Lit The Great River - The problem with the "the new EU"... A haven for Legends fans.

Yo. Starsaber here. The reason I'm posting in this thread is for some Legends recommendation's.

I've recently got back into Star Wars, after I heard about the EU reformation. While I do admit, I felt relief that I could re-enter the Star Wars universe without having to read decades worth of information, I did sympathize with your anger.
Then when i read that apparently the old EU had become in a sense a toy box for the... lets call it Ultimate Star Wars (Marvel is making the new SW comics, thought the reference would fit.) I came to a decision.
If I want to fully appreciate the Ultimate Star Wars books fully, I should read some of the original EU, if only to gain an appreciation for the past, and decades amount of written words in said EU.

So I got to ask, what is best recommendation's in the Legends Continuity? Which book would you guys represents the EU as a whole.
When you recommend me a book, I'll waiting unitl I can buy it, read it, and I'll tell you my opinion. This is gonna be fun.

Point 2.

Also even though it's probably not gonna happen, I want to help bring a more positive impresison of the Ultimate SW Universe (I think that's my new nickname for it now. Heh.) into the Legends SW Universe. I guess you can call me the neutral party. If you guys don'r want to talk about the Ultimate SW, just tell me, and I'll be all about Legend discussion.in this thread. Like I said, I'm here because I'm actively curious about the past of Star Wars, and how it may effect its new future. I love books, and I'm willing to play by your rules.

But the main reason I want to ask you guys about the Ultimate SW stuff, is because, I utterly, and completely respect your opinions, because you guys HAVE put the effort into reading all those books, have a lot of classic EU knowledge in your heads.In another forum, I read a thread where a classic EU fan watched Star Wars Rebels, and gave some FASCINATING insight into what EU elements Rebels was actively basing themselves on, and other side notes like explaining about the whole Core Worlds, Outer Rim politics. I didn't EVEN KNOW about that stuff.

So when I say I would love to hear what your perspective on the Ultimate SW stuff I mean it. Even if I disagree your opinion, I still might learn more about the similarties and differences when you compare the Ultimate SW Universe to the Legends Expanded Universe.


But above all else, I'm here to read some books from the Legends Continuity. Pleased to meet you, and I can't wait to start reading Legends.


Ultimate SW Universe Question: So as well-read fans of the Legends EU, whats your opinion on Caleb Dume, or as he's known in Rebels, Kanan Jarrus. Also, is there a direct Legends character that probably was the inspiration for Kanan/Caleb? Please let me know!

 

Oh yeah I forgot about that. Yeah he actually used it well.

 

Probably the best starting point is the Thrawn Trilogy. It restarted the EU in the early nineties. Then the Rogue Squadron books(very little Big Three in it though). Be warned though Zahn, Stackpole, and Allston started these before the Clone Wars was set as exactly 20 years before A New Hope so there are some inconsistencies in that make the Clone Wars seem to have happened much longer and that there was a period of time between them and the birth of the Empire. Best thing about the Thrawn Trilogy is that you do not have to have read any other post ROTJ Legends books because it does not reference much if any at all. Also it introduces new characters that are hugely important if you want to read anything set after the thrawn trilogy(Mara Jade, Talon Karrade, Thrawn, Pelleon, Han and Leia's twins, the Noghri, the Chiss as a species all come into play in later stories like the 19 book NJO series.

Rogue Squadron and Wraith Squardron series deals with Fighter Pilots. Starts only a few years before endor but before Thrawn. Main Character in the First couple books by Michael Stackpole is a former Corellian(Han's Homeworld) Cop named Corran Horn, who is also important in later series like the NJO and Fate of the Jedi. Other main character is Wedge Antilles from the films. The second Series Wraith Squadron has Wedge making a new squardron out of hard luck cases and has some of the best humor in star wars.

Also there are two very easy ways to catch up on everything in the old eu. One is the New Essential Chronology that came out a few years ago but I do not know if it is still in print. The other is the Essential reader companion which I know is still available as an ebook. The Chronology acts like a in universe History book and the essential readers companion is a guide give basic rundowns of everything up till about a year before Disney Rebooted the EU. Both have a good amount of artwork too that will late you see what the non film characters were generally thought to look like, thought the Chronology artwork is very stylized.

 

Thanks for the recommendations. Thrawn Trilogy eh? Even with my total lack of knowledge on the EU, I know a bit about Thrawn just from all the Star Wars forums/threads I've been exploring. From what I can gather, he's like the military strategist supreme, Or as TV Tropes might put, he's the master of the Xanatos Gambit. At least that's the impression I've gotten from what I little I know about him. He sounds like my type of villain. He is a villain right? That's what I've gotten from what I've seen

Also welcome to what I call

"The Past Inspires The Future"
Like I said, I want to learn and read the Legends Continuity, to not only appreciate some apparently amazing books, but so I can spot references and inspirations for other characters in the as Im calling it the Ultimate Star War EU. I always love seeing how things get inspired, and I totally have found a potential interesting connection to what little I know of Thrawn from Legends, and Rebels in Ultimate

Apprently the ISB Agent Kallus, was orignally depictted conceptually as a Chiss, which I think is Thrawn's race. Don't quote me on that if I'm wrong. While they may have invetibly decided to make Kallus a human, the fact was, they still for moment considered making him a Chiss. They activley considered reintroducing a spieces that I think only orginated from Legends. So yeah, Star War's past is still influncing is future. Postivity Yay!

Anyways, thanks AnakinColodin... (I'm just gonna call you A.C. if your cool with that.) for the recommendations. I'll buy the first Thrawn book today, and get started on reading in. Once again, thanks dude!

 

The thing is, I don't think that was ever in doubt. Even under Lucas, the approach from about TCW on has been to consider the EU as a source of ideas for everything from planets to starships to organizations to what have you. That's clearly only intensified under Kennedy; the proof will be in the execution of that basic approach, and we won't know how that went for another five months. But there was never a question that the past was going to inspire the future.

That said, yes, there's a lot of good material in the EU that can be enjoyed as is, without having to consider how it would eventually be processed and resynthesized in the new canon. But be cautioned: there's just as much bad as good in that great collection of books and comics we call the EU, and within it you'll find the fuel for both arguments: if you think the EU was good and shouldn't have been decanonized, you'll find evidence in there to back you up; if you think the EU was bad and deservedly scrapped, you'll find evidence in there to back you up also. It's a big, huge, complicated, wonderful mess. It's not canon anymore, but it's still worth your time.

 

those are all good choices. But if you dont want to read a million novels starting that long ago. Read the New Jedi Order series starting with Vecter Prime. But yeah TTT, and Mindor are also good starting points.

 

Somehow, I think the NJO series would be a pretty hard slog for someone who's just getting their feet wet in the EU. But Mindor makes for a great standalone starting point.

 

Midor is a great starting point too. It works as a standalone but ties into the original Marvel Run from the eighties with the villain and also ties into the prequels era EU novels.

 

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Thought I'd respond to this in the proper thread here.​

The problem with FOTJ and LOTF wasn't the subject matter. It was just handled very poorly, and there was a decided lack of connectivity between the novels. Each author, of course, has their own voice - but it there often was a jarring disconnect from one novel to the next. And that's on the editors to resolve (yeah, those people still in charge of the novels for the NEU).​

There was also that they weirdly diverted from some of the most interesting plot threads. The whole new Civil War in LOTF petered out to the point that it was for all intent forgotten by the end. FOTJ kept hammering home Aboleth and the Maw, and yet somehow Aboleth wasn't responsible for Daala's rise despite that she spent a decade or so in the Maw?​

And, of course, there was the whole new 'status quo' that Luceno set up in TUF, that was ignored by all the Legacy books but - strangely enough - was embraced by the Legacy comics set another hundred years down the way. ​

But I don't think for a second that a good author couldn't sort those messes out - create an interesting and compelling history of the GFFA-Confederation fight for instance. Or, go back and do what Chee always promised, but never delivered (and was promising when he knew full well that the 'promise' was moot because of the Disney buyout) to make sense of the Clone Wars timeline. Maybe FFG might do that, although they might not be permitted, if the whole disclaimer in Force & Destiny is a sign.​

 

Zeta1127

Vector Prime is the first book in the NJO, right?

 

It sure is.

 

Thanks.

 

I really liked that book. Good starter anyway

Sent from my XT1060 using Tapatalk

 

I actually already know about the "twist."

Did it upset a lot of people?

 

You could say that. Salvatore even got death threats from "fans" - for an editorially made decision and at a time when he was mourning his deceased brother.

 

I see. Is Vector Prime the only book he wrote for the NJO?

 

That's it - though he did do the novelization of Episode II as well.

 

Yep. Though he wrote the AOTC novel.

 

Wow, you both answered at the same time.

 

Shadows of Mindor and Vector Prime were two of the first Star Wars novels I ever read. They must have been okay starting points, because I was hooked after reading them, and now have an entire bookcase filled to the brim with Star Wars novels.

 

Apparently, while he was told about them:

they never actually reached him personally:

 

I see him as kind of a Kyle Katarn guy, personally.

 

More apropos for this thread: the (Legends) Essential Atlas Appendix has been updated as recently as June 12th, 2015.

 

That's cool.

Well, I guess this thread can be a replacement for the bring back legends thread.

What do you guys want to talk about?

How about the new Battlefront and how will it compare to its predecessors?