Comments on: It’s a Big (Expanded) Universe – A Fangirl’s Thoughts on Where to Start

By: Tony

Tony — Wed, 02 May 2012 18:55:32 +0000

Sorry for the double post, my browser crashed so I thought the first post did not worked but there it is one day later. I’ll take the opportunity to add that my personal gateway to Star Wars novels was the first book in the Corelian trilogy. I did not know who Mara Jada, Jacen, Jaina or Anakin Solo were but I enjoyed it nonetheless. Even before that I read the Original Tales of the Jedi comic series. Short soties on the Star Wars Adventure Journal (some of them collected in Tales of the Empire and Tales of the Republic-) were also some of my first EU experiences.

Del Rey, please, please make an anthology collecting existing short stories from the now defunct Star Wars Galaxy Magazine by Topps and Star Wars Insider. The multipart New Jedi Order story- Emmisaries to the Void- particularly comes to mind.

By: Tony

Tony — Wed, 02 May 2012 14:49:52 +0000

Thanks Chris for reminding me of the Han Solo Trilogy. If your favorite character of the Star Wars saga is Han SOlo you own it to yourself to read A. C. Crispin’s Han Solo trilogy which starts with the novel The Paradise Snare. It shows how he met Chewbacca and Lando, how he won the Falcon from Lando, his history with Jabba, first encounter with Bobba Fett,how he did the Kessel run so fast and is such a short distance (for those who complain that parsec are a unit of distance and not a unit of time) and it leads right into A New Hope. There is romance, the Rebel Alliance, Han’s days in the imperial academy, a nice space battle and the criminal undergorund elements had some scenes that read as if they were taking from The Godfather. I cannot recommend this enough.

By: Tony

Tony — Tue, 01 May 2012 17:50:53 +0000

Chris, thank you for remainding me of the Han Solo Trilogy. If Han Solo is your favorite character in the Star Wars saga you own it to yourself to read the A.C Crispin books – The Paradise Snare is the first book in the trilogy. It shows you how Han won the Falcon from Lando, the first encounter with Boba Fett, Han history with Jabba, how Han did the Kessel run so fast and in such a short distance (for those who complaint that “parsecs is a unit of distance not a unit of time”). It has a great space battle and there are scenes were assasinations are taking place that read as if they were taking right out of The Godfather. There is also some romance and a rebel alliance connection. And best of all it leads right into A New Hope.

By: Josh

Josh — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 20:26:44 +0000

I think Adumar is a good choice for the X-Wing series because 1) It’s a standalone 2) Like she said, it’s considered by many to be one of the funniest books in the EU and 3) Three of the main characters were movie characters whose faces we see onscreen.

By: Robert Markham

Robert Markham — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 16:57:04 +0000

As someone who *really* doesn’t like 90% of the EU, I’d suggest the old Marvel comics and the Droids cartoon. That was the last time before the overly melodramatic EU as we know it came about. (Alcholism! Fratricide! Space Cancer! Fun!)

“Shadows of the Empire” was hemmed in by being an “interquel” (or what you will), so works pretty well. For similar reasons, I liked “Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter” because it couldn’t screw with the characters too much.

Basically, if it’s something that Lucas wouldn’t do himself or allow to be done on The Clone Wars (which, again, represents about 90% of the EU), I ignore it and suggest others do the same.

By: Chris

Chris — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 16:05:05 +0000

I agree strongly with Tony above. For those who love the original trilogy, I’ve recommended Shadows of the Empire as an EU starting point for many people. The Thrawn trilogy is also a fantastic starting point. Crispin’s Han Solo trilogy is a fun entry point too. The \Tales of\ series are quite fun too.

There have been some gems in the prequel-era, like Labyrinth of Evil & the Ep III novelization.

My own entry point was the Jedi Academy trilogy, just btw.

By: Tony

Tony — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 15:20:47 +0000

My recommendations are: For original trilogy fans: Shadows of the Empire and Heir to the empire. For prequel fans Cloak of Deception by Luceno, specially if you are a fan of political thrillers. My “in theory it should be a good starting point but you should really stay away from it” novel is Truce at Bakura.

By: Space Girl

Space Girl — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 19:35:40 +0000

My younger brother just asked me where to start in the EU. My go-to is, and always will be, Heir to the Empire. Well known characters from the films, excellent gripping storyline. My brother is officially hooked he said.

By: James

James — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 02:56:46 +0000

I have been reading Star Wars for a good solid 7 to 8 years now. This is my Recommendations

If you want to know about the Prequel I suggest you start with the Childrens books so you can get better familar with Obi Wan and Qui gon. The read Episode One. After that Anakin Comes in the Picture so I recommend you read the Jedi Knight’s series. And the Novel in during the Clone wars. (I personally don’t like the clone wars because when you watch the cartoon version and read a book from the same time it throws you off.)

If you Want to know what happens way back when before Yoda A great start is actaully playing Knights of the Old Republic. In this Era there are more writtings about the sith that do have a huge effect for the Prequel stuff.

Are you A rebel or and Imperial, smuggler, or pirate? After The Jedi Returns This is the most Detailed part of the time line. It is a for me to suggest as a must read but do read the book in between the Trilogy. They give you better background on the Characters and situations.

I do suggest the Young Jedi Knights Series because it introduces the New Jedi Nights you will read about in the Dark Nest Trilogy through out the Fate of the Jedi and possibly much more.

There is something for Everybody and if you like Politics you will love Fate of the Jedi
If you like Alien invasion read about the Yuzhanvong war ( I can never spell that right from the top of my head)

If you like Horror (which is rather new and ingenious to the Star Wars timeline.) there is Death Troopers and Red Harvest. (in The Fate of the Jedi Apolcalypse is kinda scary but to think about it the whole series is kinda dark)
There is so much to read you’ll be busy for years lol.

By: Random Comments

Random Comments — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 20:35:17 +0000

Although I loved Darth Plagueis, I think it would be too confusing for a good first entry into the Expanded Universe. It references a lot of other books, and the references are important to understanding the plot.