Favorite Star Wars Novels?

Critteranne · 05-02-2014, 03:11 PM

I read on Facebook that Paul S. Kemp will be writing a new Star Wars Expanded Universe novel about Darth Vader and Palpatine/Sidious. (Due out May 2015 IIRC.) As I have a little Darth Sidious action figure next to my desk lamp at work, that makes me happy.

That also got me excited about what other Star Wars novels are out there. I tried to read some of the most recent ones that took place after the original movies, but they were part of a long, convoluted series involving a war with some new aliens, so I didn't get far. In fact, many of the books belong to extended mini-series. For some reason, I never got into the original Zahn SW books (the Thrawn books), which I know people love. I might rectify that...

From the reviews I've read, I'm dubious about reading quite a few of the titles. But I know the Star Wars novels range from "OMG never let that person near Star Wars again..." to "Ooh, ooh, you should read this even if you hate media fiction!"

So what Star Wars books would you recommend? Especially to someone who wants to plunge into the universe again, but doesn't really want to read a 20-volume Extended Universe miniseries?

pwalker8 · 05-02-2014, 03:34 PM

Brian Daley's Han Solo novels are the best, IMPO. I will admit that I've not really kept up with the Star Wars novels over the last 15 to 20 years though. I believe they released much of the Star Wars backlist as ebooks a year or so ago. I picked up a dozen or so of them at the time (including the original movie tie in novels). BTW, if you haven're read the original movie tie in novels, they are pretty good and do give some additional info.

Apache · 05-02-2014, 05:52 PM

I bought the first Star Wars Novel by the then unknown author George Lucas. This was before the movie was released. The cover had a blurb stating that it was soon to be released as a movie. I think it was one to two years later that the movie came out.
Apache

piper28 · 05-02-2014, 10:50 PM

I think I've read most of them, and I'm in the middle of re-reading the series in chronological order at the moment (although I've taken a break from it to catch up on Desden before the next book of that is out, I think I'm about 45 books in or so at the moment).

There's definitely some clunkers in the batch (heck, there's a couple I'll probably skip in my re-read just because I dislike them that much). I find most of the prequel trilogy era books to be ok at best.

The Brian Daley Han Solo trilogy is real old-school star wars books. They're ok, although I'm not sure if I'd consider them great. I actually also really like the AC Crispin Han Solo trilogy.

I'm kinda partial to the X-wing series, and the Zahn authored stuff is definitely worth a read. I actually do like the New Jedi Order set of books, although it took me a bit to get into it. Might also be tough without some context from previous books with the kids. But it's 24 or so books that seem to have a fairly decent plan for the series laid out throughout the set, so they're pretty cohesive. RA Salvatore, who wrote the first one of those, might be one of the most hated people in the Star Wars universe, but don't go looking for why until you've read the books, or you'll find a major spoiler.

I haven't read any of the Legacy era stuff yet myself, although I know they don't seem to get the greatest reviews in the world. I plan on reading them when I get to that point in the timeline, but it's going to be a while (there's something like 160+ books or so in the star wars world, so it takes a little while to get through them all).

AnemicOak · 05-02-2014, 11:06 PM

Like piper28 I really enjoyed the X-Wing books by Stackpole and Alston and Zahn's stuff (Thrawn trilogy, etc.) although I haven't read as many SW books as they have. Liked the AC Crispin stuff (liked her Trek stuff too), but kinda stopped around the time the New Jedi Order stuff started up.

pwalker8 · 05-03-2014, 01:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Apache

I bought the first Star Wars Novel by the then unknown author George Lucas. This was before the movie was released. The cover had a blurb stating that it was soon to be released as a movie. I think it was one to two years later that the movie came out.
Apache

Star Wars was ghost written by Alan Dean Foster based on Lucas' script.

Apache · 05-03-2014, 01:44 PM

I knew he wrote the sequel, which was not made into a movie. I did not realize that he had written the first book. It is to bad he did not get to have his name on it.
Apache

mewmartigan · 05-03-2014, 01:54 PM

I definitely recommend the original Thrawn trilogy and I would also recommend the X-Wing novels.

I have read every "after return of the jedi" star wars book. The New Jedi Order series was pretty good but its long. The Legacy of the Force series which came after was poor and so was Fate of the Jedi which came after that.

So don't go beyond New Jedi Order

pwalker8 · 05-03-2014, 05:13 PM

I like a number of Alan Dean Foster's books. Like many mid level SF writers, he had a tendency to try to milk a series too long, but most of his books are good reads.

Critteranne · 05-04-2014, 04:30 PM

Thanks! It's interesting how the biggest fan favorites are often still the earlier tie-in books. That's true for a lot of tie-in series, and it makes me wonder what the publishers and doing differently now.

Lemurion · 05-04-2014, 05:46 PM

For me, it's Stackpole, Zahn, and Daley in that order. I read them all as they came out. Interestingly, I was already familiar with all three authors before reading their SW stuff.

pwalker8 · 05-04-2014, 08:13 PM

I haven't read the Stackpole Star Wars books, but I have the Zahn and Daley Star Wars books. All three are very good authors in their own rights, but life is hard on a mid list author, so many do write books for hire like that.

jersysman · 05-05-2014, 10:34 AM

I really like the books from the Old Republic series starting with Revan. Those were my favorites. In fact, I'm in the middle of a re-read of that series.

AlbertaCowboy · 05-05-2014, 12:12 PM

[QUOTE=piper28;2822113]

The Brian Daley Han Solo trilogy is real old-school star wars books. They're ok, although I'm not sure if I'd consider them great. I actually also really like the AC Crispin Han Solo trilogy.

I'm kinda partial to the X-wing series, and the Zahn authored stuff is definitely worth a read.
QUOTE]

The Timothy Zahn "Thrawn Trilogy" was fantastic, and one of the very very few extended universe series that didn't read like bad fanfic.
I also like the X-Wing series, but only the ones authoured by Michael A. Stackpole.

drofgnal · 05-08-2014, 05:58 AM

I also liked the Zahn Thrawn Trilogy and AC Crispin's Hans Solo Trilogy. I've never read Daley's Han Solo Trilogy, but it seems highly recommended.

05-02-2014, 03:11 PM	#1
Critteranne Guru Posts: 786 Karma: 21143414 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: MD Device: Kindle, iPad	Favorite Star Wars Novels? I read on Facebook that Paul S. Kemp will be writing a new Star Wars Expanded Universe novel about Darth Vader and Palpatine/Sidious. (Due out May 2015 IIRC.) As I have a little Darth Sidious action figure next to my desk lamp at work, that makes me happy. That also got me excited about what other Star Wars novels are out there. I tried to read some of the most recent ones that took place after the original movies, but they were part of a long, convoluted series involving a war with some new aliens, so I didn't get far. In fact, many of the books belong to extended mini-series. For some reason, I never got into the original Zahn SW books (the Thrawn books), which I know people love. I might rectify that... From the reviews I've read, I'm dubious about reading quite a few of the titles. But I know the Star Wars novels range from "OMG never let that person near Star Wars again..." to "Ooh, ooh, you should read this even if you hate media fiction!" So what Star Wars books would you recommend? Especially to someone who wants to plunge into the universe again, but doesn't really want to read a 20-volume Extended Universe miniseries?

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05-02-2014, 03:34 PM	#2
pwalker8 Grand Sorcerer Posts: 7,196 Karma: 70314280 Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Atlanta, GA Device: iPad Pro, iPad mini, Kobo Aura, Amazon paperwhite, Sony PRS-T2	Brian Daley's Han Solo novels are the best, IMPO. I will admit that I've not really kept up with the Star Wars novels over the last 15 to 20 years though. I believe they released much of the Star Wars backlist as ebooks a year or so ago. I picked up a dozen or so of them at the time (including the original movie tie in novels). BTW, if you haven're read the original movie tie in novels, they are pretty good and do give some additional info.

05-02-2014, 05:52 PM	#3
Apache Readaholic Posts: 5,179 Karma: 90000000 Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: South Georgia Device: Surface Pro 6 / Galaxy Tab A 8"	I bought the first Star Wars Novel by the then unknown author George Lucas. This was before the movie was released. The cover had a blurb stating that it was soon to be released as a movie. I think it was one to two years later that the movie came out. Apache

05-02-2014, 10:50 PM	#4
piper28 Zealot Posts: 113 Karma: 1178328 Join Date: Feb 2011 Device: none	I think I've read most of them, and I'm in the middle of re-reading the series in chronological order at the moment (although I've taken a break from it to catch up on Desden before the next book of that is out, I think I'm about 45 books in or so at the moment). There's definitely some clunkers in the batch (heck, there's a couple I'll probably skip in my re-read just because I dislike them that much). I find most of the prequel trilogy era books to be ok at best. The Brian Daley Han Solo trilogy is real old-school star wars books. They're ok, although I'm not sure if I'd consider them great. I actually also really like the AC Crispin Han Solo trilogy. I'm kinda partial to the X-wing series, and the Zahn authored stuff is definitely worth a read. I actually do like the New Jedi Order set of books, although it took me a bit to get into it. Might also be tough without some context from previous books with the kids. But it's 24 or so books that seem to have a fairly decent plan for the series laid out throughout the set, so they're pretty cohesive. RA Salvatore, who wrote the first one of those, might be one of the most hated people in the Star Wars universe, but don't go looking for why until you've read the books, or you'll find a major spoiler. I haven't read any of the Legacy era stuff yet myself, although I know they don't seem to get the greatest reviews in the world. I plan on reading them when I get to that point in the timeline, but it's going to be a while (there's something like 160+ books or so in the star wars world, so it takes a little while to get through them all).

05-02-2014, 11:06 PM	#5
AnemicOak Bookaholic Posts: 14,391 Karma: 54969924 Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Minnesota Device: iPad Mini 4, AuraHD, iPhone XR +	Like piper28 I really enjoyed the X-Wing books by Stackpole and Alston and Zahn's stuff (Thrawn trilogy, etc.) although I haven't read as many SW books as they have. Liked the AC Crispin stuff (liked her Trek stuff too), but kinda stopped around the time the New Jedi Order stuff started up.

05-03-2014, 01:44 PM	#7
Apache Readaholic Posts: 5,179 Karma: 90000000 Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: South Georgia Device: Surface Pro 6 / Galaxy Tab A 8"	I knew he wrote the sequel, which was not made into a movie. I did not realize that he had written the first book. It is to bad he did not get to have his name on it. Apache

05-03-2014, 01:54 PM	#8
mewmartigan Guru Posts: 852 Karma: 8242060 Join Date: Aug 2009 Device: Kindle Oasis (2019)	I definitely recommend the original Thrawn trilogy and I would also recommend the X-Wing novels. I have read every "after return of the jedi" star wars book. The New Jedi Order series was pretty good but its long. The Legacy of the Force series which came after was poor and so was Fate of the Jedi which came after that. So don't go beyond New Jedi Order

05-03-2014, 05:13 PM	#9
pwalker8 Grand Sorcerer Posts: 7,196 Karma: 70314280 Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Atlanta, GA Device: iPad Pro, iPad mini, Kobo Aura, Amazon paperwhite, Sony PRS-T2	I like a number of Alan Dean Foster's books. Like many mid level SF writers, he had a tendency to try to milk a series too long, but most of his books are good reads.

05-04-2014, 04:30 PM	#10
Critteranne Guru Posts: 786 Karma: 21143414 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: MD Device: Kindle, iPad	Thanks! It's interesting how the biggest fan favorites are often still the earlier tie-in books. That's true for a lot of tie-in series, and it makes me wonder what the publishers and doing differently now.

05-04-2014, 05:46 PM	#11
Lemurion eReader Posts: 2,750 Karma: 4968470 Join Date: Aug 2007 Device: Note 5; PW3; Nook HD+; ChuWi Hi12; iPad	For me, it's Stackpole, Zahn, and Daley in that order. I read them all as they came out. Interestingly, I was already familiar with all three authors before reading their SW stuff.

05-04-2014, 08:13 PM	#12
pwalker8 Grand Sorcerer Posts: 7,196 Karma: 70314280 Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Atlanta, GA Device: iPad Pro, iPad mini, Kobo Aura, Amazon paperwhite, Sony PRS-T2	I haven't read the Stackpole Star Wars books, but I have the Zahn and Daley Star Wars books. All three are very good authors in their own rights, but life is hard on a mid list author, so many do write books for hire like that.

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05-05-2014, 10:34 AM	#13
jersysman Wizard Posts: 1,747 Karma: 3761220 Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Pennsylvania Device: T1 Red, Kindle Fire, Kindle PW, PW2, Nook HD+, Kobo Mini, Aura HD	I really like the books from the Old Republic series starting with Revan. Those were my favorites. In fact, I'm in the middle of a re-read of that series.

05-05-2014, 12:12 PM	#14
AlbertaCowboy Guru Posts: 819 Karma: 171672846 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Alberta, Canada Device: PRS-350, PRS-650, iPhone 6, NVIDIA Shield K1	[QUOTE=piper28;2822113] The Brian Daley Han Solo trilogy is real old-school star wars books. They're ok, although I'm not sure if I'd consider them great. I actually also really like the AC Crispin Han Solo trilogy. I'm kinda partial to the X-wing series, and the Zahn authored stuff is definitely worth a read. QUOTE] The Timothy Zahn "Thrawn Trilogy" was fantastic, and one of the very very few extended universe series that didn't read like bad fanfic. I also like the X-Wing series, but only the ones authoured by Michael A. Stackpole.

05-08-2014, 05:58 AM	#15
drofgnal Wizard Posts: 1,255 Karma: 7838248 Join Date: Dec 2009 Device: Ipad Pro/Kindle Oasis 3/iPhone 13 Pro Max	I also liked the Zahn Thrawn Trilogy and AC Crispin's Hans Solo Trilogy. I've never read Daley's Han Solo Trilogy, but it seems highly recommended.