what is the best star wars book you have read

darth kendo apprentice · Post by **darth kendo apprentice** » 2005-04-15 01:05am

Whats your best and why. I never read any of the books but wish to I just don't know where to start please tell me and the best ones out there? so lets talk about them as well.

Stofsk · Post by **Stofsk** » 2005-04-15 01:18am

It's a toss up between Zahn's trilogy and Perry's Shadows of the Empire.

SotE is set between the movies, and is a stand alone novel. On the other hand, Zahn's books did a lot to revitalise interest in SW during the early 90s IIRC.

As to where to start, I'm not sure. Avoid anything by Kevin J Anderson. A lot of the Bantam-era books are shit, aside from the ones written by Zahn, and Allston (despite my criticisms of his X-wing novels, I concede now that he's actually a pretty good example of EU writing, and in comparison to Michael Stackpole, leagues ahead).

Bantam era books to be recommended:

"Heir to the Empire"

"Darkforce Rising"

"The Last Command"

All three are part of the Thrawn Trilogy, written by Timothy Zahn.

Mathew Perry's "Shadow of the Empire" Set between ESB and ROTJ, this novel shows Luke progress as a Jedi Knight, construct his lightsaber, show how the Rebels acquired the information that DS2 was being built, showed Vader as a sympathetic character (IMO), and we get to see Coruscant (well, 'see' as in 'read'). Since a lot of the action in the OT takes place in the Outer Rim, I thought this was significant.

The Han Solo books by Daly are pretty good, somewhat fun, though I've only read "Han Solo at Star's End." I also want to read the Han Solo trilogy by AC Crispin.

The X-wing novels... well, I'll only say I didn't enjoy them but they can be fun. Allston's Wraith Squadron novels are better than Stackpole's Rogue Squadron novels (because Allston doesn't have a Gary Sue character, and his characters don't have 'character shields' - some of 'em die).

darth kendo apprentice · Post by **darth kendo apprentice** » 2005-04-15 01:29am

Thanks I'll write this down and look for those next time I'm at B&B.
Anyways I hope everyone talks more about the books here.

Cal Wright · Post by **Cal Wright** » 2005-04-15 01:37am

Any of the ones I was smart enough to NOT pick up.

No seriously, that was a joke.

The Jedi Academy Trilogy by Kevin J. Anderson.

Now THAT, was uncalled for.

Luceno's books have been excellent. I think outside of the novelisations that Shadows of the Empire is my favorite. I've read it over several times. It really captures the feel of Star Wars.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2005-04-15 01:44am

I recommend the Incredible Cross Sections and Inside the Worlds books if you're interested in reference materials.

Old Plympto · Post by **Old Plympto** » 2005-04-15 02:21am

Stofsk wrote:Mathew Perry's "Shadow of the Empire" Set between ESB and ROTJ, this novel shows Luke progress as a Jedi Knight, construct his lightsaber, show how the Rebels acquired the information that DS2 was being built, showed Vader as a sympathetic character (IMO), and we get to see Coruscant (well, 'see' as in 'read').

Minor nitpick: It's Steve Perry. Matthew Perry is.. uh, well.. Chandler Bing, for one.

Stofsk · Post by **Stofsk** » 2005-04-15 02:26am

Now that is embarassing.

Goddamn...

Zwinmar · Post by **Zwinmar** » 2005-04-15 02:29am

My favorites, dispite what you all think, is the Xwing series: both by Alston and Stackpole. The main reason being because they dont screw around with the force that much rather more of a military mindset...i think anyways

The one i absolutely hated (other than any with the Vong in them) was Traitor

Slartibartfast · Post by **Slartibartfast** » 2005-04-15 02:47am

I tried to read Shadows of the Empire, but I couldn't. I hated the entire two or three first chapters that I read, I don't like the way the guy intertwines his story on top of the old story, mostly with retarded mental-dialogue (or whatever it's called) "this is what they were thinking during that scene" parts, and the Leia soap-operish moments remembering Han and so on.

Maybe it picked up later and I could have missed something good, but honestly I hated the beginning so much that I simply stopped reading.

JME2 · Post by **JME2** » 2005-04-15 03:28am

The Zahn novels are definitely a go (and it's going to be interesting re-reading all of them once the Thrawn septology is complete in October with the release of Outbound Flight).

The X-Wing novels -- if you need a break from the spotlight being on the OT characters, go with them. It also helps fill in the gaps between Truce at Bakura and The Courtship of Princess Leia.

NJO: Had its flaws, but was better than the latter novels that Bantam was cranking out (recommended: Star by Star, Traitor, Force Heretic I: Remnant, The Unifying Force)

To wrap up, if you're a fan of the EU, then go with Lucenco (Cloak of Deception for example. If you didn't understand most of what was going on in TPM, this clears it up)

Murazor · Post by **Murazor** » 2005-04-15 04:09am

Excluding OT ICS...

The Black Fleet trilogy.

Perhaps because I have only read those and Vector Prime (da pure crap), but I liked quite a bit Shield of Lies (yes, I know that most people hate them for "sinful EU minimalism", but the action descriptions are good nonetheless).

Stofsk · Post by **Stofsk** » 2005-04-15 04:53am

Before the Storm was the first SW book I ever read. It opened up really well, with that "Fifth Fleet on Manouevers" scene, which followed the "oppressed people revolt against the Empire" prologue. The rest of the book was crap, though.

I never understood why the EU writers made Leia President of the NR.

JediMaster415 · Post by **JediMaster415** » 2005-04-15 08:13am

Personally, I'd recommend every Star Wars book you can find.

Lord Pounder · Post by **Lord Pounder** » 2005-04-15 09:46am

One of the much over looked EU books is Aaran Allston's Star Fighters of Asumar. It has action, and most of all it was the finniest damn book in the EU. Wedge ordering Janson to shoot down the sun was priceless.

JediMaster415 · Post by **JediMaster415** » 2005-04-15 10:00am

Lord Pounder wrote:One of the much over looked EU books is Aaran Allston's Star Fighters of Asumar. It has action, and most of all it was the finniest damn book in the EU. Wedge ordering Janson to shoot down the sun was priceless.

Starfighters of Adumar was definitely a fitting end to the X-Wing series, especially with the humor, the action, the crossdressing and the humor.

Personally, I like Traitor because it made me think about the Force a bit more.

The Corellian Trilogy is great because I think it's our only real look at Corellia.

And, if you want to learn more about Han Solo, AC Crispin's Han Solo Trilogy is definitely recommended. It follows him from the age of 19 to his first appearance in the movie.

Cabwi Desco · Post by **Cabwi Desco** » 2005-04-15 10:20am

I like all of the X-wing novels, well minus the krytos trap, how boring to follwo around corran the whole time and have so few battles. Isards revenge was boring in that same regard.

Thirdfain · Post by **Thirdfain** » 2005-04-15 12:03pm

Murazor wrote:Excluding OT ICS...

The Black Fleet trilogy.

Perhaps because I have only read those and Vector Prime (da pure crap), but I liked quite a bit Shield of Lies (yes, I know that most people hate them for "sinful EU minimalism", but the action descriptions are good nonetheless).

I need to back up Murazor on this one. A lot of people birth chickens over how BFC has a lot of EU minimalism, but when it gets down to it, BFC has some of the EU's better space combat scenes, combined with a pretty damn good political intrigue. I think it's one of the 3 best SW trilogies, along with Zahn's Thrawn trilogy and Aaron Allston's Wraith Squadron books.

Grand Admiral Mango · Post by **Grand Admiral Mango** » 2005-04-15 01:00pm

Stofsk wrote:I also want to read the Han Solo trilogy by AC Crispin.

Trust me, they're seriously overrated.

Anything by Zahn, the Jedi Academy trilogy, darth maul: shadow hunter, the Bounty Hunter Wars trilogy (it took me a while to get into it, but when i did, i liked it). Haven't read the Black Fleet trilogy myself but want to get it so would reccomend it.

Enforcer Talen · Post by **Enforcer Talen** » 2005-04-15 01:16pm

Im fond of the bounty hunter trilogy

Elheru Aran · Post by **Elheru Aran** » 2005-04-15 01:22pm

Hmm.

Prequel era~ Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter is *really* good. Shatterpoint was decent. Haven't read any others besides the Ep II novelization.

OT: 'Tatooine Ghost' was pretty good. SoTE was decent, not all that great but pretty good for EU. The Xizor-wank was a bit irritating though...

EU: Thrawn Trilogy, definitely. The Wraith Squadron trilogy-- I tend to think of those as separate from the X-Wing series-- are pretty good too, as is Starfighters of Adumar (which should *not* be read seriously...

). The Hand of Thrawn duology wasn't bad. Most of my experience with the EU novels has been distinctly 'meh', though.

NJO: I've only read 'Vector Prime'. Since I'm anal about the order in which I read books if they're part of a series, I'll probably just buy up the rest of the series in order later.

Other books: the ICS books are definitely a must. Ditto the ITW books (which I wish I had). The Making Of books are pretty good too, as are 'The Art of...' books.

Aside from all that? Pretty much on your own, buddy...

Darkdrium · Post by **Darkdrium** » 2005-04-15 01:54pm

Elheru Aran wrote:
OT: 'Tatooine Ghost' was pretty good. SoTE was decent, not all that great but pretty good for EU. The Xizor-wank was a bit irritating though...

Say what you want about the Xizor wank, but I found it most satisfying when SPOILER Vader killed him as if he was swatting a fly who annoyed him one time too much. Only to show that Xizor was far from being as powerful and important as he thought.
Anyway, SotE is one of my favorite books due to Vader being my favorite SW character and that you get insight on his thoughts in this story.

EDIT: shrunk the spoiler part

Stofsk · Post by **Stofsk** » 2005-04-15 01:56pm

Darkdrium wrote:
Elheru Aran wrote:OT: 'Tatooine Ghost' was pretty good. SoTE was decent, not all that great but pretty good for EU. The Xizor-wank was a bit irritating though...
Say what you want about the Xizor wank, but I found it most satisfying when Vader killed him as if he was swatting a fly who annoyed him one time too much. Only to show that Xizor was far from being as powerful and important as he thought.

Anyway, SotE is one of my favorite books due to Vader being my favorite SW character and that you get insight on his thoughts in this story.

Seconded. You took the words right out of my mind.

Slartibartfast · Post by **Slartibartfast** » 2005-04-15 03:12pm

I'm pretty sure that would count as a spoiler...

Master of Ossus · Post by **Master of Ossus** » 2005-04-15 03:25pm

Star by Star is SO EASILY the best book of the NJO that any comparisons with the other books would be insulting. If you're going to read the NJO, you simply MUST read SbS--it really is a quality read.

Other than that, Courtship of Princess Leia is the only one that no one has mentioned that I rather liked. Don't get me wrong, it's not a great book, and it has its minimalism flaws and some other plot things, but it's comparatively very well written and compelling. Plus, Dathomir is cool.

Darkdrium · Post by **Darkdrium** » 2005-04-15 03:25pm

Mistake corrected, well except for Stofsk's quote...