Even 35 years after it was first released, star wars remains big business. Personally, i found the 1st book in particular to be one of the best star wars stories ive ever read. Omni has compiled a list of some of the best star wars expanded universe books. The legendary star wars expanded universe turns a new page. The star wars expanded universe was what the comics, books, and video games were called before disney bought lucasfilm. Zahn s trilogy changed everything for fans and has withstood the test of time to top my list of star wars books. Here are the best star wars books from the old cannon. Even if theyre no longer canon, if they dont affect the overarching story of the new expanded universe, theyre just great star wars tales. Various authors penned exciting narratives in the star wars universe featuring all your favorite characters and a bunch.
This is a timeline for novels, young adult books, and ebooks in the expanded. The star wars expanded universe is dumb and should be. The 5 essential new star wars books you have to read asap. Simple star wars book list timeline of star wars novels.
Heres your guide to the star wars expanded universe, including tv, comics, books, and video games. What are the top 10 star wars characters from the expanded. This timeline is organized by chronology, and separated by era, as defined by lucas licensing. For years before disney purchased lucasfilm the star wars story was primarily told through the expanded universe, or eu, a collection of books, comics, audio dramas and games that continued and expanded on the stories from the movies. Honorable mention fate of the jedi series, truce at bakura, hand of thrawn dualogy. Heir to the empire, dark force rising, and the last command kicked off the expanded universe, written as the third trilogy decades before the force awakens arrived. Lucasfilm later rebranded the expanded universe as star wars legends and declared it noncanonical to the franchise, with the exception of the cgianimated the clone wars film and tv series. This star wars expanded universe story proves that luke is. Dark force rising by timothy zahn, heir to the empire by timothy zahn, the last command by timothy zahn, sh. Hello, and welcome to a nostalgic trip through the old star wars expanded universe. The expanded universe, filled with amazing novels set in and well.
Ask any star wars fan who the best and most prolificwriter is for the series, and almost all will tell you its timothy zahn. The franchise mostly centers around the film series, but its expanded universe also includes some amazing books or novels for any star wars junkie to enjoy the novel series started in 1978 with splinter of the minds eye. If youre new, and want to learn more about the expanded universe, you can find a few links in the sidebar that may be helpful. These books were published between 1978 and 2012 and represent a massive collection of star wars stories.
Star wars is such a monumental franchise today that it can be hard to remember that it all but died back in the 80s. Must read star wars legends books, and where to start. Vitiate was the most powerful sith of the old republic and he is possibly the most terrifying villain in all of star wars. All of these products are now considered to be out of canon and called legends. Check out my top ten star wars stories from both canon and legends materials, brought to you by syfy wire. He opened up that universe to be a creative space for other people to tell their own tales. If youre a longtime reader of star wars novels or have spent any time exploring the old expanded universe now legends, youre probably well aware that the books were hit or miss. This time, im looking at the first eu books i ever read, kevin j. Splinter of the minds eye is a real curiosity every star wars fan has to try, and is definitely deserving of its place on this list of mustread books from the old expanded universe. For the first time were introduced to grand admiral thrawn, mara jade, and others, who would become beloved entries into the expanded universe.
The best books from the old star wars expanded universe. Ask any star wars reader what book to start with, and nine times out of 10. Many star wars fans are not particularly happy about the new movies, and some feel that disney threw out the baby with the bathwater when it came to the expanded universe. New movies and other stories arent based on these books, and will sometimes contradict them. For clarification im using star wars characters that dont show up in the disney canon continuity. The force awakens, the expanded universe was no longer considered canon.
Other major proto expanded universe properties were the much maligned star wars holiday special and the novel splinter of the minds eye, a. With 40 years of movies, tv shows, comics, video games, novels and reference books, youd be hardpressed to ever run out of stories to read about the star wars universe, past and present. The top ten essential nonfilm star wars stories star wars explained. Fate of the jedi series by aaron allston, christie golden, and troy denning.
If youre new to star wars books in general, you might want to check out this piece by a fellow rioter on where to start, but this list is a good starting point into what i think are the best star wars books. Hand of thrawn duology 1997 grand admiral thrawn has been dead for a decade, and the new republic is on the verge of an official. It is not for comics or short stories in legends continuity. The star wars universe is more than just a handful of blockbuster films. The expanded universe has been a part of star wars for almost as long as the movies have, starting with alan dean fosters novel splinter of. This trilogy is the keystone of the entire expanded. From toys to games to artwork, posters and especially books, its force remains strong.
In other words, in what disney now calls legends, here are the best noncanon stories we wish were still part of the continuity. Star wars is the property of the walt disney company and is used here under fair use laws. See, before disney took over, star wars had a huge amount of extra material novels, comics, etc. Some of the greatest star wars stories ever told featuring alternate timelines and outcomes for luke, vader and leia havent appeared on film. This body of work was collectively known as the star wars expanded universe for. There is a whole galaxy of books about star wars, hundreds of them, if were counting the eu expanded universe. They are also ten of the best stories expanded universe has to offer for anyone looking good books to read or games to play. It focuses on darth malgus, another powerful sith lord often mentioned with the likes of other old republic pillars of sith society, revan and bane. Expand your view of a galaxy far, far away with the best star wars expanded universe books. As a disclaimer to stay consistent with all my other answers ive held that i view star wars like history, its all part of the same story so its silly to say parts are better or worse.
Today, we take a close look at the star wars legends expanded universe, examining which books a new reader should check out, and how to start reading star wars expanded universe content including. Star wars legends, formerly known as the expanded universe abbreviated eu, encompasses every one of the licensed, fictional background stories of the star wars universe, outside of the original six star wars films produced by george lucas and certain other material such as star wars. The 20 best star wars books of all time canon and legends. S tar wars is an epic space opera media franchise created by american director, screenwriter, and film producer, george lucas. For over 35 years, the expanded universe has enriched the star wars experience for fans seeking to continue the adventure beyond what is seen on the screen. Im still catching up on many of the star wars books, but thats a pretty bad remark about the darth bane series. Long before any star wars fans dreamed of george lucas continuing his epic space saga with a trilogy of prequels, and before other directors helmed a new trilogy that would conclude it, the star wars expanded universe was created with novels. The 10 best star wars legends books, ranked screenrant. The 10 best stories in the star wars expanded universe.
This was rendered noncanonical as soon as the empire strikes back was released, but offers a fascinating glimpse at what could have been. Here are the only star wars books that considered canon. The expanded universe was rebranded as star wars legends, but it was far from forgotten by its fans or the authors. This is a timeline for novels, young adult books, and ebooks in the expanded universe legends continuity. Kemp, a prolific author of star wars legends novels, situates many of his books in the era of the old republic and deceived is no different. The top ten essential nonfilm star wars stories youtube. Also there are so many great books, no list or ranking could. Ask any star wars reader what book to start with, and nine times out of 10, youll get the same answer. New canon the newly standardized star wars canon includes all the movie episodes, the clone wars and rebels tv shows, and new books since. Star wars may have its legends, but theres a lot to love about the new expanded universe. If were being honest, the novels really covered the spectrum in terms of quality. Now known as legends, the original expanded universe is full of amazing stories.
After the 80s toy lines and cartoons lost traction, very few new star wars creations came to life until timothy zahns book heir to the empire. We are primarily a source of discussion and news for anything involving the star wars expanded universe legends or story group canon. Best new canon star wars books reddit image collections book. The 10 best stories in the star wars expanded universe 1 the thrawn trilogy. In addition to karen travisss series, one of the best star wars novels. Here are the top 10 novels and novel series in the expanded universe. Welcome to the star wars expanded universe subreddit. This list of the top 15 noncanon star wars stories includes books that examine sith mythology, jedi training, ancient worlds and the murderous rampage of darth vader. Your guide to the entire star wars expanded universe. When he created star wars, george lucas built a universe that sparked the imagination, and inspired others to create. These books are part of the original star wars expanded universe, and follow an internally consistent timeline.
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