Legends are my canon. There are two amazing time periods with Legends Novels. First, the Clone Wars era novels. Some are better than others, but an amazing trilogy of books in that time period that everyone must read is Labyrinth of Evil, Revenge of the Sith, and Dark Lord, The Rise of Darth Vader. Also, the years right after Return of the Jedi include the X-Wing Rogue Squadron books then go right into the Thrawn trilogy. After that I Jedi and the 2nd set of Thrawn books Hand of Thrawn.
Right with you on the legends being main canon. They had so much to draw from for the sequel trilogy and they went with this unexplained mess of the First Order, Snoke (what a name), luke somehow missing and not telling leia where he is because... drama at the temple and it was just all so non-sensical. It's quite tragic, how much they missed the mark on the sequel trilogy, not necessarily on the actual quality of the moives, because they were always a bit hit or miss but just generally the world building and overall story. Like the prequel movies were mostly... bad... but at least the overarching plot ... meant something. What do they even DO from here on out? It's not like they absolutely HAD to copy the books 1 to 1 which would have been.... difficult considering the age of the original actors and casting younger actors to replace them might have been too controversial. Though I honestly think that in hindsight, just moving on with new actors picking up the same role would have been fine. It's not like people were losing their minds over Ewan McGregor succeeding Alec Guiness as Obi-Wan. But even if they didn't want to just recast the original crew for the sequal trilogy... they whiffed so hard at what they created. It's honestly heartbreaking how truly shlocky the sequel trilogy was. And as you said Rogue Squadron was just so good. A bit besides the point but I also remember being absolutely and utterly drawn into "Shadows of the Empire" (the novel between empire strikes back and return of the jedi) to the point I would almost miss my train stops coming back from school. The books were magical to me back then.
I'd say that if someone want to start reading SWEU, the X-Wing Squadron books are a great introduction to it's universe with ton of action and lot of known characters that shows up here and there in books. I've read them 30 years ago and I remember being sucked in the universe by them :)
I need to catch up on those, that series is one of my biggest blind spots in the EU. I read the first book a couple years and while I enjoyed it, it didn’t quite draw me in the way I’d hoped. I need to get my hands on the other books sometime
Darth Plagueis is my favorite Star Wars book. I would say even if you only like Revenge of the Sith out of the prequel movies you will likely really enjoy Darth Plagueis because as was stated it is Palpatine’s back story. The end of the book overlaps the the events of the Phantom Menace and actually captures some of those events in a brief, fresh way that you may appreciate if you don’t like watching Episode One. I won’t spoil anything here, but the ending is very mind blowing and satisfying.
Go chronologically, starting with Dawn of the Jedi. I've been gradually working my way through Legends over the last year or so, while also building up my own historical head-canon. I'm currently playing the Old Republic game and reading Fatal Alliance. The Old Republic period is easily my favourite era in all of Star Wars, as it has so much lore and history to immerse yourself in!
Great job! Wonderful video. I might recommend chapters for the next one of people want to skim to the next book you're talking about but really enjoyed it.
I was in such a star wars slump for the past few years, just been slowly becoming more disappointed with things until just these past couple weeks, been watching the movies again and just read the Thrawn Trilogy for the umpteenth time and I'm loving Star Wars again
Sick, I've been looking for exactly this for a while. Great video, I enjoyed the style of standing and talking with less editing - subbed, have a good one 🙂
I need to check out Dark Lord - Luceno's one of my favorite EU writers. Will be a while before I get to him though, I kind of started at the top of the timeline and I'm working my way down through the EU stuff that I haven't read as yet. Awesome recs!
I need to read more Luceno. The few books of his I haven’t read I’ve heard amazing things about, like Catalyst and Cloak of Deception. I’ll be reading the last New Jedi Order book next, and that’s also one of his!
Good video! I've read all of these books. Definitely read The Thrawn Trilogy, Darth Plagueis, Darth Bane Trilogy. Vader is a good book. Another great entry would be the Rogue Squadron series. Good recommendations.
if you are german just listen to the audiobooks 🤤 original voice actors and music also one book not listed here that has an audiobook is labyrinth of evil
Maul:Lockdown gotta be my favorite EU novel. It’s such an isolated event that it can still be canon and it also helps explain how maul has such an extensive knowledge of the criminal underworld in clone wars. Pretty violent too, Disney’s def not making that version of maul into live action 😂
I would add to look for stories about your favorite characters. You like Mace Windu? Try Shatterpoint. Boba Fett? Try The Bounty Hunter Wars trilogy. Qui-Gonn? Honestly, the Jedi Apprentice series, though for younger readers, is actually pretty good overall. The best thing you can do is find a good group of Expanded Universe fans and get their opinions. We're generally a pretty nice group!
That’s a great piece of advice! Somehow it completely slipped my mind since that’s pretty much what I did-I loved the video game The Force Unleashed and the character of Starkiller, so the novelization was the first EU book I read
@caleblikesbooks thanks. The Jedi Apprentice novels were my jumping on point after seeing Ep 1. I'll freely admit not every story is a winner. But there's more good than bad, imo. Id also add that if you want more amazing EU content, Dark Horse's comics are it. Legacy, Clone Wars, Rebellion, Empire, The Knights of the Old Republic, and The Dark Times are all really, really good. The older material is good, but these are when they really hit their stride.
I’d looove to dive into the comics eventually. The main barriers right now are the prices for the big collections, and just being more of a prose novels reader than a comics reader. The medium doesn’t work as well for some reason, but I would love to give more of it a try. I’ve read a couple of the comics and enjoyed them a bit
Thank you for taking the time and effort to make this. I have been looking for a guilty pleasure reading list, and you have just provided it. Liked 'n' Sub'd 💫
I’ve seen very little of Trek and read none of the books at this moment, so probably not for the foreseeable future. I would like to get into it sometime though, so it’s possible that I will one day. If you’ve not subbed to him already, I’d recommend checking out Jonathan Koan’s channel-he does lots of Star Trek book content
the x-wing series (10 novels) the jedi academy (trilogy) echoes of the past and vision of the future (the hand of thrawn duology) the truce at bakara (stand alone) the courtship of princess leia (stand alone) I jedi (stand alone jedi academy tie in)
I’ve only read 40-50% so far, so there is certainly some I’m missing. I think these are all good choices for people who want to dive into the books, though What would you recommend instead?
There's no fkn way you are recommending kenobi. A dumpster fire of a book that features kenobi on approximately 15% of the books pages and the author is so terrible at writing they start sentences with "and" like their life depends on it and have arbitrary paragraph breaks with the next paragraph continuing the preceeding one because they dont know what a paragraph actually is.
I personally enjoyed it a lot, and it seems to be one of the most universally enjoyed Star Wars books out there. I think it’s a good recommendation as a starter
I was basing this list mostly on ones I’d recommend for those who’ve only seen the films, maybe the shows. The prequels are a pretty significant portion of that, though I will concede that the Imperial era and New Republic era are ones I haven’t dove into as much in the EU. Most of the books I’ve read in those eras are not ones I’d recommend for starters, however Right now I’ve read 40-50% of the EU, so once I’ve read more I’ll probably update this list with a wider variety
I have read the Bane books, and yes Revan is technically the origin of the Rule of Two. But Bane is the one who put it into true practice in the context of the prequel trilogy
Legends are my canon. There are two amazing time periods with Legends Novels. First, the Clone Wars era novels. Some are better than others, but an amazing trilogy of books in that time period that everyone must read is Labyrinth of Evil, Revenge of the Sith, and Dark Lord, The Rise of Darth Vader. Also, the years right after Return of the Jedi include the X-Wing Rogue Squadron books then go right into the Thrawn trilogy. After that I Jedi and the 2nd set of Thrawn books Hand of Thrawn.
Right with you on the legends being main canon. They had so much to draw from for the sequel trilogy and they went with this unexplained mess of the First Order, Snoke (what a name), luke somehow missing and not telling leia where he is because... drama at the temple and it was just all so non-sensical. It's quite tragic, how much they missed the mark on the sequel trilogy, not necessarily on the actual quality of the moives, because they were always a bit hit or miss but just generally the world building and overall story. Like the prequel movies were mostly... bad... but at least the overarching plot ... meant something. What do they even DO from here on out?
It's not like they absolutely HAD to copy the books 1 to 1 which would have been.... difficult considering the age of the original actors and casting younger actors to replace them might have been too controversial. Though I honestly think that in hindsight, just moving on with new actors picking up the same role would have been fine. It's not like people were losing their minds over Ewan McGregor succeeding Alec Guiness as Obi-Wan. But even if they didn't want to just recast the original crew for the sequal trilogy... they whiffed so hard at what they created.
It's honestly heartbreaking how truly shlocky the sequel trilogy was.
And as you said Rogue Squadron was just so good. A bit besides the point but I also remember being absolutely and utterly drawn into "Shadows of the Empire" (the novel between empire strikes back and return of the jedi) to the point I would almost miss my train stops coming back from school. The books were magical to me back then.
The Expanded Universe, also called Legends, also known as REAL STAR WARS.
I'd say that if someone want to start reading SWEU, the X-Wing Squadron books are a great introduction to it's universe with ton of action and lot of known characters that shows up here and there in books. I've read them 30 years ago and I remember being sucked in the universe by them :)
I need to catch up on those, that series is one of my biggest blind spots in the EU. I read the first book a couple years and while I enjoyed it, it didn’t quite draw me in the way I’d hoped. I need to get my hands on the other books sometime
Darth Plagueis is my favorite Star Wars book. I would say even if you only like Revenge of the Sith out of the prequel movies you will likely really enjoy Darth Plagueis because as was stated it is Palpatine’s back story. The end of the book overlaps the the events of the Phantom Menace and actually captures some of those events in a brief, fresh way that you may appreciate if you don’t like watching Episode One. I won’t spoil anything here, but the ending is very mind blowing and satisfying.
Go chronologically, starting with Dawn of the Jedi.
I've been gradually working my way through Legends over the last year or so, while also building up my own historical head-canon. I'm currently playing the Old Republic game and reading Fatal Alliance.
The Old Republic period is easily my favourite era in all of Star Wars, as it has so much lore and history to immerse yourself in!
I love that era too. The Knights of the Old Republic games are my favorite Star Wars things ever
Love your vids! Great book advice. Keep your channel going!
I’ve read the Thrawn and Darth Bane trilogies. Both reignited my love for Star Wars.
good video bro
I really like the Steve Zahn books.
Awesome picks! Great video
Great job! Wonderful video. I might recommend chapters for the next one of people want to skim to the next book you're talking about but really enjoyed it.
I will have to keep that in mind for the future, thank you for the suggestion!
Nice video, I loved the Bane Trilogy and Plagueis book. I enjoyed the Heir to the Empire trilogy but didn’t get the hype that others felt for it.
I feel the same way about the Thrawn books. They’re good and they make for a great starting point, but I find them a bit overrated
completely agree, if in doubt just go with Heir to the Empire. 30 years on and it's still somehow the best star wars content ever printed.
I was in such a star wars slump for the past few years, just been slowly becoming more disappointed with things until just these past couple weeks, been watching the movies again and just read the Thrawn Trilogy for the umpteenth time and I'm loving Star Wars again
Sick, I've been looking for exactly this for a while. Great video, I enjoyed the style of standing and talking with less editing - subbed, have a good one 🙂
I need to check out Dark Lord - Luceno's one of my favorite EU writers. Will be a while before I get to him though, I kind of started at the top of the timeline and I'm working my way down through the EU stuff that I haven't read as yet. Awesome recs!
I need to read more Luceno. The few books of his I haven’t read I’ve heard amazing things about, like Catalyst and Cloak of Deception. I’ll be reading the last New Jedi Order book next, and that’s also one of his!
@@caleblikesbooks you heard right, both of those were great! Cloak of Deception's the one that really made me start paying attention to what he wrote.
love the distant shirt 🤘
Good video! I've read all of these books. Definitely read The Thrawn Trilogy, Darth Plagueis, Darth Bane Trilogy. Vader is a good book. Another great entry would be the Rogue Squadron series. Good recommendations.
Darth Plagueis is easily the best Star Wars novel in my opinion, The Last Command is pretty decent as well.
Exactly the video I was looking for
if you are german just listen to the audiobooks 🤤 original voice actors and music
also one book not listed here that has an audiobook is labyrinth of evil
Awesome. You need to do more Legends videos!
I’ve been reviewing all the books as I read them, and have many other types of videos as ideas. So there will be plenty to come!
Great video! Would love more Star Wars
Plagueis is my favorite Star Wars novel. I also enjoyed the Darth Bane trilogy. Two EU books I also liked were Shatterpoint and Dark Rendezvous.
Maul:Lockdown gotta be my favorite EU novel. It’s such an isolated event that it can still be canon and it also helps explain how maul has such an extensive knowledge of the criminal underworld in clone wars. Pretty violent too, Disney’s def not making that version of maul into live action 😂
That’s a good one, I really enjoyed it
Start with Heir to the Empire like we all did, once upon a time…
I would add to look for stories about your favorite characters. You like Mace Windu? Try Shatterpoint. Boba Fett? Try The Bounty Hunter Wars trilogy. Qui-Gonn? Honestly, the Jedi Apprentice series, though for younger readers, is actually pretty good overall.
The best thing you can do is find a good group of Expanded Universe fans and get their opinions. We're generally a pretty nice group!
That’s a great piece of advice! Somehow it completely slipped my mind since that’s pretty much what I did-I loved the video game The Force Unleashed and the character of Starkiller, so the novelization was the first EU book I read
@caleblikesbooks thanks. The Jedi Apprentice novels were my jumping on point after seeing Ep 1. I'll freely admit not every story is a winner. But there's more good than bad, imo.
Id also add that if you want more amazing EU content, Dark Horse's comics are it. Legacy, Clone Wars, Rebellion, Empire, The Knights of the Old Republic, and The Dark Times are all really, really good. The older material is good, but these are when they really hit their stride.
I’d looove to dive into the comics eventually. The main barriers right now are the prices for the big collections, and just being more of a prose novels reader than a comics reader. The medium doesn’t work as well for some reason, but I would love to give more of it a try. I’ve read a couple of the comics and enjoyed them a bit
Thank you for taking the time and effort to make this. I have been looking for a guilty pleasure reading list, and you have just provided it. Liked 'n' Sub'd 💫
Start with the oldest, work your way forward.
Simple.
Just absolutely slam on the brakes before you get to 2012.
🔥🔥🔥
Awesome video & subbed. Any chanceof something similar for the star trek series that continue the shows?
I’ve seen very little of Trek and read none of the books at this moment, so probably not for the foreseeable future. I would like to get into it sometime though, so it’s possible that I will one day. If you’ve not subbed to him already, I’d recommend checking out Jonathan Koan’s channel-he does lots of Star Trek book content
I loved the Yuuzhan Vong series. It's long af, but i really enjoyed that there was always another book to read and kind of enjoyed that aspect of it.
I’m currently working on the last book of that series. It’s been an excellent journey for sure
the x-wing series (10 novels)
the jedi academy (trilogy)
echoes of the past and vision of the future (the hand of thrawn duology)
the truce at bakara (stand alone)
the courtship of princess leia (stand alone)
I jedi (stand alone jedi academy tie in)
Missing a lot of EU you haven’t touched the sides. I would argue your choices were awful.
I’ve only read 40-50% so far, so there is certainly some I’m missing. I think these are all good choices for people who want to dive into the books, though
What would you recommend instead?
There's no fkn way you are recommending kenobi. A dumpster fire of a book that features kenobi on approximately 15% of the books pages and the author is so terrible at writing they start sentences with "and" like their life depends on it and have arbitrary paragraph breaks with the next paragraph continuing the preceeding one because they dont know what a paragraph actually is.
I personally enjoyed it a lot, and it seems to be one of the most universally enjoyed Star Wars books out there. I think it’s a good recommendation as a starter
@@caleblikesbooks lmfao
@@caleblikesbooksThanks for the recommendation. Now, I have to read Kenobi.
Kenobi is my favorite Star Wars novel and is my 2nd favorite novel of all time.
You are too invested in the prequels. The good parts of the EU precede or stay as far away from the prequels as possible.
The rule of 2 sucks
I was basing this list mostly on ones I’d recommend for those who’ve only seen the films, maybe the shows. The prequels are a pretty significant portion of that, though I will concede that the Imperial era and New Republic era are ones I haven’t dove into as much in the EU. Most of the books I’ve read in those eras are not ones I’d recommend for starters, however
Right now I’ve read 40-50% of the EU, so once I’ve read more I’ll probably update this list with a wider variety
No. Darth Revan was the origin of the rule of 2. Read the bane books
I have read the Bane books, and yes Revan is technically the origin of the Rule of Two. But Bane is the one who put it into true practice in the context of the prequel trilogy