, Darth Krayt, and the whole New Jedi Order time setting, I come before you, the greater Star Wars community, to seek advice on where to start in terms of the books?

Is there a chronological order anywhere of the whole New Jedi Order book series? Does such a series exist? I'm mostly interested in Darth Krayt and Talon. Where should I start for those two? I'm tried a little research myself but became a little lost, so I thought I'd turn to the source itself for answers. My fellow Star Wars fans who are steeped far deeper in Lore than I.

Thanks in advance!

Thanks for the reply Kilikaa,

Ah yeah Darth Bane, the "Rule of 2" guy haha. Well that' sounds like an excellent starting point to me! I also did not even consider the role of comics/graphic novels, I'll look further into that. Again, thanks for the jumping off points.

The first major release for a book after the original movies aired was the Heir to the Empire trilogy. That is the first book series I read, and it is by far my favorite. If you can get your hands on the 20th Anniversary Edition, it even comes annotated with all the backstory that caused the book's creation. It introduces many of the characters that became hallmarks of the expanded universe.

If you are interested in that part of the timeline, I'd also recommend the X-Wing series. It follows Wedge Antilles as he leads his squadrons against the empire. Its a lot of really cool starfighter shoot-em-up action, and focuses on the average Joes of Star Wars instead of the Jedi/Sith conflict. I'd love some kind of TV series based on the X-Wing series. I'd watch the hell out of that.

As for the Jedi side of things in that timeline, The Jedi Academy Trilogy (which shows Luke starting to reestablish the Jedi order).

All physical copies of Star Wars books come with a timeline that tells you what all series are available. Just pick a starting point, and read from there. The Major story arcs are all grouped together, and for the most part you can skip the stuff between them if they don't interest you. Besides the major arcs, each book is very well self contained.

The first major release for a book after the original movies aired was the Heir to the Empire trilogy. That is the first book series I read, and it is by far my favorite. If you can get your hands on the 20th Anniversary Edition, it even comes annotated with all the backstory that caused the book's creation. It introduces many of the characters that became hallmarks of the expanded universe.

 

If you are interested in that part of the timeline, I'd also recommend the X-Wing series. It follows Wedge Antilles as he leads his squadrons against the empire. Its a lot of really cool starfighter shoot-em-up action, and focuses on the average Joes of Star Wars instead of the Jedi/Sith conflict. I'd love some kind of TV series based on the X-Wing series. I'd watch the hell out of that.

 

As for the Jedi side of things in that timeline, The Jedi Academy Trilogy (which shows Luke starting to reestablish the Jedi order).

 

All physical copies of Star Wars books come with a timeline that tells you what all series are available. Just pick a starting point, and read from there. The Major story arcs are all grouped together, and for the most part you can skip the stuff between them if they don't interest you. Besides the major arcs, each book is very well self contained.

If you want to start your EU journey where the movies left off, the above post is right. You could start with the Heir to the Empire aor The Jedi Academy Trilogy. However, in my opinion these books a rather boring since I'm a huge sith fan, and the sith don't get much attention in these books. They do a little in The Jedi Academy trilogy, but no where near as to what I personally preferer. That said those two series focus very much on The New Republic vs. The Imperial Reminant and the rebuilding of the jedi order.

If you don't mind skipping the whole aftermatch of the movies stuff you could jump right to the New Jedi Order series. These series focus much on the Solo children Jacen, Jaina and Anakin Solo along with the usual characters. However, a word of warning, this series is kind of strange compared to the rest of the EU because it tries to add some "alien" factor to the Star Wars Universe by having a strange alien race from outside the known galaxy called The Yuuzhan Vong attack. Therefore, this series isn't for everyone.

However, if you want a story more true to the Star Wars stille series I would pick the Legacy of the Force series. It takes place 10 years after the New Jedi Order series end, and focus on the Second Galactic Civil War, along with the raise of the New Dark Lord of the Sith. (One of my personal favorits!)

After the Legacy of the Force series, there are the Fate of the Jedi series which take place 2 years after the Legacy of the Force. However, I really recomment that you read the Legacy of the Force series first, since the two series are very close tight together.

If you however want to focus on the Old Republic Era I would start with the Tales of Jedi series. The whole Old Republic Era sprang from these comics, and this game wouldn't be here if not for them. It tell you a lot of useful bagground knowledge about the galaxies current setting too. Then there is the "Knights of the Old Republic" comic series which take part during the Mandalorien Wars, and the Knights of the Old Republic games.

Then ofc there is the Old Republic novels: Decived, Fatal Alliance, Revan and the new one Anilation.

Then there are the Darth Bane series which kind of builds a bridge between the Old Republic's sith and the sith you see in the movies. Going from hundreds of sith to only two. It takes place approximately 1000 years before the movies and 2000 years after this game.

If you want something around the movie era's I would recomment reading Dark Lord: The Raise of Darth Vader, which is three books in one, telling the story of Anakin just before Episode III, during Episode III and just after Episode III.

I could mention more books and Comics, but I believe this should be enough for you to go on. Otherwise try googling Star Wars Expanded Univers Timeline, and you should be able to find a list of many of the different books, depending on how up to date it is.

Best Regards Darth Iradox

Wow, thanks Spencer_ and Inzuher! Fantastic suggestions.

I was overwhelmed but going off what you guys have said, aided by the mighty google, I've got a handle on the EU stuff I believe. Once again thank you, and Merry Life Day to you all!

For Darth Krayt, I don't know where his story starts, but the Legacy of the Force graphic novels/comics show him a lot as the main antagonist vs Cade Skywalker and the like. It's 130+ ABY.

Right. Talon and Krayt are from the comic series set about 100 years after the NJO (c. 25 ABY). There are some connections going back to the NJO (and even one that goes as far back as KotOR times), but it's mostly self-contained. (Knowledge of the NJO era and the Vong Invasion is useful, but not absolutely necessary.)

Darth Krayt was born 47 years Before the Battle of Yavin (BBY), his name was A'Sharad Hett, and he was a Jedi Master who survived Order 66. I do not recall when he fell to the Dark Side, but I am sure that it was before the Legacy of the Force series where Jacen Solo became the Dark Lord of the Sith. Krayt was mentioned in one of the books in this series, though I do not believe that it was by name. At this time he was living on Korriba. To date, the final book that he has been mentioned in (again not by name) that is not a graphic novel is in the book Apocalypse, where he actually meets Luke Skywalker, if memory serves.

That being said, the series that he is primarily found in is that which others have mentioned, the Legacy graphic novel series set 130 years After the Battle of Yavin (ABY).

GymQuirk, Tovex, and Vactus, thank you all for the response.

As an EU newb, this is all very exciting for me, lol. I've got a list of books and grahpic novels to track down now.

Again, thanks to everyone in this thread, I think I've got the info I need, I knew this great players like yourselves would step up. Now, if you'll excuse me I've got some book orders to place!

May the Force be with you, always.