Star Wars Novels

[Darren]

Anyone read/reading the Star Wars novels? I read the Zahn ones when they came out in 1991, but I haven't read any of the others since then.

There seems to be loads of them now. Are they any good? Where's a good place to start?

Do they all fit together in the overall story, or are there lots of glaring conflicts between them?

Darren.

 

[Slacker]

Lol, what a huge question!

With the comics and the books, there are conflicts and contradictions, sure. Only George Lucas can establish what is canon and what isn't, that makes for some difficulties.

I've never been that interested in the future, so I've read mostly stuff that predates/parallels the original trilogy and/or the latest movie trilogy, but I haven't gotten around to the earliest stuff by Jude Watson yet.

I highly recommend "Rogue Planet" by Greg Bear (TPM-AOTC), and The Hans Solo Trilogy by Ann Crispin (pre-ANH).

I liked "Shadows of the Empire" (TESB-ROTJ), but lots of people didn't like it because it introduces a new evil rival for Luke's power and doesn't focus as much on Vader.

I (and most of the SW fans from what I can tell) did not like "Splinter of the Mind's Eye" (ANH-TESB), but I gave Foster another chance anyway with "The Approaching Storm" (TPM-AOTC) and it was okay.

Brian Daley's Han Solo books are a pass compared with Crispin's. I just couldn't get into them.

I didn't like the "Jedi Academy Trilogy" very much (after ROTJ).

Depends on how you felt about Leia and Han, but "The Courtship of Princess Leia" was worth reading to me, even though I don't think I would have been interested if I hadn't needed to know more about thier romance. It gets sort of. . . unbelievable at times though.

Thus ends my SW novelisation knowledge.

Here's an addy for a timeline site http://www.galaxyfaraway.com/Books/timeline.htm

I just got "Revenge of the Sith" to read. It's the first book that actually is a movie out of them all that I've ever read, so if you want, I'll come back with my thoughts on it later.

A good guide might be if you've already read an author's sci fi and enjoyed it, to see if they wrote a SW book. That's how I found Rogue Planet, because I already liked Greg Bear. AFAIK, they have to be published and somewhat acclaimed sci fi authors before they can get license to write a SW book.

HTH!

 

[Ainulindale]

Generally speaking, and this is coming form a huge Starwars fan I find most of the efforts to be utter garbage.

There are a couple of authors who have gone o nto write some quality works and those are the authors I'd focus on. Matt Stover who among other thigns wrote The Revenge of the Sith adaptation is a phenominal writer, and that's one of the best Starwars novels I have ever read. His non-Starwars works include 2 modern classic of fantasy Heroes Never Die and Blades of Tyshalle Other authors like Sean Stewart whose non-Starwars include the ridiculously good Perfect Circle, and Karen Traviss who is one of the better new Sci-f authors currently, and Greg Keyes who is writing The Kingdom of Thorn and Bone series.


I enjoyed the Zahn/Thrawn novels,. however that plot angle has taken a turn for the worst by other authors IMHOI. Also it may be worth noting Zahn has 2 forthcoming works coming up, one about the notorious Outbound Flight, and the other abou Mara Jade when she was The Emperor's Hand. I also liked Steve Perry's Shadows of the Empire.

Those are exceptions however, as I said I find most of them to be among the worst books I have ever read, for differing reasons but can be characterizaed by horrid structure, loosey plot, terrible characterization, and plot holes. I am also baised as one of my pet peeves is continuity among novels and the Starwars novels don't have any to speak of. they are not recognzied as Canon by Lucas (only a couple are), and are thus nothing more essentially than glorified, expensive, Fan Fiction. I like discussing novels, and there is no point discussing a novel thats content ahs no palce in the true storyline IMHO. If somone wants to read a prime example of a horrible work of fiction, read the recent novel Jedi Trial which is just heinous. Don't even get me started with Kevin J. Anderson who seems to be hopelss, not being able to write a good novel in the Starwars or Dune universe apparently.

I want to get back to Stover's adapatation of Revenge of the Sith real quick, because teh first two adaptations (Episode I by Terry Brooks, Episode II by RA Salvatore were absolutely dire IMHO). I think it's incredible, I simply can't imagine an author capturing Anakin's seduction and Palpatine's triumph any better. Terrific job.

 

[Darren]

Thanks for the info. I've got a copy of The Revenge of the Sith, but was holding off reading it until I'd seen the film. Now I've seen the film, I'll read it. I've been told it adds quite a bit to the film.

Darren.

 

[VTChEwbecca]

I've read a good deal of the Star Wars novels...I'd recommend Shadows of the Empire, as well, I thought it was one of the best SW novels. I also enjoyed Crispin's Han Solo trilogy, which was recommended by Slacker. Personally, I enjoyed the "Tales from..." series, but mostly just for some light reading and fun. Both my husband and I liked Darksaber, but I've not met many other people who enjoyed this book.

And I would avoid the current "New Order" series of books....I started the series, but just got so bored and annoyed that I stopped reading it.

 

[direstraits]

I'm a huge fan of SW, and share quite a few of my feelings with Ainulindale, primarily for our mutual distaste for Kevin J Anderson. And I also agree that majority of the books written that's set post-ROTJ is very poor.

Here's what I've read:

Timothy Zahn started this whole avalanche of books by being the first author authorized by Lucasfilm to write a story after ROTJ. His Thrawn trilogy is absolute brilliance, and I believe captured the essense of the films perfectly. I've also read his later duology called The Legacy of Thrawn (or something like that), which was weaker, but continued the adventures of Luke's love interest, Mara Jade, which is the only non-film character I love. Zahn: highly recommended.

I've also read Jedi Academy by Kevin J Anderson. Man this guy felt like he was bulldozing through the whole SW universe with his really silly stories, and managed to add lots of nonsense to the Jedi lore as well. I hate this guy. I understand he's wrecking havoc in Dune and other franchises as well.

Crystal something by Vonda McIntyre. Forgettable. [cue: laugh]

My last SW read is RA Salvatore's Vector Prime, which is the first book of the New Jedi Order series of books. The book itself was entertaining, but not too good. The whole New Jedi Order run introduces a new evil in the galaxy, and lots of new characters and lots of grief too (I know that a major character died). After the first book I skipped them all. The run recently ended after I don't know how many books.

In the end, none of the books as far as I know that are set after ROTJ is canon, because at that time, Lucas was still scheduled to do the sequels after Ep 6. At that time, Lucas could do whatever he wanted with the sequels and render everything written post ROTJ exactly what Ainulindale said - fan fiction. Now that he's not doing the sequels, I don't know if the books will be inducted as canon or not. Probably not.

ds

 

[phil_t]

I have most of the early SW books, right up to the 300 New Jedi Order books (or however many there actually are!) which I havnt bothered with yet. Some of them are good, some bad, some just plain ugly!! Of course one of the main problems for a SW author is having to tiptoe very carefully around the canon so as not to upset things - now that EP III is out and done their life should be easier

Oh, and Timothy Zahn's are the best, even if I dont exactly like where he took some of the characters. I never really enjoyed the books where Luke's new love interest (Callista?) got introduced, they never really clicked with me ... Darksaber and Children of the Jedi I'm referring too.

I'm not sure which book it was in, but I know that there was huge outcry when one of the authors killed off a canon character.

Spoiler

Chewbacca was killed, I think, although its been an absolute age since I read any of the books

Phil

 

[direstraits]

Oh yeah, Phil, I remember this one. I was standing in the aisle reading this sequence in the bookstore, and those who were looking at me must have thought I had a face freeze or something. The circumstances which lead to the death of this canon character were weak, and the fallout wasn't very believable. Like the character wasn't given his/her proper dues.

ds

 

[Darren]

I remember starting the Jedi Academy trilogy, but I honestly can't remember if I finished it I think Anderson may have been the death of my Star Wars Extended Universe reading!

I do remember that he included a major reference to one of the graphic novels

Spoiler

The Dark Horse one where The Emperor re-appears in a clone and Luke goes to the Dark Side

. I'd always considered the graphic novels to be outside of the Extended Universe. Is this still regarded as the case now?

 

[direstraits]

I remember starting the Jedi Academy trilogy, but I honestly can't remember if I finished it

You didn't miss anything, Darren. I think you probably saved yourself from throwing the book against the wall, which might, of course, injure your arm.

I have that graphic novel. Kevin J Anderson collaborated with Tom Veitch, the chap who wrote the graphic novel, and they agreed on where their works intersected.

The graphic novel, too, sucked badly.

ds