How are the Marvel Star Wars Legends Epic Collections OLD REPUBLIC series?

I currently own all the Marvel Deluxe HC's of everything CANON they've released so far since taking over.
[I](Boy, they're slow at releasing these)[/I]

I've never bought into the expanded universe or legends series that's no longer canon.

Well, today, I went for it and ordered from IST Books 1 and 2 of the Star Wars Legends Epic Collections OLD REPUBLIC series.

I know it's not canon but I wanted more Star Wars to read and figured it's happened 1000 years before the first 3 episodes, it won't matter because I can't see Disney doing anything with that the Old Republic. So in my head canon, it's all good.

In reading what little reviews I have found around the net, is there supposed to be a 3rd book to close it out?

Does anyone here have them and is the run a pretty good read?

I loved the Knights of the Old Republic series. It is one of my favorite Star Wars series ever. It ran for 50 some issues so I would assume there is one more collection they will do. I loved that these were all new characters.

Another book that I loved that was being published around that period is [B]Dark Times[/B]. It takes place right after the fall of the Jedi and follows a jedi survivor trying to survive in the now Empire controlled galaxy. I would highly recomend all 3 of the [B]Star Wars Legends Epic Collection: The Empire[/B] books. They are not cannon true but nothing in them really contradicts cannon either since they take place so soon after the events in [B]Revenge of the Sith[/B], and that seems to be a time period Disney is staying away from more or less. These books really show Vader hunting down the jedi survivors and trying to exterminate the order completely.

[QUOTE=Hawkgirl_70;3455892]Well, today, I went for it and ordered from IST Books 1 and 2 of the Star Wars Legends Epic Collections OLD REPUBLIC series.

I know it's not canon but I wanted more Star Wars to read and figured it's happened 1000 years before the first 3 episodes, it won't matter because I can't see Disney doing anything with that the Old Republic. So in my head canon, it's all good.

In reading what little reviews I have found around the net, is there supposed to be a 3rd book to close it out?

Does anyone here have them and is the run a pretty good read?[/QUOTE]
I own the original floppies from Dark Horse, and it was a really great series (although not as great as the various John Ostrander series).

It is incomplete though. It ran 50 issues with a 5-issue mini to close it off, and the two books only collect up to #37.
No news if Marvel plans on releasing this any time soon, but you can probably still get the Dark Horse version on Amazon.

[QUOTE=Zero Hunter;3456175]I loved the Knights of the Old Republic series. It is one of my favorite Star Wars series ever. It ran for 50 some issues so I would assume there is one more collection they will do. I loved that these were all new characters.

Another book that I loved that was being published around that period is [B]Dark Times[/B]. It takes place right after the fall of the Jedi and follows a jedi survivor trying to survive in the now Empire controlled galaxy. I would highly recomend all 3 of the [B]Star Wars Legends Epic Collection: The Empire[/B] books. They are not cannon true but nothing in them really contradicts cannon either since they take place so soon after the events in [B]Revenge of the Sith[/B], and that seems to be a time period Disney is staying away from more or less. These books really show Vader hunting down the jedi survivors and trying to exterminate the order completely.[/QUOTE]

[B]Zero Hunter:[/B] Thanks for all the details! I'm glad I ordered them, then. Hopefully, the final book will come along in the next year and finish out the collection.

Now you have me interested in pursuing THE EMPIRE Epic Collection too! I think on my next IST round of orders, and when Marvel stuff goes back on sale again, I will grab the first one. As long as I can kind of dance around the Canon stuff and it not directly interfere with what's out there now, my mind will say it's okay. HA! :p

[B]Carabas or Zero Hunter: [/B]

Have you read any of this series?

[url]https://www.amazon.com/Star-Wars-Legends-Epic-Collection/dp/1302900129/ref=pd_ybh_a_7?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=DJ9WNBAEPZHNA6R0P10G[/url]
Star Wars Legends Epic Collection: Legacy Vol. 1 AND
Star Wars Legends Epic Collection: Legacy Vol. 2

or what about this series?

[url]https://www.amazon.com/Star-Wars-Legends-Epic-Collection/dp/0785197230/ref=pd_ybh_a_5?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=DJ2E2SN2H0P01E2KFH64[/url]
Star Wars Legends Epic Collection: The New Republic Vol. 2 AND
Star Wars Legends Epic Collection: The New Republic Vol. 3

Do either of these come in direct contradiction with the existing canon?

[QUOTE=Hawkgirl_70;3458106]Have you read any of this series?[/QUOTE]
Yes.

[QUOTE][url]https://www.amazon.com/Star-Wars-Legends-Epic-Collection/dp/1302900129/ref=pd_ybh_a_7?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=DJ9WNBAEPZHNA6R0P10G[/url]
Star Wars Legends Epic Collection: Legacy Vol. 1 AND
Star Wars Legends Epic Collection: Legacy Vol. 2 [/QUOTE]
Ostrander at his best.

Like Knights Of The Old Republic, there should be a volume 3 though.

[QUOTE]or what about this series?

[url]https://www.amazon.com/Star-Wars-Legends-Epic-Collection/dp/0785197230/ref=pd_ybh_a_5?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=DJ2E2SN2H0P01E2KFH64[/url]
Star Wars Legends Epic Collection: The New Republic Vol. 2 AND
Star Wars Legends Epic Collection: The New Republic Vol. 3
[/QUOTE]
God, Rogue Squadron series.
That was ages ago. I remember them very fondly.
Maybe I should dig them out and give them a reread one of these weeks.

[QUOTE]Do either of these come in direct contradiction with the existing canon?[/QUOTE]
Legacy not so much. It is set some 130+ years after A New Hope.
I suppose it does contradict because the main character is named Cade Skywalker, who now can't exist.

The Rogue Squadron Series... who knows? Minor stuff probably. I believe Rebels established some new stuff about Wedge and Hobbie.
It has never been in my nature to overly care about canon. It ruins enjoyment of so many great stories.

Legacy is hard to fit into current cannon because the main star is decendent of Luke Skywalker, and the way it looks currently Luke never had children. Its a good story, but it doesn't really fit with cannon now.

I have not read the stuff in the New Republic collections so I don't know about that.

I have read the stuff in the [B]Star Wars Legends Epic Collection: The Clone Wars[/B] volume 1 and 2, and those I really liked. It takes place during the gap between Episode 2 and 3 and really dives deep into the Clone War. It give you not only Kenobi and Anakin, but good solo stories with most of the Jedi Council members taking place during the war. Nothing in it really contradicts anything else either so is kind of cannon neutral like the post Episode 3 stuff collected in the Empire collections.

[QUOTE=Zero Hunter;3458372]Legacy is hard to fit into current cannon because the main star is decendent of Luke Skywalker, and the way it looks currently Luke never had children. Its a good story, but it doesn't really fit with cannon now.

I have not read the stuff in the New Republic collections so I don't know about that.

I have read the stuff in the [B]Star Wars Legends Epic Collection: The Clone Wars[/B] volume 1 and 2, and those I really liked. It takes place during the gap between Episode 2 and 3 and really dives deep into the Clone War. It give you not only Kenobi and Anakin, but good solo stories with most of the Jedi Council members taking place during the war. Nothing in it really contradicts anything else either so is kind of cannon neutral like the post Episode 3 stuff collected in the Empire collections.[/QUOTE]

From how you've both replied, it sounds like many of these chunky trades will have some great stories. Maybe I should "investigate" and buy one of each to check them out.
I don't know why Disney had to go and screw with all the expanded universe and void them, so to speak.

Even though I've liked most every new canon story so far, that's been released into Hardcovers, I CRINGED thru and DID NOT like the Chewbacca book in "Heroes for a New Hope" HC.
The artwork of the girl and her age was distracting and annoying. That nose..... Anyway....I Did NOT like her personality either. I don't think I'll ever read that one again. Blech. Grade D.
I did think Lando was excellent, A+ and Princess Leia's mini was a decent above average story.

P.S. - Zero Hunter - you've coined a new phrase "[U]CANON NEUTRAL[/U]" :D

[QUOTE=Hawkgirl_70;3458386]I don't know why Disney had to go and screw with all the expanded universe and void them, so to speak.[/QUOTE]
They basically had to. George Lucas would have done the same if he ever had made an episode VII.
You can't make a real movie sequel to Return Of The Jedi and fit in and/or write around the EU which extensively covers that already. And just turning EU books into movies seems... unambitious. And lame. And entirely devoid of suspense when you can go to the library to find out how Episode IX ends while Episode VII isn't even out yet.

The old EU was a mess of 15+ years of accumulated soap opera drama and galaxy-spanning plot lines that writers who are making a proper Episode VII simply can't take into account.

Then again, none of the old EU was ever canon in the first place. This is where Disney and Geoge Lucas have very different viewpoints.
For Lucas, nothing was 'real' canon except his movies (and even those kept changing the story). He tolerated the EU and casually overwrote it whenever it conflicted with his latest ideas.
Disney on the other hand wanted to have a real canon where everything counts.

Yeah, from dialogue in the films it's highly inferred that the Republic is actually pretty young, and possibly after the Sith were overthrown, as they seemed to be 'ruling the galaxy'.

"I will not let this Republic that has stood for a thousand years be split into two"

"There hasn't been a full scale war since the formation of the Republic"

"The Sith have been extinct for a millenium!"

Basically, the EU went with the initial concept that the Republic and the Jedi were about 25,000 years old, and were often faced with multiple incarnations of the dark side or the Sith. This is mainly based on Obi-Wan's line "For over a thousand generations"...

There's a few things retained from the Old Republic stuff though- The concept of a Sith homeworld/necropolis (Korriban) still appears in the still-canon Clone Wars, although for some reason it was renamed Moriband. The planet Malachor, another dark side world from the old Republic series, played a part in Rebels (Although altered a bit as well). The thousand year darkness, the first war between the Jedi and the Sith, is referenced in the current Marvel comics, although it's a bit vague as to what Disney's version details.

Darth Bane is also (somewhat) retained, although his appearance is more Vaderesque than the organic armor or bald head he sported in comics and novel covers.

Regarding Rogue Squadron, the series also serves as a prequel of sorts to the X-wing novels, which take place a few years later. They also introduce Baron Fel, a character whose family becomes a major player in the later novels, and in Legacy as well.

But they do pretty much directly contradict the Aftermath novels in particular (Although I think one character-Isard-is still canon, but like with Grand Admiral Thrawn the character has been "reworked" into the new stories)

[QUOTE=ChrisIII;3460800]Regarding Rogue Squadron, the series also serves as a prequel of sorts to the X-wing novels, which take place a few years later. They also introduce Baron Fel, a character whose family becomes a major player in the later novels, and in Legacy as well.[/QUOTE]
Ooh, nice.
I never made the lnk between the Fels.

Although Baron Soontir Fel is a bit of a case of the old EU being a bit "Small universe"-He's married to Wedge's sister, was classmates with Han Solo, trained Biggs Darklighter, became a loyal follower of Grand Admiral Thrawn, and his son became a major player in the Vong and Swarm wars/Legacy/Fate of the Jedi and married Jaina Solo (Han and Leia's daughter) and created a new Imperial dynasty that we see in Legacy. Phew!

[QUOTE] From how you've both replied, it sounds like many of these chunky trades will have some great stories. Maybe I should "investigate" and buy one of each to check them out.
I don't know why Disney had to go and screw with all the expanded universe and void them, so to speak. [/QUOTE]

Well the universe is still there it's just not the main one. It's just another reality like every marvel show or cartoon. They never killed or erased that universe and marvel can return to that reality anytime they want. You can still enjoy it like you enjoy batman tas, the 2002 ninja turtles cartoon and the transformers prime cartoon. They are not the originals but you can still love the versions in that universe, and you can still enjoy and care about the heroes in that world.

There probably won't be any stories set in that going forward, however (although there certainly are a lot) apart from the ocassional update to "The Old Republic" MMO which is still set in that. There were some novels and comics planned for 2014-2015 that would take place in the original EU timeline, such as Sword of the Jedi which would've featured Jaina Solo.

My IST Order came in Thursday and I got the Marvel Epic Old Republic #1 and #2 chunky books.

Wow! I love the books. Super nice glossy paper. the art looks great and I know will pull me in, and I look forward to reading them when I finish with a couple other books.

So, yes, there is a book 3 coming and over at MMW a couple people speculated to me that it would come next year as these too books were released in 2015 and 2017.

When IST has their MARVEL sales, I'm definitely going to order a couple of books at a time as I can for the EMPIRE series, the LEGACY series, the CLONE WARS series, and the books 2 & 3 of the NEW REPUBLIC series which covers the X-Wing collection.
There are still more books to be released until everything is collected but between here and over there, I understand what's in each collection much better.

Thanks guys for replying and sharing thoughts and suggestions! :)

And as far as "Kathy's Head Canon" with these Legends books and the movies, I've already convinced myself the stories will work out okay and fit into my interpretation of the Star Wars universe. ;)