Getting started

[Onli-Won Kanomi]

No, there didnt have to be a giant tie-it-all-up-with-a-bow overarching super-arc.

...but they did one anyway. 

Mythologies tend to do that because human minds want to believe there "is a reason for everything" and desire "completion" that "ties up loose ends".

So you get Atlantis sinking, Ragnarok, Arthur floating away to Avalon, Crisis-On-Infinite-Earths, and Star Trek Generations [where they kill Kirk TWICE just to drive the point home]...even the Book Of Revelations fills that universal need to believe it will ALL make sense in The End.

So we create The Ends. Especially in fiction. But since IRL there is no The End [except one, for each of us, but none for us all] then someone will 'undo' The End and retie the threads that were an end into a new beginning and that is how Mythology recreates Culture continuously to satisfy that other apparently contradictory universal need to believe in Continuity in perpetuity despite our desire for "completion".

Its from the psychological tension between the awarenesses that lives always end yet our life continues moment by moment and Life itself abides.

Humans are peculiar creatures arent we?

[BOBA FETT]

Tip for starting the EU? Don't.

The emperor isnt reborn. Luke doesn't get married. Chewbacca doesnt (Spoiler Alert) get crushed by a moon.....I mean that was lame, like Nickelback lame.

Shadows of the Empire was pretty good though.

I enjoyed a few of the books and graphic novels that take place during the clone wars too.

AND of course the Bane series of books is pretty good. I personally steer clear of most events occuring after Return of the jedi, too many voices trying to tie to many things together.

[Satele Shan]

Tip for starting the EU? Don't.

The emperor isnt reborn. Luke doesn't get married. Chewbacca doesnt (Spoiler Alert) get crushed by a moon.....I mean that was lame, like Nickelback lame.

Shadows of the Empire was pretty good though.

I enjoyed a few of the books and graphic novels that take place during the clone wars too.

AND of course the Bane series of books is pretty good. I personally steer clear of most events occuring after Return of the jedi, too many voices trying to tie to many things together.

I agree. I thought the Thrawn Trilogy by Zahn was good. Jedi Academy unfortunately introduces the Sun Crusher and it sort of goes downhill. It was a time when everyone was sort of jumping on the "write Star Wars books" bandwagon, and it got pretty disjointed, and I felt like people just started pumping out material.

[Satele Shan]

Also, my issue with trying to explain everything is that not everything needs to be explained. I liked the original Star Wars movies, because they were stories. The characters were based off of largely simple character archetypes and the story was a pretty standard hero-journey sort of arc. Very tried and true, and they were deeply enjoyable and visually stunning. Star Wars was futuristic, but it looked lived-in, and the Force was mystical and otherworldly and most certainly did not need to be explained beyond, "It's an energy field produced by all living things that binds us, penetrates us and binds the galaxy together". It's okay that Star Wars operates in moral absolutes, because the Light/Dark Side serve the story. There can be some explanation of the grey areas between the two, but to start exploring the idea that neither side is evil and everything is relativistic is not necessary in a story like Star Wars. It's like exploring the idea that maybe Sauron wasn't actually all that evil - not at all necessary.

I want to be clear - this is my opinion - I'm not necessarily trying to "win" an argument, I just like debating this kind of stuff a lot.

[Onli-Won Kanomi]

Yeah when I first read the Thrawn trilogy I felt like that was the fabled Episodes VII-IX right there and it could have been 'enough' but any Franchise where someone thinks there is still $ to be made will never be 'left alone' just because "enough is enough".

Thats how Silver Age DC Comics got messed up when they took the Many Worlds alternative to the Copenhagen interpretation of Quantum Theory which gave them a plausible explanation for Silver Age 'flys-through-space' Superman, Batman, Justice League versus Golden Age 'leaps tall buildings' Superman, Batman, Justice Society and set them in 'parallel' universes on "Earth One" and "Earth Two" [which came first chronologically] which was 'enough' in the 60s...

...then in the 70s when DC bought Fawcett they added "Earth S" [S for Shazam!] and pretty soon every writer was adding new universes to the multiverse will-nilly until by the 80s the DC multiversal continuity was so unwieldy they had to wipe out all of them but one [killing The Flash and Supergirl in the process] in the Crisis On Infinite Earths and that streamlined things for another decade [except for the Legion] but then it got overcomplicated and messed up AGAIN...

It seems any Mythology 'canon' with too much material and too many writers gets into that mess eventually...the Arthurian Canon took CENTURIES to get to 1200? 1500? books [NOT counting modern ones] and how many books are there in SW Canon already in less than 40? Counting 'canon' comics, games, etc in the EU its probably similar in volume maybe even bigger?

Maybe at some point SW will need a 'Crisis' type reboot to 'unwrite' what too many writers have messed up? Maybe we are already past that point?

But as with DC the problem is even if you unwrite an overwritten canon it doesnt STAY unwritten. Somewhere some LFL-approved writer will decide he likes the Sun Crusher or whatever and put it back in...eventually it will ALL 'creep' back in perhaps altered maybe even sometimes improved form but it will all get TOO BIG again.

Not trying to 'win' either or even 'debate' really...I just like discussing this stuff with fellow fans...tis only our opinions as you say! But fun to share.

[Satele Shan]

I was considering making the comic book comparison, but that also becomes it's own separate argument.

I definitely agree. The Star Wars EU has gotten way out of hand, but I think it would be even harder to "reboot" Star Wars than it was to "reboot" DC. Though frankly, I read a lot of those first and second issues after the DCnU reboot and they weren't that great, IMO. I tried really hard to like them, but they got rid of my Cass Cain, which sort of killed Batfam for me, and while I've always wanted to like Superman/Supergirl, I just can't. I do like X-Men a lot, but I also had trouble getting into them, even though they just did their own sort of mini reboot.

I would love a Star Wars reboot that reset everything just to Episodes I-VI. In fact, I'd love a reboot that reset everything just back to Episodes IV-VI but it's highly unlikely, and to be honest, some of the EU characters like Mara Jade have creeped too far into my brain to be let go that easily. They might have to keep the major EU characters around, but re-write their stories. So main characters like Mara, Kyp, Jaina/Jacen/Anakin, etc. would have to remain on as characters and personalities, but the stories surrounding them could certainly change.

EDIT: Also - I don't really have any real-life friends to discuss Star Wars with like this, so I get it out online.

[C-3P0]

So from a lot of people's comments, I made a good choice in purchasing the Thrawn Trilogy and Bane trilogy? It seems they are loved by pretty much everyone, which is cool. They're the only EU books I own right now.

Reading through the Bane trilogy right now, and it's awesome!

[Onli-Won Kanomi]

Yes those are among the best imo.

[Letifer]

Thanks for the info everyone. I to have been craving SW and did not know where to begin.

[SpaceWindu]

So from a lot of people's comments, I made a good choice in purchasing the Thrawn Trilogy and Bane trilogy? It seems they are loved by pretty much everyone, which is cool. They're the only EU books I own right now.

Reading through the Bane trilogy right now, and it's awesome!

Yes, I suggest starting before A New Hope and then if you like it, continue onto the books by Tim Zahn which take place following the first trilogy, and if you still like it, continue onto the New Jedi Order and beyond.
There is also plenty of books that take place during the Clone Wars or even previous to it like the Darth Maul or Obi Wan books, but I haven't read those.
'Outbound Flight' is pretty good (read this after the Thrawn Trilogy)

[keeth]

You should definitely pick up the first 4 X-Wing books, and continue if you like them

[JamoUp]

Yeah? i've been wondering about the x-wing books. I've read just about everything else, so they were next on my list anyway.

[Jagged Fel]

You should definitely pick up the first 4 X-Wing books, and continue if you like them

I have all the x-wing books sitting on my book shelf and have not started them yet,i take it is a good series? I'm coming to the end of a book soon and trying to decide what to start next