Star Wars books

[Cayal]

I recently bought a new Star Wars book (can't remember the name) and I was hoping for some recommendations on some other Star Wars books.

I've already read Episode 1,2,3,4 and I think 3 is a magnificent read.

 

[Rodders]

There are few pretty decent ones. I enjoyed Jedi Trial, the Courtship of Princess Leia, the Death Star and most of the New Jedi Order books very muchl

I've heard that the Darth Bane novels are pretty good too.

Try Karen Traviss' Clone Wars books too.

 

[soulsinging]

I read a lot of these back in the day, but found that the more it was opened up to more authors, the less worthwhile they became. By the time they started with the new jedi order books and other such expansions and spin offs from the prequels, i'd stopped reading entirely.

that said, the very first series lucas allowed other than novelizations of the movies* was by timothy zahn and i thought that triology was absolutely incredible. the first book was 'heir to the empire.' in all the books i read after that, while some were enjoyable, none ever came close to matching that level of quality to my mind. it's the original characters and set 5 years after return of the jedi. i especially liked the way luke was treated... he became far more interesting than the dour depressive of rotj. and grand admiral thrawn was one of the most compelling star wars villians not named darth vader.

i was also partial to michael stackpole's x-wing series, which were more action-oriented and had some great space battles scenes (which imho are very hard to do well). they didn't really involve the movie characters other than wedge though.

if you prefer the prequels and their characters and stories of the old republic and the jedi, i can't help you there. i never read any of those.

* there were a handful of books (a han solo trilogy, lando trilogy, and splinter of the mind's eye) released around the time of the original films that don't really factor into the explosion of the star wars mythos that zahn kicked off in the 90s. those books were more movie tie-in adventure stories. it was zahn's books that really kicked off a resurgence in star wars interest, being the only new star wars stories since return of the jedi... and they may have even been largely responsible for opening the door for the prequels.

 

[C Of K]

I read 6 or 7 of the New Jedi Order series, but that wasn't what I consider quality writing. They didn't feel like reading Star Wars at all.

Heir to the Empire
Dark Force Rising
The Last command...
are all great. None of the preceding books match them. Well written and thought out. They introduced several characters that actually seem like they should be Star Wars mainstays.

Jedi Search
Dark Apprentice
Champions of the Force
are all just soso

Children of the Jedi
DarkSaber
Planet of Twilight
Crystal Star
Whatever you do, never get these. They stink.

Before the Storm__________Ambush at Corellia __________Spector of the Past
Shield of Lies __________Assualt at Selonia _____________Vision of the Future
Tyrants Test ___________Showdown at Centerpoint
these were meh, and quite political for Star Wars.

Truce at Bakura takes place like a day or so after Return of the jedi.
It was ok.

The Courtship of Princess Leia was a soap opera. So if you enjoy soaps, this may be for you.

The New Rebellion was kind of enjoyable.

The X-Wing series was pretty good, and unless you're a young adult I'd avoid the Young Jedi knights series.

EDIT: Here is a thread where many members who previously frequented this forum gave their opinions on the different books.

 

[Jennifer Kirk]

The Timothy Zahn 'Dark force rising' trilogy are outstanding. The only other Star Wars book I've read is 'Darksaber' by Kevin J. Anderson which is pretty good too.

They're all well grounded into the Star Wars universe and have a style that fits right in with references that tie it back to the original trilogy without seeming too much like its name checking everything they can.

 

[Culhwch]

EDIT: Here is a thread where many members who previously frequented this forum gave their opinions on the different books.

I could have sworn I posted in that thread. I certainly remember reading it first time through...

I'd agree with most of what C Of K says here. The Thrawn Trilogy is the best, for mine, with the X-Wing books quick, enjoyable reads. I didn't the trilogy beginning with Before the Storm, but all the rest are fairly mediocre.

 

[Doctor Crankenstein]

I'll add my vote to Zahn as well. I enjoyed Zahn's work more than the original three movies...

 

[soulsinging]

I'll add my vote to Zahn as well. I enjoyed Zahn's work more than the original three movies...

Wow, that might be going a bit far to me! But as long as you don't say the prequels were better than the original three...

 

[Darth Infinitus]

I've only read Star Wars: Revan, which I only recommend if you played Knights of the Old Republic.

 

[Huttman]

There are a series of books called Tales of Jabba's Palace, Tales of Mos Eisley and Tales of the Bounty Hunters. They are very cleverly written and the Boba Fett story is different than the prequel story because it was written in the 90's. Each of these books contain chapters devoted to a different character and thoughout the book they have interactions with other characters in the same book all centered around an event to one of the movies. You would read the same interaction sometimes between two characters but from their perspective, with each chapter written by a different author. It works quite well. I especially enjoyed the humor and the delving into so many minor characters. I really recommend you check those out.

 

[THX-1138]

I agree with Huttman. Those were some of my favorite Star Wars books.

The original trilogy is quite well-written, but I'd recommend the EU just because it's something new.

Splinter of the Mind's Eye is good. It was written by the same guy as the first novelization. I also liked Shadows of the Empire, it spans the entire time between Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. The Bounty Hunter Wars are great to.

There are tons of Clone Wars novels. I've read a few, some are bad, some are good. None of them stand out to me.

The first Darth Bane novel was good, but don't bother with the other two.

Revan was awful. A huge disappointment.