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Books, novels, etc. Where to start


EpicBloood

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So, I decided I should get to reading more books, and with a fairly long plane ride coming up soon, figured Id start now. I have never read any star wars books, only played the games and seen movies.

 

What novel should I start with and in what order should I read (not sure if they r numbered n whatnot)

Also, if there are different eras or whatever, please recommend which to start with there aswell. (basically tell me what books to read in what order xD )

 

Thanks all.

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Never start.

 

The EU books are just bad in so many ways. Unbelievable characters. Ridiculous plot twists that make no logically coherent sense. Authors killing off or demeaning the characters and story lines of other authors in some pissing contest. Authors coming up with bigger and badder enemies out of nowhere, making the previous crisis meaningless in, again, a pissing contest.

 

The list goes on.

 

I mean, the authors don't even care enough to read or familiarize themselves with previous works or games. The Revan book is a perfect example of this. The newest book Annihilation which is supposed to happen roughly the same time as the MMO completely ***** ALL OVER what happens in the game because Drew needs to have his omnipotent characters.

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Do you want to start with the well written books or do you want to read them in order according to the timeline?

And what era? Old republic era? Pre SW IV? Post SW VI?

 

My favourites are the Thrawn triology and duology, followed by the Han Solo triology.

If you want more jedi and force the jedi academy triology is worth a read.

 

 

The question is, how much bad writing are you prepared to read? If badly written books dont annoy you, start with the truce at bakura and work your way onwards through the timeline. If you want to start with the best written books, start with the Thrawn triology by Thimoty Zahn.

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When I was young my mother bought me the first of the X-Wing novel series. It was probably the first novel I enjoyed enough to finish, followed by pretty much the entire timeline from that point.

 

Now I find myself going through them all again in order, again starting with the first X-Wing novel.

 

There are some that suck along the way. No doubt about it. I'm looking at you, The Courtship of Princess Leia.

 

But all in all I think they're a good continuation of the original trilogy, starting 6 years after the Battle of Yavin and really beginning the post Ep6 EU. Here's where you'll start to see groups, characters, and events that play a part all the way through to the newest Legacy-era novels.

 

That said, Lucas ****ed a lot up when he made the prequels. He changed some of the nature of the Jedi that kind of makes some EU characters' back stories impossible. You'll also see Jedi living lifestyles contrary to the norm in the prequels and timelines prior to them (including the Old Republic eras). Basically he just messed continuity up and I hate him for it, but Star Wars is "his", or whatever... even though the collective forces of the EU authors have put a lot more time into the universe than he has. But whatever. I'm not bitter. Really.

 

If you can get past that you'll like them. If you can't, well... I'm not sure there's anything in the EU that'll be easier to swallow.

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I can wholeheartedly recommend the Darth Bane trilogy: Path of Destruction, Rule of Two and Dynasty of Evil.

 

There's a lot of crappy novels out there. I generally try to stay away from stuff that is directly connected to the movies, like all those novels set during the Clone Wars. I've recently made my way through the audiobook version of the Legacy of the Force series, that was rather nice as well.

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I'm not really one for complaining about continuity mess ups, so long as the overall story is decent, I don't mind xD.

So I think I am going to start at the beginning and work my way through. Thanks all for the suggestions :).

 

 

Also, I am a big revan and kallig fan, I know revan is in the books somewhere, how about kallig?

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Start with Heir to the Empire, that is the first book in the Thrawn Trilogy. It is also the first novel ever published with Lucas' consent in the Star Wars genre. If you like it, finish the trilogy.

 

As others have said, there are a lot of poorly written novels in the SW EU.

 

IMO, anything by Timothy Zahn is worth reading:

Thrawn Trilogy

Thrawn Duology

Outbound Flight

Allegiance

Choices of One

 

The X-Wing series is excellent, but be warned there are no Jedi

The Han Solo trilogy is excellent (takes place pre-E4)

I liked the Bounty Hunter Wars trilogy (Boba Fett is the protagonist)

Darth Plagueis was an interesting read (E1 makes more sense to me after reading this)

The Lost Tribe of the Sith is an e-book only set of short stories that I enjoyed (although the last story did drag a little). Stories 1-8 are free. The ninth and final story is only available in the compilation and that costs $6.

I, Jedi is a POV story. it takes place during the Jedi Academy trilogy. It is written in the first person from the perspective of Corran Horn, a former Corellian Security officer, turned Rogue Squadron pilot (X-wing series) turned Jedi trainee. If you read this you'll want to read the Jedi Academy Trilogy first.

 

I recommend that you stay away from the Yuzhan Vong series. Many if not most fans dislike it.

 

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Timeline_of_books

The link above goes to Wookiepedia's EU timeline.

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There's the official EU Books timeline here http://suvudu.com/files/2012/03/SW_Timeline_March_2012.pdf

 

I started collecting when the prequels came out; I have now several periods entirely. Like the Old Republic Era, the Rise of the Empire Era, the Legacy Era, and new books published in the other eras. It really depends on what you're into, the kinds of stories you like to read. And then there's audiobooks. They're quite good, with Star Wars sound effects and soundtrack and so, it's very emerging. It got me to get the New Jedi Order Era in Audiobook format. The New Jedi Order is not one I'd start with, it's not a bad period per se, but it's less Star Wars and more sci-fi. The Yuzhang Vong and the stories there get into some pop sci-fi ground that to me wasn't that appealing. I like the Star Wars books that have political intrigue and adventure.

 

The Darth Bane books were mentioned, they're not bad, and written by Drew who was lead writer for SWTOR. I feel these books mostly deal with canon continuity. It explains the rule of two, that'd been referred to before in other books and comes down to what has been said in the prequels; there can be only two, one with the power and one to crave it. A rule that had been ascribed to Darth Bane, and the trilogy delves into the life of Bane and his apprentice. It connects the Old Republic, an era with thousands of Sith and Jedi, to the later periods with thousands of Jedi and two Sith. It makes a good read, it can be classified in the personal story category. Revan would be in the same category, it tells you about the life of Revan after KOTOR and before SWTOR. There are a bunch of books like these that can be read singularly, they're not part of a series. They're good books, but they make shorter stories compared to the books that are part of a series.

 

The series of books tell one story, written by a group of writers, with way more characters over a longer period of time. Lots of different events, culminating to an end of series event. These books are really what hooked me on SW Literature. There's lots of things happening in the galaxy, on different planets by different factions, and it's told from all kinds of viewpoints.

 

The Clone Wars literature, that unfortunately has been moved down in the canon tree (due to the children's cartoon network series popularity), was the first literature I got. It's a line of stand alone books that share the clone wars background. There's stories from Yoda, Mace Windu, Obi-Wan, Anakin, Count Dooku, etc. They're adventures on a single planet, you'll read about the political background on that planet, how the Jedi come in as diplomats/keepers of the peace, to resolve issues that threaten to plunge the planet and the sector in the galaxy into war and possibly the arms of the separatists. There's stories about the people on that planet, their species, their force background etc. Planets are really varied, there's urban planets, and tropical forest planets, rural backgrounds, tribal planets, etc. It shows how diverse the Star Wars galaxy is more than any other era. It places these stories in a larger situation that you know, the prequel movies, mostly EPI and EPII.

 

The Legacy Era literature is different. It continues the stories of the heroes. Han and Leia are married, had three children, and Luke and Mara married and had one child. It will continue their stories in a larger galaxy, they are on more planets, but you find out less about the galaxy and more about the story of the larger galaxy; what happens to the new Republic and the Imperial Remnant and its heroes. Unlike the Rise of the Empire Era, these books make one story, over several novels. That adds in many ways more depth to the story. It makes richer characters that are more developed, and more characters overall. And not to add many spoilers, but there's really a lot of interesting things happening, children falling to the dark side and a galaxy plunged in war yet again. It's told from the perspective of mostly force users, unlike the other era where troopers and other players also have their perspective told.

 

The Legacy of the Force series deals with what happens to the galaxy when someone falls to the dark side again. It's probably my favourite series. It has perspectives of the new Darth and the Jedi told. There's also history on the Mandalorians, their language, their culture etc. Boba Fett comes into play. It can be read without knowing much of the previous series (I hadn't read any of that when I started it). Though you might want to pick up the Dark Nest Trilogy at some point, as some of that comes back and also later again in the The Fate of the Jedi series. The rest of the New Jedi Order is not really necessary to read, all you need to know about it will be (re)told in this series, and the elaboration on that is not really relevant to the series.

 

The Fate of the Jedi series deals with an unknown force being, and finding a planet full of Sith (which links to the Old Republic era; Pandemonium). Jedi go mad, they don't know why, and public opinion is not with them, one of them fell to the dark side in the previous series after all and now there are mad Jedi going around. But it's also a lot about Luke's legacy, and at times I found reading about his teenage son and the teenage issues a bit annoying. But there's some romeo and julliet there, forbidden love. Oooh. And we learn of what might have created the galaxy. And for the first time really, we learn about some Sith culture. I would recommend reading Pandemonium from the Old Republic Era at some point while reading this series, as they are related (when this series was released they put a chapter of the book on the net for free a month before a new book was released).

 

I also enjoyed Knight Errant a lot. It's a single book (for now, I asked the author about the possibility of a series, and he said it was out of his hands but he'd like to write it). It's set in a new period in the Old Republic Era and is quite rich in describing the Sith Galaxy. In this period there's a great divide in the SW galaxy, part of it is Republic and part of it is Sith. Both know very little about each other's parts of the galaxy. And here one Jedi Knight gets lost in the Sith region and discouvers much of Sith culture. It's an era where there's several lineages of Sith, they all have their own way of ruling, and have divided their part of the galaxy. They're at war with each other, and with the Jedi. I liked reading it, as it's got lots of characters, planets and so on. But it leaves one wanting more, and for now there's none coming.

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Start with Heir to the Empire, that is the first book in the Thrawn Trilogy. It is also the first novel ever published with Lucas' consent in the Star Wars genre. If you like it, finish the trilogy.

 

As others have said, there are a lot of poorly written novels in the SW EU.

 

IMO, anything by Timothy Zahn is worth reading:

Thrawn Trilogy

Thrawn Duology

Outbound Flight

Allegiance

Choices of One

 

The X-Wing series is excellent, but be warned there are no Jedi

The Han Solo trilogy is excellent (takes place pre-E4)

I liked the Bounty Hunter Wars trilogy (Boba Fett is the protagonist)

Darth Plagueis was an interesting read (E1 makes more sense to me after reading this)

The Lost Tribe of the Sith is an e-book only set of short stories that I enjoyed (although the last story did drag a little). Stories 1-8 are free. The ninth and final story is only available in the compilation and that costs $6.

I, Jedi is a POV story. it takes place during the Jedi Academy trilogy. It is written in the first person from the perspective of Corran Horn, a former Corellian Security officer, turned Rogue Squadron pilot (X-wing series) turned Jedi trainee. If you read this you'll want to read the Jedi Academy Trilogy first.

 

I recommend that you stay away from the Yuzhan Vong series. Many if not most fans dislike it.

 

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Timeline_of_books

The link above goes to Wookiepedia's EU timeline.

 

Thanks, I will definitely start with thrawn.

And thanks for all the info, very helpful & informative :)

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Lost Tribe of the Sith is available from Amazon in traditional book form now (as opposed to just e-book).

 

A warning: Red Harvest...Star Wars + zombies + Hogwarts-like Sith Academy setting + Force-sensitive plants...it had potential but something went terribly wrong. Avoid it at all costs or prepare to slog through the wreckage.

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Thanks, I will definitely start with thrawn.

And thanks for all the info, very helpful & informative :)

 

I'd still encourage you to start with the X-Wing series. That series will introduce you to the state of the galaxy and some of the pivotal characters you'll encounter in the Thrawn trilogy. You could jump right into Thrawn and it'd make sense and all, but I think knowing some of the characters helps perfect the experience.

 

Since I, Jedi was mentioned I'd just point out that that's my favorite novel of them all, granted I liked Corran Horn from the get-go. I would encourage you to read the Jedi Academy trilogy prior to that, though. I read the trilogy afterward and it was just weird and a little off-putting.

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I, too, am a little interested in attempting to wade into the ocean that appears to be Star Wars literature. After years of watching movies, playing games, reading books and even the odd comic here and there, I find myself downright sated where the subject of compelling, male protagonists are concerned, and Star Wars seems a tad bit male-centric. Are there any good books at all that deal, primarily, with a female protagonist? Something touching on The Exile's story post or prior to the events of Kotor 2, perhaps? Edited by TheLittleTpot
Forgot a detail
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I, too, am a little interested in attempting to wade into the ocean that appears to be Star Wars literature. After years of watching movies, playing games, reading books and even the odd comic here and there, I find myself downright sated where the subject of compelling, male protagonists are concerned, and Star Wars seems a tad bit male-centric. Are there any good books at all that deal, primarily, with a female protagonist? Something touching on The Exile's story post or prior to the events of Kotor 2, perhaps?

 

Knight Errant has a female protagonist. It's set in the Old Republic Era. Also from the Legacy of the Force series there's a couple of novels that have lots of story for Jaina Solo going to see Boba Fett, and of course there's Tenel Ka and the matriarchy of the Hapes Sector. As well as Leia and her adventures. There's also some Mara Jade Skywalker books in the Empire Era. And there's Natasi Dala, at some point leader of the Republic, and wasn't she of the Empire before? There's strong women in SW. You might be interested in books written by a woman, they should offer more female perspectives. Try Karin Traviss. I quite liked her work. Christie Golden also wrote for the last series. And she's set to write a trilogy on Jaina Solo, to be released in 2014 (if Disney won't cancel it).

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The Darth Bane series is an awesome read. I would start there. I would skip more of the books set during the prequel era with the exception of Shatterpoint. As far as I know, this is the only book where the main character is Mace Windu. An awesome read! Next, I would skip the Junior Jedi or whateverthefugg they're called and possibly read the Legacy of the Force Books, X-Wing Books, Thrawn Books and Vong books. Karen Traviss writes a lot of the books about the Mandalorians and Republic commandos. IMO all good books.

 

I do have to say that IMO most if not all the Star Wars books except the Darth Bane books and Shatterpoint are campy books. I read them because they are Star Wars books but there are some good ones.

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I have seen all the movies, when they were originally released. I was a kid by then.

Then there was huuuge gap and games arrived.

I somehow stick only to movies and games because they at least (in some way) are coherent.

The books (as I have been told and we can read above ) are mostly bad and incompatible, no one care what happens when. I do not like it and decided to skip that part.

Basically anything that is "authorized by GL" I consider as valid.

 

KOTORs, Jedi Academy series, TOR now, even the Clone Wars can be considered , rest.. not really.

But that's me.

 

If you are looking for good SF books, go for Dune - first 6 books), or Foundation.

Star Wars are unfortunately mistreated in the area or literature.

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Old Republic era.

  • The Old Republic: Revan. You must read it if you like KOTOR. :)
  • Darth Bane Trilogy.

New Republic era.

  • Thrawn Trilogy.
  • The Hand of Thrawn Duology.
    Both series are very well written.

New Jedi Order era.

  • Yuuzhan Vong War.
  • Dark Nest Trilogy.
    You can find these 2 series of novels boring, but some books wiil be really neccessary if you decide to read LOTF.

  • Legacy of the Force.
    Enjoyed reading it a lot.

Edited by GAG_Caedus
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I actually and completely caught myself by surprise by really enjoying The Old Republic: Deceived written by Paul Kemp. It is excellent fan service for SWTOR fanboy. Provides good heap of additional depth to Malgus. Takes place during sacking of Coruscant. It is quite well written and none of the main characters are horrible - this is pretty much highest form of praise one can give to any EU book yeah?;p

 

I remember trying to read (.. or listen rather, I do exclusively audiobooks when it comes to stuff like this) three other TOR books, 2 of them being by Drew Karpyshyn. Revan, Annihilation and some third one. These I thought were all thoroughly terribad and should be avoided at all costs if at all possible. At least Annihilation was pure SW:TOR fan service though, so it might give some thrills in our context I dunno.

 

I can't even get through the much loved Thrawn trilogy by Zahn so I recon I'm overly picky with this stuff. Speaking of which, I'm under impression there is some sort of consensus according to which Thrawn Trilogy is easily the best Star Wars literature one can hope to find so that prolly is a very good place to start as well.

 

..But yeah, since we all are SWTOR people here and all, it is quite easy to recommend The Old Republic: Deceived.

Edited by Stradlin
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I've only just started getting into the EU myself. I found "Tales from Jabba's Palace" and "Tales of the Bounty Hunters" in a secondhand bookstore and I really enjoyed both of them. They're both a series of short storiess, but they're all well-written and kinda piqued my interest with the rest of the novels. I bought books one and two of the "Bounty Hunter Wars" on my iPad and I'm enjoying them a lot - Boba Fett stands out for me as one of the most intriguing characters in the movies so I wanted to start out with more of his story.
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starting from the new republic era on is where I would start. I really enjoyed the darth bane trilogy too though.

 

I liked the millenium falcon book too. It showed the owners of the ship and all the action its seen.

Edited by DarthMat
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