Lit LOST STARS Novel. Chronological reading help.

Hello JC!

SO I am attempting to travel the the new Star Wars Canon in chronological order including the Films, Comics, TV shows and books.. I have just cleared the first season of the Clone Wars.

I was reading how The Lost Stars covers all of the Empire era right up to Aftermath.

I haven't read the book and would like to avoid spoilers by scanning it to fit it in with the timeline.

I was wondering if somebody who has read the book can help me sort out which Chapters to read that align with that that era in timeline, so I can dip into each chapter as I get to that point in the timeline.

E.g. Chapter 1-4: before Rebels a New Dawn book.
Chapter 4-9: immediately after A New Hope.
Chapter 10-28: around Empire Strikes back time.

Thank You

 

Well I had a very quick look:

Prologue - a couple of pages into chapter 8 is pre-ANH.
Chapter 8 - part way through Chapter 10 = ANH
13 is 7 months after the battle of Yavin
14 is 18 months after the battle of Yavin
15 - halfway through 18 is ESB
End of chapter 25 is immediate aftermath of the battle of Endor.
The last 3 or so chapters jump about quite a bit.

Honestly though, imo this is one of the best books of the new canon and I'd strongly urge you to make an exception in your plans here and just read the book in one go.

 

This. You want to do this.

Chronology isn't everything.

 

I like to arrange my books in chronologically order so if, like you I decided to do a mega play/read through I know the order.

As lost stars is what I call, a 'spanning book' I personally place a book like this at the end of where the story finishes, so the battle of jakku, as that would be at great point in the timeline to read it.

So at the moment, I would finish Life Debt and then start lost stars. Wikipedia has it the other way round and lists it from when it starts but that would in theory ruin, ANH, ESB, ROTJ etc.

 

I would say that the book's "center of gravity" is between ANH and ESB, so if you want to fit it in roughly with your reading of the other material, I'd say right before Twilight Company. But above all I'd strongly, strongly advise reading it all at once.

 

If I organise them at all I like to do it by publication order, my thinking being I could then read and see characters and ideas brought in and then built upon by later authors so following the story development rather than chronology. All personal preference really, but chronology down to chapters of books seems like hard work to me.

 

Thank you very much for this. I was considering reading it all at once as I had heard good things about it anyway, I think I will decide based on how the book interacts with the main characters from the Star Wars Universe, I feel that it will avoid them altogether though.

 

I would agree that chapter selection is quite laborious unless it is fairly obvious such as Orientation during Lords of the Sith, or Dark Disciple in TCW era.

Similarly with twilight company which is also slightly spanning, I disagree with the Del Rey placement in their timeline in their books as reading this before watching ESB would spoil the battle of hoth, whereas reading it after enhances it, like it does in Lost Stars

 

It is very much focused on the two main (new) characters and their friends who are also new characters. Characters from the movies are obviously featured and Thane and Ciena do interact with them directly sometimes but mostly you should think of them as all of the people in the background in every SW movie doing their jobs whilst the main cast do their thing and the events unfold around them.

 

It would be nice if we would get a more detailed timeline at the start of the novels like it was done during legends. Does someone know why they don't date the novels as exactly like they did then?

 

Wiggle room.

 

Yeah from what I remember though the book spans about a fifteen/sixteen year period 90% of it still covers the OT era (and about 95% of it covers Thane and Cienna as adults).

Really the only reason it goes all the way back to 11BBY was to establish Thane and Cienna as being life long friends and how much they would have meant to eachother so people would buy into the romeo and juliet theme of the book.

 

I personally set the books/comics/whatever if they have time jumps by when they start. Not when they but that's just me.

 

Yeah, It's a side story. Good to read after ROTJ, and before Aftermath trilogy. While it ends where Aftermath Trilogy presumably ends in broad strokes, a few things/characters appear that are referenced in Life Debt, and are enhanced by having read LS first, imo.

 

The placement of TC is right, as it begins before ESB starts, amd ends before ESB ends. (likely while Han and Leia are still en route to Bespin), but the assumption is the reader has seen the core trilogy. If someone is coming into SW fresh, my goodness, do not read this first. But with the knowledge the autbors assumed you have? Works great. These are tie-in books.