Richard_H
Grand Master
Star Wars to many is more than 6 (3!) movies. It has evolved and grown and released a beast called the Expanded Universe (EU) which looks very daunting when you first show an interest. I'm often asked where to start with the EU and most people say you have 2 options
Option 1 - read in date of release order
Option 2 - read in chronological order
However I disagree with this. Both of these options will put large numbers of interested readers off for many reasons including:
- it still a bloody big list!
- some of the novels/comics are crap
- many have limited implication on the overall story
- some are blatantly just for fun (Skippy the Jedi Droid also known as R5D4 springs to mind)
- many are junior/YA novels
So this is my advice to those wanting to dip in. I'm writing this for the fan who has enjoyed the movies and has decided they want to know what the hype is about. I hope others will give different POV.
1. Start with the Heir to the Empire Trilogy by Timothy Zahn. 3 easy to read books and a good story. If you don't like them then you've wasted a tenner, no big deal. There are better books in the EU but these are certainly near the top end for quality.
2. Next move onto the Dark Empire comic. I buy TPB versions as I don't really want to track down separate issues. Now you may scream, "I don't want to read comics!" As I did. But.... It makes more sense of the next trilogy of books if you do so. As I write this now it's probably the only comic series I'm going to say is a must
3. Next Kevin J. anderson's Jedi Academy Trilogy. KJAs stories have been slated by fans but if you read this trilogy and no more then you'll not need to worry about the rest. Another great read which moves the story along well.
4a. You have some options now. You could read I, Jedi which is set around the JA trilogy. A good read which introduces some important characters for later.
4b. You could jump straight to the Hand of Thrawn Duology. My preference as it is another good read and virtually ignores a lot of mediocre books set between JA trilogy and now in the timeline. It also pays respect to some of the better books written about ancillary characters such as Wedge in a way that it won't matter if you haven't read them as you'll still understand what happens.
4c. Read all books in order up to Hand of Thrawn. Probably only for Diehard EU fans. Some of the stories are forgettable and you may be put off reading some of the better books which appear later.
4d. Go back and read some of the SW - RotJ novels such as Splinter of the Mind's Eye and Shadows of the Empire. In fact those are the only two I'd touch at the moment. Do this if you feel the books are moving too far away from your love of the original trilogy.
5. At some point you have to move onto the huge (18 I think) story arc of the Yuuzhan Vong invasion set about 20 years after RotJ. Read the first book called Vector Prime. Now you have options again.
5a. Again probably only for real hardcore fans read all books in order.
5b. Only read the books which were released in hardback. They did this for a reason and that was so that fans could identify the major story moving books and only buy those
5c. Jump to the last two novels The Final Prophecy and the Unifying Force. By reading only 3 novels you can get the main story.
6. Miss out the Dark Nest Trilogy and start on the 9 book Legacy of the Force Trilogy.
7. Then move onto the current 9 book Fate of the Jedi trilogy.
Now you may say but what about the Old Republic, Prequel era books etc. personally I think there are too many for you to jump about in the universe. When you've done the above move to the prequel era
8. Darth Plaguis is a good start. A very good read.
9. Miss out all Ep 1 and 2 era books and look at Labyrinth of Evil and the Rise of DV books set around Ep 3.
This doesn't mean I don't like the other books, some of them are great such as the Traviss Clones novels and many CW comics but remember this is advice for others.
Finally go and check out the Old Republic. You have a couple of options here too
10. The golden age of the Sith comics are good as they introduce some new Sith characters and are set at a time before the Rule of Two when there were plentiful of Sith.
10b. Or the Darth Bane trilogy of books to look at how the rule of 2 became about.
10c. Or finally look at the Old Republic books such as Darth Revan. I haven't delved too far into these yet. Didnt enjoy Lost Tribe of the Sith much but have heard the full length Old Republic novels are great.
And whatis really great about this is if you don't like the OR or Prequel era for example there are still plenty of books and short stories set around the original trilogy such as the Tales of the... Books which are a great read. Also highly recommended are The X-Wing series of books. Star Wars is more than the Jedi v Sith war!
Anyway that took a long time to type and I'm sure it is littered with spelling mistakes due to autocorrect etc. which I will double check asap.
Hope you enjoyed it - and let's hear your best advice!
Note - just because I fail to mention a series it doesn't mean I don't like it! I'm just thinking of the masses.
Option 1 - read in date of release order
Option 2 - read in chronological order
However I disagree with this. Both of these options will put large numbers of interested readers off for many reasons including:
- it still a bloody big list!
- some of the novels/comics are crap
- many have limited implication on the overall story
- some are blatantly just for fun (Skippy the Jedi Droid also known as R5D4 springs to mind)
- many are junior/YA novels
So this is my advice to those wanting to dip in. I'm writing this for the fan who has enjoyed the movies and has decided they want to know what the hype is about. I hope others will give different POV.
1. Start with the Heir to the Empire Trilogy by Timothy Zahn. 3 easy to read books and a good story. If you don't like them then you've wasted a tenner, no big deal. There are better books in the EU but these are certainly near the top end for quality.
2. Next move onto the Dark Empire comic. I buy TPB versions as I don't really want to track down separate issues. Now you may scream, "I don't want to read comics!" As I did. But.... It makes more sense of the next trilogy of books if you do so. As I write this now it's probably the only comic series I'm going to say is a must
3. Next Kevin J. anderson's Jedi Academy Trilogy. KJAs stories have been slated by fans but if you read this trilogy and no more then you'll not need to worry about the rest. Another great read which moves the story along well.
4a. You have some options now. You could read I, Jedi which is set around the JA trilogy. A good read which introduces some important characters for later.
4b. You could jump straight to the Hand of Thrawn Duology. My preference as it is another good read and virtually ignores a lot of mediocre books set between JA trilogy and now in the timeline. It also pays respect to some of the better books written about ancillary characters such as Wedge in a way that it won't matter if you haven't read them as you'll still understand what happens.
4c. Read all books in order up to Hand of Thrawn. Probably only for Diehard EU fans. Some of the stories are forgettable and you may be put off reading some of the better books which appear later.
4d. Go back and read some of the SW - RotJ novels such as Splinter of the Mind's Eye and Shadows of the Empire. In fact those are the only two I'd touch at the moment. Do this if you feel the books are moving too far away from your love of the original trilogy.
5. At some point you have to move onto the huge (18 I think) story arc of the Yuuzhan Vong invasion set about 20 years after RotJ. Read the first book called Vector Prime. Now you have options again.
5a. Again probably only for real hardcore fans read all books in order.
5b. Only read the books which were released in hardback. They did this for a reason and that was so that fans could identify the major story moving books and only buy those
5c. Jump to the last two novels The Final Prophecy and the Unifying Force. By reading only 3 novels you can get the main story.
6. Miss out the Dark Nest Trilogy and start on the 9 book Legacy of the Force Trilogy.
7. Then move onto the current 9 book Fate of the Jedi trilogy.
Now you may say but what about the Old Republic, Prequel era books etc. personally I think there are too many for you to jump about in the universe. When you've done the above move to the prequel era
8. Darth Plaguis is a good start. A very good read.
9. Miss out all Ep 1 and 2 era books and look at Labyrinth of Evil and the Rise of DV books set around Ep 3.
This doesn't mean I don't like the other books, some of them are great such as the Traviss Clones novels and many CW comics but remember this is advice for others.
Finally go and check out the Old Republic. You have a couple of options here too
10. The golden age of the Sith comics are good as they introduce some new Sith characters and are set at a time before the Rule of Two when there were plentiful of Sith.
10b. Or the Darth Bane trilogy of books to look at how the rule of 2 became about.
10c. Or finally look at the Old Republic books such as Darth Revan. I haven't delved too far into these yet. Didnt enjoy Lost Tribe of the Sith much but have heard the full length Old Republic novels are great.
And whatis really great about this is if you don't like the OR or Prequel era for example there are still plenty of books and short stories set around the original trilogy such as the Tales of the... Books which are a great read. Also highly recommended are The X-Wing series of books. Star Wars is more than the Jedi v Sith war!
Anyway that took a long time to type and I'm sure it is littered with spelling mistakes due to autocorrect etc. which I will double check asap.
Hope you enjoyed it - and let's hear your best advice!
Note - just because I fail to mention a series it doesn't mean I don't like it! I'm just thinking of the masses.
