Books Rank the novels of the new canon

Glanced around a bit and it seems no one has done this? If so, please link me the thread.

I have not had the chance to read all the books so far and I want to make a recommended reading list for a friend. So far, I've read the trio of books consisting of Weapon of a Jedi/Smuggler's Run/Moving Target and I adore each of them and they'd rank high on my list. I have a copy of Lost Stars, which I've heard nothing but good stuff about but haven't had a chance to read it and it's next for me. Aftermath I did read and it was a pain and a chore to get through, except for the interludes, so that's on the bottom for me. I still need to finish Lords of the Sith among others lol but it was ok.

So what is everyone else's personal rank orders?

 

For the adult novels, I rank them roughly like this:

• A New Dawn and Battlefront are the best, though in different ways.
• Lords of the Sith and Aftermath are second-tier good. I liked Lords of the Sith considerably better, but not for entirely substantive reasons, so I'd rank them about equal.
• Tarkin is decent, but not especially great. Middle-ranking.
• Heir to the Jedi is bad.
• Dark Disciple is really bad.

 

I've heard Heir to the Jedi is not as good as Weapon of a Jedi. Have you read the YA novels and if so, how do you rank them?

 

They've all been good, though Lost Stars less so than the others. I'm not sure how to rank them comparatively with the adult novels, though; WOAJ being better than HTTJ is an exception only because they're both Luke-centric and so easy to compare.

 

1) A New Dawn
2) Tarkin
3) Battlefront: Twilight Company
4) Aftermath
5) Dark Disciple
6) Heir to the Jedi
7) Lords of the Sith

 

Rank them on the basis of how much you enjoyed the story, characters etc.

A complete list is what I'm looking for here.

 

1)Battlefront: Twilight Company
2)Tarkin
3)Aftermath
4)A New Dawn
5)Lost Stars
6)Servants of the Empire
7)Moving Target
8)Before the Awakening
9)Weapon of a Jedi
10)Heir to the Jedi
11)Dark Disciple

 

If we're only doing adult novels:

1) Battlefront: Twilight Company
2) Lords of the Sith
3) Tarkin
4) Dark Disciple
5) A New Dawn
6) Heir to the Jedi
7) Aftermath

I fully realize that Dark Disciple is probably a "worse" story than A New Dawn and the others, but I honestly enjoyed it more than the bottom three on my list. I had more fun reading it.


If we're including YA/YR books:

1) Lost Stars
2) Battlefront: Twilight Company
3) Lords of the Sith
4) Tarkin
5) Weapon of a Jedi
6) Dark Disciple
7) A New Dawn
8) Smuggler's Run
9) Before the Awakening
10) Moving Target
11) Heir to the Jedi
12) Aftermath

I haven't read Jason Fry's Servants of the Empire series, but I've heard it is very good.

I also haven't read the YA novelizations of the Original Trilogy.

 

1. Battlefront: Twilight Company
2. A New Dawn
3. Lords of the Sith
4. Dark Disciple
5. Aftermath
6. Tarkin
7. Heir to the Jedi

None of them were terrible, although HotJ was forgettable as was the main plot of Tarkin; Tarkin's backstory saved that novel from being mediocre. The rest are anywhere between decent (Aftermath) to excellent (Battlefront).

 

I've really liked the YA novels I've read so far. I really enjoyed Smuggler's Run & Weapon of a Jedi but for very different reasons. I'm reading Moving Target now (just started today) so don't have much to go on but if the past 2 are any hint of what's to come it bodes well, especially considering Jason Fry co-wrote Moving Target. I can't speak for the rest of the Canon so far however. I've only read A New Dawn and Aftermath so far. I'm looking to catch up within the next few months. Tarkin is next on my list and then Lords of the Sith, Lost Stars, & Battlefront (the latter 2 I'm really looking forward to) mixed in with the comics.

 

Rankings are fun! Note I have not read everything in the NewEU.

1, Lost Stars
2. Lords of the Sith
3. Battlefront: Twilight Company
4. Tarkin
5. Aftermath

 

Using "enjoyed reading" as the sole gauge (top is most, bottom is least):

Adult:
A New Dawn
Heir to the Jedi
Dark Disciple
The Force Awakens novelization
Lords of the Sith
Tarkin
Battlefront: Twilight Company
Aftermath

Not-adult:
Lost Stars
New ROTJ novelization
New ANH novelization
Servants of the Empire series
Before the Awakening
New TESB novelization
Moving Target
Weapon of a Jedi
Smuggler's Run
The Rebellion Begins (Rebels: A Spark of Rebellion novelization)
Rebels: Ezra's Gamble

 

My personal rankings - Del Ray books:
A New Dawn
Battlefront: Twilight Company
Aftermath
Lords of the Sith
Dark Disciple
Heir to the Jedi
Tarkin

I enjoyed all of them, though HttJ was mostly forgettable and had a regretfully cliché ending, and Tarkin was a bit meh. Dark Disciple was an enjoyable trainwreck, and Lords of the Sith had a terrific first half followed by a rather mushy second half. I really enjoyed Aftermath mostly because the prose didn't bother me, and both A New Dawn and Battlefront were top-five Star Wars books for me (even counting the old EU). I haven't read the TFA novelization.

Everything else:Servants of the Empire series
Before the Awakening
Lost Stars
Moving Target
Weapon of a Jedi
Smuggler's Run
The Princess, the Scoundrel and the Farmboy (ANH)
Beware the Power of the Dark Side! (RotJ)
So You Want to Be a Jedi? (ESB)

See, here's the thing. Everything on this list is pretty good, too. About the "worst" are the retellings of the OT, but mostly because they're clearly meant for younger readers. Except for the ANH one, that's just a good book overall. But the rest of these are all original stories that I'd actually rate over pretty much all of the Del Ray books except AND and Battlefront. They're that good.

Smuggler's Run I felt was the weakest of the Big Three books mainly because the story was predictable, but it's still worth reading because Rucka's a good writer. His work in Before the Awakening is much better because it feels fresh and original. Weapon of a Jedi is rock solid, great character piece for Luke. Moving Target is also really good, great work with Leia and a good plot with consequences. Lost Stars is a terrifically good (if rather long) book with great characters and a new sort of story that we haven't seen before. And I will not stop praising Servants of the Empire until Jason Fry makes something else that beats them in quality, they're probably the best books to come out since the new canon started.

 

I'm throwing Lost Stars into the mix because (1) I've read it and (2) the word "bang."

1. A New Dawn
2. Aftermath (would have been dead last, but I read it again right before TFA with different expectations and liked it much better)
3. Lost Stars
4. Dark Disciple
5. Tarkin
6. Battlefront: Twilight Company
7. Lords of the Sith
8. Heir to the Jedi

 

Of the ones I've read

1) Dark Disciple (Amazing, by far the best)
2) Lords of the Sith (Really good)
3) Tarkin (Boring but not terrible)

Still working on Aftermath, and I've got Lost Stars, Heir to the Jedi, and A New Dawn waiting to be listened to.

 

I haven't been able to read everything yet, but for the ones i have:

1. Lost Stars
2. Aftermath
3. A New Dawn
4. Servants of the Empire
5. Before the Awakwning
6. The Weapon of a Jedi
7. Smugglers Run
8. Lords of the Sith
9. Moving Target
10. Tarkin

 

1. Lost Stars
2. The Princess, The Scoundrel, and the Farm Boy
3. Aftermath
4. Heir to the Jedi
5. The Force Awakens novelization
6. A New Dawn
7. Battlefront
8. Lords of the Sith
9. Smuggler's Run
10. Moving Target
11. Tarkin
12. Dark Disciple
13. Beware the Power of the Dark Side
14. So You Want to be a Jedi

 

Lost Stars
Battlefront
A New Dawn
TFA novelization
Lords of the Sith
Aftermath
Weapon of a Jedi
Heir to the Jedi
Moving Target
Tarkin
Dark Disciple

Still got Before the awakening and Smugglers run to read.

Also if your friend is open to reading comics at all then the main Star Wars series and Darth Vader are very good, I've also heard good things about Kanan but not personally read it.

 

I haven't read all the new canon books

Dark Disciple
Tarkin
Heir to the Jedi (Very boring and Luke is one of my favorite characters)

Tried reading weapon of a Jedi but got bored of that (not sure where to rank it)

 

1. Lost Stars
2. A New Dawn
3. Aftermath
4. Heir to the Jedi
5. Dark Disciple
6. Servants of the Empire
7. Before the Awakening
8. Moving Target/Weapon of a Jedi/Smuggler's Run (Read them all in one day and enjoyed them all!)
9. Lords of the Sith
10. Tarkin

Haven't read Battlefront yet. I'd say Lord of the Sith and Tarkin were the only two I didn't really like. The Top 4 were all ones I raced through and quite enjoyed (Which is kinda surprising given the hate HttJ and Aftermath get on here). The middle-grade-novels I've kinda all squashed together in 6-8 but they are all worth the read, especially because they are just so easy to read. Still have TFA novelization and Battlefront to read though

 

Those that I've read

1. Lords of the Sith
2. A New Dawn
3. Aftermath
4. Weapon of a Jedi
5. Dark Disciple

 

It's interesting how polarising Aftermath seems to be. Part of that is probably the writing style (I enjoyed it, but I can see why others didn't), and the fact that it seems to be set up (and was advertised as) doing something very different to what it's actually doing.

 

Of the ones I've read:

1. Lost Stars
2. A New Dawn
3. Lords of the Sith
4. Tarkin
and way way way way way below the rest.

5. Dark Disciple