(no subject)

[rynne]

Okay, so I spent today watching the whole original Star Wars trilogy...why the hell did I not see it before now? I concede that pretty much everyone in the universe is right; it is brilliant. I'm going to have to buy the DVDs sometime. (*sticks out tongue at thistlerose*--have I redeemed myself since I first announced I'd never seen it? *g*)

(Curse it, that's another thing my ex-boyfriend was right about! He was the one who first introduced me to Terry Pratchett and Discworld--though he would have had more success in converting me if he hadn't tried the Rincewind books--even if I did only start loving them years later. And he was the one who showed me Episode IV, which was the only one of the original trilogy that I'd seen, even if I didn't remember much of it, because he's a total Star Wars nut. Ah well. If he comes to my grad party, I'm going to have to tell him he was right.)

Now I must read the books. How many of them are there, and in what order do they go in? Is there some sort of website I can look up? I must know mooooore. ;)

ETA: Oh, just remembered. In Ep. IV, when Biggs and Wedge were first introduced, I was like "OMG BIGGS AND WEDGE SO THAT'S WHERE THEY COME FROM!" For those who don't know, Biggs and Wedge are recurring characters in the Final Fantasy series, but since SW came out before the first FF, I guess Square just took the names...

Comments

[krabapple.livejournal.com]

Darling. As a reader of the Star Wars Extended Universe since 1994, I am more than happy to help you out in your quest for ever more Star Wars.

I say skip the books that came out in the '70s. None of them are very good, and they won't really get you started on EU canon.

My suggestion would be to start with Timothy Zahn's Heir to the Empire trilogy. All of the 90s and further canon starts there. Then go to the Dark Empire comics, which feature the story of Luke's dealings with the Dark Side. They're pivotal to EU canon.

After that, I'd say pick and choose through the rest of the Bantam line. Some of it is utter rubbish, some of it is okay rubbish, and some if it is even decent. I'm not the biggest fan of Keven J. Anderson's trilogy, and I think a nice summary can catch you up on the necessary parts of that canon. I'd also avoid the Black Fleet Crisis trilogy (everything's a triology!), but you should get that summed up, too, in case it shows up in further canon (though I don't think it does much). There are some one-shots: I myself like Kathy Tyer's Bantam one shot (Truce at Bakura). There's an absolutely horrible one about the kids being kidnapped that is just, well, the worst thing I've ever read in my life. Following that is another one shot that has Luke battling, I'm not kidding, pink goo. I forget the names to both of these; I'd have to look them up. The Corellian Trilogy is littered with typos, but it's a fairly fun read. And then there's Barbara Hambly's arc (with Keven Anderson in the middle). Eh. Can also be neatly summed up. Oh, and Michael Stackpole's "I, Jedi" about Corran Horn, which takes place at the same time as Anderson's Jedi Academy series.

To finish the Bantam line: read the Hand of Thrawn duology by Tim Zahn. Bantam knew it was losing the line to Del Ray, and they went back to him to tie up the pieces of all the other books--and those span 10 years worth of SW time, by the way.

Once you finish that, you'd be all gradumatated and ready to tackle the Del Ray line, which is a five year story arc called The New Jedi Order. Seriously, it's one big story; there was a hard back a year followed by paperbacks to fill in the pieces. It's a huge undertaking--those are five years of my life I'm never going to get back. Still, at this point the arc is complete--the last hardback was, well, I was still in New York at the time, so not this past fall, but the one before that. There's a post-NJO trilogy out this summer, but if you don't know the story arc, you'll be lost.

And that's just what covers Luke, Leia, Han and company. There's all sorts of books about more minor characters to flesh out the universe. My favorite of these is the X-Wing series, about Wedge Antilles and the other pilots of Rouge Squadron (the fighter pilot squadron Luke founded and was in in The Empire Strikes Back. I'm fond of all of those characters as well, and they're actually some of the better written novels--Aaron Allston's in particular.

Whew. And there's tons more I'm not thinking about/mentioning, including A.C. Crispin's Han Solo trilogy, where she attempts to cover Han's life pre-Luke and Leia.

Scared yet? :) In any event, I say start with Zhan's Heir to the Empire trilogy. It's crucial to the rest of EU canon, ever. Then you can decide whether or not you want to go from there.

Also, I completely have these books--every single one of them, practically--and I am happy to send them to you in doses if you want them. I can totally be your SW book buddy. :) Some of my copies are old and dusty and yellowing, but they'd be free to you for as long as you like them. Some I'd want back, some you could probably have at this point. :) They're all sitting on a huge, honkin' shelf in my room, so let me know.

Ending this comment now. I am a complete and utter uber-fangirl. It's so sad. ;)

[rynne.livejournal.com]

Wow. That's...a lot. o.O I'll probably take you up on the offer to send them to me, if you don't mind--I've been looking them up on the library and getting confused as to what's what.

But whee, lots to read this summer! :D