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Recommendations for Legends (old EU) books, comics, etc.

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This is the thread for recommending or asking for opinions about Legends (i.e. old EU) material, primarily focused on the books & comics.

Please keep it to the point. If you don’t recommend a book or comic (i.e. if you dislike it), then explain why, as opposed to just saying “it was crap”, or something similar without any substance.

PT-era, and other non-OT related EU novels/comics, can, contrary to the original post, be discussed now.

Original post (Dec. 2016):

I couldn’t find any older threads about this, so I figured I’d make one.


I’m personally looking for any good pre-PT Legends novels, comics too, but mostly novels. I’ve already read the Thrawn trilogy, which I really enjoyed. I’m currently reading the Hand of Thrawn duology, which isn’t as interesting, but entertaining enough to pass the time for me. However, I feel like those are somewhat of an obvious starting point, and I have no intentions to buy a lot of books just to find out that they’re really bad (and from what I’ve gathered, there is plenty of those). I also live in Norway so these kinds of books aren’t exactly cheap (only one store that sells them in English, or at all for that matter), and second-hand isn’t really an option either, so I’d like to at least have some general idea if a novel is worth a damn before I buy it.

The only novels I own so far is the Thrawn trilogy, the Hand of Thrawn duology, Shadows of the Empire, the Han Solo adventures (I’ve finished the first one), and Splinter of the Minds Eye (which I haven’t read yet).

Star Wars is Surrealism, not Science Fiction (essay)
Original Trilogy Documentaries/Making-Ofs (YouTube, Vimeo, etc. finds)
Beyond the OT Documentaries/Making-Ofs (YouTube, Vimeo, etc. finds)
Amazon link to my novel; Dawn of the Karabu.

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The X-Wing series is my favourite along with Shadows of the Empire.

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Wexter said:

The X-Wing series is my favourite along with Shadows of the Empire.

Are those books connected to the Rogue Squadron comics in any way? I see that Stackpole was a writer on both.

Also, do you know if these books connect to the Hand of Thrawn books? Wedge appears in a few chapters and he’s accompanied by some other pilots whose names I don’t recognize. One of them has Force abilities. It’s obvious that they originate from some other books, I just don’t know which ones exactly.

Star Wars is Surrealism, not Science Fiction (essay)
Original Trilogy Documentaries/Making-Ofs (YouTube, Vimeo, etc. finds)
Beyond the OT Documentaries/Making-Ofs (YouTube, Vimeo, etc. finds)
Amazon link to my novel; Dawn of the Karabu.

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I would probably start with Knights of The Old Republic. Gameplay is dated but the story and characters are ESB level. This will tie into the Darth Bane trilogy which ties into the Darth Plagueis novel and that ties into the Labyrinth of Evil and the PT novelizations.

You could play KOTOR II, read the Revan novel or even play SWTOR but it’s not needed for the story at large.

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Can never go wrong with the newspaper comic strip.

Forum Moderator
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Tobar said:

Can never go wrong with the newspaper comic strip.

I really liked the few ones that I already have read, but they are quite hard to come by where I live. I could of course get some digital copies, but I’m having a hard time finding a complete collection.


Lord Haseo said:

I would probably start with Knights of The Old Republic. Gameplay is dated but the story and characters are ESB level. This will tie into the Darth Bane trilogy which ties into the Darth Plagueis novel and that ties into the Labyrinth of Evil and the PT novelizations.

You could play KOTOR II, read the Revan novel or even play SWTOR but it’s not needed for the story at large.

I do actually own a digital copy of both KOTOR games, and I will definitely play them some time in the future when I have more time, as well as access to a better computer. However, I’m currently only looking for pre-PT stories.


I have played all of the Dark Forces/Jedi Knight games, but I’m curious if anyone would recommend any other games from the 90’s for their stories? I do however get the impression that the Dark Forces series probably were the most plot-based SW games from that time.

Star Wars is Surrealism, not Science Fiction (essay)
Original Trilogy Documentaries/Making-Ofs (YouTube, Vimeo, etc. finds)
Beyond the OT Documentaries/Making-Ofs (YouTube, Vimeo, etc. finds)
Amazon link to my novel; Dawn of the Karabu.

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ZkinandBonez said:

Wexter said:

The X-Wing series is my favourite along with Shadows of the Empire.

Are those books connected to the Rogue Squadron comics in any way? I see that Stackpole was a writer on both.

Also, do you know if these books connect to the Hand of Thrawn books? Wedge appears in a few chapters and he’s accompanied by some other pilots whose names I don’t recognize. One of them has Force abilities. It’s obvious that they originate from some other books, I just don’t know which ones exactly.

Not connected to the comics, IIRC. I think Stackpole and Zahn were friends and they kept referencing each others’ ideas in their works. The characters you refer to indeed come from Stackpole’s books.

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Wexter said:

ZkinandBonez said:

Wexter said:

The X-Wing series is my favourite along with Shadows of the Empire.

Are those books connected to the Rogue Squadron comics in any way? I see that Stackpole was a writer on both.

Also, do you know if these books connect to the Hand of Thrawn books? Wedge appears in a few chapters and he’s accompanied by some other pilots whose names I don’t recognize. One of them has Force abilities. It’s obvious that they originate from some other books, I just don’t know which ones exactly.

Not connected to the comics, IIRC. I think Stackpole and Zahn were friends and they kept referencing each others’ ideas in their works. The characters you refer to indeed come from Stackpole’s books.

Well, in that case the X-Wing series might be a good place to continue after I’ve finished The Hand of Thrawn.

How about Stackpole’s other novels? Are they worth reading?

Star Wars is Surrealism, not Science Fiction (essay)
Original Trilogy Documentaries/Making-Ofs (YouTube, Vimeo, etc. finds)
Beyond the OT Documentaries/Making-Ofs (YouTube, Vimeo, etc. finds)
Amazon link to my novel; Dawn of the Karabu.

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ZkinandBonez said:

Wexter said:

ZkinandBonez said:

Wexter said:

The X-Wing series is my favourite along with Shadows of the Empire.

Are those books connected to the Rogue Squadron comics in any way? I see that Stackpole was a writer on both.

Also, do you know if these books connect to the Hand of Thrawn books? Wedge appears in a few chapters and he’s accompanied by some other pilots whose names I don’t recognize. One of them has Force abilities. It’s obvious that they originate from some other books, I just don’t know which ones exactly.

Not connected to the comics, IIRC. I think Stackpole and Zahn were friends and they kept referencing each others’ ideas in their works. The characters you refer to indeed come from Stackpole’s books.

Well, in that case the X-Wing series might be a good place to continue after I’ve finished The Hand of Thrawn.

How about Stackpole’s other novels? Are they worth reading?

Gotta say I didn’t finish any of the others, but all of his other Star Wars books are tied closely to other series – I, Jedi to the Jedi Academy Trilogy and the others to the New Jedi Order series.

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Damn you mentioned pretty much the only pre-PT books I can think of. If you’re willing to go into the PT era, Darth Plagueis, Labyrinth of Evil, and the ROTS novelization are three of the best SW books I’ve read.

If we’re talking comics, the original Marvel run is an absolute delight. And the Goodwin/Williamson comics are fantastic, in both news strip and Classic Star Wars form.

As for purchasing, Amazon and ebay are both places you can find used books for dirt cheap. That’s where I get most of mine.

I have a question, are the Lando books any good?

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DominicCobb said:

Damn you mentioned pretty much the only pre-PT books I can think of. If you’re willing to go into the PT era, Darth Plagueis, Labyrinth of Evil, and the ROTS novelization are three of the best SW books I’ve read.

If we’re talking comics, the original Marvel run is an absolute delight. And the Goodwin/Williamson comics are fantastic, in both news strip and Classic Star Wars form.

As for purchasing, Amazon and ebay are both places you can find used books for dirt cheap. That’s where I get most of mine.

I actually have read the old Marvel comics, and I absolutely love the Goodwin/Infantino story-line(s).

As for Amazon and eBay, it’s a bit cumbersome and expensive for me to ship books to Norway. I used to do it, but it became more expensive then I preferred. Plus, there is a comic store in my home town which sells SW novels, both from the old and new EU. I’ve already bought several books from them, but they’re not so cheap that I’m willing to just buy random books without some sense of whether they’ll be good or not.

DominicCobb said:

I have a question, are the Lando books any good?

If you’re asking me, I have no clue.

I’ve only read one of the Han Solo adventures books, and that was pretty OK.

Star Wars is Surrealism, not Science Fiction (essay)
Original Trilogy Documentaries/Making-Ofs (YouTube, Vimeo, etc. finds)
Beyond the OT Documentaries/Making-Ofs (YouTube, Vimeo, etc. finds)
Amazon link to my novel; Dawn of the Karabu.

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Since the Marvel comics, newspaper strips, and Thrawn books have already been covered:

COMICS

NOVELS

I recall also liking The Truce at Bakura and the first two Lando books, but it’s been a couple years since I read them. I’ve also read the first book in The Han Solo Trilogy by A. C. Crispin, found it a great novel, but haven’t yet read the second two books in the trilogy.

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DuracellEnergizer said:

Since the Marvel comics, newspaper strips, and Thrawn books have already been covered:

COMICS

NOVELS

I recall also liking The Truce at Bakura and the first two Lando books, but it’s been a couple years since I read them. I’ve also read the first book in The Han Solo Trilogy by A. C. Crispin, found it a great novel, but haven’t yet read the second two books in the trilogy.

I, Jedi is according to Wookieepedia heavily tied in with the Jedi Academy books, does that mean that I should read those as well, or can I just skip those?

I had also forgotten that there were Dark Forces novels, I’ll have to try to get a hold of them now. Are they novelizations of the games, or are they stories from in-between the games? I get the impression that they are kind of both from Wookieepedia.

A lot of interesting sounding comics on the list as well, so I’ll be checking those out in the future. (I already have the Boba Fett ones though, and I love Cam Kennedy the art style. It’s crazy and weird, but like with Dark Empire, it really works for the darker atmosphere of a Boba Fett story.)

Star Wars is Surrealism, not Science Fiction (essay)
Original Trilogy Documentaries/Making-Ofs (YouTube, Vimeo, etc. finds)
Beyond the OT Documentaries/Making-Ofs (YouTube, Vimeo, etc. finds)
Amazon link to my novel; Dawn of the Karabu.

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ZkinandBonez said:

I, Jedi is according to Wookieepedia heavily tied in with the Jedi Academy books, does that mean that I should read those as well, or can I just skip those?

You can easily skip them. They’re crap, anyway.

I had also forgotten that there were Dark Forces novels, I’ll have to try to get a hold of them now. Are they novelizations of the games, or are they stories from in-between the games? I get the impression that they are kind of both from Wookieepedia.

I suppose they’re a cross between the two. I haven’t actually played the games, so I’m not sure.

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The Star Wars Tales comics had a nice mix of different and fun never-canon stories.

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Tobar said:

The Star Wars Tales comics had a nice mix of different and fun never-canon stories.

Oh yeah, I’ve been reading those lately. They’re really fun, even when they get really silly (like the one about the Death Star trench).

Not enough people read the EU.

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I’ve reag I, Jedi and while it’s being considered one of the best EU books, I don’t get that. I didn’t like it very much and it was way too close to the Jedi Academy books which I don’t like much, either.

I’ve read the Han Solo trilogy and while they’re passable, they’re not that great either.

I do like the Goodwin/Williamson comics and strips, those are the closest to OT as the comics can come. I also like the Thrawn trilogy but even that has some problems.

From games I wholeheartedly recommend KOTOR games (the 1st is better) and the X-Wing games and its sequels. X-Wing Alliance still holds up great! Not forgetting the Dark Forces/Jedi Knight series, they’re great too but the graphics are dated a lot…

I’m very picky about my SW stuff and I don’t like the PT or references to it at all, so I’d say at least these are a safe bet. I haven’t read much in English so I don’t know about the X-Wing books etc. so can’t comment on all of them.

And in the time of greatest despair, there shall come a savior, and he shall be known as the Son of the Suns.

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ZkinandBonez said:

Tobar said:

Can never go wrong with the newspaper comic strip.

I really liked the few ones that I already have read, but they are quite hard to come by where I live. I could of course get some digital copies, but I’m having a hard time finding a complete collection.

Here they are online and in their original format. Great stuff. I’m a regular reader. http://dailysw.blogspot.com

These always make me think of what could have been. To me, they’re very much in line with the original Star Wars trailer. They have that outer space adventure feel. “Somewhere, this could all be happening…”

There have been some omnibus type printings in years past, but not complete (that I’m aware). However, it looks like that’s about to change starting next year. I’ll be getting these for sure: http://a.co/eSQkLDV

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Han Solo trilogy bar none. Daley nails Star Wars so well that he later wrote the radio drama that I hold as the equal to the OT.

The later solo trilogy is pretty fun, and the Lando novels are good old fashioned sci-fi.

The Thrawn trilogy is the benchmark and afterwards its very hit or miss and up to reader preferences. There are also a great number of good prequel novels and excellent stories under the junior scholastic banner.

VADER!? WHERE THE HELL IS MY MOCHA LATTE? -Palpy on a very bad day.
“George didn’t think there was any future in dead Han toys.”-Harrison Ford
YT channel:
https://www.youtube.com/c/DamnFoolIdealisticCrusader

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ZkinandBonez said:

Lord Haseo said:

I would probably start with Knights of The Old Republic. Gameplay is dated but the story and characters are ESB level. This will tie into the Darth Bane trilogy which ties into the Darth Plagueis novel and that ties into the Labyrinth of Evil and the PT novelizations.

You could play KOTOR II, read the Revan novel or even play SWTOR but it’s not needed for the story at large.

I do actually own a digital copy of both KOTOR games, and I will definitely play them some time in the future when I have more time, as well as access to a better computer. However, I’m currently only looking for pre-PT stories.

KOTOR and SWTOR are technically pre-PT as they happen way before PT. I think KOTOR 1 is a must-do. It is probably the best EU thing ever made. SWTOR is great a well (original 8 stories), however it takes a lot of time.

What I love about SWTOR is that you can experience a story as an Imperial/Sith character from the Imperial/Sith perspective. The game also blurs the usually good-evil distinction between the two sides, which makes things more natural and interesting.

I have played all of the Dark Forces/Jedi Knight games, but I’m curious if anyone would recommend any other games from the 90’s for their stories? I do however get the impression that the Dark Forces series probably were the most plot-based SW games from that time.

Dark Forces/Jedi Knight games are pretty much the best thing ever made for that era.

真実

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imperialscum said:

ZkinandBonez said:

Lord Haseo said:

I would probably start with Knights of The Old Republic. Gameplay is dated but the story and characters are ESB level. This will tie into the Darth Bane trilogy which ties into the Darth Plagueis novel and that ties into the Labyrinth of Evil and the PT novelizations.

You could play KOTOR II, read the Revan novel or even play SWTOR but it’s not needed for the story at large.

I do actually own a digital copy of both KOTOR games, and I will definitely play them some time in the future when I have more time, as well as access to a better computer. However, I’m currently only looking for pre-PT stories.

KOTOR and SWTOR are technically pre-PT as they happen way before PT. I think KOTOR 1 is a must-do. It is probably the best EU thing ever made. SWTOR is great a well (original 8 stories), however it takes a lot of time.

What I love about SWTOR is that you can experience a story as an Imperial/Sith character from the Imperial/Sith perspective. The game also blurs the usually good-evil distinction between the two sides, which makes things more natural and interesting.

I get that, and as I said in an earlier post, I’ll play through them some time in the future, but right now I’m looking for stories published pre-PT. (And it’s mostly the PT influence that I’m trying to avoid, not just direct references, characters, etc.)

imperialscum said:

ZkinandBonez said:

I have played all of the Dark Forces/Jedi Knight games, but I’m curious if anyone would recommend any other games from the 90’s for their stories? I do however get the impression that the Dark Forces series probably were the most plot-based SW games from that time.

Dark Forces/Jedi Knight games are pretty much the best thing ever made for that era.

Agreed.

I’m still amazed how Jedi Outcast managed to avoid pretty much any PT influence/reference despite being released in 2002. It has an uncharacteristic OT-only feel too it despite the time it was made. (I still really enjoy Jedi Academy though.)

Star Wars is Surrealism, not Science Fiction (essay)
Original Trilogy Documentaries/Making-Ofs (YouTube, Vimeo, etc. finds)
Beyond the OT Documentaries/Making-Ofs (YouTube, Vimeo, etc. finds)
Amazon link to my novel; Dawn of the Karabu.

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captainsolo said:

The later solo trilogy is pretty fun, and the Lando novels are good old fashioned sci-fi.

By the “later Solo trilogy” I’m assuming that you are referring to the books by A. C. Crispin?

(Aren’t they also the books that tried to explain the whole Kessel run in 12 parsecs thing by having the Falcon go near a black hole, or something like that? I always found that explanation really silly, but of course that doesn’t necessarily mean that the stories are bad. I’ve just read very polarized opinions about that trilogy.)

Star Wars is Surrealism, not Science Fiction (essay)
Original Trilogy Documentaries/Making-Ofs (YouTube, Vimeo, etc. finds)
Beyond the OT Documentaries/Making-Ofs (YouTube, Vimeo, etc. finds)
Amazon link to my novel; Dawn of the Karabu.

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ZkinandBonez said:

I’m still amazed how Jedi Outcast managed to avoid pretty much any PT influence/reference despite being released in 2002. It has an uncharacteristic OT-only feel too it despite the time it was made. (I still really enjoy Jedi Academy though.)

Yes, that is pretty strange and I am happy they stuck to OT feel in JK2. It is one of the best EU material. JKA had some (mostly positive) PT influence (double-bladed lightsabers, etc.), however it retained overall OT feel. I too enjoy JKA a lot.

真実

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DuracellEnergizer said:

So I’ve been googling the Tales of the Jedi series, and the only proper collections I could find were these two omnibuses;

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Star_Wars_Omnibus:_Tales_of_the_Jedi,_Volume_1

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Star_Wars_Omnibus:_Tales_of_the_Jedi,_Volume_2

As far as I can tell this should be all of them.

Star Wars is Surrealism, not Science Fiction (essay)
Original Trilogy Documentaries/Making-Ofs (YouTube, Vimeo, etc. finds)
Beyond the OT Documentaries/Making-Ofs (YouTube, Vimeo, etc. finds)
Amazon link to my novel; Dawn of the Karabu.