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Lit New to the board and need your help!

Discussion in 'Literature' started by Rok An WyWil, Jan 19, 2018.

  1. Rok An WyWil

    Rok An WyWil Jedi Youngling

    Registered:
    Jan 18, 2018
    Hey guys! I just joined this board last night and wanted to pick everyones brain.

    It seems there are numerous threads on this (and I'm sure you get this all the time) but I am someone who has never read any of the novels.

    I loved Star Wars growing up (I'm 30) but just started getting into it again at a fanatical level in the past 6-12 months. As I'm an avid reader, I always hear Kristian Harloff discussing the novels on The Jedi Council.

    Does anyone want to break down what I should read and where to start? I have seen a few threads that break it down. But a lot of them go back 10 years and it's overwhelming to go in and try and decipher what is what.

    Any help you guys can give me would be much appreciated! Thanks!
     
  2. Ewan Tibbetts

    Ewan Tibbetts Jedi Padawan star 1

    Registered:
    Nov 13, 2016
    If you want to read canon I suggest reading everything. It's early enough that an "avid reader" can accomplish this with ease. Read in order of publication date.

    Some specific recommendations based on entertainment value include:
    - Lords of the Sith
    - Heir to the Jedi
    - Bloodline
    - Most of the comics. Basically everything except the main Star Wars run and the Princes Leia mini-series.
    - Tarkin

    If you just want to read things that tie into the movies I can recommend the Aftermath Trilogy, Darth Vader (the 2017 comic), Bloodline and Catalyst.

    If you want to read the old EU I don't have any recommendations become I've only read one Legends book so far. I just started the second book in the Thrawn trilogy and it feels so good to have the books take the lead, rather than just fill in little gaps. Another benefit to reading Legends is you know when and were the retcons and mistakes are coming. There's no constant fear that everything is going to collapse and be discarded, because it already has.
     
  3. Ghost

    Ghost Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Oct 13, 2003
    I would recommend Bloodline by Claudia Gray.

    Also, it's no longer "canon" as a book (but a lot of info within it has been re-canonized), the Essential Atlas is a great place to be introduced to all the lore built-up about the Star Wars galaxy over the decades.

    Also the Visual Dictionary (one for The Force Awakens, one for The Last Jedi) might be right up your alley too.
     
    Last edited: Jan 19, 2018
  4. DigitalMessiah

    DigitalMessiah Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Feb 17, 2004
    My personal favorites for Legends are Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor and the Dark Empire comic series (mostly the first six issues).

    Bloodline seems like it's the best of the new canon era, but I've admittedly not read much of that yet.
     
  5. UnshavenWookie14

    UnshavenWookie14 Jedi Knight star 1

    Registered:
    Oct 20, 2017
    I went through the same thing as you about a year ago. Coming back to Star Wars years later I was pretty overwhelmed with the massive content load. Didn’t know how to catalogue it all.

    The suggestions above provide some great suggestions. If you want then feel free to check the link in my bio. It’s a google doc excel sheet checklist in the timeline order. Relatively at least. Titles aren’t always obvious about a concrete time of their events, so its subject to change as more titles come out and we get better understanding. For the most part its pretty close in placing those titles in the timeline. I didn’t create the list, it is primarily the content from the wiki, simply skimmed down so you’re not jumping into 700 entries spanning 8-9 publication mediums.

    I consider the checklist to be sort of an adult English timeline. Meaning it takes out all the publications that were published for younger kids, and anything that was printed in another language and haven’t been translated to English (there are some German/Japanese eateries).

    It does include all (mostly, some times I fall behind on updates) entires for:
    -Films/TV shows
    -Novels
    -Marvel & IDW Comics
    -Short Stories (typically published in Star Wars insider magazine, and then reprinted as part of novels paperback releases)

    If you just want to focus on the novels alone though, check out Del Rey’s timeline. They list all their novels in order their.
     
  6. Yunzabit

    Yunzabit Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Apr 5, 2015
    Just read A New Dawn by John Jackson Miller
     
  7. jamminjedi23

    jamminjedi23 Jedi Master star 5

    Registered:
    Feb 19, 2015
    Here is a good site to follow that lists all the canon material in chronological order.

    http://www.starwarsdatapad.com/star-wars-canon-timeline-release-dates/

    If people are going to get started on the new canon this is a good time to do it because before long they are going to start releasing a ton of material in the post Jedi time period. Two or three years from now getting involved in the new canon might be just as hefty of a task for a newcomer as getting involved in the old EU was.
     
    Last edited: Jan 19, 2018
  8. UnshavenWookie14

    UnshavenWookie14 Jedi Knight star 1

    Registered:
    Oct 20, 2017
    Yeah they have certainly littered the timeline with an excess of entires. I almost wish they’d come out with imprint collections to decide it up. I say this because a 25 year old who looks at the wiki timeline for the first time can eliminate probably 200 of those entries right off the back. Unless you are the worlds biggest biggest completionist you don’t need to worry about stuff like the little gold books, or 5 minute Star Wars stories.

    A new reader doesn’t know this though. He goes. Looking for a list of 20-30 entries and gets hit with around 700 on that list. Most of it is watered down adaptions of the movies, novels, and even the tv shows for younger audiences.

    I almost wish they’d come out with like ‘Master’, ‘Knight’, ‘Padawan’, ‘Youngling imprints.

    Master - movies and TV shows

    Knight - movies, books, Marvel Comics, SW Insider short stories that publish with the paperback books

    Padawan - Movies, Junior novels, Adaptions made for young kids

    Youngling - 5 minute readers, the ‘little gold’ Disney books, retelling of stories a 5 year old can understand (an example being when they do those picture books of a Rebels mission we saw, but do it from Choppers POV so its tone is silly and simple).

    Probably a much better system than this one off the top of my head, but the truth is you don’t have to read 700 entries to know every story told in legends so far. But new fans looking to get into the new canon don’t know that, and it’s overwhelming trying to figure it out.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
  9. Yunzabit

    Yunzabit Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Apr 5, 2015
    Read 'A New Dawn' by John Jackson Miller
     
  10. UnshavenWookie14

    UnshavenWookie14 Jedi Knight star 1

    Registered:
    Oct 20, 2017
    I. NOVELS - these can be split into several groups based on different age groups. The oldest two groups are Adult Novels (published by Del Rey), and Young Adult Novels (published by Lucasfilm). Star Wars novels don't really have a lot of explicit content as is, so the only noticable differnce is the age of the main characters. With Young Adult Novels they're typically 16-18. Adult Novels feature adult characters.

    1. Del Rey Adult Novels (
    Chronological Order)
    • Dark Disciple - closes out storylines form clone wars show. A jedi teams with Dooku apprentice/former assassin to try and kill Dooku.
    • Catalyst: A Rogue One Story - Prequal to Rogue One. About the guys who built the death star and put the flaw in the reactor. His time in the capital working on the project
    • Lords of the Sith - Vader and the Emperor go on a mission together. Only time in canon they are both fighting with light sabers together (that I know of at least). Has a lot of insights into master and apprentice relationship between siths
    • Tarkin - Palpatine gets tired of vader and tarkin not being on the same side, sends them on mission together. Good dynamics
    • Thrawn - Grand Admiral's rise through the ranks. written like a mystery novel.
    • A New Dawn - Prequal to Rebels TV show. Surprisingly not bad. Has some good laughs. How some of the main characters meet.
    • Rogue One (Novelization)
    • Battlefront II: Inferno Squad - haven't read/. someone else can give the general idea for this one
    • Heir to the Jedi - Lukes first missions post A New Hope. trying to figure out how to use the force and being a total nube. Its kind of 'eh'.
    • Battlefront: Twilight Company - If you like the POV of the rebellion this is a good one. Written about a rebel group so you learn about how the armed forces is structed, and the dynamics iof rebellion soldiers
    • Aftermath - aftermath trilogy is the explanation of how the empire made one last grab to stay in power after the Emperor died. Its the new republic clearing out whats left of the Empire, and the origins of how the Empire transformed to the first order
    • Aftermath: Life Debt
    • Aftermath: Empire's End
    • Bloodline - just before the new trilogy. Leia is in the senate and no one agree. Bsically if you put the American political climate in star wars. you get bloodline. its a great read.
    • Phasma - haven't read. someone else know?
    • Canto Bight - haven't read. someone else know? (technically this is four short stories combines though)
    • The Force Awakens (Novelization)
    2. Lucasfilm Young Adult Novel
    • Ahsoka - after she leaves the Jedi order and post order 66. pretty good. better with audio book
    • Rebel Rising - haven't read, someone else know?
    • Lost Stars - two friends pulled in opposite directions. about the subtleties that determine who is on the side of the empire and those that side with the rebellion
    • Leia, Princess of Alderaan - haven't read. someone else know?
    Pick whichever one most appeals to you and dive in from there.
     
    Last edited: Feb 6, 2018