Recommendations for the old Star Wars EU

[TheCape]

I have been a fan of Star Wars since i was a kid and i have been reviving my interest for it recently. so i wanted to know what material from the old expanded universe (also known as Star Wars Legends now for what i understand) would you recommend me to read.

[Red Robe Jaldari]

I have been a fan of Star Wars since i was a kid and i have been reviving my interest for it recently. so i wanted to know what material from the old expanded universe (also known as Star Wars Legends now for what i understand) would you recommend me to read.

If you want something very different:

Comics:

Knight Errant comics and a book, Star Wars Legacy with Cade Skywalker and there is an another one with Ania Solo, Crimson Empire but check out iof you like the art first.

Books:

Outbound Flight by Timothy Zahn, Mathew Stover: Shatterpoint, Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor. Hard Contact by Karen Traviss, Darth Plagueis by James Luceno.

I loved the Death Troopers audiobook, i have no idea how good the b ook actually is but i loved the stanfg out of that audiobook.

More familiar, closer to the movies and tv series....

Books:

Thrawn Trilogy by Zahn, it's probably better of you read Outbound Flight before. Karen Traviss: No Prisoners, Kenobi by John Jackson Miller, A. C. Crisoin Han Solo trilogy, Rogue squadron book series

Comics:

If you are a Kotor guy/gal, John Jackson Miller's Kinghts of the Old Republic comic, X Wing comics, Empure comics. Star wars Purge comics were usually okay to good with i think one bad one. Blood Ties.

[godisawesome]

I’d second Shadows Of Mindor, the KOTOR comics, and Hard Contact (though I’d avoid the other Republic Commando books after Triple Zero, the immediate sequel.)

I’d add in any X-Wing book with the name “Aaron Allston” on the cover, so all the Wraith Squadron books plus Starfighters of Adumar.

[ChrisIII]

The James Luceno books are pretty good 'bridging' novels for the saga (he also writes stuff for the new canon as well).

Cloak of Deception helps explain the reasons behind the Naboo blockade, why Valorum suddenly became unpopular, and Palpatine's role in manipulating both. It's not all politics-Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan also get involved in things.

Labyrynth of Evil is the prologue to Revenge of the Sith....deals with the Jedi trying to track down Sidious-and of course, they get really, really close, but then the Coruscant battle happens.....also the novel explains what Obi-Wan was talking about with "That business on Cato Neimoudia".


The Rise of Darth Vader deals with Vader's early days in the suit (It's pretty much been totally overriden by Marvel's second Vader series though).

There's also Darth Plagueis, which deals with the mysterious Sith lord and is pretty much Palpatine's origin story too.

[BruceWayneJr.]

Darth Plagueis is basically the holy grail. Lots of questions answered in that one.

Yoda: Dark Rendezvous has a Harry Potter vibe and some great insights into Count Dooku's character.

I love the story of Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader and the Dark Times comic books. Prime Jedi tragedy.

Flip through the Star Wars Tales anthology series if you get a chance. That's got stories from every era of Star Wars.

Edited to add ANYTHING by John Ostrander. I've enjoyed every comic he's done.

[Zero Hunter]

For comics you can't go wrong with the Dark Horse books. I especially loved the stuff they did set right after the fall of the Jedi. Books like Purge and Dark Times were fantastic showing Vader hunting down Jedi survivors and showing lone Jedi trying to survive in the now Empire controlled galaxy.

[KOSLOX]

I liked the Tales of the Jedi books.

They are the stories that inspired Knights of the Old Republic.

[Minerboh]

I really liked the Dark Empire trilogy.

[Red Robe Jaldari]

For comics you can't go wrong with the Dark Horse books. I especially loved the stuff they did set right after the fall of the Jedi. Books like Purge and Dark Times were fantastic showing Vader hunting down Jedi survivors and showing lone Jedi trying to survive in the now Empire controlled galaxy.

With some of them you can but they are like 85% good and okay.

[ChrisIII]

I liked the Tales of the Jedi books.

They are the stories that inspired Knights of the Old Republic.

Just a slight note on this, while they take place in the same general era and have similar tones (Jedi and Sith both at their prime), the Tales of the Jedi comics largely sort of portrayed the Jedi and the galaxy as sort of having an ancient sort of Babylonian/Egyptian look for the most part.


The Old Republic games kind of dropped this and for the most part had technology and a look largely indistinguishable from the films-to the point that Disney largely took the Hammerhead design from the games (Itself based on the Correlian Corvette/Blockade Runner) and put it in Rebels and Rogue One as an OT-era ship.

[Chintzy Beatnik]

The Darth Plagueis novel and the first volume of Star Wars: Legacy are must reads.


Honorable mention to the X-Wing comics and novels.