Lit Best books

Hello,
I'm trying to figure out which books would be best for my 8 year old son. He is an amazing reader, so I'm looking for novels not kids stories. He is into the whole Solo family story line (the kids like Jacen and Anakin). But he has only read about these characters on wookiepedia. He also likes the villains like assajj ventress and others. Can anyone suggest a novel or two? There are so many...

 

Start with Young Jedi Knights. They're a little pricey on Amazon but you should be able to pick up them cheaply as eBooks. Jedi Apprentice and Jedi Quest could also be good ones to try.

 

Junior Jedi Knights series for Anakin, Young Jedi Knights series for Jacen & Jaina. Corellia Trilogy, and The Crystal Star, are the main series books focusing most on the Solo children, before the NJO.

 

Dark Disciple has Ventress and is really good. If you think he could make it through a seventeen book series, the New Jedi Order series is good. Legacy is really good for Jacen and Jaina, imo. Really good series with great characters.

 

Dark Rendezvous for clone wars era

I Jedi for republic era

Nothing NJO or later for 8 years olds.

Uh guys, the one you recommended above are sort of kid stories, which OP doesn't want.

NJO LOTF DNT and FOTJ are definitely not recommended for 8 year olds.

I hesitate to even recommend Lost Stars, them NJO and later books are like rated R. If not NC 17.

 

I was (I think) an amazing reader as an 8 year old - but I don't think I'd have been ready for something significantly more advanced than Young Jedi Knights.

Lost Stars is probably on a par with PG to PG-13 - but the more advanced kind that barely squeaks by the censors - Top Gun level.

 

8 years old maybe too young to read anything mature wise (violence, drug use, abuse, and um adult wrestlings) featured in NJO and later. So I would recommend the OP to read the thrawn trilogy (Heir to the empire) and see what he thinks. Maybe that's okay for 8 year olds with high level of reading skills?

 

Servants of the Empire series may be good. They are kid's books, but I'd say they're pretty deep and engaging. They also tie into Rebels, so if he likes that show these may be interesting. It's worth pointing out these books are thematically more complex than the show.

 

I also recommend Young Jedi Knights and Junior Jedi Knights. When he gets a little older maybe he can get into NJO.

Also recommend Yoda: Dark Rendezvous. Ventress has a small part in it, but it's the best depiction of Yoda and heavily features a few young teen apprentices as well.

 

Boba Fett series maybe - if Clone Wars villains other than Ventress (Dooku, Grievous, etc) are wanted.

For TCW - there's the Breakout Squad series - Cad Bane is fairly prominent there.

 

Your son is eight?

The YJK works, the Thrawn trilogy works, the NJO works(be warned there is violence), and maybe a few other things-I Jedi, Hand of Thrawn Duology, and maybe Crystal Star.

 

A very advanced eight apparently - I'd probably go with "stuff suitable for up to 12" but be a little cautious with "aimed at age 13+" at this stage.


Mind you, I read Jaws at that age - and managed to miss the adult themes.

 

Darth Invictus

Are you kidding me with NJO? Do you not remember how Tahiri was basically r'd by the Yuuzhan Vong? How people a little more than 8 year olds had to go on a suicide mission, and it was "glorious?" How old men send children to die while smoking cigars and collaborators worked with the enemy every which way? How it's perfectly okay to lie, cheat, and call yourself a GOD?

 

Adult themes? There's a fairly descriptive sexual encounter in that novel.

 

Didn't register at the time. Was more obvious on rereading it as a teenager. It's surprising what doesn't stick in the mind when you're a little too young to understand it.

 

She wasn't raped(is that a taboo word now?) mentally abused but not raped. If your referring to the Mykyr mission there was no one under 15 IIRC. Jaina Solo-she used the whole trickster God thing as a call sign and as propaganda against the Vong.

 

re: Tahiri. So everything is a okay now.

re: Myrkr mission: Non of the combatants of the mission are over/at the age of consent anywhere civilized in the real world.

re: Jaina: she lies. cheats. and uses propaganda.

Just suppose you are able to refute all three, that makes the NJO a okay for a 8 years old?

 

Actually, there were several full Knights in the party.

Tahiri was by far the youngest member at around 14.

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Myrkr_strike_team

Anakin was over 16. Jacen and Jaina may have just turned 18. Zekk was over 20.

 

so it's okay for an 8 years old to read such things?
8 years old!
Tell you what, if 8 years old are actually should be allowed/actually should be encouraged to read such things, then and only then:
I am seriously out of time and place.

 

I personally think I'd have found the plots in those books a shade too complex at that age - not too violent. And when it comes to fairy tales, the heroes can be even more unscrupulous than any of the NJO ones.

Think of Star Wars as a modern, high-tech fairy tale.

Different countries and times have different standards.

There's a trope for things aimed at kids which surprise in how grim they are:

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids

 

http://boards.theforce.net/threads/fanfic-faq-version-8-0-new-10-15-15.50033485/#post-52678849

open up the book rating spoiiler and you will find:

DEL REY (NJO):
Vector Prime -- PG-13
Dark Tide Duology -- R
Agents of Chaos Duology -- R
Balance Point -- R
Edge of Victory Duology -- PG-13
Star By Star -- R
Dark Journey -- PG-13
Enemy Lines Duology -- PG-13
Traitor -- NC-17
Destiny Way -- PG-13
Force Heretic Trilogy -- PG-13
The Unifying Force -- PG-13

OP, please ask yourself if these books are what you think are appropriate for your 8 years old son to read.

 

Oh be quiet. Kid's aren't idiots, and children in wartime is a pretty time honored trope. You know what movies also have children not only fighting in but winning battles? The Phantom Menace and the Clone Wars. The Jedi Quest books have outright torture and a Mengele figure, and those are marketeted for all ages. It's not your job to be a moral cop, especially when you clearly have no clue what you're talking about.

 

we are not discussing if the NJO books are literature/good books.
We are discussing whether they are appropriate for 8 years olds. 8 EIGHT! If the child is like 17 or something, things could be argued about. But man, 8? Seriously? Who encourages these things? I got a better idea, let kindergarteners watch NC-17 p stuff all day, and all the teachers can go home.

 

Keep in mind that "amazing readers" may end up reading way ahead of their age group.

A little caution, yes (and maybe check against what you've already allowed in the past) but kids are pretty resilient when it comes to fictional violence.

Look at the violence in the SW films themselves. If the kid has already watched ROTS - which is PG-13 - then maybe they're ready for other PG-13 media, on a case-by-case basis.

 

Or, and this is astonishing, this kid isn't yours, you have no idea what he is like, nor what he's read before. A suggestion was made, that point stands, now shut up and move on with your life.

You aren't his parent.