Discussion Post!

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Let the squeeing commence!

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

When it comes to Legends, definitely the Thrawn Trilogy by Timothy Zahn (Heir to the Empire; Dark Force Rising; The Last Command). Set some time after Return of the Jedi, it reads like a perfect sequel trilogy - it's got the spirit, the adventure, and the cast are all perfect. It also introduces several characters that become big parts of the EU, like Mara Jade, as well as Leia and Han's twins. Honestly, it almost feels redundant to recommend it, because 99% of EU rec lists you'll find will have the Thrawn Trilogy at the top, it's THAT popular. You could read anything by Timothy Zahn and it would be worth it, he's a great Star Wars writer.

In the prequel era, I'm really fond of the Jedi Apprentice books, focusing on Obi-Wan's time as a Padawan with Qui-Gon. There's lots of them, but they're for younger readers so it's easy to breeze through them. Be warned, though, they tend to roll into one big story, meaning as soon as you finish one you'll want to read the next!

As for the new canon, I've only just started getting into it, but so far my favourite has been Before The Awakening by Greg Rucka. It's another younger reader book, split into three short stories focused on Finn, Rey and Poe before the new movie. It's really cute and provides some interesting back story that could be really useful for fic writers. I've just picked up Lost Stars by Claudia Gray, which I've heard really good things about, so that's what I'm reading next.

[(Anonymous)]

I'm so embarrassed that I've only read the first in the Thrawn trilogy! I actually listened to the latest audiobook and it's amazing (all the new Star Wars audiobooks have incredible production value). I really need to get on top of that because it has always been so widely praised. Do you know if the Hand of Thrawn follow-up series is any good?

Thank you for reminding me about the Jedi Apprentice series! I've read the Young Jedi Knights, Junior Jedi Knights and Jedi Prince series, but I think I only read one of the JA books. I'll have to download them to my Kindle.

I've been digging the new books myself! I read a lot of the new graphic novels and I really liked the Before the Awakening book (especially Poe's story). I haven't read the solo Luke, Leia and Han books yet, but it's only a matter of time. I have Lost Stars on my to-read list as well, and I've been wondering if Aftermath by Chuck Wendig is any good.

[(Anonymous)]

Don't be embarrassed! There are soooo many Star Wars books, it's super intimidating to get into them. I've only been reading them over the last six months or so, and I've hardly made a dent in my list! XD

I haven't read the Hand Of Thrawn duology yet (I've ended up reading everything in the wrong order, I'm hopeless). I've heard the reaction to it is a bit more mixed than the Thrawn trilogy but still mostly positive.

I've read the Shattered Empire and Princess Leia graphic novels so far, and they're soooo good! Hoping to get the Lando and Chewbacca mini-series next, before I move on to the ongoings like Star Wars and Darth Vader.

From the new books, the Luke, Leia and Han books are very cute. The Leia book should probably be read last, in terms of chronological order, but I read them in the wrong order and it didn't make much difference. The Luke and Han ones have very little in the way of plot but they're enjoyable. The Leia one has more plot and is longer than the other two. They're nice easy reading and all of them made me smile.

I haven't read Aftermath yet. It's been getting wildly mixed reviews, but I'm finding it difficult to gauge them, because a lot of negative reviews for new canon books boil down to "this isn't the original EU so I hate it on principle". A friend of mine got it for Christmas, so I'm waiting to hear her thoughts when she reads it. I'll report back here when I do! :D

[(Anonymous)]

Oooh, thanks for the tip on the solo books! I'll read Leia's last even though it's not imperative. Even if the plot is slim, I'm interested in reading any of the new books because I'm curious what will be considered "official" canon now.

I just read the Chewie mini-series and it's cute! Funny how he can convey so much in print without having any real dialogue. I'm reading Lando's next!