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What’s a good book series or something to chase Star Wars for a bit?

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“You don’t need Luke Skywalker…”

I need to put Star Wars on hold for me for a while and would love to dip into another story.

I love the Joseph Campbell stuff about Star Wars, the mysticism, the hot take on politics and religion, a protagonist who is not a badass, redemption, etc.

Next to Star Wars, The Lord of the Rings has been my secondary fantasy world. I haven’t really ventured much into the fantasy genre, with LOTR being somewhat of a fluke due to the cultural exposure that preceded me picking up the books on a whim in 2007.

I like that both of these series have things to say that aren’t preachy and invite the reader to invest meaning into what’s happening. Never got into Narnia partly for that reason. I have not touched Game of Thrones beyond watching the first episode of the show. It seems rather bleak and depressing to me. I’m not a political science guy, and exploring “what would these kingdoms end up doing pragmatically” isn’t as interesting to me as philosophical or spiritual questions fantasy allows to flourish.

I don’t have a ton of free time, but I can read at least a little each day and if the story is gripping then it won’t matter.

My stance on revising fan edits.

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Sooner or later, someone will suggest that obscure series by James S. A. Corey.
Corey (AKA - Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby) has, of late, seen his books adapted for television.
I recall recommending S01 and S02 over at the other joint.

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One of the big inspirations for Star Wars and many others. This book is over a hundred years old and yet it still feels fresh and vibrant. An incredibly fun adventure. One of my favorites.

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Vultural said:

Sooner or later, someone will suggest that obscure series by James S. A. Corey.
Corey (AKA - Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby) has, of late, seen his books adapted for television.
I recall recommending S01 and S02 over at the other joint.

Seconding The Expanse (novels or TV series) based on the kind of stuff you’re looking for.

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Twin Peaks is extremely good, and scratches a similar itch to Star Wars and LotR for me. It also has ample room for a reworking/re edit, with the second half of season 2.

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Twin Peaks would be great if I hadn’t already seen it.

I like APOM so far. The writing is compelling but the story is getting started. From the POV of just being glad to have something to read, I’m happy.

My stance on revising fan edits.

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If you’re looking for books I highly recommend the first two Myst books! Amazing story and writing, and you don’t need to play the old PC adventure game that they are based on to enjoy them

After being beaten and battered by prequel hate, I promise not to be that to the next generation.

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dgraham414 said:

If you’re looking for books I highly recommend the first two Myst books! Amazing story and writing, and you don’t need to play the old PC adventure game that they are based on to enjoy them

I’m actually in the process of re-reading these, and I’m partway through the second book (The book of Ti’ana). I remember enjoying them the first time years ago, but this time they feel interminably padded out with detail and are severely lacking in dramatic stakes. Perhaps one could say that this mirrors the feel of the games, but the games had puzzles to solve within this detail, whereas the books just feel…empty.

As for book recommendations in the Sci-fi genre, Neuromancer was fairly good and The Sparrow is really interesting and quite dark. For fantasy, the Mistborn series is solid throughout. None of these are really similar to Star Wars though.

You probably don’t recognize me because of the red arm.
Episode 9 Rewrite, The Starlight Project (Released!) and ANH Technicolor Project (Released!)

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I’m going to recommend child/young adult fantasy because ultimately that’s what Star Wars is, and it’s where I’d go first if looking for something Star Wars-esque.

I’m a fan of the His Dark Materials books. They present themselves as child-friendly fantasy much like Star Wars but there’s a lot of meditation on religion in there (It’s ultimately pretty critical of organized religion though, so just a heads up if that’s not something you’d be into). There’s a show on HBO now too but it’s a bit of a mixed bag. I’d read the books first, and don’t bother at all with the 2007 film.

I will also recommend the Avatar: The Last Airbender and Legend of Korra animated series. They are ostensibly kids shows but deal with surprisingly mature themes, and they take some of the eastern philosophy stuff baked into Star Wars and take it much further. There’s a character redemption arc in there that some people feel is what Kylo Ren should have been. Once again, don’t bother with the film adaptation.

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+1 for His Dark Materials. I like the show quite a bit, but agree that for that one I’d recommend the books first. (And to avoid the Golden Compass movie entirely.)

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Octorox said:
I will also recommend the Avatar: The Last Airbender and Legend of Korra animated series. They are ostensibly kids shows but deal with surprisingly mature themes, and they take some of the eastern philosophy stuff baked into Star Wars and take it much further. There’s a character redemption arc in there that some people feel is what Kylo Ren should have been. Once again, don’t bother with the film adaptation.

This, but you could probably skip Legend of Korra tbh.

fun fact: “NFB” comes from NextFireBender as my username from forums when I was like 12. I just got so used to be being “NFB” I never let go of the acronym.

Andor: The Rogue One Arc