This has been going on for nearly three decades I suppose since Splinter of the Mind's Eye While I've personally not read that book there is a Wikipedia page obviously with the description. The premise is fascinating in that it transitions ANH into ESB. Luke and Leia pair up to meet new enemies/allies on a planet filled with swamps (Han Solo doesn't make an appearance). There's a plotpoint that might be considered a MacGuffen (?) called the Kiaburr crystal which didn't make it into the final cut of Star Wars. All interesting stuff here.

Then I guess LucasArts or whoever commissioned more and more writers to elaborate on the Star Wars universe and further convolute the happenings of the Galactic Civil War, The New Republic, and most recently and to some extent back then The Clone Wars.

Now my familiarity with the EU comes not from reading any of the novels or comics, but through word of mouth, Star Wars databank, Wikipedia, etc. Most of the premises for these things are sometimes entertaining in themselves. But the EU has acquired a bunch of hostility from fans since (assuming) it first was spawned. What do you personally as a Star Wars enthusiast think about the Expanded Universe?