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Star Wars books

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Post  kumarhk Tue Apr 21, 2009 4:58 am

I was going to post this in the Star Trek books thread, but I thought it would be very off-topic, so I'm starting a new thread.

After seeing the films, I just couldn't get enough Star Wars. So, naturally, I went to the library and started getting Star Wars books. I burned through them like there was no tomorrow for a few months, but at one point I got a bit tired and needed something different, so I stopped. I might get back into it someday, when I have that kind of time again.

Is this a Nerd Hurdle for anyone? Has anyone actually read any Star Wars books?

Below is a list of all the Star Wars books I've read, in order of chronology. The numbers in the brackets represent the years they take place in the Star Wars universe. Those numbers are there because I copied the titles off a Wikipedia page, partly because I was too lazy to type them out, and partly because it was easier to copy the whole list (from the era I read) and cut out the ones I HADN'T read. BBY stands for "Before Battle of Yavin" while ABY stands for "After Battle of Yavin", in case you were interested.



Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter by Michael Reaves (32.5 BBY)

Outbound Flight by Timothy Zahn (27 BBY)

The Approaching Storm by Alan Dean Foster (22.5 BBY)

Labyrinth of Evil by James Luceno (19 BBY)
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith by Matthew Stover (19 BBY)
Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader by James Luceno (19 BBY)

Allegiance by Timothy Zahn (0.5 ABY)

Splinter of the Mind's Eye by Alan Dean Foster (2 ABY)

The Truce at Bakura by Kathy Tyers (4 ABY)

The Courtship of Princess Leia by Dave Wolverton (8 ABY)

Heir to the Empire by Timothy Zahn (9 ABY)
Dark Force Rising by Timothy Zahn (9 ABY)
The Last Command by Timothy Zahn (9 ABY)

Jedi Search by Kevin J. Anderson (11 ABY)
Dark Apprentice by Kevin J. Anderson (11 ABY)
Champions of the Force by Kevin J. Anderson (11 ABY)

I, Jedi by Michael Stackpole (11 ABY)

Children of the Jedi by Barbara Hambly (12-13 ABY)
Darksaber by Kevin J. Anderson (12-13 ABY)
Planet of Twilight by Barbara Hambly (12-13 ABY)

The New Rebellion by Kristine Rusch (17 ABY)

Ambush at Corellia by Roger MacBride Allen (18 ABY)
Assault at Selonia by Roger MacBride Allen (18 ABY)
Showdown at Centerpoint by Roger MacBride Allen (18 ABY)

Specter of the Past by Timothy Zahn (19 ABY)
Vision of the Future by Timothy Zahn (19 ABY)

Fool's Bargain by Timothy Zahn (22 ABY) (E)
Survivor's Quest by Timothy Zahn (22 ABY)


So ... has anyone read any of these? Or am I alone? I actually read a few of the New Jedi Order books (set after all those on this list, featuring people like Jacen Solo and Ben Skywalker), and they weren't bad, but I stopped them. I didn't include them in this list because I forgot at which point I stopped.
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Post  Marius Tue Apr 21, 2009 8:45 am

After Star Wars(the real one) came out I read everything I could get my hands on. I read Splinter of the Mind's Eye and still wish it had been the second film. I read all the Han Solo books and loved them. Then Timothy Zahn's Admiral Thrawn books were published. At first I loved them. Great new characters, especially Mara Jade, and it seemed to be very well written. But then it fell into a rhythm that eventually turned me off. The new Republic makes a plan; Thrawn figures it out ahead of time after studying a painting or sculpture and berating his second in command; a battle turns bad quickly and inexplicably; lather, rinse, repeat. It turned me off of the rest of the books since common wisdom holds that Zahn is at the pinnacle of Star Wars authors. Then the prequels drove the final nails into the coffin of my desire to read anything else.
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Post  SHC1970 Tue Apr 21, 2009 10:34 am

Kumar,

Am I missing it or have you never read it?

I thought that was a pretty good book. Especially reading it before the prequel films came out, it was the first time you read/saw any suggestion that Vader was anythign more than an old man like Kenobi inside a suit of armor.

Vader is portrayed there in a manner that I think very much fits the conflicted/insecure image we get of Anakin Skywalker pre-turning. And he's given credit for being a much more capable fighter than we see in the original trilogy films.

Shadows takes place between ESB and ROTJ.

I liked it.

I've read a bunch of the other EU fiction. Thrawn Trilogy was good. I also enjoyed "Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader" and the Maul book.

At some point the EU just strays too far from the series to hold my interest, but those books and a handful of others I really enjoyed.
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Post  weathereye Tue Apr 21, 2009 8:20 pm

I read Splinter of the Mind's Eye when it came out, and I remember being very excited, because I thought it was actually the book version of the pending movie.

Since then? Nothing. I've never read a Star Wars book. Maybe I will, though, if I can get over my issue with the covers. My library has dozens of them. Funny, I have no qualms signing out graphic novels, but Star Wars and Star Trek books make me look around nervously. Maybe it's because the librarians know I have little kids and assume I'm taking out Hush or Identity Crisis for them.

Is there any one series of books a noob should start with?
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Post  kumarhk Wed Apr 22, 2009 3:03 am

I never liked Splinter of the Mind's Eye; I found it quite boring to be honest.

But if you want to get into the Star Wars books, read the Thrawn Trilogy by Timothy Zahn (the first book is called Heir to the Empire). It was the first sequel to the movies, and you can sort of use it as a litmus test. If you like it, come back to me, and I'll set you up so that you miss out all the bad ones.

Whatever you do, do NOT start with "The Truce at Bakura" or "The Courtship of Princess Leia", although they occur before the Thrawn Trilogy chronologically. Truce can be very off-putting to newcomers, and while Courtship is a fun read, it is definitely not a representation of what the Star Wars novels are like in general (it reads like a frickin' rom-com at times).

The Thrawn Trilogy books are still some of my favourite Star Wars novels, although I am a big fan of Outbound Flight by Timothy Zahn (another one of the eight books he wrote featuring the character of Thrawn, but this was a solo one) and the novelization of Episode III is absolutely brilliant.
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Post  Jakob Wed Apr 22, 2009 9:26 am

I've read the graphic novelizations of the Thrawn Trilogy plus the graphic novella Empire's End capper. It was a good read, and I find Star Wars translates to graphic novel format better than prose. Purely, I think, because of the visual impact of the medium. Even if I wasn't 100% on board with the artist's style. I think the, probably abbreviated, form of the graphic novels probably minimized Rick's comment about the repetitive cycle of the Thrawn storylines. I didn't notice that so much in the comic, at least. I did however have problems with the freakin' Emperor's endless clones. It really took the universe in a direction I really couldn't get behind. That is, it laid the groundwork for the universe the prequels were set in. Which I still feel isn't the same universe as Ep IV.
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Post  Ultact Wed Apr 22, 2009 11:17 am

Alright time to confess. I've read in EU chronological order:
Rogue Planet
The Approaching Storm
The Han Solo Trilogy
A New Hope
Tales From The Mos Eisley Cantina
Splinter of the Mind's Eye
The Empire Strikes Back
Tales of the Bounty Hunters
Return of the Jedi
Tales From Jabba's Palace
The Bounty Hunter Wars Trilogy
The Truce at Bakura
X Wing: Rogue Squadron Series
X Wing: Wraith Squadron Series
The Courtship of Princess Leia
The Thrawn Trilogy
The Jedi Academy Trilogy
Darksaber
Planet of Twilight
X Wing: Starfighters of Adumar
The Crystal Star
The Black Fleet Crisis Trilogy
The New Rebellion
The Corellian Trilogy
The Hand of Thrawn Duology
and the entire New Jedi Order Series (My favorite series. Yeah even more than Thrawn. My absolute favorite book regardless of genre comes from here, Traitor.)
Since then I've waned in interest. I've listened to the Swarm War on audiobook and my interest was peaked a little for the new series where Jacen goes bad. The route they went though turned me off it and I haven't picked it up since.
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Post  mediasaurusrex Fri May 01, 2009 9:17 pm

I have done nothing about reading the SW Universe except SPLINTER and TALES OF THE BOUNTY HUNTERS. That is IT.

But I am getting hyped for the new Star Wars Splatterbook coming up called DEATHTROOPERS.

It is Lucas approved (which puts it up there with the Holiday Special). Apparently happens direcly before Ep IV. But there is a lot of speculation on the subject.

Word on the street is thatit drops in the late fall.

As far as SW covers? This is the BADASSEST of them all.

Gander:

Star Wars books Deathtroopers
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Post  ori-STUDFARM Fri Jul 17, 2009 4:43 pm

Last week I listened to the X-Wing-Rogue Squadron series. It struggled to keep my concentration, but I perservered. When I finished, I thought "God. I hope they pick up the pace in the other novels!" I think it might just have been the reader though. When I concentrated to what was actually being said, it wasn't too bad! With a good book that is well written though, I shouldn't need hard concentration. It just sinks in....

Today I started the Thrawn Trilogy. Totally engrossed. One of those work days that flew by!! Maybe because the characters are already known to me.....maybe because it was a better reader! Don't know the guys name, but I think he voices most of the Star Wars novels
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Post  kumarhk Sat Jul 18, 2009 1:43 am

ori-STUDFARM wrote:
Today I started the Thrawn Trilogy. Totally engrossed. One of those work days that flew by!! Maybe because the characters are already known to me.....maybe because it was a better reader! Don't know the guys name, but I think he voices most of the Star Wars novels
The Thrawn Trilogy is brilliant.
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Post  ori-STUDFARM Sun Jul 19, 2009 7:03 am

I've also got a couple of books tagged as the Thrawn duology. Not heard much about them though.

Biggest problem I have is that I listen at work driving heavy plant machinary. My audiobooks and podcasts need to sink in without really affecting my concentration. The Rogue Squadren books didn't do that!

Thrawn Trilogy is very good so far though!
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Post  kumarhk Sun Jul 19, 2009 10:18 am

The Hand of Thrawn Duology, while not as good as the Thrawn Trilogy, is very good. The Star Wars EU was getting very out of hand by that point in the timeline, and Timothy Zahn came and tied everything up with Hand of Thrawn. Also, I still maintain that Zahn is the only person who does Mara Jade justice.
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Post  Jakob Sun Jul 19, 2009 10:53 am

Even though Thrawn is good (I only read the graphic novels mind) I had issues with where they took the mythology, being an extension of the direction Lucas took with ROTJ. I felt Palpatine coming back in clone bodies also ruined the end of ROTJ anyway. The whole clone body thing didn't sit well with me on its own anyway. It didn't feel Star Wars to me so much as ripping off Dune.
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Post  ori-STUDFARM Thu Oct 22, 2009 4:21 pm

Continuing my journey into the EU, I started the New Jedi Order series today. I hadn't meant to move so far up the timeline, but having listened to Vector Prime today, I'm glad I did. The writing seemed so much better than the others I've gotten through. I got slightly upset at one point (if you've read it, you'll know why!) and the setting up of the Yuuzhan Vong wars looks like it could be a fun ride. Maybe I'm enjoying the fact that it's not just another Empire uprising story. That was getting a little old!
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