Discussions Best and worst of the EU?

I'm looking for a bit of guidance here.

Thinking of dipping my to into the EU. I'be always been frightened off by how big it's become though. I read the Thrawn Trilogy when it first came out, but, save for the odd graphic novel and the KOTR games, I am really quite ignorant to it all.

Rather than try and start at the beginning and wade through it all was hoping to be directed to what people think it the best stuff. There also stuff I was thinking of avoiding, such as the Yuuzhan Vong stuff, and wondering if I was right to do so.

What do you guys think is the best of the EU?

 

Best? That isn't KOTOR or Thrawn? Probably the X-Wing Series (both Rogue Squadron and Wraith books)

 

Plus nothing can top the awesomeness that is Starfighters of Adumar

 

Best: Jaina Solo
Worst: The Force Unleashed II

 

Best of the EU anything by Zahn(especially his latest scoundrels)
Worst- The death of Anakin Solo
The Yuuzhan Vong started of kind of boring with their intro in vector prime. I wonder if the creator of the vong (savatore right?) Is a death metal fan more specifically a Morbid Angel fan. That's all I think about whenever I read about the Vong. I see similar themes in both the Vong and Morbid Angel.

 

This

 

So what's the X Wing series about then? Wedge Antilles and his mates?

 

Pretty much

 

X-Wing series really is the best, both overall and to get you started.
The New Jedi Order is kind of controversial between users, so you might want to hold off, like I did, until something piques your curiosity about it and then pick it up.
Most Zahn is pretty good, but not always the easiest to get in to.
The Darth Bane books are an easy read that (minus a couple continuity errors) are really solid and kinda fun. Especially the first one.
Skip Death Troopers and Red Harvest. They are not worth your time.
As said above, skip the Force Unleashed II.
A recent book that was pretty good was Scourge. It lacks the galactic context which helps to make it an independent standalone that is of note.
Yoda: Dark Rendezvous is incredible. By all means please read.
If you enjoy the X-wing series, you may also enjoy I, Jedi which is about one of the X-wing squadron characters, and may help you bridge into NJO related stuff as far as characters go.

 

X-Wing series, hands down. It should be the first Star Wars EU anyone ever reads. They mostly have new characters (created for the serieses) so it's easy to jump into. You don't have to know much beyond what's presented in the OT.

After that, Zahn's older books are good. Plagueis was really good. I just started reading Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor, and it's pretty interesting so far.

Bad: Hrm, LotF started good but I didn't like where it ended up. NJO has a smattering of bad books here and there, and everyone has their picks. I remember disliking Darksaber and Crystal Star but it's been over a decade since I've read them.

 

One question will reading the X-Wing series make me care about Wedge? I keep hearing good things, but I'm not interested in reading Rogue Squadron adventures/battles. I don't care enough about their characters, only Jaina and she left the group right?

 

This series pre-dates Jaina.
I just have to ask though, you're asking if the book will make you care about the characters, which you're uncomfortable with because you don't care about the characters? Or perhaps I'm just totally misunderstanding.
What I can say is that they are the best written, character driven, comical, and action packed series found within the entirety of the EU. If you are just looking for Jaina, you'll have to look at the YJK, NJO, LotF, and FotJ.

 

The only time (IIRC) that Jaina is even in Rogue Squadron is the NJO right?

 

Whenever I read any eu book and there's a chapter with battles in space I don't get to intrigued. So that's a big reason why I stayed away from the X-Wing series. If a chapter of that gets boring at times for me I could only imagine an entire book. I trust all the great reviews so I'm willing to try I guess.

 

Here, this'll be useful to know what to avoid:

http://io9.com/5988376/the-12-worst-things-in-the-star-wars-expanded-universe

IMO, the worst thing ever in the EU is The Crystal Star. For those of you who do not know what that is, just check out the link and you'll find out.

As for the best stuff...

KOTOR, Bane trilogy, Thrawn trilogy, Dark Rendezvous, Shatterpoint, Labyrinth of Evil, Cloak of Deception... I can't think of more right now.

 

Thank you all for your responses. Ironically, the only other novel I have aside from the Thrawn books is the Chrstal Star, although, in my defence, it was a gift and I have yet to read it since it was bought (which is probably getting on for 15-20 years now).

It's also ironic that the link in the post above also highlights the Clone Wars movie/pilot. I saw it on a flight and thought it was terrible. I avoided the series for years afterwards. It was only after a few recommended episodes that I came to like certain parts of it (although I still find the serials very hit and miss).

 

I mean, they do many ground missions as well. Not all of the plot stuff takes place in space. I think you'd like it, but you could always go to the bookstore and flip through a few pages to see if you like them.

 

I could deal with the sun crusher and the jedi academy trilogy overall so I'll give it a pass. And Crystal Star has the worst reviews in amazon for a star wars book I've ever seen.

 

I really like the Dark Empire comic series, the Dark Times comic series, the Republic comic series and the Crimson Empire comic series.
I like almost all novels written by Zahn, Luceno and Stover.

 

TCW...

But I hear that situation may be fixing itself shortly.....

 

If you want something off the beaten path, the Republic Commando books Hard Contact, Triple Zero, and True Colors are fantastic reads. It goes downhill after that, and your enjoyment of Order 66 and 501st depend entirely on how invested you are in the series.

 

That is about as spot on of a summary as I've ever heard for those.

 

Why is Shadows of the Empire, the novel, not mentioned yet?

I think that makes for a terrific read. Although, truth be told, I'm not very well versed in the EU. I've read some comics and books, but not as much as a lot of people here...