Baronlando said:

Ideally, the Jedi book should be the most revealing if it's done right. It will probably be surprising how EMPIRE is perceived as such a not-masterpiece throughout 1981. And how much of JEDI is a deliberate reaction to the not-uncommon notion that EMPIRE just wasn't fun enough.

By whom? The fans or Lucasfilm? The only major criticism I can recall back in the day was "we only got half a movie" gripe.

Whatever perceptions there were back then, it certainly never stopped anyone from going back and seeing the movie five more times. ;)