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

Judicial Forces fleets were a bit like that - dedicated to pirate hunting. In the Empire, "customs ships" filled a similar niche.

 

This, I think, is the best advice. Any read-through of the post-Return of the Jedi EU absolutely has to begin with Heir to the Empire. Anyone who says otherwise is wrong. The first nine X-Wing books are best read together, even though they were released gradually from the beginning of 1996 to the end of 1999.

I know you're talking about more than just post-ROTJ Legends, but since it'll pretty much be your starting point, this is how I'd recommend doing it. You could do earlier-released stuff like Splinter of the Mind's Eye and The Han and Lando adventures first if you wanted, but honestly sticking them in anywhere is OK. This isn't exactly the way I did it, but it's close enough.

- Zahn's trilogy: Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, The Last Command
- The Truce At Bakura
- The Courtship of Princess Leia
- Jedi Academy Trilogy
- The Callista "Trilogy" --- Children of the Jedi, Darksaber, Planet of Twilight
- The Crystal Star
- X-Wing series, 1 - 9, followed by I, Jedi.*


*This one is tricky, actually. You could alternatively do the first four X-Wing books just before the Jedi Academy Trilogy and then read I, Jedi just after it, since IJ is a companion novel to that trilogy but also needs to be read after the first four X-Wing books. Some people will probably recommend that course of action. To me, though, the JA Trilogy still has an early nineties feel and is in a lot of ways a sequel to Zahn's trilogy, so I wouldn't recommend sticking too many books from 1996 in between those two trilogies. I think it's better to marathon the X-Wing books at some point after Planet of Twilight but before Specter of the Past.

- Black Fleet Crisis Trilogy
- The New Rebellion
- Corellian Trilogy
- Hand of Thrawn duology


And afterward, go and read some New Republic novels that were released well after the nineties were gone and done. Tatooine Ghost, Survivor's Quest, Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor, Scourge.

Am I missing anything from the New Republic era?

 

I don't see Young Jedi Knights or Junior Jedi Knights

 

Also it's best to read Shatterpoint before Shadows of Mindor.

 

I wonder how many people on this forum have actually read all of Junior Jedi Knights.

As for Young Jedi Knights, I picked up all fourteen for cheap from a used book store back in University, and then... never read them.

Ah yeah good call.

An addendum to my post: If you're interested in reading any New Republic era comics, there's always Dark Empire, Dark Empire II, and Empire's End to throw in between The Last Command and Jedi Search. I'd also recommend reading the third X-Wing comic omnibus partway through your read of the X-Wing novels --- before Isard's Revenge and Starfighters of Adumar, and definitely before the Hand of Thrawn duology.

 

I've read the whole Junior Jedi Knights series. It's reasonably entertaining by junior book standards.

 

Did any "recent calls" lists or recordings of Sidious's conversations with the Trade Federation and/or the CIS Council survive the events of ROTS?

 

I have a question for those well-read in the Expanded Universe...
Has there been a story (it would have had to have been since 1999) where some enemy of Darth Vader figured out at the very least that he was a former slave and that he had an inactive explosive inside him and attempted to reactivate it and destroy him?
Thanks in advance!

 

I've read everything Legends since that time, and I Can safely say no. But presumably they would have removed that at the temple at some point.

 

What do you mean?

 

Well Anakin spent a decade or so at the Jedi Temple during training. Presumably at some point he would have gone to the healers there, and mentioned "Oh by the way there's this old bomb in my head, could you take that out?"

I'd be genuinely surprised if it was still there even by AOTC let alone after his surgeries to become Vader.

 

Hmmmm that's a good question. Especially for the old EU, where Gunray's chairs had the habit of running away from him. I don't think it's been addressed to be honest, although it's an interesting plot for a story.

Henning's right -- IIRC in a book it was mentioned Watto removed it before Anakin left. Probably the TPM novel. Don't have it on me at the moment, but I clearly remember that part.

 

I'd think that Bail, Mothma, Obi-Wan, and Yoda would want all the evidence they can find to connect Palpatine to the CIS and the Trade Federation. I'd also think that Palpatine would want to make sure that nobody finds the evidence.

 

The novelization states, "The transmitter that bound Anakin to his life of slavery was deactivated permanently. It would be removed surgically at a later date."
Terry Brooks, Episode I: The Phantom Menace (Del Rey: New York City, 1999), 197.
We didn't see that in the film (I'm not sure if it was filmed). The novelization is technically Legends under some weird Twitter "clarification."
We can conjecture that it was removed, however we do not know. That's what I was wondering. I think the premise that it is still there would make for an interesting story in that it should be the only viable threat to Darth Vader in this continuity.
Thank you both Darth_Henning and Barriss_Coffee for pointing me in a direction.

 

A quick question for knowledge holders of TFA possibly the visual guide.

Whilst reading BB-8 on the Run with my daughter for the umpteenth time I wondered if Fez's droid ship is supposed to be the ship Rey observed when chilling outside the AT-AT? Timeline seems to work but wondered if that ship had been officially named in any visual guide before?

Thanks

 

So I decided to not finish children of the Jedi and move onto reading Darksaber. Pleasantly surprised. It made me wonder though, was this the first appearance of the Victory class or at least the first outside of WEG

 

Victory-class Star Destroyers first appeared in Brian Daley's Han Solo Adventures. That was before even WEG. They are also in the Thrawn Trilogy.

 

Ah I must have missed them. Cool that they have been around that long

 

Why didn't Jar Jar move to Coruscant when Naboo started shunning him for his role in the rise of Palpatine?

 

Eh, I respectfully disagree. I think it would raise too many questions. Why didn't the Jedi remove it? If it's so easy to reactivate it, how come it hasn't done so by accident in the last 13 years of Anakin running around doing Jedi things? Isn't it likely that it would have been destroyed when he became a quadruple amputee with 3rd degree burns? Is it just standard operating procedure to leave the bomb in a freed slave, or was Watto just really lazy/vindicitive? Was Shmi's implant removed when she was freed?

 

As the year of 2017 comes to a close, I'm reflecting on all the books that I've read this year. For better or for worse, I've only read the comics. Before we get into December, I've read 73 of them. In summary that includes

(1) Captain Phasma mini - between TFA & TLJ
(2) Star Wars ongoing - between ANH & ESB
(3) Star Wars Adventures
(4) Darth Maul mini - pre TPM
(5) Darth Vader ongoing - post ROTS
(6) Doctor Aphra ongoing - between ANH & ESB
(7) Mace Windu mini (one more left) - post AOTC
(8) Poe Dameron ongoing - pre TFA
(9) Rogue One Adaptation

It kind of all starts to blur together, and based on the time it takes between comics I have to refresh myself and do a quick visual "previously" in my head before beginning the current chapter.

In short, here are my recommendations
(1) Phasma is beautifally drawn, but the story is so shallow it's hard to recommend that you spend your hard earned money on this so skip it unless you're a huge Phasma fan.
(2) I hate the tracing of the faces of Luke, Leia, and Han, but otherwise the story has been decent this year if I do recall. There's currently connecting the story to events of Rogue One so I'm finding the current arc very interesting.
(3) What I like about this series is that it's like a little bowl of cereal instead of a giant meal like the other series have been.
(4) Interesting story with some familiar faces but again I'd skip unless you're a huge Maul fan. His story in the TCW and Rebels cartoon are far more better than this little story.
(5) Darth Vader is the shining star of the Star Wars Marvel line, IMO, and I'm loving each one despite the minor gripe here and there.
(6) I was lukewarm with Aphra as a character but she's definitely growing on me as her series continues. If you don't mind that she's an Indiana Jones clone with no morals, then have at it, but you'll need to start in the first Darth Vader series (2015) to meet her.
(7) Unfortunately, even though this story is almost done, I don't foresee the last issue saving this humdrum story. Just like Phasma and Maul, this comic is for the die hard fan of the character only.
(8) Poe has had its highs and lows and we're finally catching up to the events of TFA so I'm enjoying the current arc the most.
(9) The extra "scenes" that were excluded from the movie and interested into this adaptation were appreciated, but not enough to say that this is a must buy. Check it out if you loved the film as it will only enhance your experience. You can probably get the trade cheaper than buying each individually.

Spoiler: My full list of 2017 comics read

Journey To Star Wars: The Last Jedi - Captain Phasma #1 $3.99
Journey To Star Wars: The Last Jedi - Captain Phasma #2 $3.99
Journey to Star Wars: The Last Jedi - Captain Phasma #3 $3.99
Journey to Star Wars: The Last Jedi - Captain Phasma #4 $3.99
STAR WARS #27 $3.99
STAR WARS #28 $3.99
STAR WARS #29 $3.99
STAR WARS #30 $3.99
STAR WARS #31 $3.99
STAR WARS #32 $3.99
STAR WARS #33 $3.99
STAR WARS #34 $3.99
STAR WARS #35 $3.99
STAR WARS #36 $3.99
STAR WARS #37 $4.99
STAR WARS #38 $3.99
STAR WARS #39 $3.99
STAR WARS ADVENTURES #1 CVR A CHARM $3.99
STAR WARS ADVENTURES #2 CVR A CHARM $3.99
STAR WARS ADVENTURES #3 CVR A JONES $3.99
STAR WARS ADVENTURES #4 CVR A JONES $3.99
STAR WARS ANNUAL #3 $4.99
STAR WARS DARTH MAUL #1 $4.99
STAR WARS DARTH MAUL #2 $3.99
STAR WARS DARTH MAUL #3 $3.99
STAR WARS DARTH MAUL #4 $3.99
STAR WARS DARTH MAUL #5 $3.99
STAR WARS DARTH VADER #1 $4.99
STAR WARS DARTH VADER #2 $3.99
STAR WARS DARTH VADER #3 $3.99
STAR WARS DARTH VADER #4 $3.99
STAR WARS DARTH VADER #5 $3.99
STAR WARS DARTH VADER #6 $3.99
STAR WARS DARTH VADER #7 $3.99
STAR WARS DARTH VADER #8 $3.99
STAR WARS DOCTOR APHRA #3 $3.99
STAR WARS DOCTOR APHRA #4 $3.99
STAR WARS DOCTOR APHRA #5 $3.99
STAR WARS DOCTOR APHRA #6 $3.99
STAR WARS DOCTOR APHRA #7 $3.99
STAR WARS DOCTOR APHRA #8 $3.99
STAR WARS DOCTOR APHRA #9 $3.99
STAR WARS DOCTOR APHRA #10 $3.99
STAR WARS DOCTOR APHRA #11 $3.99
STAR WARS DOCTOR APHRA #12 $3.99
STAR WARS DOCTOR APHRA #13 $3.99
STAR WARS DOCTOR APHRA #14 $3.99
STAR WARS DROIDS UNPLUGGED #1 $4.99
STAR WARS JEDI REPUBLIC MACE WINDU #1 $3.99
STAR WARS JEDI REPUBLIC MACE WINDU #2 $3.99
STAR WARS JEDI REPUBLIC MACE WINDU #3 $3.99
STAR WARS JEDI REPUBLIC MACE WINDU #4 $3.99
STAR WARS POE DAMERON #10 $3.99
STAR WARS POE DAMERON #11 $3.99
STAR WARS POE DAMERON #12 $3.99
STAR WARS POE DAMERON #13 $3.99
STAR WARS POE DAMERON #14 $3.99
STAR WARS POE DAMERON #15 $3.99
STAR WARS POE DAMERON #16 $3.99
STAR WARS POE DAMERON #17 $3.99
STAR WARS POE DAMERON #18 $3.99
STAR WARS POE DAMERON #19 $3.99
STAR WARS POE DAMERON #20 $3.99
STAR WARS POE DAMERON #21 $3.99
STAR WARS POE DAMERON ANNUAL #1 $4.99
STAR WARS ROGUE ONE ADAPTATION #1 $4.99
STAR WARS ROGUE ONE ADAPTATION #2 $3.99
STAR WARS ROGUE ONE ADAPTATION #3 $3.99
STAR WARS ROGUE ONE ADAPTATION #4 $3.99
STAR WARS ROGUE ONE ADAPTATION #5 $3.99
STAR WARS ROGUE ONE ADAPTATION #6 $3.99
STAR WARS ROGUE ONE CASSIAN & K2SO SPECIAL #1 $4.99
STAR WARS SCREAMING CITADEL #1 $4.99

 

Is the Star Wars Holiday special canon? The force awakens visual dictionary briefly mentions Chewbacca's family that book is canon...

 

A few of Chewie's family members and their names, are canon, when the newcanon mentions them - the events of the Holiday Special itself, however, can be presumed Legends till proven otherwise.

 

Speaking of Chewie's family, has Malla had a reference/appearance in canon yet?

 

Yup - The Princess, the Scoundrel, and the Farm Boy (one of two ANH junior novelizations):


"Laugh it up, buddy." Seeing Chewie's look, Han added, "Hey, you're the married one. Find me a human girl with Malla's brains and silky hair and maybe I'll consider it."