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In my opinion, the best SW EU author is Aaron Allston, because he creates interesting plotlines, good drama, and real characters. The dialogue is well-written as well. However, Timothy Zahn writes about an overall larger plot? These are the two best in my opinion. I may have overlooked some, so:

In your opinion, who is the best EU author and why?

James Luceno as I think he's the author who captures the spirit of Star Wars the best. Sure, there are a few examples of minimalism, but it's not in your face.

James Luceno. This based on the fact that my two favorite EU books are Labyrinth of Evil and "Dark Lord: Rise of Darth Vader". The combination of Michael Reaves/Steve Perry get my vote for second, and it's a close second because I hated Luceno's NJO books.

Darth Fanboy wrote:The combination of Michael Reaves/Steve Perry get my vote for second, and it's a close second because I hated Luceno's NJO books.

Michael Reeves? Wasn't he the guy who wrote Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter? Blessings go to him for that piece.

Boeing 757 wrote:

Darth Fanboy wrote:The combination of Michael Reaves/Steve Perry get my vote for second, and it's a close second because I hated Luceno's NJO books.

Michael Reeves? Wasn't he the guy who wrote Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter? Blessings go to him for that piece.

Yes and co-wrote the Medstar Duology and the recent Death Star if I recall. Forth coming he's writing a post RotS trilogy 'Coruscant Nights' Which since it will be featuring his original characters from Shadow Hunter (the Pavan family/I-5YQ) I will be buying.

Until three years ago I would have said Timothy Zahn, despite the minimalism in the Thrawn-trilogy.

I thought Sean Stewart and Walter Jon Williams have written some very good stuff, but their contribution to SW is limited to one novel each.

So at the moment it is Luceno and Stover brawling for the first place.

Crazedwraith wrote:
Yes and co-wrote the Medstar Duology and the recent Death Star if I recall. Forth coming he's writing a post RotS trilogy 'Coruscant Nights' Which since it will be featuring his original characters from Shadow Hunter (the Pavan family/I-5YQ) I will be buying.

I hear MedStar characters may be involved as well.

Steve Perry was the writer for the Shadows of the Empire novelization that I liked despite some of its faults.

I still think it's Zahn, with Luceno in second place. While Luceno's is very good at keeping to the spirit of the movies, Zahn's characters are far more memorable. Luceno does a great job with others' characters, but I don't think he created any that lasted beyond the novel they appear in.

Darth Fanboy wrote: I hear MedStar characters may be involved as well.

Hmm.. Interesting. I though the main character was a bit iffy though, no other Corellian we've seen has sniffed at offworlders. (Well Corran Horn a bit but that was simply preference and no represented as a clan law)

As to the actually best Author, probably either Stover or Allston in my opinion. I've read more of Allston's stuff and would prefer him but he's recently done the Legacy Of The Force series which is has been almost universally panned by everyone as bollocks. Stover on the other hand wrote the utterly awesome Episode III novelisation (his prologue about heroes always make me shiver) and Traitor one of my favourite NJO books. (Pity they went and made Vergere and Jacen, Sith)

Edit: Oh and Tip of the Hat to you, Darth Fanboy, If you hadn't recently mentioned Jax Pavan and his protocol droid in your excellent Fic: "Scars of Mustafar" I would be totally obvious to their up and coming appearances.

Coruscant Nights will have Jax Pavan, mentioned in Shadow Hunter, as well as Den Dhur from Medstar and I-5YQ from both series.

I'm torn between Stover, Luceno, and Zahn.

I regard Stover as being the best EU author in terms of prose and character development, bar none. Shatterpoint and Traitor are both exceedingly well-plotted and pace, and have story and dialogue better than most other EU writers can manage, with engaging combat scenes to boot. On top of all that, the Revenge of the Sith novelization is probably one of my favorite components of the Star Wars canon, EU or otherwise. Most of Luceno’s works are also extremely good, and his two-thirds of the Labyrinth “trilogy” are nearly as memorable as Stover’s books. Then again, Zahn holds a special place as the corner-stone author of the modern EU (take that as you will), and his Thrawn trilogy and duology remain among the best series of the franchise; I also happen to like Outbound Flight and Allegiance, even though they certainly aren’t on the same level.

All in all, I’d probably chose Stover over the others, but it’s a tough judgment. I really wish he, or either of the others started writing more for the franchise; perhaps they could infuse enough quality into the EU to save it from the pollution of Traviss and the like.

Brian Daley for Han Solo at Star's End, Han Solo's Revenge, and Han Solo and the Lost Legacy. Exciting, interesting, and they expanded the universe while being the closest match to Star Wars of any of the novels that I have read.

Stover's ROTS was excellent, but I'm a fan of his Caine novels so I'm biased.

Zahn, Luceno, Allston, and Daley are right up there...I would say Stover but I haven't read his EU work (just RotS which was amazing).

I'm also torn. Stover and Allston would be my picks.

Allston's books, to me at least, are just flat out fun to read. His Enemy Lines duology in the NJO are candidates for the best books in the series, and I can't wait until I can read his X-Wing novels, too.

Stover also has some great works, Traitor and the ROTS novelization being two of them. The fight scenes in both books especially stand out, and his desctiptiveness is noteworthy IMO.

A strong third would go to Brian Daley for his Han Solo Adventures trilogy. They were excellent, fun to read, and were different. If he had written more SW EU novels I would have loved to read them.

Zahn.

Allston is probably the best in my eyes - Starfighters of Adumar is a contender for my favourite EU book. I've never laughed out loud at any other EU author's work (except a fanfic I once read based on Allston's characters...).

Thrawn remains my favourite EU character though, so his trilogy and duology deserve mention, most particularly for setting the mood and approach to the SW galaxy which the EU has since expanded upon. Certainly, there's still some small elements of the campy Space Opera stuff, but that's not why I like SW and it certainly wouldn't make good reading.

Daley, for the nostalgic memories. Stover for the ROTS novelisation.

I'd definitely go for James Luceno in first place; the Episode III sandwich (Dark Lord and Labyrinth of Evil ) are excellent, both in being Star Wars as well as being generally good reads.

I liked Matthew Stover's Episode III novelization a lot too.
In particular, the "This is Anakin Skywalker" and "This is Obi-Wan Kenobi" parts really stood out for me, for some reason.
However, Shatterpoint didn't grow on me. Don't get me wrong, the book was great, but I didn't like the whole backwater planet setting with tribal Force adepts running amok all about the place. Personal thing.

That three-book cluster surrounding the height of Anakin Skywalker's legend (and subsequent fall) are the only three books I re-read with any frequency.

I think Stover is the best at capturing the spirit of Star Wars as well as creating memorable imagery. The ROTS novelization is one of my favorite novels, never mind SW books. I was not so fond of Shatterpoint, but Traitor was definitely my favorite book in the NJO.

James Luceno is excellent in most of his books - if Traitor is my favorite NJO book, then The Unifying Force is second. Very readable and good.

Luceno and Brian Daley are the top two for me, followed by Zahn.

Lucenco's pretty good. Traitor is the only NJO book I've brought myself to finish.

NecronLord wrote:Lucenco's pretty good. Traitor is the only NJO book I've brought myself to finish.

Stover wrote Traitor, not Luceno.

I think it has to go to Allston in first place with Stover coming in a very tight second on the weight of the RotS novelization. The problem is that I've read that and "Shatterpoint" so its kinda like a bit of awesome mixed with meh. Coversely Allston's work is almost universally impossible to put down for me. He just sucks you in with his characters and then has the balls it takes to kill them off and keep them dead. Moreover he knows how to write the characters others create so they come alive. Wedge sounds like Wedge, Han is himself, and Zsinj actually becomes a villain worth fighting. Despite the bit of minimalism enmeshed in all of the X-Wing novels he still tries to paint the life of a group that is fighting the real war and losing people along the way. Sure there are things like the crazy micro-carrier/corvette but that doesn't detract form the quality of writing. So anyway:

1) Allston
2) Stover
3) Daley
4) Roger MacBride Allen

That's my list.

Zahn and Allston, for me. I've never been bothered by the minimalism that so many have complained about in the past, and the quality of fiction is, for the most part, higher than anything else in the Star Wars spectrum. Stover's definitely a close third, though.

What about the online contributors? Abel G. Peña has generally done a good job incorporating the cooler elements from the games, and has done a fine job cleaning some of the messes.