Best Star Wars & Terminator novels-Need Recommendations...*SPOILERS*

[Sephiroth]

Greg Cox wrote:

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Dare I mention that TERMINATOR SALVATION: COLD WAR went on sale last week?

(Like I was going to pass up an opening like this!)

just finished it, it was pretty good,two different storylines that come together pretty well, the Infiltrator series also gets a good reccomendation from me, direct sequel(s) from T-2 that go from John Connor's life post T-2, to SKYnet's beginnings, to the future war up to the time travel event, and "Terminator: Salvation From the ashes" is a good read, much better than the film itself

[Greg Cox]

Sephiroth wrote:

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just finished it, it was pretty good,two different storylines that come together pretty well,

Thanks! Glad you liked it.

[Sephiroth]

Greg Cox wrote:

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Thanks! Glad you liked it.

yeah, I like that you don't shy from the bleakness and death that would arise from the situation, each machine destroyed came at a price

[Greg Cox]

Sephiroth wrote:

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yeah, I like that you don't shy from the bleakness and death that would arise from the situation, each machine destroyed came at a price

You should have seen the first draft! I actually had to tone down the death and carnage . . . .

[Sephiroth]

Greg Cox wrote:

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You should have seen the first draft! I actually had to tone down the death and carnage . . . .

well, you definately know bleak, and i'd like to read this first draft

[Jono]

Taran'atar wrote:

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I guess I've just given up on novels featuring the Big Three, since the authors/editors seem incapable of just letting them go and let someone else save the galaxy for once. Which is why I liked the NJO so much, except that now pretty much every one of the new tier is dead or evil. I still intend to read the unrelated books like the newest Bane novel some day.

I'm the opposite, I have little interest in non-big three novels, though I have to say that if Legacy or KOTOR were to get novels I would look into them given I really enjoy the comics (for the most part).

I have suspect that I'll never see the Big three die...or Wedge. Seriously for a character that had what, 10 minutes screen time in 7 hours of film, he is surprisingly invincible.

Ah thanks, I totally forgot about I, Jedi, which is a shame since it also one of my favorites. Although I don't like them that much, I would still recommend reading the JAT at least once, they were some of the first SW novels I read, when I started ~10 years ago and I they didn't stop me from continuing. But they did manage to confuse me for a long time. Back then, I didn't have access to the internet and I tried for the longest time to find the novel in which Luke turned dark-side (which is mentioned in JAT). It was only much later, that I discovered that it happened in a comic book.

I wouldn't knock the Star Wars comic lines, they have produced some really great stuff over the years. Personally I think Dark Empire would be a better 7,8,9 than the Thrawn Trilogy.

If you are looking for a non-Big three medium the comics is the way to go as two of their biggest lines are set 4,000 BBY (KOTOR comics) and 140 ABY (Legacy) so the big three are not in them...except for in Legacy where you see a few Force ghosts. My interest waned in the EU due to the Dark Nest trilogy and the seemingly unnecessary Mandalorianisation of the Legacy of the Force series and the comics kept that fire burning. Now its the expense of the fate of the Jedi series as they are all hardcover holding me back, but at least the plotlines I've read on the novels have got my interest again.

I'm in the minority here but I think the Zahn's first trilogy are vastly overrated. As said above the X-Wing novels are an easy way to get into the EU, it's how I did it so I might be a bit biased. It has minimal big three if you want to avoid that as well.

Two trilogies in the EU that I think are vastly underrated by many are the Black Fleet Crisis and the Lando Calrissian Trilogy. However, as entry novels they probably aren't that suitable. Lando's novels were written pre-modern EU and make use of a character that the EU has, in my opinion, not used enough of all that well. The BFC is quite "slow" compared to the EU norm and I read that quite a few people find it boring or laborious but I found it to be a rewarding series.

Some of the Clone War novels are also quite good. Shatterpoint is my standout for that timeline. It's a novel that focuses on Mace Windu.

Also don't discount the novelisations of the movies. They can be great for expanding your views on the characters. As weird as it might sound but after reading the novelisation of Ep III I came to like the movie more as I felt I understood why this happened or the motivations of the characters. The Force Unleashed is also meant to be a good novel.

[Joel_Kirk]

^^

Good post!

And, hey, I like Wedge....

[Lindley]

My problem with the Black Fleet Crisis was that (a) in light of the prequels, one entire subplot is a non-starter, (b) Leia acted out of character through most of it, (c) what the heck are K-wings, and (d) I don't remember much else about it so it couldn't have been all that great.