Lit Help me decide what SW books to give for Christmas

I have a relative that has seen all of the movies and has never read a SW book in her life. I asked her if she'd be willing to do so if I recommended some, and she agreed. My plan, of course, is to eventually trap her in the whirlpool that is EU.

My automatic reaction is to give her either the Thrawn Trilogy, or the X-wing books since those are generally well-regarded. I know she enjoys the Song of Ice and Fire series, and I think she liked Harry Potter, but otherwise I don't know what her tastes in fiction are.

I haven't read much of the prequel era books (mainly the movie novelizations), but I am open to suggestions.

Are there any one-offs that I've forgotten about that would be better presents? Also, any ideas of what might interest her kids (aged 15 and 11) to get into Star Wars?

 

My advice would be to start her off with the Thrawn trilogy since that was the series that actually made EU popular.

 

I'm inclined to agree with the above. That, or Shadows of the Empire. Many fans got hooked on the EU from those two.

 

My girlfriend likes sci-fi and fantasy, but isn't really a Star Wars fan. I gave her Shatterpoint to read, and despite a lot (and I mean a lot) of skepticism that she would like any licensed Star Wars work, she ended up loving it.

The funny thing is, despite having seen the prequels at least once each, she didn't even realize that Mace (or Depa, though that's more forgivable) was a movie character. That's how little a SW fan she was - but as I said, ended up loving it even so.

 

well, it depends on what she's interested in; if she enjoys the main characters for example she might be like "what who are these people" if you start her off with X-Wing.

Personally, I'd start her off with Mindor for post-RotJ EU and Revenge of the Sith for prequel EU; the only downside to this idea is that neither of these are exactly representative of the EU's overall quality and she might be disappointed by subsequent offerings. I guess it depends on how critical a reader she is.


(though i mean i guess you could start her off with the thrawn trilogy if you hate her or something)

 

I got my start with the anthologies. A nice selection of bite-sized EU to whet my appetite and leave me wanting more. Thus, I suggest the anthology series; Tales from Mos Eisley Cantina, Tales of the Bounty Hunters, and Tales from Jabba's Palace.

 

hunh, that's actually a really neat idea as a starting point, Trak

 

Just be warned. If you become attached to one of the stories in Tales from Mos Eisley Cantina, TCW will make you cry.

 

If you become attached to one of the stories in Tales of the Bounty Hunters, AOTC will make you cry.

 

Basically, anything from the Clone Wars era will make you cry.

 

Thrawn Trilogy, Shadows of the Empire, Truce at Bakura, and....maybe Courtship of Princess Leia

 

TrakNor, that's a fantastic idea. I've completely forgotten about those.

I considered Shadows of the Empire but it's been a while since I've last read it. I remember liking it but I'm not sure how much of ESB she would need to remember to be able to enjoy it.

I'm just going to go on the basis of assuming she won't really care if it's about any characters from the movies. I'm looking for pure story.

 

I'd say Shadows as well. It's got the main film characters and covers ground between ESB and RoTJ.

 

I can't not recommend I, Jedi, Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor and the series called The New Jedi Order.
And if this is her very first foray into the EU, I'd skip something like Truce at Bakura and The Courtship of Princess Leia. That could stop her dead.

 

That was my feeling on Thrawn. If that had been the first EU book I'd read it might have stopped me.

 

Default answer always given to this question: Thrawn Trilogy.

All other responses are invalid.

Except for Mindor.

 

that's classic, everyone should start there...

 

I would go with Thrawn Trilogy, it's where I wish I would have started. I started with Rogue Planet, then moved to Force Heretic and was so utterly confused.

 

Thrawn Trilogy, I, Jedi, Rogue Squadron. Why not get 3 books at like 7 dollars each for a 21 dollar basket from different eras of the books, or just take her to the book store and let her pick but advise her

 

She lives several states away so taking her shopping isn't practical. I decided to go ahead and get a couple different books, and see if she has a preference. I went ahead and bought the HttE and plan on picking up Tales from Mos Eisley Cantina. I was going to pick up Shatterpoint as well but I haven't read it yet so I feel strange gifting it to someone else. It's on my list of books to read now.

 

Labyrinth of Evil is one my favourites! It's a nice tie-in to Episode 3, plus no knowledge of the EU is required.

My nephew doesn't really like reading, but he is SW fan (mainly of Darth Maul), so I recommended he read Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter.
He completely loved it!

 

Both of those are good - I enjoyed them.