Lit GENERAL QUESTION THREAD (What to read? Where to start? What's canon? What's not? Duros, etc.)

Definitely read the Stackpole X-Wing novels before I, Jedi.

 

I didn't - since I read up a bit about who Corran was and some of his backstory that's established in X-Wing, I found I, Jedi really easy to follow without having read the X-Wing books.

I have a question: I'm currently reading NJO and really enjoying it (it picked up a few books in). I've heard mixed comments on what comes after - Dark Nest, Legacy, Fate of the Jedi. How much of what comes after is worth reading?

 

Imo, none. Just stop at the end of the NJO.

Many here in Lit would agree, and others would not.

Opinions vary.

It's probably best to try to learn a bit about the post NJO series, read the summaries, check out the writers and characters involved, maybe read the JC Lit Reviews and make up your own mind.

 

Read those books to make your opinion but don't expect the world from them

 

Yeah I know a bit about the basic plot of what happens in those books, but none of it seems that interesting that I would invest the time in reading those books.

 

If you'd like, you can just skip from the end of the NJO to the Legacy comics.

 

I was wondering if the Legacy comics are ever going to get omnibussed? Or if even omnibussed is a word...?

 

In this case, 'released as a trade paperback' might be the phrase you're looking for.

 

No, I'm meant Omnibussed...

 

Actually I think they have all already been "released as trade paperbacks"....because I own all of them...just sayin.

 

Check the trades thread. The Legacy comics are getting their own "special" omnibus soon, similar to Dark Empire and Crimson Empire.

 

Thanks, I tried that but didn't really see anything relevant to my question.

 

Just starting to dip in my toe........i got the Legacy run of comics off ebay, so that is going to be my first attept at the comics (not counting the new Dark Horse series) and i have the 2 Darth Maul novels and Darth Plagious novel to read. Which era are those set in? I can't decide if i want to read Pre-TPM or Post-ROTJ first.

 

For reference, here are the era's.

Old Republic era: Work in this era takes place thousands of years before the movies.

Rise of the Empire era: This is a time stretch of about one hundred years before Episode 1 to just before A New Hope. The period between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope is sometimes called the "Dark Times" era.

Rebellion era: The period of the original movies.

New Republic era: The period after the end of Return of the Jedi to about nineteen years after A New Hope.

New Jedi Order era: A nineteen book series that covers an intergalactic war with the Yuuzhan Vong race. Covers about five years, I believe.

Legacy era: Everything after the NJO.

Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter is set just weeks, perhaps even days before The Phantom Menace. However, I'm not sure what other Maul book you're talking about. Possibly Shadow Conspiracy by Jason Fry? In that case, it's a novelization of episodes of The Clone Wars series. Darth Plagueis spans a large period of time, starting decades before Episode 1 and ending... well, you'll see.

 

Thank you so much! That is actually really helpful!

The other maul book I got is subtitled Saboteur. Haven't dove in yet, although I just read the Darth Maul tpb by Dark Horse where he attacks Dark Sun and that was pretty awesome!

I can tell I am going to plow though this stuff pretty quickly..........and favorites of yours?

 

Ah. Saboteur is a short story included at the end of Shadow Hunter. That one takes place before Shadow Hunter, and probably after the comic, but is very self contained. I love it.

Yeah, I definitely have some favorites. I'll give you some recommendations by era.

Old Republic: If you're a gamer, you need to check out Knights of the Old Republic. In my opinion, it's the heart of this era. You might also like to check out the comic "Jedi vs Sith" and the Bane trilogy. Both detail the final galaxy-shattering battle between the Jedi and Sith, before the Sith are nearly wiped out and sent into hiding. They're from different points of views.

Rise of the Empire: Plagueis is a favorite, but I see you have that covered. There's a good rule of thumb you can follow; if the book has Matthew Stover's name on it, it's going to be great. With that in mind, I'd highly recommend you pick up Shatterpoint. It's about Mace Windu going back to his home planet. It involves lots of philosophy on just what it means to be a Jedi, and of course lots of ass kicking. From that same time period, I'd recommend Yoda: Dark Rendezvous. A very good novel that, is in my opinion, the best example of Yoda being a good teacher ever. Finally, I'd recommend what's commonly called the "Dark Lord Trilogy". James Luceno's Labyrinth of Evil, Matthew Stover's Revenge of the Sith, and James Luceno's Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader. For ROTS, you may be thinking that you've seen the movie and can skip the novel, but I'd be advised against it. Stover's novelization is widely considered to be better in the movie, and gets into the characters heads like nothing else before it. It's fantastic, one of my favorite novels period.

Finally, to close off this era, in just a few months a book called Kenobi is coming out, about Obi-Wan having to learn to stop being a Jedi, and start being a hermit. Sounds good.

Rebellion: This era's actually pretty light on novels, but heavy on comics. I'd definitely look into the "Empire" and "Rebellion" comic series, plus there's a new series by Brian Wood that's shaping up to be excellent. There are some novels by Timothy Zahn in this era, but I'd only recommend them after reading his later books.

New Republic: Remember that "pick it up if it has Stover's name on it" idea? Well, it still applies. Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor is excellent and an extremely fun take on Luke, Leia, and Han. All I'll say about it is that it covers Luke's last military mission before he begins to devote his time to the Jedi. I'm not sure I can describe the plot beyond that. Only thing is I'd recommend reading Stover's Shatterpoint first.

Perhaps the premiere books of this era, the books that really revitalized the EU, are Timothy Zahn's "Thrawn Trilogy". For a long time, fans considered this trilogy the sequel trilogy. Zahn really captures the characters from the movies, and introduces new characters that will go on to be very important. This trilogy is an absolute must read if you plan to get into the post-Return of the Jedi EU. You might also check out the comic Dark Empire, though it's very controversial. This era closes off with two Zahn books, and are both an end of an era and the official end to the war between the New Republic and the Empire.

New Jedi Order: Well, the series obviously. I actually haven't read it yet, but I plan to soon. The galaxy is invaded, and the war is chronicled in 19 books. Beloved characters die, and the tone is darker than in any other Star Wars work. The series contains some of the most acclaimed Star Wars books, such as Stover's Traitor, Luceno's The Unifying Force, and Greg Keyes work.

Those are just a few starting places. If you'd like to decide for yourself, you can refer to this list. Note that a lot of books on that list are young readers, so don't feel like you need to read everything. Just read what sounds interesting to you. Generally the blue ones are the more important books.

 

Technically, the New Republic era ends with Survivor's Quest (Timothy Zahn)....
And I'd add Zahn to the "pick it up if it has his name" list...

 

Thank You very, very much! That is the exact breakdown I was hoping to find!

For right now, I don't want to hop Era to Era really, so I am about to start Darth Plagueis tonight and then Old Republic stuff. I read the first issue of Legacy last night and enjoyed that, even though that is hopping eras lol. If they made KOTR for PS3, i would have it already

 

Every now and again I get on a SW kick and go out and read as much as I can before I burn out for a little while. The last time I did so I was on a novel rampage. I started as early as I could in the SW timeline, which at that point it was the Bane books. I read those on up to midway through the NJO. Yeah I did skip some here and there, but for the most part I got to about the 5th or 6th book in the NJO series before I just got tired, not necessarily of SW, but of the NJO story line. It was exhausting in my opinion, and not in a good way. There were a few bright spots but I honestly couldn't get through the whole thing, and that is where I stopped. Along the way I picked up the comic bug and before long I had every TPB in the Legacy, KOTOR, and Dark Times Series. After that I took a little break because it didn't really seem like there was that much out there that would hold my interest. I picked up Shadow Games (because Dash is the S@#T) and have gotten about halfway through it and put it down. It wasn't good. Recently I read Scoundrels and the short story Winner Lose All (which was way better than Scoundrels IMO), and just for giggles, picked up the Agent of the Empire TPB today..which wasn't bad! I am about a third of the way through The Last Jedi. I thought the CN books were great and I have been waiting to catch up with that crew again for a while as I'm sure a lot of others have. So that's where I am. I tell yall this because this way (if you read this post) you won't have to make suggestions of things I have already read. I have had the Dark Nest Trilogy for some time now, but never got around to it because I had not yet finished the NJO.

Long story a little shorter...would I miss much skipping half of the NJO? My goal is trying to get into the LOTF and FOTJ books, but I do not want to be lost. Does anything big happen besides the good guys figure out the Vong, win, and then exile them?

 

From the NJO, definitely read Vector Prime, Balance Point, Star by Star, Traitor, Destiny's Way, and The Unifying Force. Personally, I'd say read the whole series, but if you want the "lite" version, these are the ones you need to get the gist of the plot.

 

I am just about to finish the NJO, but if you look earlier in this thread basically everyone has told me that everything after NJO is barely worth reading. Don't skimp on NJO just to get to those books.

 

I thought the NJO was pretty bad, LotF was terrible, and FotJ was quite good.

 

I just don't think I can finish the NJO. IT's like a bunch of repetition. Vong destroys, good guys fight back...Vong adapt, good guys find weakness, blah blah blah...Chewie dies. That sucked btw. I've just heard that LOTF and FOTJ start to touch on some of the stuff that comes up in the Legacy comics (which is my all time favorite EU stuff so far), and I want to read that stuff. I'm tired of the Vong destroying everything! If you ask me that whole thing should have been a trilogy at best.

 

Maybe don't read it all in a row. I read it over the course of almost two years, reading other things (both Star Wars and not) in between. No matter how much I like something, there's no way I could read 19 books of it in a row.

 

I read it all in one month.....
.

A trilogy would have been too short for what they were trying to tell, but it was a bit too long...