Lit What to read after The Thrawn Trilogy

So I've only recently gotten into the EU novels. I just finished reading the Thrawn trilogy (Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, and Last Command). I know that there are a couple of other Zahn novels that come later (i.e. The Hand of Thrawn novels). However, I am really wanting to start reading Vector Prime and the New Jedi Order novels. MY question, however, is would it be better if I read some other novels in between the Thrawn Trilogy and Vector Prime? I know it's quite a few years in between those novels, and I don't want to start Vector Prime being totally lost as to what's going on in the Republic, etc.

Welcome! Please continue this discussion in our "New to the EU? What to read?" thread. Thanks!

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You could probably start reading the NJO now, I was able to understand it fine and it was one of the first things I read. Still I'd recommend against it. You'll enjoy it more if you begin after reading some more of the Bantam books. Next I'd suggest reading the X-Wing series books 1-8. The fill some important events leading up to the Thrawn Trilogy. Books 1-4 and 8 also introduce one of the main characters in the NJO. That makes them very important. The story in books 5-7 acts as a lead in to Courtship of Princess Leia, so you may want to read that book. Be warned-- it's not one of the best novels and it's kind of weird. Still it's significant because it introduces the Hapans. In addition, the characters from those three X-Wing books have a large role in one of the NJO duologis. Following that, the next important books are the Jedi Academy Trilogy. They aren't that good, but they're very important. You can get parts of that storyline in I Jedi, which is a far better novel. It follows a different character as he enters Luke's academy. The only drawback is that it assumes you are aware of the JAT; it even includes one of the main conflicts, but you never see its resolution. The protagonist goes on another mission before that happens. On the positive side, I Jedi departs for a far better conflict than the Jedi Academy Trilogy, so you aren't missing much. And you don't feel like you are, I Jedi has a different conflict from the beginning and that's the one you care about. You'd be fine skipping the trilogy all together, but I'd recommend giving it a try first. If you do read it, still read I Jedi. It ties together some other novels and its protagonist is also important in the NJO, so you'll appreciate him a lot more after reading it. Finally, you should finish with the final X-Wing book (Starfighters of Adumar) and the Hand of Thrawn Duology, which concludes the Galactic Civil War and so is not something you can miss. Starfighters can be left out, but it's such a great book I don't know why you'd do that. Especially if you have read the other eight.

This is really a bare bones read through of the Bantam era. It will give you a good idea of what comes before the NJO. There will still be references you'll miss. For example it heavily references the Young and Junior Jedi Knight series. I've never read those, so I can garuntee that they aren't important. Don't worry about these. There are also references to The Corellian Trlilogy, The Black Fleet Trilogy, Truce at Bakura, and the Han Solo Trilogy. Again none of these are that important; and won't effect your understanding or enjoyment of the serie. Still, I'd recommend the Han Solo Trilogy because they are fantastic books and have fun references to pick up. Still if you read the books I mentioned in the previous paragraph you'll be ready to read the NJO.

 

Asking this question is really down to perception. What would you be interested in learning about in the RotJ Post Era? I am one that thought JAT was pretty good but for some characters' manners. I don't really care for Zahn's style but he did create some of my fave chars and some that I really don't like. It really depends what you want to get out of SW.

 

It doesn't really matter, the NJO mostly stands alone as a self-contained story. It's like Stephen King's Dark Tower series, however, in that you can read it by itself and understand it, but you may enjoy it more if you've read previous books so you catch all the references and are familiar with certain characters.The NJO draws characters, plot elements, locations, factions, and historical events from throughout the entire Bantam era, but with that in mind, this is the bare minimum I'd suggest if you're interested in further pre-NJO backstory. A strong case could be made for reading the X-Wing series as well, but if you're in a hurry I'd just try this.

Rogue Planet
I, Jedi
Specter of the Past
Vision of the Future