Best/most essential of the EU liturature?

Sriad · Post by **Sriad** » 2004-10-25 05:47am

I don't have a lot of experience with EU novels and etc, and would like to start reading them when time and $ allows. Since there is tremendous variety in terms of quality between the various novels and comics, I come before you asking for advice. I've read the Heir to the Empire books (long ago) and also the OT novelizations (equally long ago) and would probably start by re-reading those: where should I go next? (or if you think I should start somewhere else, feel free to suggest that.)

I've done a quick search, but could have easily missed similar threads, so if this is already covered extensively somewhere else, as in the Culture FAQ thread in OSF, kindly direct me there and lock this thread.

Praxis · Post by **Praxis** » 2004-10-25 11:32am

Good that you've already read the Thrawn books...my suggestion would be to read the first four X-wing books, Rogue Squadron, Wedge's Gamble, The Krytos Trap, and The Bacta War.

It gives you a lot of background on an important period of the galactic civil war (Isard's reign, the NR conquest of Coruscant, etc).

UCBooties · Post by **UCBooties** » 2004-10-25 01:50pm

yes, beyond that era it can be rather hit or miss. Jedi Acadamy may be worth a read, stay away from the Calista trilogy (Children of the Jedi, Darksaber, and Planet of Twilight). If you're still interested at that point you should read the Hand of Thrawn books and the NJO. Oh, and many will probably disagree with me on this one, but I also enjoyed the Courtship of Princess Leia. Hope that helps

Oberleutnant · Post by **Oberleutnant** » 2004-10-25 02:05pm

As UCBooties said, Zahn's "Hand of Thrawn" duology novels ("Specter of the Past" and "Vision of the Future") are decent, too, if a bit fanwankish.

andrewgpaul · Post by **andrewgpaul** » 2004-10-25 02:05pm

I kinda liked Planet of Twilight as a coda to the jedi Academy trilogy (specifically, about the last quarter of the book, there's a short scene in there

)

Mlenk · Post by **Mlenk** » 2004-10-25 02:14pm

Praxis wrote:Good that you've already read the Thrawn books...my suggestion would be to read the first four X-wing books, Rogue Squadron, Wedge's Gamble, The Krytos Trap, and The Bacta War.

It gives you a lot of background on an important period of the galactic civil war (Isard's reign, the NR conquest of Coruscant, etc).

Also, you should read the very last X-Wing book as well, the Starfighter's of Adumar, not so much for the background for what's going on in the galaxy, but because it's just a very fun read. Also, check out the Han Solo trilogy by Crispin. I thought it was pretty good and it gives you a lot of insight into Han's character. The whole trilogy takes place pre-Rebellion.

Stofsk · Post by **Stofsk** » 2004-10-25 02:23pm

That's still a trilogy of books I have to read, up there with Wraith Squadron.

Alyeska · Post by **Alyeska** » 2004-10-25 04:40pm

Read everything by Zahn, Allston, and Stackpole. It gives you a massive sampling about whats going on in the Galaxy and introduces you to things only shown in comics even.

IIRC these are the three most prolific writers of SW. Zahn has 6 books. Stackpole has 7 books. Allston has 6 books.

Batman · Post by **Batman** » 2004-10-25 06:03pm

Zahn is of course a given.
The X-Wing series is OK (Stackpole) to fucking funny (Allston), though Stackpole's stuff varies in quality (I hate Starfighters Of Adumar with a passion).
I heartily recommend BOTH Han Solo trilogies. The Brian Daley one because it's a damn good read, and the Crispin (sp?) one because it provides a lot of background.
This is going against the recommendation of approximately 174% of the residents so take it with a cubic lightyear of salt, but I rather liked 'Children Of The Jedi'. Mind you, I didn't think 'Splinter of the Mind's Eye' was all that bad(at least not in and of itself, though it DOES put some serious strains on canon) so maybe I'm just mental...
Anything KJA: Good if the alternative is death by torture.
The Crystal Star: Choose death by torture. It hurts a lot less.
The NJO: I refuse to acknowledge it's existence.
Black Fleet/Corellia trilogies: Neutral. No medical risks, but not really worth reading either.

Praxis · Post by **Praxis** » 2004-10-25 06:48pm

Batman wrote:Zahn is of course a given.
The X-Wing series is OK (Stackpole) to fucking funny (Allston), though Stackpole's stuff varies in quality (I hate Starfighters Of Adumar with a passion).
I heartily recommend BOTH Han Solo trilogies. The Brian Daley one because it's a damn good read, and the Crispin (sp?) one because it provides a lot of background.
This is going against the recommendation of approximately 174% of the residents so take it with a cubic lightyear of salt, but I rather liked 'Children Of The Jedi'. Mind you, I didn't think 'Splinter of the Mind's Eye' was all that bad(at least not in and of itself, though it DOES put some serious strains on canon) so maybe I'm just mental...
Anything KJA: Good if the alternative is death by torture.
The Crystal Star: Choose death by torture. It hurts a lot less.
The NJO: I refuse to acknowledge it's existence.
Black Fleet/Corellia trilogies: Neutral. No medical risks, but not really worth reading either.

How could anyone rate the Black Fleet Crisis trilogy higher than NJO?

NJO, okay, it has some good books (Dark Tide 1 and 2, Rebel Dream and Rebel Stand), some great books (Star by Star, Destiny's Way, The Unifying Force), some bad books (Jedi Eclipse 1 and 2), and some HORRIBLE books (Vector Prime is torture to read, the Force Heretic books are unbelievably boring, Balance Point is also boring, Dark Journey and Traitor are a pain). It comes down to preference for it overall.

But Black Fleet Crisis is the worst, utterly WORST Star Wars books I have EVER read. EVER. PERIOD. There can never be worse. It implies that Star Wars ships use nuclear fusion, and a fleet of 200 frigates + a few Star Destroyers and SSD's could conquer Coruscant, and these Yevethans are horrible villans, terrible dialogue, etc, etc. And the Wookie bit was just...terrible.

Though Crystal Star and New Rebellion come close in horribleness.

Note: Personally, NJO is my favorite series. It has bad books and good books, but overall I liked the series. But this series has just so many books (19) that its hard to brand EVERY ONE of them bad or good. NJO started bad and got better as it went along, took a sharp decline at Force Heretic I, II, and III, then got awesome for the end. It comes down to preference.

Batman · Post by **Batman** » 2004-10-25 07:07pm

Sorry, Praxis, but I have to disagree.
-The BFC suffered from minimalism (a staple of the EU from the word go) and bad writing.
-The NJO suffered from SEVERE minimalism (only on part of the NR/IR, interestingly enough), EXTREMELY bad writing (Luke being the absolute super-pacifist, the NR being incompetent to a degree that makes Bush look like a genius, the Vong not being detectable through the Force while completely inanimate objects like ROCKS are, the biotech brainbug, needlessly killing off Chewie in the very first novel...)
Sorry. BFC was merely not good. The NJO was abysmal.

Sriad · Post by **Sriad** » 2004-10-25 11:28pm

Thanks so far; the discussion on what's worst is helpful too.

Praxis · Post by **Praxis** » 2004-10-25 11:56pm

Batman wrote:Sorry, Praxis, but I have to disagree.
-The BFC suffered from minimalism (a staple of the EU from the word go) and bad writing.
-The NJO suffered from SEVERE minimalism (only on part of the NR/IR, interestingly enough), EXTREMELY bad writing (Luke being the absolute super-pacifist, the NR being incompetent to a degree that makes Bush look like a genius, the Vong not being detectable through the Force while completely inanimate objects like ROCKS are, the biotech brainbug, needlessly killing off Chewie in the very first novel...)
Sorry. BFC was merely not good. The NJO was abysmal.

Not at all. Vector Prime suffered from minimalism severely, but not the rest. Consider the thousands of ships capship battles over Coruscant, hundreds of thousands of troops wiped out by a little bomb in Fey'lya's desk that took out several square Coruscant kilometers and half the Imperial Palace, etc, etc...

Sure, the NR is incompetent, but that's not bad writing. I mean, any government with BORSK FEY'LYA in charge is gonna be incompetent. Heck, just read The New Rebellion for an example of their incompetency...

The Vong not being detectable in the force was explained very well, and actually makes sense. They DO exist in the force, btw, just the Jedi aren't able to see them. Jacen was able to break through this.

As for Luke, read The Unifying Force to see how he turns out

And as for Chewie, well...what, you like reading/watching shows and books where the heroes NEVER die? I felt that the heroes dying actually gave it more suspense. Though Vector Prime (where chewie died) really, really sucked.

I dunno, maybe I'm wrong, but I get the impression that you've only read the first few NJO books (which suffered from minimalism and bad writing).

Bob the Gunslinger · Post by **Bob the Gunslinger** » 2004-10-26 12:47pm

Usually my recommendation is limited to the Zahn books and only the Zahn books, but someone reminded me of some other good SW reads.

The old Han Solo and Lando Calrission trilogies. They had almost nothing to do with SW or canon, but they were fun. The parts I remember most are the tough decisions Lando would make for which cape to wear with which tunic, Lando owning a starfish droid made by a long-dead civilization and Lando being shrunk to the size of a mouse then enlarged to the size of a rancor (I think that was "Star Cave of Thon-Boka"...is that right?).

These books are just some of the weirdest SW stuff out there since they were written way back before Zahn and the modern SW storyline. However, unlike Splinter of the Mind's Eye, they don't have Luke sleeping with Leia.

JediMaster415 · Post by **JediMaster415** » 2004-10-26 03:14pm

Lando's growth spurts were in Lando Calrissian and the Mindharp of the Sharu.

I'd recommend every Star Wars book out there but I'm strange that way. I actually liked every SW book I've read, from Cloak of Deception to the Final Prophecy. There are only about five books I haven't read yet.

Batman · Post by **Batman** » 2004-10-26 03:48pm

JediMaster415 wrote: I'd recommend every Star Wars book out there but I'm strange that way.

INCLUDING The Crystal Star and the KJA stuff?
You are a strange one...

Praxis · Post by **Praxis** » 2004-10-26 06:23pm

JediMaster415 wrote:Lando's growth spurts were in Lando Calrissian and the Mindharp of the Sharu.

I'd recommend every Star Wars book out there but I'm strange that way. I actually liked every SW book I've read, from Cloak of Deception to the Final Prophecy. There are only about five books I haven't read yet.

Like Batman said... INCLUDING Crystal Star and Black Fleet Crisis?

BTW, I actually didn't mind a few KJA books. But there are a few sucky ones.

Though, btw, if final prophecy is the last you read, GET THE UNIFYING FORCE! It's the absolute best of the NJO. Luke gets over his dang "we can't attack, we'll all go to the dark side, boo hoo hooo..." whining and smashes the Vong's heads in.

Rogue 9 · Post by **Rogue 9** » 2004-10-26 06:41pm

The Black Fleet Crisis wasn't all bad. At least it didn't suffer from the overwhelming minimalism that characterized The New Rebellion and so forth. I really couldn't stand Crystal Star or Planet of Twilight, though.

Illuminatus Primus · Post by **Illuminatus Primus** » 2004-10-26 06:48pm

Rogue 9 wrote:The Black Fleet Crisis wasn't all bad. At least it didn't suffer from the overwhelming minimalism that characterized The New Rebellion and so forth. I really couldn't stand Crystal Star or Planet of Twilight, though.

Are you out of your mind?

This is the source responsible for creating the diminutive Fifth Fleet - y'know, where 1,040-meter Star Destroyers and fleet carriers were the grand ships of the line. Where a scant 44 ships bigger than an interdictor cruiser could overwhelm any system in the galaxy. Where ships were small enough that the NRDF banked on carrier-based fighter-bomber tactics. Where a task force included counts of tenders?

This author, by the way, decided on his own that it was bullshit and impossible for Coruscant to be a city-world. Just look up his FAQ for his delusional idea of how Coruscant would really appear.

UCBooties · Post by **UCBooties** » 2004-10-26 07:21pm

Sure, the Black Fleet Trilogy sucks (Lando's side quest and Luke's activities both end up being totaly pointless) but at least the Yevetha were sort of cool. This compared o Crystal Star, where the story seemed completely seperated from any other plot elements of Star Wars and all of the charecters were almost unrecognizable charicatures of themselves. As for NJO, some of the books are extremely well done, and I support the series because it was nice after four years of literary stagnation to see the authors do something to make the series interesting. And IMHO they did somehing very ineresting indeed.

Mlenk · Post by **Mlenk** » 2004-10-26 07:36pm

JediMaster415 wrote:There are only about five books I haven't read yet.

Which ones haven't you read yet? Cuz if you say that you've read The Crystal Star and you liked it, then I'm gonna have to hurt you.

JediMaster415 · Post by **JediMaster415** » 2004-10-26 08:17pm

*cracks knuckles* Just try and hurt me.

I haven't read Unifying Force, Shatterpoint, Tatooine Ghost, Medstar or Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter.

Every book I've read has contributed something to the preception of the galaxy. Some of it, I can't remember off the top of my head but I know it does.

Rogue 9 · Post by **Rogue 9** » 2004-10-26 08:20pm

Illuminatus Primus wrote:
Rogue 9 wrote:The Black Fleet Crisis wasn't all bad. At least it didn't suffer from the overwhelming minimalism that characterized The New Rebellion and so forth. I really couldn't stand Crystal Star or Planet of Twilight, though.

Are you out of your mind?

This is the source responsible for creating the diminutive Fifth Fleet - y'know, where 1,040-meter Star Destroyers and fleet carriers were the grand ships of the line. Where a scant 44 ships bigger than an interdictor cruiser could overwhelm any system in the galaxy. Where ships were small enough that the NRDF banked on carrier-based fighter-bomber tactics. Where a task force included counts of tenders?

This author, by the way, decided on his own that it was bullshit and impossible for Coruscant to be a city-world. Just look up his FAQ for his delusional idea of how Coruscant would really appear.

Oh, and that's more minimalist than, say, New Rebellion, wherein two VSDs posed a serious threat to the Republic?

Mlenk · Post by **Mlenk** » 2004-10-26 08:22pm

JediMaster415 wrote:
I haven't read Unifying Force, Shatterpoint, Tatooine Ghost, Medstar or Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter.

Out of those books, you should read Shadow Hunter first. It's a kickass novel and one of the only books set in the prequel era that I actually like.

Praxis · Post by **Praxis** » 2004-10-26 08:37pm

Rogue 9 wrote:The Black Fleet Crisis wasn't all bad. At least it didn't suffer from the overwhelming minimalism that characterized The New Rebellion and so forth. I really couldn't stand Crystal Star or Planet of Twilight, though.

200 ships, mostly frigates that can be destroyed by single fighter carrier, is enough to supposedly conquer CORUSCANT. Now THAT'S minimalism.

The minimalism in New Rebellion was bad, but not AS bad. If I recall, three VSD's were enough to defend a planet, but not a threat to the galaxy (the real threat was Kueller and his superweapon that can wipe out a planet's population without damaging anything- the one thing I never figured out was what this superweapon was...).

Speaking of which- can anyone tell me what Kuellers big superweapon was? He wiped out the population of two planets and was gonna use it on Wedge's puny fleet, yet they never told us what it was.