Anti-EUer here, willing to give it another shot, needs help!

"Once you become a basher you can never go back."

Hey, even Vader made his redemption...

Why not give him a chance ?

Actually, I long thought EU was crap, although I didn't bash it, since it was the EU that turned me into a full-time SW fan - if you know what I mean by that : 'crazy enough to post on this forum - and be able to bash things, although I don't think I bash anything, but that's another story and this sentence is getting really long so I think I will stop it here' .

EDIT : And I really hope you're serious about this giving the EU a chance, Vaderbait, otherwise I'll make sure you catch what you're baiting... And believe me it'll hurt !

 

Yes, God forbid I was actually...anxious to get some of the books...and I actually felt....disappointment...when the library was closed!

Maybe I should stop before I get sick.

 

EDIT: Double post.

 

It's funny, in the mid-eighties I was kind of bored with Star Wars since there was not much new available. I still liked it, but I had read all of the novels, had most of the comics, then two things happened in 1987- I went to California and took the Star Tours ride and the RPG was released, that seemed to rekindle my interest in and I hit a sort of Star Wars renaissance, which re-captured my interest again and forever. The Zahn books hit like the Death Star's super laser and ignited a great many others interests as well, then Dark Empire, video games and more novels started coming out, more RPG material, more video games the Special Editions, even more video games, new movies, and finally the new RPG which brings us to here.

The Expanded Universe got me back into Star Wars. How could I ever dislike something like that?

 

I recommend reading The Essential Chronology before even looking at an NJO book. It gives you a nice background in your hated EU.

 

I suggest that you read:

The Thrawn Trilogy (5 STAR*****)
Vector Prime
Onslaught
Ruin
Hero's Trial
Jedi Eclipse
Balance Point
Conquest
Rebirth
Star by Star

 

All these new ppl who joined the NJO bandwagon. Start with the older 90's era books. You should read:

Thrawn Trilogy:A very good trilogy and the best as so far
Courtship Of Princess Leia
X-Wing 1-4,8,9, then I,Jedi for all the Rogue Squadron stuff and then 5-7 for the Wraith Squadron and hunt for Zsinj
Hand Of Thrawn Duology
The New Rebellion
Jedi Academy Trilogy
Tales From the Empire and Tales From the New Republic

Then tackle the NJO

AVOID AT ALL COSTS :Crystal Star and any Hambly SW books

 

Yeah, Children of the Jedi I did not get one page of it and didn't know what was happening, I thought the pages had been Jumbled up, but sadly the book was just plain BS.

 

Well, I couldn't find the Thrawn trilogy, but I did find the entire NJO set, so I just took out Vector Prime and Onslaught. I'm about halfway through with Vector Prime right now...and I must say, it is rather dull. I'm honestly trying to get into it, but it reminds me of the first book in the Star Trek: Invasion! series, "First Strike", which all in all, was fairly dull.

 

Ok, Vaderbait, as a dedicated EUer (who also hates most of the EU) I have a few sugestions. *waves hand*

READ THE DARN THRAWN TRILOGY.

Many a basher has read the trilogy, but nevertheless, Zahn's books are pretty much the core of what the SW books are all about. If you don't like 'em you'll have a negative attitude about the rest of the EU and it's not even worth starting.

That said, here are the core novels:


Heir To The Empire

Dark Force Rising

The Last Command


Skepter Of The Past (boring, but necessary)

Vision Of The Future (Heck yeah! Definition of good complicated EU. Not a good SW movie)


Vector Prime (hardly engrossing, the TPM of the NJO. Without Jar-Jar)

Balance Point (Deppressing, but worth the read. Especially if you want an explanation of the Vong or like Jacen)

Star By Star (Good. The essentiality of really great Star Wars. Amazingly lacking in all the flaws of the EU. Yet, **** happens, and if you're starting to like any of the characters you'll probably weep.)


Have fun.

 

Actually, I kind of like the anger in Anakin in Vector Prime (though as I've learned from bashers all around that delving into the dark side happens A LOT), I like the way its being written. Jacen sounds a little too preachy, I mean, he's only 16, not a Master. I like the Han Solo "teenagers" routine, though.

 

Many a basher has read the trilogy, but nevertheless, Zahn's books are pretty much the core of what the SW books are all about. If you don't like 'em you'll have a negative attitude about the rest of the EU and it's not even worth starting.

I didn't like Zahn's books and I don't have a negative attitude towards the rest of the Expanded Universe.

I'd recommend that you read the Zahn books, but also read the all 9 of the X-wing books, I, Jedi; Anderson's Jedi Search trilogy; some of the Tales books; then maybe Dark Empire I & II; then Tales of the Jedi comics now available in trade paperback.

 

Exception taken, K_N.

I neglected to mention the 'fanboy' X-wing series (Which I happen to enjoy) because they aren't important to the EU. Corran is a sweet Jedi and Rogue Squadron kicks some major ewok, but Rogue squad tends to sit around in the background painting skips and eyeballs on their X-wings there is no Saga behind them.

 

OK, I gave up on Vector Prime. It just didn't interest me. Onslaught was the same way (granted I only read the first 30 pages, but after 3/4s of Vector Prime, I don't want to waste my time). I'll still give the Thrawn books a try, but it the future for me as an EU fan looks bleak to be honest.

 

Since Vector Prime was the first star wars book I read I thought I should comment on this. I thought the book was ok, but not great. I was really confused on a lot of things going on so after I finished I started to read EU that came before it. So I read all of the Xwing series and liked every book. Then I went for the Thrawn Trilogy which I thought was really good, only problems I had with it is most of the parts with the good guys in it, mainly because I wanted to read more of Thrawns victorys and past. If you haven't read the Han Solo Adventures by Brian Daley I suggest you get that because it shows Han Solo at his coolest. After that I have like 4 stand alone books the enitre NJO up to date, a couple graphic novles like Crimson Empire which I thought was really good, and of course to fill in the gaps I have the Essential Chronology. I suggest going to some big bookstore and flip through the Essential Chronolgy to see what you like in it.

 

Courtship of Princess Leia is a MUST-READ. I honestly think it's the best SW book I ever read.

Also, read the Dark Empire comics trilogy. Action-packed.

And although it may not qualify as EU, read the classic trilogy novelisations-they may not be the most interesting reads, but they'll give you a whole new aspect on old stories.

 

I've read CoPL...

I did like the Crimson Empire series, and did enjoy those Han Solo books. I guess now there are too many characters, and the familiar ones are too different. I thought a lot of the running around peopel did in Vector Prime to be kind of....pointless.

 

classic trilogy novels are now officially EU, according to the Official site.

 

That must be driving the Purists nuts.

 

Really, all taste is purely sujective. For example, I'm one of those strange folk who actually liked the Black Fleet Crisis.

Hey, Merk, I'm one of those people too. Although I still haven't read book 3. Gonna be coming up on that in the next couple of weeks...

 

Black Fleet Crisis seemed a little to technical took away from the regular EU