New to the EU

Hi. I just registered here, and I was reading some of the threads over in the movies areas and got directed here. I liked the movies, and I want to start the books to check them out, but I wasn't sure where to begin.

Do any of you have advice about which series to read first? Are there any I should avoid?

 

May as well just read them all so you can join in all the conversations here.

I never enjoyed any of the Junior Jedi Knights, Young Jedi Knights, or Jedi Apprentice books. Everything else you should probably read, though, so you can be up on what's going on in the EU.

 

You should start as early as possible, I don't know much about the prequal era but for the OT onwards I suggest the The Truce at Backura(Sp?) and the X-Wing series.

Overall thoughI think you should try to read them all, even the onese that PPL say are realy bad, as you may like them, and get a chance to find out what everyone is on about.

 

Last time I went to a bookstore, I saw about 100 different books, so it'd take me a while to read them all. I'd like to, believe me, but I was hoping there were some that were better as introductions.

JediStryker- Thanks, btw, for the stuff to avoid.

 

I'll summarize some of the different opinions, and give each type of Fanboy it's proper scientific name.

Fanboyus Completist:
Read: All of it.
Avoid: None of it.

Fanboyus Purist:
Read: None of it.
Avoid: All of it.

Stackpolite Zahnist:
Read: Everything by Zahn and Stackpole, and most of the NJO.
Avoid: KJA, Hambley, anything with Boba Fett on the cover or the word Dark in the title.

Marvelous Comicalis:
Read: Marvel. And the other comics. And a little Stackpole.
Avoid: The Anti-Lucas, Timothy Zahn

Fanboyus Kewlist:
Read: Zahn, KJA, Dark Empire, Centerpoint Trilogy, the NJO.
Avoid: Chapters in the NJO books that have Jacen in them

Oldtimite Bantamist:
Read: Everything before the start of the NJO
Avoid: Everything after.

 

What books came out first? I might start there.

 

Heh! That makes me "Fanboyus Completist"!

Welcome, Freddy!

 

Honestly, I would start with The Thrawn Trilogy (Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, and The Last Command) because I think they are the best of the Bantam series novels. (these were also the first post-ROTJ novels, I am fairly certain.)

Realistically, it might be convenient to read them chronologically, which if you want to avoid prequel stuff for now would start with Splinter of the Minds Eye, then Shadows of the Empire (if there are some that I'm missing, let me know.)

Personally, I didn't care much for Shadows either, but it seems to be a favorite among others, so give it a chance.

 

Chronologicaly the Truce at Bakura takes place mere days after ROTJ, but the first novels released were Timothy Zahn's Thrawn Trilogy. I'll come back later and post some more when I have time.

 

What books came out first? I might start there.

That?s a bit of a loaded question.

The first EU book to be published was Splinter of the Minds Eye. It?s not a bad read (the Luke / Leia sexual tension is? interesting ), but I wouldn?t recommend starting there, as it generally gets ignored by the rest of the EU.

The first major story arc in Star Wars (aside from the movies) was the Marvel comics series during the late 70?s and early 80?s. Genghis12 is the person to ask for more information about that series.

The beginning of what I consider to be the second wave of Star Wars fiction began in 1990, as Bantam took over the license from Del Ray and Dark Horse took the license from Marvel. The Thrawn Trilogy and Dark Empire came out at about the same time. However, I?d recommend starting with the X-Wing series (both paperbacks and comics), which came later in the real world but earlier in the GFFA. Its focus is mostly on original characters, but the series leads into the Thrawn Trilogy and tends to be rather entertaining.

 

You forgot to mention Han Solo Adventures, and Lando Calrissian Adventures.

 

Cool. It seems I'm a Fanboyus Kewlist... AT least when it comes to helping newbies... Otherwise I'd be more of a Fanboyus Completist...

So, what do I recommend ? Here you go (remember this is personal, some will disagree with me) :

1) Read the Thrawn Trilogy by Tim Zahn (Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, The Last Command). This is IMO the best introduction to the EU. Then go back to Truce at Bakura maybe and read the books in order... Or skip to the New Jedi Order, but then you'd read the Essential Chronology first.

2) Read Shadows of the Empire. Quite close to the movies, it happens between Empire and Jedi... Not all new, but EU nevertheless. Then you can start on Truce at Bakura if you liked it, or try the Thrawn Trilogy to give the EU another chance. Or skip to the New Jedi Order, but then you'd read the Essential Chronology first.

3) If you want to be quickly up-to-date about what happens right now, read the Essential Chronology to know what happened before the New Jedi Order (to get some basic background info), and then start reading the NJO itself. It functions as a whole, and IMO no NJO book should be skipped. The books are in this order :
Vector Prime
Dark Tide I : Onslaught
Dark Tide II : Ruin
Agents of Chaos I : Hero's Trial
Agents of Chaos II : Jedi Eclipse
Balance Point
Edge of Victory I : Conquest
Edge of Victory II : Rebirth
Star by Star
Dark Journey
(and soon) Enemy Lines I : Rebel Stand
Once you've caught up, you can go back to the books that happened before, in order, or based on what seemed most appealling to you when you read the Chronology. (Usually, it seems people happen to like most the Thrawn trilogy and the X-wing series.)

Or any combination of the above 'choices'...

NB : I'd recommend you leave the Prequel books for later. At anytime, though you can go back and read some of them... I don't think reading all in the appropriate order is really possible...

Hope this helps !

 

That's a lot of books, and I am poor.

 

Tell me about it. But I do appreciate the advice.

Why is Splinter of the Mind's Eye ignored? Is it from left field? Is it the Highlander 2 of the EU?

 

SotME is more like the Highlander: Endgame of the series, since it doesn't fit in with continuity : )

 

What does it do with continuity? I heard something about sexual tension between Luke and Leia, but since they didn't know anything about their relationship until ROTJ, it isn't really that bad. Is there something else that is worse than that?

 

SPOILER WARNING: (for the newbies )


















Luke beats Vader in a lightsaber duel (sort of) but the fix for this is that Luke was inhabited by Obi-Wan's spirit.

The only real problem is that it was written before anything was know from Empire Strikes Back (ESB). So Vader doesn't know that Luke is his son, etc.

It does fit, it's just a little bit of a stretch.

 

SOTME fits in continuity just fine. Not only did lucas recommend it as a further adventure in the books rerelease, as well ADF stated that it fits just fine in the forward to the comic book edition. There are plenty of sources that explain it. Mimban and circapous, as well as aliens from mimban, and kaiburr get mentioned in other sources occasionally. There is no problem but what fans perceive. Apparently lucas saw no problem, and his words in the forward count imho.

 

That isn't so bad. There are worse things that could have happened.

 

Very true. And I personally think it's a good book. Better than SotE, IMHO.

 

In the book, Luke says, "I am obi-wan kenobi" at one point in the story just before he fights vader. That is where the idea of obi-wan controlling lukes comes from.

 

I'll check it out. I was trying to find the EU timeline, but so far I haven't had much luck. Is it on this site, or should I check google.com?

 

That's right. Geez, it's been awhile since I've read that one. I'll have to pull it out of storage now...

 

You should check out TimeTales, Freddy. It will help you tremendously.

 

Timetales

This should help, I think. Have fun wading through it all.