Help a Newbie: essential/inessential pre-reading for NJO

Hi folks,

I wondered if some kind soul would let me know which are the essential novels to read before beginning the New Jedi Order. I'm reading and enjoying the first Zahn trilogy now, and want to cherry-pick the best of the other post-RotJ novels before giving the NJO sequence a try.

Can someone help out? I presume the jedi academy trilogy, and Zahn's second Thrawn set are must-reads, but what else?

- Jonathan

 

Probably The Thrawn Trilogy, the Jedi Academy Trilogy, Darksaber (for Pellaeon/warlord/Moff dynamics) and the Hand of Thrawn Duology are the minimum "required" books plus Dark Empire and Union from the comic list.

 

You know, we should have an official thread on this dp4m...

 

As I was waitning for the thread to come up I had come to the same conclusion as had Dp4m.

Except he added Darksaber, which while I despise as a book, his rational was totally sound.

Other secondary possibilities are:
* the first 3 or 4 X-Wing books [ to get a sense of Wedge's/Rouge squadron's history]

I,Jedi to appreciate more of Corran, although I suppose the X-wing and Hand of Thrawn duo does this a bit.

One could also possibly argue the Correllian trilogy to see the Solo's kids pre NJO development [ unless one wants to go for the junior jedi and other kids books].

 

Well, IMO the early NJO books give enough insight into the Solo kids. So I wouldn't say the Corellian Trilogy is essential. Neither is I, Jedi.

 

Follow my five step plan, I've recommended it to a lot of people in your position and it hasn't failed me yet. The following are what I consider "the essentials" to understanding the continuity of the Bantam era.

Shadows of the Empire - Simply great, fun-filled look at what exactly happened between ESB and ROTJ. It seemlessly connects the two with a few surprises and adventures along the way. Great cast of characters; Vader, Emperor, Boba Fett, Luke, Leia, Lando, Chewie, and introducing the ominous Prince Xizor! Some will say it's elementary but it's not like we read Star Wars for its eloquent metrical verse.

The Thrawn Trilogy - Five years after the events in ROTJ, the galaxy has moved on, the Empire has dwindled and a blue-skinned Uber-Admiral comes out of the woodwork to help them re-take lost territory. This was the first trilogy published in the Bantam line. Some will say it's complete bantha poo-doo, some will say it's the crowning jewel of the EU; read it and see for yourself.

I jedi - This is basically the events of JAT (yet another trilogy) summarized and told through the eyes of an "X-wing" character. This is the first and only EU novel written in the first person. People either love or hate this book, the haters take offense to the fact that Corran Horn, the main character, is always saving the day. If you can see past that, you're in for quite a ride! This will also give you a taste for what the first half of the X-wing books are like since they're written by Michael Stackpole.

Darksaber - Okay, first off, bear in mind that KJA has left a sour taste in a lot of people's mouths. I'm not really sure why... okay, that's a lie, I do know why, the guy went super weapon crazy... but if you're willing to see past that, he really did successfully capture that quintessential SW feel. So much so that Lucas actually gave him the go ahead to kill a character from the movies (that was before the NJO which is just a free for all in killing GL's characters ). That character meets his end in this book. Other than that the other major points of this novel is the point of no return for the Empire (which is, they lose so badly that they never recover... ever), Luke has a love interest (which we met in Children of the Jedi, a truly horrible book. Don't even think about picking it up, all you need to know about their relatonship is covered in this novel), and we visit some long lost planets from the movies like Tattooine and Hoth, and Yavin.

Starfighters of Adumar - Well, let's see then there now. Starfighters is basically the one and only solo X-wing novel while the others are in an inter-dependant/trilogy format. It also takes place much later than the other books by some four or five years. Many claim that this is the best of the X-wing series (which I cannot comment on since I haven't finished the series). I through it into the mix because I tried to give a wide breadth of variety to the selections I gave you while still following some chronological pattern and maintaining good reading quality. It's really good if you're into those lighthearted romps in the tradition of ANH or the old Marvel run. It's probablly the funniest book in the entire EU, and it gives you great insight into the minds of some of those X-wing pilots barely touched on in the movies like the great Wes Janson.

Read these books and pick up The Essential Chronology to fill in the gaps in between and you pretty much have the foundation of what the Bantam era was like. You'll be the EU equivalent to a Jedi Knight, but if you want to be a master you'll have to seek tutalage under the likes of posters such as Genghis12 and Valiento.

By the way, here's a link to TF.n's Book Reviews so you can see how all of the books were recieved.

Hope this helps, MTFBWY!

~PAd

 

Rogue Planet is a must. It's a prequel to the NJO, but takes place just after The Phantom Menace

 

The Trawn Trilogy and then X-wing, I,Jedi and Jedi Acedemy series. Darksaber. The Thrawn Duology.

Avoid the Crystal Star

 

It's a question in the FAQ.

 

You should read the X-wing books. Stackpole and Allston are some of my faves.

*injektilo

 

All -

This is what is essential to read before the NJO -- THAT'S IT!

It's not a list of your favorite books!

 

The hand of thrawn duology is extremely important. It has some interesting comments on the nature and usage of the force. Granted if u can stand Mara lecturing Luke. Plus also it give u a good idea of the political climate prior to the NJO.

Honestly, IMO, darksaber can go on the inessential list.

If u got FH remnant, and want to understand the Yevetha, then u must read Black Fleet Crisis. It's an enjoyable read, and unfortunately the following authors did not pick up on where MAcdowell was leading in terms of fleet battles and usage.

 

I'd say Hand of Thrawn Duology, JAT, Dark Empire, I, Jedi...hmm...possibly the YJK books as well.



JMA

 

Here is my list of the absolute minimum for NJO:

Truce at Bakura
Thrawn trilogy
Dark Empire (comics) [+ DE II and Empire's End if you feel up to it]
Jedi Academy trilogy + I, Jedi
Hand of Thrawn duology

Plus get the Essential Chronology to fill in the blanks for everything else.

On top of that, I would highly recommend the X-Wing books to get a handle on a lot of other characters who play a role in the NJO. Every NJO author who did a previous book in the Bantam era heavily worked in their characters from before - and Stackpole and Allston did the X-Wing books. The X-Wing comics would add a lot too.

In all honesty though, I would recommend reading all the post-ROTJ novels (& comics) because you still miss out on a lot by not reading them. You wouldn't know who Thrackan Sal-Solo is, or Tenel Ka, or Lowbacca, or Baron Fel, etc. etc.

 

The Essential Chronology would be most useful for fairly in-depth summaries of the Dark Empire comic trilogy (which would be difficult to find in its entirety), Junior Jedi Knights series, Young Jedi Knights series and all Bantam novels.

IMHO, the significant event of Union is thoroughly explained elsewhere that there is no essential need to this comic. Dark Empire is fairly essential for SW in general, though the precise specifics are not required for NJO, so you only need a summary.

For the essential novels,

Rogue Planet is an unmarked actual prequel to NJO.

Then the there are the basic building blocks of the Bantam novels : The Courtship of Princess Leia, Thrawn trilogy, Jedi Academy trilogy, Darksaber, the Hand of Thrawn duology. These chart the general storyline of SW since Return of the Jedi, which i gather is what you were after in the first place.

Then, for the less significant storylines in NJO :

- X-wing novels (1-8). X-wing 9 is optional, but is a great, fun read, so i'd read it.
- The Truce at Bakura
- Children of the Jedi
- Black Fleet Crisis trilogy.
- Corellian trilogy.

- Young Jedi Knights/Junior Jedi Knights : these younger readers books are about the adventures of the young Solo kids and their mates. You would only need them for character background info, and summaries should be enough (such as found in the Essential Chronology). They are not completely essential.

Also, note that throughout NJO, there's a habit of small cameos from across the entire SW saga (the most recent was a computer game character), so don't worry if you don't understand every single thing (some things are new and just introduced in NJO).

 

Thanks for all your help guys - this is very useful.

I'm currently on the second volume of Zahn's trilogy and will move on to KJA's Jedi Academy trilogy next, although I'm a bit worried as I've never rated him much as a writer.

I'm sure I bought the first Dark Empire comic when it came out - must have a root around and see if I can still find it....

Looks like the Trades of DE are out of print here in the UK but I'm going to try a couple of 2nd hand shops.

Jonathan

 

From what I understand, the events from Truce at Bakura is going to play a much more significant role in future NJO books. Then the Corellian trilogy probably becomes more important too.

 

Finding the last part of the Dark Empire trilogy, Empire's End may prove somewhat more of a challenge, though.

 

I'd recommend reading the following:

- The New Essential Guide to Characters
- The Essential Chronology

Yep, that's it. That'll summarize everything up to the NJO (in terms of the Chronology) and will even give a primer on some of the NJO characters (in terms of the NEGtC).

 

Yep, that's it. That'll summarize everything up to the NJO (in terms of the Chronology) and will even give a primer on some of the NJO characters (in terms of the NEGtC).

Does that really give enough of the story in terms of the narrative sense? Sure, we may find that the twins and Anakin are Leia and Han's children and some glossed-over stuff -- but is that enough to understand a) Joruus's plan for them? b) Palpatine's plans for Anakin? c) Their personalities pre-NJO?

 

I'd like to think so. Anything the Chronology doesn't cover, the NEGtC does.

It's not like I'm just making my list up - I've had friends I've introduced to the Star Wars EU, and the only things I've had them read were the Chrnology and the NEGtC, and they've been just fine.

Of course, for an even BETTER understanding of the EU, I've had them read select Essential Guides such as the EGtAR, or the EGtV&V, or the EGtP&M. It all depends on what they wanted to know.

 

Jedi Academy series
X-Wing series
I, Jedi
If you like some background on the solo kids
Young jedi knights(which i really enjoyed)
and junior jedi knights.
Shadows of the Empire
Thrawn trilogy
NJO
X-Wing comic series

I havent read other novels, and really dont plan to anytime soon, but with the essential chronology you fill in the blanks really well.