What are some good fictional Star Wars books to check out?

May 14, 2007 11:34 PM

What are some good fictional Star Wars books to check out?

Im kind of turning into a Star Wars nerd.
I grew up with the movies and always enjoyed them (born 74) but for some reason as late Ive become zealous in getting the toys, playing the video games etc.

Anyhoo, now I want to start reading the books that veer from the films storyline.
Id like to start with ones featuring familiar OT characters (Han, Luke, etc) before moving onto more EU stuff.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

posted by Senor Cardgage to media & arts (22 comments total)

I really enjoyed Michael Stackpoles work - mostly the x-wing stuff. they are set after the battle of yavin - but are part of the continuing storyline, so touch with a few of the familiar characters.
posted by dnc at 12:23 AM on May 15, 2007

I was the Star Wars nerd you're looking for when I was a teen. I'd recommend starting out with Timothy Zahn's initial trilogy that begins with Heir to the Empire, which is set in roughly the immediate aftermath of the movies. It is pretty true to the characters from the original trilogy, and entertainingly enough written. I believe they were actually the first official attempts at expanding the franchise via mainstream novels.

I remember enjoying Kevin J. Anderson's novels, which focused more on Luke and the renaissance of the Jedi. He also edited a few collections of short stories which gave backstories to minor characters, from Mos Eisley, Jabba's palace, and bounty hunters.

I probably have these and a few others (maybe 15 books total) in a box in the basement still. Drop me an email, I probably won't be reading them again in the conceivable future.

I don't know anything about any of the newer books, sorry. But I think those mostly expand on the characters introduced to the fictional universe and developed in the earlier novels.
posted by kyleg at 12:24 AM on May 15, 2007

I'd start with the Thrawn Trilogy by Timothy Zahn. There's never going to be an episode 7, 8 or 9, but if there were, this is what they'd be.

Takes place five years after RoTJ and follows the main characters from the movies.
posted by Jeff Howard at 12:26 AM on May 15, 2007

There are some seriously great Star Wars books. I haven't read them all, but favorites of mine were the X-Wing series (all of them), I, Jedi, and Shadows of the Empire, which was later made into a video game. The New Jedi Order is the more recent set of books (quite a few of them) set so far beyond the original movies that little will seem familiar to you in terms of the overaching plot threads that are in motion. They're good, but, there's no reason not to start at the beginning, IMHO.
posted by Embryo at 12:55 AM on May 15, 2007

Favorites Series:
X-Wing Rogue Squadron series by Stackpole
Heir to the Empire trilogy by Zahn
Corellian Trilogy by Rogers McBride Allen

Favorite one offs:
Shadows of the Empire

Also, there were some good comics, too, but I generally liked the ones that had Zahn's characters.
posted by inviolable at 1:14 AM on May 15, 2007

I also recommend the "Heir to the Empire" trilogy by Timothy Zahn. I found them to be an extremely exciting and engaging read, and I don't even like Star Wars all that much. Grand Admiral Thrawn is a great villain, and he really makes the books what they are. It's also a good read because so much other "expanded universe" Star Wars material makes reference to things introduced in the book (Ysalamiri, for example).
posted by Vorteks at 1:20 AM on May 15, 2007

3rding the Timothy Zahn trilogy. There's a lot of other EU Star Wars novels and you're right to ask for recommendations as some of them are a bit rubbish (Darksaber and The Courtship of Princess Leia spring to mind). The first few X-Wing novels are good but they don't feature the main characters much (that I can remember), they mainly focus on Wedge Antilles (although he's a cool character in his own right) and the rest of Rogue Squadron.

If you want cool short stories about background characters, check out Tales From Mos Eisley, Tales From Jabba's Palace and Tales Of The Bounty Hunters (on preview: the books metioned by kyleg). I really enjoyed those. There were two more books after those - Tales Of The Empire and Tales Of The New Republic, I think - but they weren't as good.

I've hardly read any prequel-era novels, but the two Republic Commando books are pretty cool (Hard Contact and Triple Zero), since they aren't just the standard Luke/Leia/Han saving the galaxy - it's more like an SAS/special forces war novel but set in the Star Wars universe. Especially good if you like Boba Fett and are interested in the backstory of the Mandalorians.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 2:03 AM on May 15, 2007

Seconding the Rogue Squadron books. I read them about 10 years ago and I still remember parts of them.
posted by gc at 3:08 AM on May 15, 2007

So books that don't veer from the films' storyline are... non-fictional?
posted by reklaw at 3:10 AM on May 15, 2007

The ones that follow Han Solo's childhood and teenage years are great.
posted by zenja72 at 4:05 AM on May 15, 2007

So books that don't veer from the films' storyline are... non-fictional?

Fictional as opposed to all the non-fiction books about the making of the films, the props, the artwork... plus you've got your fictional non-fiction books with the cut-away technical diagrams of spacecraft and suchlike.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 4:23 AM on May 15, 2007

It's been a long time since I've read any of these, but Tales from Mos Eisley Cantina had a clever way of creating lots of fun backstories for seemingly minor events from the films.
posted by gsteff at 4:58 AM on May 15, 2007

Fictional as opposed to all the non-fiction books about the making of the films, the props, the artwork... plus you've got your fictional non-fiction books with the cut-away technical diagrams of spacecraft and suchlike.

Or possibly books about the non-fictional Star Wars program.
posted by solotoro at 5:10 AM on May 15, 2007

I'm a little out of date, as I've not bought or read any Star Wars books for years, but:

I'll nth the Timothy Zhan Thrawn Trilogy books, which as kyleg notes were the first expanded-universe novels to be written. They follow the original heroes' story and, as noted, are probably the closest you'll get to Episodes 7, 8 and 9.

Likewise a definite recommendation for all of the X Wing series books - Michael A Stackpole and Aaron Allston - and also a bunch of X Wing:Rogue Squadron comics that fill in gaps in the novels.

I've got five of the short story collections ("Tales...), "...from the Mos Eisley Cantina", "...of the Bounty Hunters", "...from Jabba's Palace", "...from the Empire" and "...from the New Republic" all have excellent stories (and perhaps a few not-so-excellent ones) covering back stories of characters seen in the original trilogy, and also stories of characters from other EU books.

On the flip side, I didn't particularly enjoy Kevin J Anderson's Jedi Academy trilogy, but reading them once lets you get full appreciation of Michael A Stackpole's I, Jedi, which follows on from the X Wing: Rogue Squadron books.

I wasn't impressed by Michael Kube-McDowell's Black Fleet books, nor the A R MacBride's Corellian Trilogy, nor just about any of the single-volume stories.

Overall, there's a real mix of good and awful stuff out there, so don't be despondent if you find some complete crap when you start out - find the type of subject matter/style you like and there'll probably be more of it in the SW EU if you look around.

I've not gotten into the New Jedi Order books, nor any of the pre-Episode 1 stuff (although I might look up the Republic Commando books mentioned above, they sound interesting).
posted by Nice Guy Mike at 5:15 AM on May 15, 2007

I agree with pretty much everything that's been said, positive and negative (although I think the Jedi Academy trilogy is worth it for I, Jedi, and maybe as light-ish reading in its own right). I want to say, though ... avoid the new ones. New Jedi Order, I think they're called, about the Yuuzhan Vong invasion. I never got past the first few, because they irritated the heck out of me, but the number of installments that were published doesn't suggest they're very high quality.

Which is a pity, because there were some interesting ideas there in the way the Yuuzhan Vong society was structured, particularly in the warrior caste. At the very least, a non-SW Yuuzhan Vong series might've been done well. Possibly a Star Wars series, but I think it just added too much arbitrary complexity.
posted by spaceman_spiff at 6:26 AM on May 15, 2007

In high school I really enjoyed the old "Han Solo adventures", as well as "Splinter of the Mind's Eye", and I found the "Lando Calrissian Adventures" to be a bit weak, but I still read and reread them back then. (I think you can buy the Han and Lando books as "3 novels in one book" paperbacks now). All these books were written while the original trilogy was still playing out in theaters. BUT, since no one else here has mentioned these books, I suspect that they may be considered kind of trashy... Oh yeah - and I think that "Splinter..." was written before anyone "knew" Luke and Leia were related, and so it's kinda weird that it has a bit of sexual tension between those two.
posted by chr1sb0y at 7:08 AM on May 15, 2007

The Marvel comic books are quite a good read.
posted by signal at 7:30 AM on May 15, 2007

I am pleasantly surprised to see that the Tales from... books are getting just as many nods as the Timothy Zahn trilogy.

They're particularly unique in that they take an event from the film and follow all the other characters in the scene. (Mos Eisley and Jabba's Palace, at least; those are the two I read and I believe the later entries strayed a bit from the original purpose.) The approach adds some interesting depth to classic scenes, and the authors seem to have a ton of fun with it.
posted by pokermonk at 7:50 AM on May 15, 2007

I've read pretty much every EU book there is (excluding the X-Wing titles) and from my experience you can do one of two things.

Start with what most EU geeks read first, which is "Splinter of the Mind's Eye". Then "Truce at Bakura", "Courtship of Princess Leia", "Tatooine Ghost", The Thrawn Trilogy ("Heir to the Empire", "Dark Force Rising", "The Last Command"), The Jedi Academy Trilogy ("Jedi Search", "Dark Apprentice", "Champions of the Force"), "I, Jedi", "Planet of Twilight", "Darksaber", "Children of the Jedi", "The Crystal Star", The Black Fleet Crisis ("Before the Storm", "Shield of Lies", "Tyrant's Test"), "The New Rebellion", The Corellian Trilogy ("Ambush at Corellia", "Assault at Selonia", "Showdown at Centerpoint"), The Hand of Thrawn Duology ("Specter of the Past", and "Vision of the Future").

If i've remembered correctly, that is the right timeline for the books and when they were published. This allows you to go back and read the "Han Solo Adventures" books, the "Adventures of Lando Calrissian", and the "Han Solo Trilogy" books. Not to mention "Shadows of the Empire", seriously, don't mention it.

It's also good to note that at this point there are a lot more EU characters that you may need to learn backstory on, so you can read "The Junior Jedi Knights" and "Young Jedi Knights" series to learn more about them, just prepare yourself as these are ment for children and young adults to read.

"Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina", "Tales from Jabba's Palace", "Tales of the New Republic", and "Tales of the Bounty Hunters" are decent collections of short stories. Personally I never saw the appeal of the X-Wing books, but that's a decision you have to make for yourself, at my last count that would be another 9 books.

Now if you've done your homework, you're ready for the "New Jedi Order" series. "Vector Prime" starts it out. These books don't always make for great reads, but if you're already this invested, why not see the whole damn thing out right? Next up, "Dark Tide: Onslaught", then "Dark Tide: Ruin", "Agents of Chaos: Hero's Trial", "Agents of Chaos: "Jedi Eclipse", "Balance Point", (there is an e-book here in chronology, but no one reads it), "Edge of Victory I: Conquest", "Edge of Victory II: Rebirth", "Star by Star", "Dark Journey", "Enemy Lines I: Rebel Dream", "Enemy Lines II: Rebel Stand", "Traitor", "Destiny's Way", (another e-book), "Force Heretic I: Remnant", "Force Heretic II: Refugee", "Force Heretic III: Reunion", "The Final Prophecy", "The Unifying Force".

The Dark Nest series ("The Joiner King", "The Unseen Queen", and "The Swarm War") is a bridge from New Jedi Order that will bring you into the current timeline of Legacy of the Force. The books that follow are "Betrayal", "Bloodlines", Tempest", "Exile", "Sacrifice", and "Inferno".

And of course option B is to read it any way you wish. I could go on for days about which books suck and which should never have been written (Any episode I-III book... ever), but reading is about choice and it's entirely up to you. Best place to look for these books are in a used book store, having worked in one, we always had mom's bringing in their kid's old star wars books. If you end up just reading which ever you want, I recommend that you at least read the Thrawn Trilogy since it pretty much is what every fan boy wants episodes VII-IX to be. I'm sure i've missed a book here or there, but let me know if you need any other information.
posted by Derek at 8:30 AM on May 15, 2007 [1 favorite]

Wow. Thanks for all the help guys.
I had to turn to Ask Mefi on this becuase my initial Amazon search turned up like 16,000 titles.

I think Im gonna go consensus here and start with the Zahn books and work my way from there.

I had totally forgotten that I'd read Splinter of the Mind's Eye when I was a kid too, so thanks for the memories.
posted by Senor Cardgage at 1:40 PM on May 15, 2007

One more vote for Zahn's books.
posted by ludwig_van at 5:48 PM on May 15, 2007

Because I'm a really big geek, I'd like to point out that Splinter was written by Alan Dean Foster, who also wrote the novel version of A New Hope... and nope, not making that up!

The old Han Solo Adventures are really good (the old covers are also super cheesy, which is of course hilarious).

I did not really like the X-Wing books, but that may be just me...they seemed to get overly repetitive.

I, Jedi is the best of the lot.

I am not anti-Old Republic/Clone Wars, and I actually liked some of these quite a lot... more so because they weren't mutilating characters that I already knew. (Similar to I, Jedi.) Medstar is a duology which is pretty good (it does have a mystery component.)
posted by anaelith at 12:45 PM on May 16, 2007