What Not To Read in the New Jedi Order...

The must reads:
Traitor
Destiny's Way
Force Heretic III
The Final Prophecy
The Unifying Force

I, personally, found Enemy Lines to be only okay. The first book was terrible because of Jaina but the second was pretty enjoyable.

 

The only books I read were Vector Prime (when it first hit the shelves), Star By Star, Traitor, and The Unifying Force. For the rest, I read the summaries on NJOE, which were pretty extensive.
I then read the Dark Nest books as they came out, and I didn't miss a beat.
I dodn't like Vector Prime when it came out, but after I got a feel for where the series was going, I really enjoyed what I read.
Traitor was easily the best, and pretty much the key to unlocking the series. I felt Star By Star was a grand epic (if not a bit too long), and the Unifying Force was an exciting conclusion.

 

I have the New Essential Chronology (I take it thats what NEC stands for) but decided not to read the end, I really didn't want to spoil it.

I got out my handy calendar and tried planning out my reading schedule until May 30th, and it is possible that I could accomplish my goal. I have to read about 300 pages a week, but I guess thats not too bad, right?

I know that I probably will be on like TFP by March 29th and will decide to give up and read the summaries. Oh well.

Obiy

 

Maybe for you it's about reading plot points that are important because you are in a hurry, but honestly I got a lot out of reading them all. And I loved Enemy Lines. Please don't skip them. (I'm surprised many here didn't enjoy.)

And yes if you don't read Traitor, you will probably understand the series as a whole. But it's one of the best SW novels ever. If you really just care about plot points to the overall saga then I don't know. Read whatever. I feel the real quality is in getting the whole story.

 

Last fall I started re-reading the njo to gear up for legacy, almost done with DW, while some are better than others i'm glad I read them all to get the whole story. it's almost better the second time around.

 

Yes, I really don't want to just read the summaries. About 99% of my reading material is Star Wars, and I love it. All the little details, getting inside the character's minds, it is a much different experience from a movie or a comic. Plus, there are many great authors that write Star Wars books (Denning, Allston and my favorite, Stover.) Reading the summaries is helpful for getting the plot but makes me feel almost empty inside.

Well, I'm wasting enough time here talking when I should be reading.

Obiy

 

You're reading Great Expectations? You poor sap.

This was my reaction when I first read Great Expectations ...


I can't believe that book is considered a classic. Seriously, though, if you want to save yourself a ton of grief, here's how it ends: The old hag dies, the criminal financed the main character's money all along, and he doesn't get the girl.

 

Traitor may not be terribly important for your understanding of the NJO, but it is THE pivotal story in terms of Jacen Solo's character development. If you want to understand why he is the way he is in the Dark Nest trilogy (and presumably in the Legacy series) Traitor is a must read.

 

Exactly. It's pretty much the important novel in the post-ROTJ EU.

 

I would have to agree that Traitor is by far the most pivotal book in the entire NJO series, not because it answered questions or tied loose ends, but because it was so awe-inspiring. Of all the NJO books, Traitor is the only one that I have read more than once. Even if you think Jacen should go fly a kite, you can't help but feel sympathy for him as he journeys through a Vongformed Coruscant that became the Dante's Inferno of Star Wars.

 

speak for yourself, the only thing Traitor inspired in me was righteous rage and a case of serious intestinal upset.

 

*Begins opening his mouth, then pauses and thinks for a moment*

Traitor... was pure garbage, in my opinion. Confusing, bad imagery and a philosophy that goes against everything that I've ever been taught or have experienced firsthand.

 

Books you have to read:

Destiny's Way (It's the turning point)
Force Heretic III
The Unifying Force

Not absolutely essential but helpful/worthwile:

Traitor (won't help u understand the overall NJO plot but is an excellent book regardless)
The Final Prophecy
Dark Journey (most people hate this one but I don't. Jaina goes dark and becomes "goddess")

Just skip these:

Enemy Lines, both of them
Force Heretic I & II

 

About Traitor, it seems to me that half the people who hate the book think it's too boring. The other half thinks that it's too graphic. Too graphic and too boring, am I the only one who sees a paradox here?

 

Well, Traitor basically follows Jacen Solo and Jacen Solo as he wanders alone largely through Vong-Hell and occasionally is forced to witness something horrible like a little girl being eaten. Inbetween brief stabs of ultraviolence is long soliquoys on the nature of the Force by Big Bird.

 

And Big Bird's lectures made me more ill than the graphic (for SW) violence.

 

Hmm, *thinks*

Well, tons and tons of graphic violence can dull the senses to it. And Traitor sure was dulling my senses.

 

Dark Journey and the first two Force Heretic books are skippable.

 

Seriously, who needs to read about Jaina bitching about life in general while Kyp Durron, Zekk and Jag Fel drool at her.

 

I would read FH1. IMO it was the most enjoyable of the series mostly because it has the Empire VS Vong which is very cool. Pelleaon is depicted very well and it is the book that holds one of the greatest lines in the EU. Not entirely important to the overall arc but it siffers from being the first book of a trilogy in that it must set up some of the storylines for the rest of the FHT.

 

I liked the Force Heretic books, myself. Force Heretic II is probably skippable...the basic plot is that the Vong infiltrate the remnant of the Ssi-Ruuk Imperium and try to take over Bakura. The P'weck slaves revolt against their Ssi-Ruuk masters and, consequently the Vong, and play a part in preventing Bakura from becoming another world that falls in the war.

Beside, as quad_gun_jinn said, Force Heretic I sees Pellaeon at his best. Man, I became a huge Pellaeon fan after he said, "The Empire will always strike back!"

 

..i just don't get the Allston love..

The first Enemy Lines book was okay, but the second one was just terrible..

On evenings where my buddy and i are sitting around, bored out of our minds, all one of us has to do is say "....Nyax", and then we both start making a bunch of Lightsaber sounds, and then we crack up laughing. What were they thinking? What an absolute waste of a story!

I have to agree with the folks who say the only real must-reads (for story purposes) are "Traitor", "Destiny's Way", "Force Heretic III", "The Final Prophecy" and "The Unifying Force".

"Traitor" IS the single most important book of the NJO, and is a huge stepping stone for setting up what all is to come.

 

I would say Star By Star is FAR more important that Traitor.. seeing as how the next series primarly hinges off that book..

 

I'd say Traitor and SbS are equal in setting up things for the Dark Nest. One deals with the Strike Team, the other deals with Jacen's little brain spark that anything can be justified.

 

You could get away with reading a summary of Traitor, I guess... a thorough summary. Since plot-wise, it's not a huge series of events involving 25 different characters and changing them all. I liked it and think one would be missing some of the philosophy as well as the enjoyment of the book if it was skipped, but if one finds it too violent or merely boring somehow, it's unlikely to leave you horribly confused if you don't read it. Just make sure to find a good summary and read that.