SW EU Consistency

[rhoenix]

I've been thinking more and more about writing in the SW universe, as it seems like it would be a great deal of fun to do so - however, I've a few questions.

And before I begin, only Stark is allowed to call me a heretic for these questions - and only because I called him one about chocolate chip cookies.

Anyway:

1. Is there an overall consistency with any books/comics/etc. following Lucas canon (i.e. episodes 1-6) that novels must adhere to?

(I'm guessing not, due to the rampant weirdness I've heard about with Traviss and others.)

2. I've heard repeatedly of Timothy Zahn's Thrawn trilogy as one of the very best the entire EU has to offer. Are there any other books that take the events in this trilogy into account?

(I really do want to read them, but I want to ensure I'll be getting all of the good EU books when I start buying.)

3. Are there any aspects in the EU from whatever author that you thought were good, well-thought out ideas, and made sense in the context of the movie Episodes 1-6?

4. Is there anything you think should occur in the timeline (beginning right after Palpatine bites it in Episode 6) that makes logical, consistent sense?

Thank you in advance for your answers - I'm hoping for some good discussion on these topics.

[Darth Fanboy]

I'll answer the one that I can off the top of my head.

2. I've heard repeatedly of Timothy Zahn's Thrawn trilogy as one of the very best the entire EU has to offer. Are there any other books that take the events in this trilogy into account?

Almost all of Zahn's other books in some way save for Allegiance are directly related to his first trilogy of books. If you liked that trilogy, i'd recommend Outbound Flight (prequel), Survivor's Quest, and the Thrawn Duology. On a side note, it is recommended that you read Survivor's Quest before you read Outbound Flight in order to get the full impact of the book.

Michael Stackpole's "Isard's Revenge" is set in the direct aftermath of Zahn's books and the book even begins with Rogue Squadron fighting at Bilbringi. This is not a very good book, and features a fair share of Corran Hornwank.

[RogueIce]

2. I've heard repeatedly of Timothy Zahn's Thrawn trilogy as one of the very best the entire EU has to offer. Are there any other books that take the events in this trilogy into account?

Almost all of Zahn's other books in some way save for Allegiance are directly related to his first trilogy of books. If you liked that trilogy, i'd recommend Outbound Flight (prequel), Survivor's Quest, and the Thrawn Duology. On a side note, it is recommended that you read Survivor's Quest before you read Outbound Flight in order to get the full impact of the book.

Michael Stackpole's "Isard's Revenge" is set in the direct aftermath of Zahn's books and the book even begins with Rogue Squadron fighting at Bilbringi. This is not a very good book, and features a fair share of Corran Hornwank.

Aside from the Noghri showing up as Leia's bodyguards every so often, how many authors outside of Zahn and Stackpole (who appears to be a buddy of Zahn) really make that much reference to Zahn's trilogy? I can't think of much offhand that really relates to the Zahn trilogy besides Stackpole's books, and the use of some of Zahn's characters such as Mara Jade and Talon Karrde. As for the events themselves though, there doesn't seem to be much talk of them.

For that matter, and in regards to another one of his questions I suppose, how often are the events of one book really referenced to again, unless it's by the same author? NJO doesn't count as it's basically an ongoing series, unlike the Bantaam EU era.

[Tiriol]

2. I've heard repeatedly of Timothy Zahn's Thrawn trilogy as one of the very best the entire EU has to offer. Are there any other books that take the events in this trilogy into account?

Almost all of Zahn's other books in some way save for Allegiance are directly related to his first trilogy of books. If you liked that trilogy, i'd recommend Outbound Flight (prequel), Survivor's Quest, and the Thrawn Duology. On a side note, it is recommended that you read Survivor's Quest before you read Outbound Flight in order to get the full impact of the book.

Michael Stackpole's "Isard's Revenge" is set in the direct aftermath of Zahn's books and the book even begins with Rogue Squadron fighting at Bilbringi. This is not a very good book, and features a fair share of Corran Hornwank.

Aside from the Noghri showing up as Leia's bodyguards every so often, how many authors outside of Zahn and Stackpole (who appears to be a buddy of Zahn) really make that much reference to Zahn's trilogy? I can't think of much offhand that really relates to the Zahn trilogy besides Stackpole's books, and the use of some of Zahn's characters such as Mara Jade and Talon Karrde. As for the events themselves though, there doesn't seem to be much talk of them.

For that matter, and in regards to another one of his questions I suppose, how often are the events of one book really referenced to again, unless it's by the same author? NJO doesn't count as it's basically an ongoing series, unlike the Bantaam EU era.

Thrawn has received his share of comments in other works (Jedi Academy trilogy, Children of the Jedi, Darksaber and the New Jedi Order and Dark Nest series come to my mind immediately) and Pellaeon has been more or less popular good Imperial. The Noghri have also appeared at least in Jedi Knight II: Jedi Academy and some comics concerning the Clone Wars' impact. However, the events of the books seem to have poor level of reference in other novels and comics, creating a certain sense of the books existing in bubbles of their own. This trend was apparent in Thrawn Trilogy, Dark Empire comic trilogy and Jedi Academy trilogy already, although at that time time constraints and the fact that the authors were all working at the same time on their invidual projects ensured the reference-poor atmosphere. Of course, sometimes the references are more or less impossible - Darksaber couldn't refer to Crimson Empire comics about the Empire proper's downfall since the latter hadn't been written when the previously mentioned was published; and the Crimson Empire couldn't refer to Darksaber since the events took place in warlord kingdoms of the Deep Core, had entirely different set of characters and happened after the Crimson Empire chronologically.

Sometimes the trouble might be that the authors want or are required to make their works as independent as possible for reader's ease of use. Heavy use of references could make that goal harder (if not impossible, considering the talents of all too many Expanded Universe authors). And finally, simple ineptitude and lack of skill can explain much, as well.

[Darth Fanboy]

Aside from the Noghri showing up as Leia's bodyguards every so often, how many authors outside of Zahn and Stackpole (who appears to be a buddy of Zahn) really make that much reference to Zahn's trilogy?

None really, which makes sense in a way because a lot of the EU books written prior to the NJO took place before the Thrawn Trilogy (which is 9-10 ABY if i'm not mistaken) despite being written afterwards.

EDIT:
There were more books set between The Thrawn Trilogy and the New Jedi Order than I remembered, including a coupleo f crappy trilogies that I remembered just as I hit "submit". Fuck.

Perhaps the events of Thrawn were overshadowed by the Reborn Emperor and that is what pushed those events to the back of people's minds?