I never really saw it as canon. It was, but it wasn't . It was canon unless a movie said otherwise. So I'm not really surprised they ditched it when making Episode VII. They didn't really have to get rid of the Old Republic and Clone Wars EU though. Just any post-ROTJ stuff. It's still out there, anyway, if you want to read it. Just treat it like an alternate universe, like with JJ Trek
This. Enjoy what you like. The feelings you got when reading the old books or comics are not less valid because someone said they aren't cannon. None of TrekLit is cannon, so if the new show is going to undo some of the events in the novels, I don't care. I still enjoyed the hell out of it.
It's a good marketing thing though, isn't it ? All that stuff you've got isn't 'real'. If you want the real stuff, buy these...
i'll miss the early Zahn novels. and i always liked the Dark Horse Tales of the Jedi/Nomi Sunrider/Golden Age of the Sith comics.
Although some of it was contradictory, such as the Zygeria arc in Clone Wars being different to the original "Slaves of the Republic" comics.
Eh. I'll get over it. 95% of it is utter crap. The other 5% is mostly just okay. The Zahn books for example, while an entertaining read the first time, I never understood why some find them to be so great. But Thrawn was too smart--almost to the point of omniscience. It got a bit ridiculous, after a while.
The EU was no great shakes in the end. After the initial run of Zahn novels, it spiralled out of control really quickly. I never thought in a million years that a new set of Star Wars films would pay them any heed.
They're not. They're good. They're the standard all EU novels shoud use as a benchmark. If they're being held up as a shining beacon of brilliance in comparison to the others, it's an admission that the others are pretty poor. Really quickly. The only real way to ensure the new EU is good would be to have a very few quality authors producing less novels in a really tight relationship with the movies. With only three or four prestige hardback releases each year, these would be an event, like the first Zahn novels One or two paperbacks per month ? Back to the same old crud...
The Zahn novels were *good*, but they were by no means the masterworks of science-fiction. The two truly great things to come out of those books was 1) Thrawn: the EU's only intelligent and relatable antagonist as opposed to the endless parade of warlords and despots all intent on creating the next big super-weapon and/or kidnapping the Solo kids. And 2) Mara Jade: by far the most well known and popular character in the EU who was utterly wasted if not outright ignored in every subsequent novel not written by Zahn. It's also very telling that the EU's "best work" is the very first novels that came out of it. Here's the thing though, the EU hasn't gone anywhere. The books and comics are all still out there and with every new canon Star Wars publication, it seems as if they're wasting no time in cherry picking the best ideas from the EU to re-introduce. Be they characters, planets , ships or whole back stories. It's only a matter of time before the likes Jade & Thrawn show up again in some new form.
I was pretty fond of Aaron Allston's Rogue Squadron books, too. Like you've said about Zahn, they weren't great literature or anything, but I do feel like they snuck in a little bit of quality before the mess you're describing that came after.
When it comes to Star Wars, I like my EU like Americans like their EU - old, quaint and largely irrelevant.
I like the early stuff. Splinter of the Mind's Eye was an interesting and well-told story. But certain passages are awkward in consideration of facts that came to light in ROTJ. The Han Solo and Lando Calrissian novels were enjoyable, too. I enjoyed some of the novels from the 90s, as well as some of the Dark Horse comics. But I think that in recent years the SW EU was getting too bloated. It doesn't bother me that they're throwing it all out. And I never really liked the idea of insane clones with double vowels in their names. Kor
Yeah the first four(?) X-Wing novels were solid, though I couldn't get into the one's by the new author. Felt too much like an inferior copy than a continuation. Having an intelligent Gamorrean called "piggy" in the squadron didn't help either. IMO, the EU was at it's best when it avoided the movie characters like the plague. The X-Wing novels, the old 'Tales of the Jedi' comcis, KoTOR, Dark Forces, basically all the good stuff other than the Zahn novels focused mostly on new characters and situations. Indeed, even with the Zahn novels the best bits weren't necessarily the stuff with Luke, Han, Leia & Lando, it was the stuff with Thrawn, Mara Jade & Talon Karrde.
Actually, the first four (and the eighth) X-Wing books were written by Michael Stackpole. Allston was the "new author". IIRC, the Stackpole and Allston books were supposed to be concurrent with each other, with Wedge leading the Rogues and Janson or Tycho leading the Wraiths, but word came down from on high that all of the X-Wing books were to center on Wedge, necessitating a bit of a creative re-arraging of things on Allston's part.
Unless Allston's work drastically improved after the first one, I have a hard time seeing how they're even in the same league. At my last attempt, I got about half way through 'Wraith Squadron' and just lost interest. I think it was right around the time they did that whole bit about pretending to be country planet bumpkin types (huge false mustachios) looking for wives on the big city planet. See also: "Piggy". Few things turn me off faster than an author trying too hard to be funny. A few of the SW authors attempted this in the EU and it never worked well. I have vague (partially repressed) memories of a scene in 'The Courtship of Princess Leia' where 3PO puts on a song and dance routine to try and talk Leia into choosing Han...yeah... Someone really ought to tell them that slapstick and sight-gags don't actually work in print. Like, at all. Ever.
He's got his own planet, Although it's kind of wild. Wookiees love him. Women love him. He's got a winning smile! Though he may seem cool and cocky, He's more sensitive than he seems, Han Solo, What a man! Solo. He's every princess's dream! ...you mean that one?
I haven't read the X Wing series, but I really loved Allston's entries in NJO, LOTR, and FOTJ series.