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Unfortunately, there was one other book than Death Trooper, along the same lines but in another timeline- Old Republic I think?. Also......... just as bad.

Death Trooper had some very cool promise, but did not deliver.

 AegisGrimm wrote:
Unfortunately, there was one other book than Death Trooper, along the same lines but in another timeline- Old Republic I think?. Also......... just as bad.

Death Trooper had some very cool promise, but did not deliver.

Yeah right up until they find the "special" prisoners, it was pretty cool. I knew where it was going and all, but liked it.

until of course

Kind of killed off most of the potential horror when you know two of the characters have no chance of dying whatsoever, and are constantly cracking jokes.

Plus, it was really misleading. Here I am thinking I'm going to get to read this awesome Aliens esque story of a squad of imperial MP's trying to escape a horrible virus but instead it's about a couple of whiny kids and a naiive doctor.

 MrMoustaffa wrote:
I never liked the Jedi, and always wanted to read more about the "grunts" on both sides. Your rebel troopers, stormtroopers, etc. Are there any good books or graphic novels that follow them?

The X-wing books are great for this, Han is the only main character from the movies to appear on more than one page and even he doesn't get a major part. The series is entirely dedicated to fighter pilots being fighter pilots and occasionally shooting stuff on the ground and playing jokes on each other. Like having an Ewok fly a TIE interceptor.

Also, the books focusing on Han/Lando aren't about "true" grunts, but there are several that are set before they became heroes. The original 1979 Han Solo trilogy is good, as is the recent Scoundrels book

insaniak wrote:They're a bit of a mixed bag, as others have said.

The Thrawn trilogy and Timothy Zahn's other books are a good read, although there are some inconsistencies caused by new information from the prequels.

The X-wing books are a fun read, if a little pulpy.

I enjoyed the Vong saga, although with all the jumping between authors, the Vong and Legacy books get a little irritating as the various authors can never seem to agree on just how badass Luke is supposed to be... He alternates between kicking butt, and lurking about doing nothing in alternate books.

For the older stuff, some are good, some not so much. There are a lot of plot holes due to them not being as heavily vetted for consistency in the early days (Han being surprised by a space station the size of the Death Star in Episode 4 makes much less sense when one of the books reveals that there was a bigger space station in his home system, for example) and quite a bit of stuff that has since been retconned by the prequels.

But if you can approach them as light-weight entertainment, and don't expect them to be fully canon, there are some good reads scattered through there.

I would skip the Courtship of Princess Leia, That one was just painful.

Good sum-up!
Timothy Zahn basically invented the EU and his stuff is awesome.

Other I enjoyed:
- X-Wing series (Rogue & Wraith Squadon series)
- Bounty Hunter books
- Han Solo series
- Republic Commando series

The new Jedi order stuff was ... long. And the first couple of books are rather slow, but it does pick up pace and in the end, it wasnt as bad as I thought it would be.
All of the newer Stuff, Fate of the Jedi etc., it sure isnt for everyone. It did have some pretty cool moments. It does suffer from the multi-author issue as mentioned by insaniak as well though. Legacy of the Force was fun whenever Boba Fett was involved. I just like his character a lot ...

 MrMoustaffa wrote:
Are there any good books or graphic novels that follow them?

Well, there's the Republic commando/Imperial commando series by Karen Traviss (which also goes into the 501st legion stuff).
There are a couple of short stories about Imperial minor characters (walker pilots and stuff) though in the anthologies, too.

No love for Shadows Of The Empire? I'm suprised!

I'll throw in too.

Thrawn series is excellent (though, like said, suffers a bit now due to the prequels stepping all over it).

I, Jedi is probably my favorite EU book ever. But bear in mind that was after I'd already read all the Rogue Squadron and the Jedi Academy trilogy (which is just meh).

I liked Courtship of Princess Leah (sp?) but I was also 15-16 when I read it so take that worth a grain of salt. It was fun to see a tie in later in the young teen books done later on all the current jedi's kids at the academy.

I loathed the Vong series. I only got two books in and it killed the EU for me. Just personal opinion.

Rogue Squadron and Wraith Squadron are both quite fun but not the least bit deep.

I also, sadly, liked Dark Saber. But I think it was mostly because of Palleon and Daala and a truly united new Imperium.

Most of the EU books though are......meh. Even if you are a star wars fan. The best ones definitely don't focus on Luke and crew (excluding the Thrawn series).

Once again, Thrawn trilogy. They were the first books written in the post-RotJ period, so they don't get bogged down in continuity from other novels or authors. The downside is that you also need to read them keeping in mind that the prequels hadn't been made when they were written, so what Coruscant was like and the specifics of the Clone Wars hadn't been established by that point.

Which probably makes them even better!

Actually, I have to do a partial retraction. There is one good book in the whole NJO arc, and it sets the stage, sorta, for the Legacy of the Force series of books: Traitor. It is the only book that does not deal with any of the movies' characters, and follows one of their offsprings.

Vague enough not to require spoilers?

Also, I haven't read it, but isn't Red Harvest a cross between Star Wars and zombies?

The Division Of Joy wrote:
No love for Shadows Of The Empire? I'm suprised!

I hear the comic series was good, and I enjoyed the hell out of the N64 game... but the novelisation was 'Courtship of Princess Leia' level terrible.


As a 'sort of related' aside... the novelisations of the prequels are a kind of interesting read, as they were written from a slightly different version of the screenplays to the final edits that made it to screen. So there are a few scenes here and there that play out differently or just weren't in the movie at all.

The 'jedi baby' scene from Ep3 outside the temple after the 501st's attack sooo should have been in the movie...

jedi baby scene?

 Frazzled wrote:
jedi baby scene?

..

Now, I only saw Ep3 once, in theatres, so perhaps time has eased some of those wounds, but I'm calling shenanigans...

That scene wasn't in the movie. That was the point...

I see I missed that you were referring to the novelizations.

Which are apparently even dumber than the movies themselves.

Good to know in case I ever get a crazed urge to read the source material / novelizations.

Going to chime in with a "green light" for the EU as a whole. As with any franchise that is being served by multiple writers, you will have books of varying quality, but also varying themes all depending on who exactly wrote them, so you're pretty much bound to find something you'll like. Just as with the Black Library, I'd probably recommend getting a feeling for the various authors and their styles, then following their works. Over the decades, the library of EU material has grown so big that it is very unlikely you'll ever be able to read everything anyways.

The idea of a few books being somewhat "mandatory" in terms of setting development is somewhat true. All in all, you could read any book as a standalone, but as has been mentioned before, some titles may be somewhat confusing when they are based on a foundation very different to what you may be accustomed to from the movies. Then again, those titles are usually part of a series, so you should be able to easily identify possible problems before committing to a purchase.

Anyhow, my personal recommendation would indeed include the "Thrawn Trilogy" (or Trilogies, as there has been a successor series), for it provides a good understanding of the Post-Endor situation regarding the Galactic Empire. "Darksaber", whilst occasionally being somewhat dodgy, might also qualify as a must-read simply because Daala's coup re-establishes the Galactic Empire as a uniform faction and a powerful political entity, ending the many years of Imperial splinter groups and warlords that have dominated EU books before (although some of those splinter groups were pretty cool due to their unique characteristics and leaders).

Some EU books also offer an interesting glimpse beyond the usual black-and-white hero veil and plot armour in that they occasionally feature Imperial characters as sort-of protagonists. For example, "To the Last Man" is pretty much the movie Zulu with Imperial troops as the British and a bunch of aliens as African natives. Anyone who likes the Cadians will have a field day.



Don't forget about the smalltime classics, though. I found books such as "Han Solo at Star's End" or "Tales from Jabba's Palace" entertaining specifically because they take a break from the big conflicts and larger-than-life heroes, instead showing us the adventures of smalltime scoundrels and bounty hunters. The first title also fits in nicely with Han's established character and helps understand his pre-movie background and opinions.

As for Michael Stackpole's books ... I suppose it really depends on what you as a reader expect from your books. If you want uberhuge heroics and popcorn action a la Black Library bolterporn, these might be for you. Personally, I thought his tendency to write in first perspective and create mary-sue'ish self-inserts of his own person (he even went so far as to get his own photograph on the official TCG card for his special snowflake womanizing Corellian Jedi-Cop Corran Horn) rather annoying. He does the same fragging stuff in Battletech, and I just avoid his books these days, but I will admit that this is really just a matter of taste and personal preferences.

Lastly, a big +1 to the Legacy comics that AegisGrimm mentioned on page 1. I like them specifically because they lack any of the established heroes and instead are set so far in the future that you get to know a whole new generation of people, and because they feature all-new visual designs, and even all-new factions. The setting feels truly alive when you see how everything before has led to this new era, and it treats you with a refreshing new galaxy to (re)discover, whilst simultaneously keeping everything just close enough to the old stuff to stir feelings of recognition. It also feels rather gritty, which I like and which I feel makes everything appear somewhat more grim and realistic.



The Legacy series completely redraws the political borders. You have the Empire in a state of civil war between the true Emperor and a Sith ursurper, the Jedi allying with Imperial Knights, and the successor to the New Republic is defeated, its only remnant being a rebel fleet whose admiral ignored his government's capitulation. And in the midst of this confusing galactic free-for-all, a distant heir to Luke Skywalker is supposed to sort things out. The only problem: he's a drug-addicted bounty hunter who travels with a former pirate and an underworld engineer, the latter pretty much being the Bonny to his Clyde-like behaviour.



The series has recently received a new sequel/spin-off in the form of another descendant of a famous name. This new comic's main protagonist is a female - Ania Solo, owner of some backwater world junkyard, who gets dragged into an adventure she didn't quite ask for. To the enjoyment of the reader, she has inherited much of her great-great-grandfather's wit and cheeky attitude. Also, she has a cowardly yet very loyal Mon-Cal sidekick.

Truce at Bakura was great, and fit's nicely into the concept of " Just because The Death Star is dead doesn't mean the empire is"

I actually liked Darksaber (Don't hurt me), and it did kill someone off

The X-wing novels are great Dog fight books, which is probably one of the best things about Star Wars IMHO.

Have the first Thrawn book but haven't read it yet, but have enjoyed what I have read so far. The Dark Empire stuff was good, throwing Luke at the Darkside was fitting, and that was the first "Dark" Star Wars Tale I ever came across.

Hands down though the "Kyle Katarn" saga is the best... you can pick that whole game series up for SUPER cheap on steam and it is well worth the money.