Star Wars novels - which to start with?

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mugs

mugs

Lifer
Apr 29, 2003
48,920
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I want to read some of the Star Wars novels. Which series is a good place to start? I don't want to get lost in references to other books I haven't read yet.
 
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chuckywang

Lifer
Jan 12, 2004
20,133
1
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Oh man. Definitely start with Heir to the Empire. It was the first book written for the Expanded Universe, and the first book in the best series of Star Wars books.
 
EvilYoda

EvilYoda

Lifer
Apr 1, 2001
21,198
9
81
Well as of the last few years, you have a significantly different story branch in the New Jedi Order, so you could always start there if you want a more recent book. Otherwise, i would just start at the beginning as the books are so easy to read, you'll probably want to just continue chronologically.
 
CrackRabbit

CrackRabbit

Lifer
Mar 30, 2001
16,642
62
91
Originally posted by: chuckywang
Oh man. Definitely start with Heir to the Empire. It was the first book written for the Expanded Universe, and the first book in the best series of Star Wars books.
Click to expand...

qft
 
U

UILanMan

Senior member
Feb 21, 2001
218
0
0
Whatever you do don't read The Crystal Star (comments contain spoilers though) - horrible horrible book.

I always like to read from the beginning, but if you're just wanting to browse a few, Timothy Zahn's stuff is great (Heir to the Empire, like above), and I personally like the Rogue Squadron books (speaking of which, whatever happened to those).

But ya, unless you're wanting to read everything (like I was, sadly) - skip The Crystal Star.
 
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Lorax

Golden Member
Apr 14, 2000
1,658
0
0
heir to the empire got me hooked back in the day... sadly the other non-zahn novels pale in comparison. oh well.
 
ockky

ockky

Senior member
Jul 29, 2004
735
0
71
Originally posted by: Lorax
heir to the empire got me hooked back in the day... sadly the other non-zahn novels pale in comparison. oh well.
Click to expand...

QFT
 
sao123

sao123

Lifer
May 27, 2002
12,653
205
106
Originally posted by: mugs
I want to read some of the Star Wars novels. Which series is a good place to start? I don't want to get lost in references to other books I haven't read yet.
Click to expand...

The only books worth reading have been written by Timothy Zahn.
 
C

chuckywang

Lifer
Jan 12, 2004
20,133
1
0
Originally posted by: sao123
Originally posted by: mugs
I want to read some of the Star Wars novels. Which series is a good place to start? I don't want to get lost in references to other books I haven't read yet.
Click to expand...

The only books worth reading have been written by Timothy Zahn.
Click to expand...

Have you read the Hand of Thrawn duology? It wasn't very good. In fact, Stackpole's books are better than those. Although I am interested in reading his Outbound Flight book.
 
D

DaveSimmons

Elite Member
Aug 12, 2001
40,730
670
126
Originally posted by: sao123
The only books worth reading have been written by Timothy Zahn.
Click to expand...
Brian Daley's Han Solo novels were decent when I read them a decade or so ago, though I like Daley's non-SW books better. Requiem for a Ruler of Worlds and the 2 sequels were excellent space opera well worth buying used from Amazon sellers.

Timothy Zahn's non-SW stories were decent too, especially the Cascade Point short story collection and first couple of Cobra books.
 
Z

ZetaEpyon

Golden Member
Jun 13, 2000
1,118
0
0
Definitely the Zahn trilogy. The only disadvantage to reading them first is that any others will not be as good. :(
 
mugs

mugs

Lifer
Apr 29, 2003
48,920
46
91
Originally posted by: chuckywang
Oh man. Definitely start with Heir to the Empire. It was the first book written for the Expanded Universe, and the first book in the best series of Star Wars books.
Click to expand...

I read that one years ago, but I guess I'll re-read it and read the other books in its series. That's actually the only Star Wars book I've ever read.

Thanks for the input everyone.
 
T

trmiv

Lifer
Oct 10, 1999
14,670
18
81
I've been wanting to read these too. I'll give some of these suggestions a try.
 
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chuckywang

Lifer
Jan 12, 2004
20,133
1
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Since nobody mentioned the Corellian Trilogy, I'll give it a shoutout. The trilogy consists of Assault at Corellia, Ambust and Selonia, and Showdown at Centerpoint. It might not be the best written trilogy out there, but it is highly entertaining with exciting action sequences.
 
HomeBrewerDude

HomeBrewerDude

Lifer
Jan 18, 2001
14,465
1
0
Ive always wondered about these books. Finding a starting point might be easier than finding the books themselves.... guess I'll head to the used book store.
 
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ModerateRepZero

Golden Member
Jan 12, 2006
1,572
5
81
C

chuckywang

Lifer
Jan 12, 2004
20,133
1
0
Originally posted by: ModerateRepZero
just googling gave me these 2 links for a chronology

http://timeline.echostation.com/timeline/

This one goes top to bottom, but it also mentions some significant events and magazines as well as books


http://www.randomhouse.com/delrey/starwars/timeline.html

this one is limited to books (though I noticed that there was nothing on the newest jedi series which are still being made), but you have to go bottom to top for chronology.
Click to expand...

That's cause the Random House timeline is only for Random House books, whereas the New Jedi Order books were published by Del Rey.

EDIT: n/m, I thought Random House and Del Rey were different things.
 
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