tell me about Star Wars novels!

[Lindley]

3. Is there a novel series that takes off right where ROTJ left off and if so, what is it?

As has been mentioned, the X-Wing series picks up only a year or two after ROTJ. PsychoPere's assertion that they take place 6 years after ROTJ is not entirely correct; the first 7 books take place from about 2-4 years after ROTJ. (Actually, books 5-7 are an extended prequel to The Courtship of Princess Leia.) X-Wing #8-9 are the ones which take place 6 years ABE (after the Battle of Endor); in fact, #8 begins during the climactic battle of the Thrawn trilogy.

It's actually not uncommon to see overlap between different books like that; for instance, I, Jedi takes place during the Jedi Academy Trilogy, and retells some of the same events from a different perspective. (It should also be read after X-Wing #1-4 at least.) It's also worth noting that chapter 1 of X-Wing #1 describes a simulator battle which is recognizable as one of the missions in the game X-Wing.

4. Are Luke, Leia and Han written so that you can recognize them?

For the most part. There are of course exceptions; I didn't buy Leia's characterization in the Black Fleet Crisis trilogy, for instance.

6. Does Leia ever learn to use the Force?

Gradually. Her political duties extend the process far more than normal, but she's a pretty decent Jedi by the time of the New Jedi Order (20 years ABE).

10. Are there Clone Wars-era novels and are they any good?

I'll second the recommendation for Shatterpoint. In fact, most of Matthew Stover's books are good.

12. Are there any novels that don't deal with the Skywalker family and are they still interesting anyway?

Quite a few actually. One trilogy I liked a lot was the AC Crispin Han Solo trilogy. That isn't the same as the "Han Solo Adventures" short stories....although you can see where the Crispin trilogy leaves room for those stories to slot into the timeline.

My overall recommendation? Let us know which books interest you, and we can give you specific advice on whether that book is worthwhile and whether it has any prerequisites continuity-wise.

 

[Lindley]

http://www.theforce.net/books/reviews/novels_chrono.asp
This is a chronological list of the novels.

There are some formatting errors on that list. For instance, it puts Crosscurrent and Millennium Falcon into the Legacy of the Jedi series, when in fact they are standalones.

 

[Mr Light]

I think they just meant they fit into that time period, but you're right.

As for Clone Wars novels, my favorites are Shatterpoint (Mace Windu) and Dark Rendezvous (Yoda). Both are quite excellent. Also there's Labyrinth of Evil and Dark Lord, which take place immediately before and after Revenge of the Sith. Both do a lot of great continuity explaining, like the Sifo-Dyas thing. The rest are pretty forgettable.

 

[PsychoPere]

the X-Wing series is also made of win
so is I, Jedi. although i gather some people hate it.

I completely forgot about I, Jedi! I agree with you: definite "win" there. Is it still the only SW novel to have been written in first person?

As has been mentioned, the X-Wing series picks up only a year or two after ROTJ. PsychoPere's assertion that they take place 6 years after ROTJ is not entirely correct [...]

Thanks for the correction. I was going off of memory on that, instead of double-checking. I haven't re-read any of those books since the series ended with Starfighters of Adumar.

 

[Lindley]

I haven't re-read any of those books since the series ended with Starfighters of Adumar.

Might want to avoid words like "ended" until you're sure.....

 

[John Clark]

Might want to avoid words like "ended" until you're sure.....

For me, that's good to know. I enjoyed the X-Wing series

 

[Hunter X]

Hey, I'll have a go at these questions too.

1. Overall, how do the novels stack up against either the OT or the PT movies?

Depends on the novel. The theme of this reply is "the books vary greatly." The ones to check out are Timothy Zahn's Thrawn Trilogy (Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising and The Last Command). The classic characters are themselves, the new characters are very worthy additions to the Star Wars galaxy, the story is clever, the bad guy is probably the best in Star Wars ever, including the movies.

Aside from that, I'd also recommend the X-Wing books, especially if you want a new set of characters still with a Star Wars feel. After the X-Wing books, check out I, Jedi. It follows the same main character as the first four X-Wings and is the only novel to be set in the first person. The Han Solo trilogy, both of them actually, are both about Han before ANH and, while very different from each other, are good reads.

If you feel like a big series, the New Jedi Order is also worth a look. They're hit and miss, but one book in the latter half of the series, Traitor, is probably the only Star Wars novel I ever read that felt like a great book, not just a great Star Wars book, if that makes any sense.

2. Are there other novels set between ANH and ESB, or ESB and ROTJ? I've heard there's only that one that I read between ANH and ESB, and that seems like a wasted opportunity.

Yeah, like others have said, I think the only books between ANH and ESB is Splinter of the Mind's Eye, which was written before ESB came out. There are comics too, I think, but it's largely an untapped area of the timeline.

3. Is there a novel series that takes off right where ROTJ left off and if so, what is it?

Most of the whole Bantam era, into the Del-Rey era, does this. Not a continuous series, as you've probably gathered by now, but there is a loose overall chronology.

4. Are Luke, Leia and Han written so that you can recognize them?

Depends on who's writing them. No author gets everything 100% right, and pretty much none of them write Luke very well. Zahn's Thrawn trilogy does the best job, from what I remember. But beyond even the characters, you get authors who get the dog-fights, but not the lightsaber battles; or they get the lighsabers battles, but not the humour; or they get the humour, but don't know how to use the Jedi and their Force abilities...you get the idea.

5. Is Luke the stiff, humorous, oh-so-serious Jedi from ROTJ or do the novelists return some of the qualities that made him so charming - idealism, humility, innocence and boyish enthusiasm (why are those incompatible with being a Jedi!!!)

He's generally stiff and serious, with very little innocence. By and large no one knows how to write Luke. They have even more trouble with his Force abilities, either giving him way too much power and then introducing a reason for him not to use the Force, ala Heroes always depowering the heroes, or he's way too weak and whiny.

6. Does Leia ever learn to use the Force?

A little bit, though I found the writers seemed more comfortable keeping her as she is in the movies, i.e. handy with a blaster and snarking at Han.

7. Is Leia still a bossy, crabby bitch (please say yes)?

Sometimes she is, sometimes she's as serious and moody as Luke.

8. Are either Luke or Leia ever seriously threatened by going all Dark Side on us (I'd be astonished if this plot twist never came up)?

Already answered, but this is more covered in the comics, specifically Dark Empire, and not the novels...though those comics are referenced in the novels, which I always found confusing as a kid who only got the books.

9. Just out of curiosity - no details, please - do the novels ever depict how Luke, Leia, Han or Chewie die?

Only in the case of one of them, as far as I know.

10. Are there Clone Wars-era novels and are they any good?

I haven't read many, but I hear they're as hit and miss as the post-ROTJ books.

11. If so, is Anakin written like he should have been and not like a whiny little punk?

Dunno, I think most authors avoid Anakin.

12. Are there any novels that don't deal with the Skywalker family and are they still interesting anyway?

As mentioned, the X-Wing books definitely. I think most of the Clone Wars books are about non-Skywalker characters.

Thank you!

You're welcome!

 

[PsychoPere]

I haven't re-read any of those books since the series ended with Starfighters of Adumar.

Might want to avoid words like "ended" until you're sure.....

You have no idea just how happy you made me. That link seriously made my entire day.

 

[I Grok Spock]

The stuff from the original release period (Splinter, the Brian Daley books) are interesting in a historical kind of way.

Everything since the revival has been nearly universally awful and getting worse by year. Not a shred of the creativity or vision or feel of the Star Wars films (even at their worst).

If you want SW beyond the six films, just watch the Clone Wars animation. The entertainment return per minute invested is infinitely higher.

In my opinion, natch.

 

[The Wormhole]

As far as Star Wars novels are concerned, I got as far as the Thrawn trilogy and found those books to be highly overrated. Since these are apparentally the pinnacle of Star Wars literature, I decided wisely to give up there and haven't looked back since.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

I'd suggest reading the Thrawn trilogy and call it a day. Keep in mind that it was written in the early 90s and the prequels have contradicted the bajeezus out of it.

Considering how disappointing the PT was, I'm more than willing to decide the novels are canon instead, as long as they tell a good story with characters you give a fig about!

The Jedi being war generals, for instance...ehhh...why can't the Republic have their own military command structure and the Jedi are more like special forces?

 

[Sakrysta]

The ones to check out are Timothy Zahn's Thrawn Trilogy (Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising and The Last Command). The classic characters are themselves, the new characters are very worthy additions to the Star Wars galaxy, the story is clever, the bad guy is probably the best in Star Wars ever, including the movies.

Abso-fraggin'-lutely! Thrawn is awe.some.

I read a handful of other Star Wars novels when they first started coming out, but none were as good as Zahn's Thrawn Trilogy. Even his later duology didn't really measure up. I've re-read them two or three times over the years. I think there's a certain sentimentality attached to that trilogy, at least for me. When they were first released, I was in high school, and my friend bought the hardbacks as soon as they came out. I had first dibs once she finished them, and waiting for the sequels was torture. This was back when all we had were the movies, and it was a BIG EVENT when the novels finally came out to continue the story. We loved them, and I'm extremely fond of them because of that.

 

[Mr Light]

I've read the Thrawn books several times since, and there's just something about the way they're written that makes them such page turners. The new characters of Thrawn, Mara, and Karrde are just so fascinating and mysterious. The action sequences the characters are thrown into are really edge of your seat and you truly feel jeopardy for the characters.

If not for the C'boath stuff those books would truly be perfect

 

[fett51]

Most of my knowledge of the novels is from the bantam era, but it basically boils down to everything that covers the period from return of the jedi up to the Thrawn trilogy (which is basically the x-wing series) is good, it's after the Thrawn trilogy that it starts to get repetitive and bad. I was pretty content to let post-jedi novels rest with the Hand of Thrawn duology (which was good) that wrapped up the Bantam series, but I recently picked up the New Jedi Order books (just finished star by star) and found them to be really good so far, and way darker than I was ever expecting star wars novels to get. I've heard nothing but hate vented at novels after the NJO so I'm unsure about continuing past that.

As for clone wars books, I also recommend Shatterpoint and the Yoda-centric Dark Rendezvous. I haven't read any of the ones that tie into the present show, guess I've assumed they'd be too kiddy, despite some of the things the show got away with last season.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Okay thanks for all the suggestions! I think I'll jump in with these:

Shadows of the Empire
Thrawn Trilogy
Dark Empire I & II

So which do I read first, Dark Empire or Thrawn?

I can understand why writers might have a tough time writing Luke. By the end of ROTJ, who is he, really? He seems pretty dour and serious through the whole movie, but is that just the situation he's facing? Is he really the same guy he always was, just a little more mature? There's all kinds of ways to go with his characterization and any two writers will have different opinions unless there's a single editor overseeing all the novels with a strong opinion about the correct way to write him.

And how the heck do you write Leia as a Jedi? Would she even want to be a Jedi? Why isn't she so traumatized at the notion that her own father destroyed her whole planet and her adoptive family that she hates everything to do with the Force, or at least people who think they can make use of it, and caused an incredible amount of death and destruction because of this belief? I could see her and Luke being totally on the opposite sides of that debate.

It's plausible that Luke forgave Vader but to Leia, he'll always just be a monstrous war criminal. I don't see her as the forgiving type, not to that degree.

I also could see the restored Republic deciding that if there are no Jedi, there can be no Sith... And there's the question of what happens to a Force user who deliberately goes untrained, or perhaps is in denial about their own abilities. Would a person like that be in greater danger of Dark Side-ism?

I'll be interested in seeing how the novels handle all this stuff.

 

[Mr Light]

Thrawn Trilogy takes place before Dark Empire. (The Jedi Academy Trilogy takes place after Dark Empire if you get that far)

 

[Mr Light]

It's plausible that Luke forgave Vader but to Leia, he'll always just be a monstrous war criminal. I don't see her as the forgiving type, not to that degree.

I also could see the restored Republic deciding that if there are no Jedi, there can be no Sith... And there's the question of what happens to a Force user who deliberately goes untrained, or perhaps is in denial about their own abilities. Would a person like that be in greater danger of Dark Side-ism?

All this is directly dealt with in the books actually

 

[Lindley]

Okay thanks for all the suggestions! I think I'll jump in with these:

Shadows of the Empire
Thrawn Trilogy
Dark Empire I & II

So which do I read first, Dark Empire or Thrawn?

Dark Empire comes chronologically after Thrawn. However, aside from a certain baby character DE introduces, the Jedi Academy Trilogy are the only books to really reference DE to any significant degree.

In my opinion, Dark Empire's biggest flaw is that it over-abilities Force users and is too heavy on superweapons.

Regarding Shadows, I don't really remember it that well; however, it introduced Prince Xizor, and he annoys the heck out of me, so I'm not inclined to go back and re-read that one. Fortunately he has few other appearances other than the Bounty Hunter Wars trilogy (which was weak at best).

 

[Mr Light]

Yeah Shadows Empire isn't really important in the long run. It's pretty much its own thing. Though the Black Sun organization becomes a background element in the Clone Wars era. It's more worth it just for "this is what they did between movies".

 

[PsychoPere]

The Jedi being war generals, for instance...ehhh...why can't the Republic have their own military command structure and the Jedi are more like special forces?

While it is exceedingly difficult to believe the Republic had no standing army prior to the clonetrooper Grand Army, the Jedi being appointed to lead that army has never bothered me all that much. Perhaps as special advisers and, as you suggest, special forces would have been a better role for the Order, but their Force abilities would've been very useful, I imagine, as commanders in war. In any event, we do see how inadequate they ultimately are to the task, since no one seemed to realize just how spread out the Jedi were from one another in order for Palpatine to issue Order 66.

While the Grand Army was entirely clones and Jedi Generals, Traviss's Republic Commando novels also show the Republic Navy fitting into the command structure, where there were no clones serving. One of these novels features a young captain named Gilad Pellaeon, who originally appeared in Zahn's Heir to the Empire trilogy.

[...] unless there's a single editor overseeing all the novels with a strong opinion about the correct way to write him.

The good news here is that Sue Rostoni of Lucas Licensing has been overseeing novels for as far back as I can remember. Regardless of which company has held the license to publish (Bantam or Del Ray), Lucas Licensing remains heavily involved.

And how the heck do you write Leia as a Jedi? Would she even want to be a Jedi? [...]

I don't think you'd be disappointed by her evolution from politician to Jedi. For the most part, it is haphazard over time: she'll start delving into Jedi studies, then have to put it aside to focus back on New Republic crises (a fact that Luke is often disappointed by).

It's plausible that Luke forgave Vader but to Leia, he'll always just be a monstrous war criminal. I don't see her as the forgiving type, not to that degree.

Some of the novels do deal with this, and I don't think you'd be disappointed here either.

I also could see the restored Republic deciding that if there are no Jedi, there can be no Sith...

This belief crops up from time to time. Traviss's Republic Commando novels, for example, have a character who believes this, and there are some people in the more recent novels (Legacy of the Force and Fate of the Jedi series) who are in positions to actually take action based on this belief.

And there's the question of what happens to a Force user who deliberately goes untrained, or perhaps is in denial about their own abilities. Would a person like that be in greater danger of Dark Side-ism?

I'll just say that there's never a shortage of Dark Jedi.