Star Wars books--where to start?

[cardcollector]

I really enjoyed Shatterpoint by mather stover.

It is great for getting into Vaapad and Mace widu's head.

[Darth Astronimus]

My fav. so far is Betrayal and Bloodlines. It plays out soooo nice in my head

[Matt Thorn]

I really enjoyed Shatterpoint by mather stover.

It is great for getting into Vaapad and Mace widu's head.

I was wondering the same thing (Where to begin with the Star Wars novels), but I'm really picking about good writing, so, after reading a bunch of reviews, I went with Shatterpoint and Republic Commando: Hard Contact. Both are well-written, but...

...I was consistently tripped up by voice in Shatterpoint. Obviously, Mace Windu is an intellectual, but would he write his journal in the style shown in this novel? I don't think so. Here, Mace writes his journal in exactly the same voice as...Matthew Stover. There was jarring (to me) scene, in which a clone is waxing poetic about a sunset. Huh? Clones are raised from "birth" to think in a certain way, and wistful appreciations of sunsets are not, I think, part of that training. So, Shatterpoint is a good story (although the "mystery" turns out to be not very mysterious at all--SPOILER ALERT: "War is hell"), but something about Stover's writing style grates.

I enjoyed Hard Contact more. Traviss fleshes out the different characters very nicely, and her own military background helps her make the military aspects extremely convincing. I am looking forward to reading more of her work.

Sorry; this isn't very helpful in answering the initial question, is it?

[Onli-Won Kanomi]

Shatterpoint was AWESOME and it gives you a whole new understanding of the Mace vs Palpatine duel in ROTS [those who think Palps 'threw' the fight are right he was actually trying to lure Mace to the Dark Side through Vaapad which he KNEW was possible might happen because of things he was told in the briefing chapter at the end of Shatterpoint...it was actually a double game he was playing with Ani and Mace; either Ani OR Mace would have Fallen; heads the Sith win, tails the Jedi lose and if Darth Vader was Dark Side just imagine what a bad*** mo... [hush yo mouth] 'Darth Vaapad' would have been eh?]

Cronologically ordered I'd suggest the Darth Bane books for the beginning of the Rule Of Two and why the Sith 'vanished' to become a 'phantom' menace...

In the PT books don't miss Cloak Of Deception [makes more sense of the politics and events of TPM]...The Approaching Storm [similarly makes more sense of AOTC] ...Labyrinth Of Evil [similarly for ROTS]...Republic Commando: Order 66...also Outbound Flight and Rogue Planet become significant later

Between the PT and OT: Dark Lord the Rise Of Darth Vader...TFU...Death Star

In the post-OT books the Courtship Of Princess Leia...Thrawn Trilogy...I Jedi...Corellian Trilogy...somewhere in there whatever Solo brats books you find palatable I'll have to let someone else recommend those cuz I avoided them lol...NJO series...Legacy Of Force series...Millenium Falcon...and then on to Fate Of The Jedi series.

[Matt Thorn]

Shatterpoint was AWESOME and it gives you a whole new understanding of the Mace vs Palpatine duel in ROTS [those who think Palps 'threw' the fight are right he was actually trying to lure Mace to the Dark Side through Vaapad which he KNEW was possible might happen because of things he was told in the briefing chapter at the end of Shatterpoint...it was actually a double game he was playing with Ani and Mace; either Ani OR Mace would have Fallen; heads the Sith win, tails the Jedi lose and if Darth Vader was Dark Side just imagine what a bad*** mo... [hush yo mouth] 'Darth Vaapad' would have been eh?]

Hmm. That's an interesting take on it.

Despite my nitpicking, anyone who's a fan of Mace really should read Shatterpoint. The impression I took away from the movies was that he was a great Jedi master, but maybe just a bit too vain and proud. His clothes were always wrinkle-free and pristine, his saber was flashy... He was sort of an anti-Qui-Gon. But Shatterpoint brings much more depth to his character. (You gotta love the scene where he takes out the two corrupt customs inspectors while buck-naked and dripping wet. )

None of the novels are canon. Only the 6 movies. I don't even think any of the cartoon series are considered canon by Lucas' various companies.

Not sure where you're getting that from. It is my understanding that very little that has been licensed by Lucasfilms is not canon. Two famous exceptions that leap to mind are the dreadful animated miniseries Droids, and the infamous Christmas television special, both of which, I believe, were explicitly disowned by Lucas. (His policy seems to be, "license first, ask questions later." ) True, Lucasfilms does not seem overly concerned with internal consistency, but, hey, this is Space Opera, not Middle Earth.

[JamoUp]

If you have already read the Thrawn trilogy... read the Hand of Thrawn.
duology

I suggest reading at least the first New Jedi Order book, Vector Prime. I would read a lot of wookiepedia about this series if you don't feel like reading the whole 24 book series.

Then go ahead and read the three book series The Dark Nest because it is quick and an important stepping point into the next series.

Which you should read: Legacy of the Force. 9 books and it is very good, back to the old star wars feel.

Fate of the Jedi series comes next and thus far it is very good.

I would not read FotJ or LotF without knowing the background and characters developed in the New Jedi Order.

Other good series include: The Black Fleet Crisis, Callista Trilogy, Han Solo Trilogy and the Coruscant Nights trilogy.


*Edit

Darth Bane ( 2 book series)

Darth Bane is a 3 book series.

[Rafalema]

I never said that?

[cardcollector]

I was wondering the same thing (Where to begin with the Star Wars novels), but I'm really picking about good writing, so, after reading a bunch of reviews, I went with Shatterpoint and Republic Commando: Hard Contact. Both are well-written, but...

...I was consistently tripped up by voice in Shatterpoint. Obviously, Mace Windu is an intellectual, but would he write his journal in the style shown in this novel? I don't think so. Here, Mace writes his journal in exactly the same voice as...Matthew Stover. There was jarring (to me) scene, in which a clone is waxing poetic about a sunset. Huh? Clones are raised from "birth" to think in a certain way, and wistful appreciations of sunsets are not, I think, part of that training. So, Shatterpoint is a good story (although the "mystery" turns out to be not very mysterious at all--SPOILER ALERT: "War is @#!*% "), but something about Stover's writing style grates.

That is a true point, however Mace always was abrput and said only what was necesarry, I think the auother nailed that.

and about the clones... yeah I didn't like that either

The book also gave me a better sense of how the Jedi feel about their lightsabers- and that they aren't invincible...

My favorite quote from the book is
"Peace ia an unnatural state"

[Matt Thorn]

I'm sure this is a n00b question to all you EU aficionados, but are there any novels that feature Ahsoka after her apprenticeship with Anakin? (And that are geared to readers above the age of twelve? ) I'm sure I'm not the only Clone Wars fan who is anxious to learn what happened to Ahsoka later on. (No spoilers please!)

P.S.: I was surprised to see that the English word for Hades is among the banned words on the forums. Isn't that a bit overdoing it? It reminds of the joke, "Heck is where people go who don't believe in Gosh."

[Invisas1979]

Personally I'd read Rogue Planet, The 3 Jedi Academy books, I Jedi, then jump ahead to the new jedi order/vong war books, then dark nest books, legacy of the force, fate of the jedi.

Then look at the Darth Bane books.