Lit GENERAL QUESTION THREAD (What to read? Where to start? What's canon? What's not? Duros, etc.)

Quick question about reading order. I want to read both Cloak of Deception and Darth Plagueis. I’d like to read them in chronological order, but I also know Cloak of Deception was written first. My question is, does the reading order really matter? Will I spoil anything by reading Darth Plagueis first?

 

Not as far as I recall - if the events of Cloak of Deception were covered, it was at most a name-drop or two. Darth Plagueis First should work fine.

 

This is more of a general forum question, but I cannot find a thread anywhere on the Star Wars Archives book by Taschen written by Paul Duncan. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Thanks in advance.

 

I read Cloak of Deception immediately after Plagueis and I basically knew what was going to happen at every turn. Do it the other way around.


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Also -- if you're going to read Cloak, read Shadow Hunter too if you haven't already. They work really well together. Read Cloak first, Shadow is more like a sequel.

Really it's all about the Neimoidians. But no seriously, Shadow Hunter's a good book. Even if the Neimoidians weren't in it.

 

But it certainly helps no doubt

 

Thanks for the replies, everyone! I guess I’ll read Cloak of Deception first so as not to spoil anything. Looking forward to them. I’ve only heard great things about Darth Plagueis!

 

In the Byss mission in Jedi Academy, Kyle Katarn mentions that he served on a Dreadnought back when he was in the Imperial Navy. It's been a while since I've read the Dark Forces novelizations, but doesn't the timeline in them make that kind of impossible?

 

Kyle never served the empire as an officer, but the Dreadnought could have been a training vessel of the Imperial academy. Kyle's 'Omega Exercise' final proving mission could have been launched from that ship.

 

Uh oh, that actually might make things worse, because I think Kyle's line in the game actually has him talking about being an Imperial officer....

 

When does he say it? He was made an Imperal officer, a Lieutenant iirc. He could have travelled onboard a dreadnought on his way from the academy on Carida to wherever he boarded the Star of Empire cruise liner. But the fact that his academy acquaintance Nathan was also travelling on the Star of Empire, means that it likely departed from Carida itself.

 

Oh hi, long time no see people. How are things? Are the Duros still in Chalmun's cantina? Good.

I have had a bit of a break from prose Star Wars, as my reading has gone more towards fantasy and non-fiction. I did read all the pre-new-Marvel comics I got my hands into, but didn't feel the point of reading either the old or the new novels. So I haven't read anything of the new Canon, but maybe it's time to test some of it.

Of the new movies I felt like VII was too much more of the same, but with fun characters, RO was good up to Scadria, at which point it turned great, and VIII was the best of the new movies, making me care about the characters, cry about five times, sit on the edge of my seat during the whole Supremacy climax and do other stuff you humans call "emotions". And I always forget that Solo exists, but it was fun. So I'm still a fan of Star Wars, VIII being the one that rekindled my spirit a year ago and now again when I re-watched it.

There have been about a zillion novels, short stories and comic books released since I stopped reading them back in 2014. If I took one or more to read of them, what would it be? Are there any must-reads like Darth Plagueis, Stover or Jedi Prince would be on the Legends side?

And what is the quality level of the Marvel comics compared to Dark Horse? I'm thinking of testing digital comics as well.

 

Is the opera house in this picture the Galaxies Opera House or the Coruscant Opera?

 

So recommendations can be difficult. I've liked most of the new stuff.

If you enjoyed Rogue One, I'd say Catalyst is a must read. It focuses on the relationship between Lyra, Galen, and Krennic. The book looks at the transition from Republic to Empire via the Death Star project. It does a good job at showing Imperial intrigue and internal politics. It's by Luceno so I'd assume you'd enjoy it based on your post.

Tarkin is also by Luceno and was good, but definitely Luceno's weakest book. He does portray Tarkin well and you get some good looks at the Empire's structure. However, Catalyst is what this book should have been.

Both Battlefront books are phenomenal. Twilight Company is about a Rebel infantry squad and takes place leading up to Hoth and during the battle's aftermath. It's a pretty good portrayal of a foot soldier and gives a great picture of the Galactic Civil War. It portrays a larger scale war than Legends during the same era. It's a fun book and adds weight to the Battle of Hoth. The second book, Inferno Squad, is about an Imperial special forces unit created in response to the Death Star. They're sent to hunt down remnants of Saw Gerrera's partisans. The book is almost like a sequal to both Rogue One and A New Hope from an Imperial point of view.

The Aftermath Trilogy is a very important set of books. They show what happened after Endor and deal with the final year of the Galactic Civil War. They have a good cast and an interesting story. There's a lot in these books that reminded me of the Legends post Endor GCW stories, despite being fairly different versions of events. They hint at the ST in significant ways. The books also show the beginning of the New Republic senate.

Last Shot, is a very fun book. It's set three years after Endor and is about Han and Lando dealing with a criminal who's path they both crossed years ago. The story is interesting, but the best part is the portrayal of Han and Lando. It's worth reading.

Bloodline is also great. It is a Leia focused book taking place six years before the sequel trilogy. It deals with her work in the New Republic senate and ties into the new movies. The book is essential for setting up the state of the galaxy in The Force Awakens. Claudia Grey really understands Leia's character. Her original ones are really good as well. Claudia Grey has also wrote Leia Princess of Alderaan and Lost Stars. The former deals with Leia becoming involved with the Imperial Senate and the Rebellion. It also includes Holdo and shows the beginning of her friendship with Leia. Lost Stars covers the entirety of the Galactic Civil War. It's about two childhood friends who enter the academy together but end up on opposite sides of the war. Both are phenomenal and worth checking out.

Phasma is a good book. It's about the beginning of her relationship with the First Order. It adds a lot of depth to Phasma's character and portrays her in a way the movies can't.

There's also two Thrawn books which are both good. Thrawn shows him joining the Empire and rising through the ranks. It situates his rise alongside one of the other main villains from Rebels. It's an interesting portrayal of Imperial politics. In Thrawn: Alliances Thrawn works with Vader to investigate a disturbance in the force. The present day story runs alongside one from the Clone Wars. Thrawn and Anakin meet up when Anakin is searching for Padme. Both stories take place on the same planet. There will be a third book called Treason about a rivalry between Thrawn and Krennic.

Servants of the Empire is really good as well. They're kids books, but very thematocally interesting. They have good characters and even tie into the sequel trilogy. They duentieninto Rebels but you don't have to have seen the show to follow the books.

A New Dawn is good. Of you liekd Rebels it is a must read. If you haven't seen it, the book stands on its own very well and is still worth checking out. It's fun and has one of mall favorite portrayals of the Empire. It shows how they take over and monitor worlds. A very up close and personal look at their evil.

In terms of comics there have been a lot of great ones. Both Darth Vader series are superb. One shows his early days as Darth Vader and the other shows him rebuilding his power after the destruction of the Death Star. There was a Poe Dameron series that was a lot of fun. It's focused on him and his squadron searching for Lor San Tekka. The main Star Wars series started out good, kind of slowed down in the middle, but is currently really good. The art has been meh during the last year, but it coincides with the story improving a lot. I'd recommend it. There's currently an ongiong about an original character named Aphra. It's a really fun series and she's a great character. Aphra was introduced in the post ANH Vader book and has grown a lot as a character. There was a Han Solo mini and two Lando minis which were all really good. Currently we're finishing a Han Solo mini about his days in the academy. It's fun. They just started an Age of Republic series of one shots. Iit's phenomenal So far there's been one on Darth Maul, Qui-gon, and Obi-wan. All three characters were portrayed very well and the issues raised interesting concepts and we're insightful.

For the most part I think the comics have been on par with Dark Horse. Nothing compares to KOTOR, but I'd say most of their stuff has been better than X-Wing. The best of Marvel is probably on par with Republic and maybe even better at times. It really depends on what kind of stories you're looking for. Comparisons are difficult, but I'd say there have been plenty of satisfying stories from Marvel.

 

How many "spacer" names like Skywalker, Darklight, and Eclipse do we know of?

 

Sunrider? Also, Tatooine surnames tend to follow the "Nounverber" theme.

 

Farlander

 

Lol, it looks pretty big on my computer. Can you tell me what page on wookieepedia you found that? That's where I was looking myself and I didn't see anything that stated which one it was.

 

I've said it before and I'll say it again: to avoid images shrinking, use imgur.

 

Thank you @JediKnight75 for that long reply! Catalyst, Bloodline and A New Dawn sound interesting.

 

I though it was more "Swedish first name as surname" theme, if we go by Lars

 

Sandskimmer and Fardreamer were both from Tatooine at least. He also had a friend called Starkiller.

That's not counting ones that actually appear in the movies - Darklighter, Skywalker.

 

No problem. I love recommending books. Those three are great choices; I hope you enjoy them. Let us know what you think.