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What Star Wars novels have you read? Liked?
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RyanDarkstar
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PostPosted: Sun Dec 07, 2014 4:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Many of the novels I've read and/or own were purchased when they were first published. The early books were given to me by my mother when I was younger, and the rest I bought with great anticipation as they were released. Eventually, I became disappointed with the direction of stories and concentrated on purchasing the RPG books.
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Lando Calrissian and the Mindharp of Sharu & Lando Calrissian and the Flamewind of Oseon - love Lando, but the books were weird when I was a kid. I'll have to find the third one some day.

The Han Solo Adventures - pretty cool, but I missed the Empire as a kid. Re-reading them now, and really enjoying them.

Death Troopers - really enjoyed this one, though throwing Han and Chewie in it was a little disappointing at first.

Dark Forces trilogy - managed to grab these pricey graphic novels for cheap. The art was okay for the most part, but I was a little disappointed with the changes that were made from the awesome games.

Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker - read about a chapter and got bored. Had the movies on VHS so I never bothered. Maybe one of these days...

Rebel Force - a very enjoyable young readers' series. I think it really captures the essence of Star Wars.

Splinter of the Mind's Eye - really enjoyed this as a kid, though it was weird after I read it again after Return of the Jedi. One of my favorite comic adaptations, mostly for the art.

The Empire Strikes Back - own it but never read it.

Shadows of the Empire - the novel was okay, but I played the game first, then read some of the comics. Taken as a whole--novel, comics, game and WEG sourcebook and Secrets of the Sisar Run--Shadows of the Empire is a great idea, but pretty fractured.

Return of the Jedi - only remember the crazy part were Obi-wan told Luke that Owen Lars was Obi-wan's brother.

The Bounty Hunter Wars - own 2 of the books; never read.

The Truce at Bakura - loved the alien invasion story and that it happens right after Return of the Jedi. On the fence as far as entechment goes. Read/watched a lot of other strange Force stuff, so I guess it works.

The Glove of Darth Vader et al. - not bad for kids books.

X-wing Series - read and enjoyed the first four books. Bought some of the others, but shelved them for later.

The Courtship of Princess Leia - kind of okay. Didn't like how the Force became magic, though I did like the idea of the witches/Nightsisters. Didn't care for the Hapans at all. Han's abduction of Leia seemed very forced.

The Thrawn Trilogy - hands down my favorite books. I really loved how events played out through all of the books, though Mara Jade's overshadowing of the main cast at the end of The Last Command was somewhat disappointing.

The Jedi Academy Trilogy - liked some of the new Jedi characters, but I really wanted Han to kill Kyp. The Suncrusher was incredibly stupid, and Daala was a terrible villain.

I, Jedi - after my brain accepted the first person weirdness, I really enjoyed this book. My only issues were the placing within the Jedi Academy Trilogy events and Corran Horn as the ultimate Jedi superhero (until topped by Kyle Katarn, Mara Jade, and Galen Marek).

The Callista Trilogy and The Crystal Star - liked very little from these four novels. Started me questioning whether I should read any more Star Wars novels. Just awful.

The Black Fleet Crisis Trilogy - only liked the parts with Lando, Lobot, R2-D2 and C-3PO as they explored the Teljkon Vagabond, a cameo by Cindel Towani, and Chewie reuniting with his son. Everything else just frustrated me.

The New Rebellion - largely forgotten.

The Corellian Trilogy - only thing I remember was Lando finally finding love and characters from The Truce at Bakura were needlessly killed.

The Hand of Thrawn - really enjoyed Luke and Mara's team-up. Everything else was ho-hum.

Tales from Jabba's Palace and Tales from the New Republic - enjoyed many of the stories from a roleplaying point of view.
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I had heard that Vector Prime was going to change the direction of future Star Wars novels and read in the newspaper that Chewbacca would be one of its victims. I couldn't bring myself to read it, so I stopped reading with Vision of the Future. Time went on and then the prequels happened. As much as I liked some of it, I was largely disappointed and refused to buy any of the novels. I turned to the internet and read many synopses of the novels I skipped, and I'm glad I stopped when I did. None of the stories of the New Jedi Order and beyond sound appealing, nor do the stories occurring within the Clone Wars.
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cynanbloodbane
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PostPosted: Mon Dec 08, 2014 12:08 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The Courtship of Princess LeiaFun especialy when it came out and we were all hungry for details on the old Jedi Order.

The Thrawn Trilogy Still really good, but better when I first read it.

The Jedi Academy Trilogy Huge disappointment if not for the Maw Instalation.

I, Jedi Just a fun book.

Darth Plagus Great if you like the politics behind Episodes 1-3

Death Star This reads like the backstory for a SW D6 group. Fun if you like that

Coruscant Nights Trilogy + Last Jedi This reads like a SW D6 adventure. Love it!

Star Wars Dark Empire I know it was a comic book, but the story was a blast!

Any others I may have read are relegated to "MEH" status.
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Mikael Hasselstein
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PostPosted: Mon Dec 08, 2014 5:22 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The OT novelizations - I read them voraciously back in the 1980s. Either the actual novels, or large hardback books with images from the movies.

The Han Solo Adventures - I read it too long ago to have any distinct memory of it. I think I was mostly confused by it.
The Thrawn Trilogy - Early 90s. I really loved it. I think I read 'Dark Force Rising' in a single all-night session. Also, because I read it at age 16 for the first time, I fell in love with Mara Jade, but Thrawn too, of course. I still listen to the bootleg audiobook that I own. Mostly when doing laundry.

The Truce at Bakura - I read it sometime in the mid 90s. I wasn't too impressed, but I think I liked the female love-interest character for Luke. I don't remember too much else.
The Corellian Trilogy - I read these in the mid 90s, but even then I thought they were uninteresting.
The Jedi Academy Trilogy - again, mid-90s. I thought these were pretty horrible.

Coruscant Nights - I read this about two years ago. I liked the first one. The second one bored me.
Outbound Flight - Two years ago. Ho-hum.
The Hand of Thrawn - I read this about two years ago. I liked the AWOL stormtroopers, but none of the rest of it really captured me.
Death Troopers - Also about two years ago. I had it as an audiobook from the library on my phone, but it didn't download right, so I didn't have the whole thing, and then I couldn't renew it for some reason, so I didn't bother with it. It was alright, I guess, but not good enough to draw me back to finish it.
Darksaber - I tried, about 9 months ago, but I could not keep reading it. The villains were either too over-the-top or just too dumb.

X-wing Series - I'm allegedly reading them now, but I can't say that I'm doing so enthusiastically.

Scoundrels - I picked it up a few months ago. I even got it autographed by Timothy Zahn (he's fairly local), but I haven't started it yet, beyond just a little read on the train home from the signing.
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Zarm R'keeg
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PostPosted: Tue Dec 16, 2014 1:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Read- pretty much anything published up through about 2008 or so (pre-FOTJ)

Loved - the Thrawn Trilogy, the X-wing Books, the ROTS novelization, Yoda; Dark Rendezvous (yeah, I ship Whie and Scout despite KNOWING that they die), Clone Wars: Wild Space, pretty much all of the Tales Of books (especially Mos Eisely Cantina and New Republic), and the Millenium Falcon novel.

Also enjoy Truce at Bakura, Crystal Star*, Outbound Flight, the Han (original) and Lando trilogies, the Jeid Academy trilogy*, Scoundrels, Fatal Alliance, Clone Wars: Gambit (Stealth and Seige), Bounty Hunter Wars, Shadows of Mindor, Hand of Thrawn dulogy, and the Junior Jedi Knights books.




*From childhood. I hear from everyone they're terrible, so I'll bet a re-read would cure me of that.
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garhkal
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PostPosted: Tue Dec 16, 2014 6:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I completely forgot the Junior jedi knight books. I have all of them. Not bad reading imo.
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Zarm R'keeg
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 17, 2014 10:10 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

A strange obsession with using the refresher that you don't find in other books... but otherwise, a decent read. Enjoyable characters in Anakin, Tahiri (yes, I ship them, and loathe the NJO-onward for everything it did to the characters), and Ikrit- plus a nice showcase for Tionne to not be a background character, and a visit to Vader's fortress. Not bad for a kids' series. Smile
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garhkal
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 17, 2014 4:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I liked Teonne there as well. Great fleshing out of a more tertiary character since the Jedi academy saga.
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Zarm R'keeg
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 17, 2014 4:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Just in time for NJO to kill them all. Wink
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garhkal
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 31, 2014 6:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Zarm R'keeg wrote:
Just in time for NJO to kill them all. Wink


Too true. Though thinking on that, it would be nice if there was a list of all the jedi's who were killed in the NJO time frame.
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 01, 2015 2:01 pm    Post subject: Re: my New Year resolution to read more Star Wars Reply with quote

Mikael Hasselstein wrote:
Coruscant Nights - I read this about two years ago. I liked the first one. The second one bored me.

cynanbloodbane wrote:
Coruscant Nights Trilogy + Last Jedi This reads like a SW D6 adventure. Love it!

My 2015 Resolution is to read more, and specifically more Star Wars. I plan on rereading the books I like in chronological order up to RotJ while adding in some new ones to the reading list about when they take place.

Right now I'm most interested in the inter-trilogy era, so I am interested in the the Coruscant Nights trilogy & The Last Jedi. If I get bored with this series I'll stop, but if not, then I'll keep going.
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Zarm R'keeg
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 06, 2015 3:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Be forewarned- if you are at all continuty-minded, the Coruscant Knights books are legendary for their bad continuity- from killing off characters that are alive elsewhere later to being overwritten by the Clone Wars series killing off characters that are still alive, to horribly mangling the timeline and acting like the Clone Wars were 20 years in the past when the story takes place right after ROTS. Smile I've never read them, but I have heard other fans gripe about how little they make sense (apparently the third was rushed out when the author was sick and a little delirious) considering these things.

Also, if you haven't read them, you may want to check out Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter (as this series is kind of a direct sequel to it) and to a lesser degree, the clone Wars 'Medstar duology' (as this series is a somewhat looser sequel, but still closely connected, to that). Several characters appear first in Darth Maul, then Medstar, and finally in Coruscant Knights, so the former works provide helpful context/backstory/explanation of how they got to be how they are now.
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Whill
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 07, 2015 2:40 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Zarm R'keeg wrote:
Be forewarned- if you are at all continuty-minded, the Coruscant Knights books are legendary for their bad continuity- from killing off characters that are alive elsewhere later to being overwritten by the Clone Wars series killing off characters that are still alive, to horribly mangling the timeline and acting like the Clone Wars were 20 years in the past when the story takes place right after ROTS. Smile I've never read them, but I have heard other fans gripe about how little they make sense (apparently the third was rushed out when the author was sick and a little delirious) considering these things.

"If" I'm continuity-minded, ha ha. You know I am. I appreciate this. I had encountered that in a couple reviews I skimmed, but I hadn't realized how bad it was. My main interest in reading these books is due my interest in the inter-trilogy time period because my next campaign will be set there. If they sometimes act like the Clone Wars happened 20 years earlier then it seems they don't have a good grip on the time period anyway. Good to know.

Zarm R'keeg wrote:
Also, if you haven't read them, you may want to check out Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter (as this series is kind of a direct sequel to it) and to a lesser degree, the clone Wars 'Medstar duology' (as this series is a somewhat looser sequel, but still closely connected, to that). Several characters appear first in Darth Maul, then Medstar, and finally in Coruscant Knights, so the former works provide helpful context/backstory/explanation of how they got to be how they are now.

I listed Shadow Hunter as a book I have read and put into my personal canon (and I assume you are in part referring to I-5YQ and the father of Coruscant Nights' protagonist). What I didn't explain above is that I have no interest in reading any more Clone Wars novels (except for the great RotS "prologue" Labyrinth of Evil) after I read the very meh Yoda: Dark Rendezvous, and the fiasco of The Clone Wars series. So no way I'm going to read the Medstar duology, and that is even more reason to not bother with the four Jax Pavon novels.

I was iffy about these anyway, so you've helped make my 2015 Star Wars reading list a little more realistic. Thanks! I actually want to read A New Dawn (the adult Rebels prequel novel that takes place in what they used to call 11 BBY) but I am waiting for it come out on paperback before buying it. It will be a while before I get to that part of the time period anyway.
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Zarm R'keeg
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 07, 2015 10:21 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Whill wrote:
I listed Shadow Hunter as a book I have read and put into my personal canon (and I assume you are in part referring to I-5YQ and the father of Coruscant Nights' protagonist).


See, that's what I get for being lazy and not going up and re-reading the list. Wink Yes, that's primarily the reason (plus Jax Pavan is, I believe, Lorn Pavon's son). As far as I know, the Medstar books (I only read the first, and long ago) also feature I-5YQ and further his story a little, and introduce Bota, a bacta-alternative medicinal plant that has force-enhancing powers (much like Glitterstim enhances telepathy), and whose primary supply was destroyed when the planet was razed by the CIF, making it a rare commodity. If you've got that backstory, you can probably skip the Medstars. But, yeah, from everything I've heard... skipping Coruscant Nights might be a good choice, too. Smile
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Whill
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 07, 2015 9:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Whill wrote:
(and I assume you are in part referring to I-5YQ and the father of Coruscant Nights' protagonist)
Zarm R'keeg wrote:
(plus Jax Pavan is, I believe, Lorn Pavon's son)

I believe so as well. Cool
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PostPosted: Fri Nov 18, 2016 1:53 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Star Wars: Aftermath

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This year I re-read Darth Plagueis, Cloak of Deception, Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter, Labyrinth of Evil and Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader. Labyrinth of Evil is still my favorite Star Wars novel. It's a lot of fun.

I recently finished reading Kenobi and Tarkin. Kenobi had some cool ideas but it was largely boring and I was overall disappointed with it. The same author wrote A New Dawn. Not being a big fan of Rebels or Kenobi, I have to pass on A New Dawn now.

Tarkin was pretty good.
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