Where would be the best place to start if I wanted to read EU stuff?

Heir to the Empire. anyone who says anything different is wrong.

Concur. Where to go from there/what to skip is debateable.

The starting point isn't.

I am not going to argue about anything SW related when their username is "Red Five", unless of course they aren't standing by.

Agreed.......Heir to the Empire is the place to start

Thrawn series is the best... Agree with everyone saying heir to the empire... It's so easy to read too

My second stop would be the first 7 X-wing books. You didn't ask but I am just a giver.

Red Five.

EOT.

I read X-Wing: Rogue Squadron, but not the rest. Are they as good?

Wraith Sq. is pretty good...but not as good as Rogue.

I went from the thrawn trilogy to the jedi academy trilogy. Its crap but its vital from a lore standpoint.

Do you mean you read the book X-wing: Rogue Squadron or do you mean you read the first 4 X-wing books which are about Rogue Squadron? If you have only read the first book definitely read the rest. The first 4 by Michael Stackpole are some of the best work in the EU. The next 3 are about Wraith Squadron and they are a totally different animal. Worth reading, but whether you like them as much as the Stackpole books is just personal preference.

I really like the Han Solo trilogy. Definitely give them a read (after Thrawn series0

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Yeah, I wish you could skip the Academy trilogy, but I don't think you can. Definitely read it before you read I, Jedi. I think that one would have been strange had I not already read the Academy books.

Read the Heir to the Empire trilogy. Then Stackpole's X wing books. Then the Hand of Thrawn stuff. You can pick up any continuity gaps due to skipping the crappy books easily. The best characters created by EU authors are in those books.

I need to start reading the New Jedi Order stuff soon.

Zahn's stuff will spoil you for the rest of it. Zahn could write a 24-hour description of the average stormtrooper's life and it would be better than most of the stuff out there.

Shadows of the Empire is a nice read as well, good ESB/ROTJ filler, and if you are a fan of short stories - grab Tales of the Bounty Hunters.

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Read the Heir to the Empire trilogy. Then Stackpole's X wing books. Then the Hand of Thrawn stuff. You can pick up any continuity gaps due to skipping the crappy books easily. The best characters created by EU authors are in those books.

I need to start reading the New Jedi Order stuff soon.

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I would throw in the rest of the X-wing books, I, Jedi, and the Academy trilogy (as bad as it was) as well. You are right about the rest. I own them and have read them multiple times because, hey, its Star Wars, but none of them really stand out to me in anyway. The Courtship of Princess Leia could probably be added in there for the Han/Leia relationship stuff and tying up some loose ends from the Wraith Squadron books.

I try to avoid EU because most of it stinks but I echo the posts saying that the Thrawn Trilogy is pretty much required reading. I also enjoyed Shadows of the Empire but I think I'm like the only one.

I've also read some of the New Jedi Order series and didn't really care for it. I'd say avoid that whole series unless you like Star Trek style villains and weaponry.

I couldn't disagree more about the NJO. Its the best EU series out there. Absolutely epic. Star by Star imo is the best SW book out there.

I am with NoAC. NJO is awesome. The earlier EU stuff really pales in comparison to it, aside from the stuff we mentioned in this thread.

Even though stuff like Crystal Star and Planet of Twilight were meh I still think they contain a lot of interesting stuff for anyone who is a Star Wars fan. Just know going in that these are not A- or B- list parts of the EU and enjoy the Star Warsiness of them. Well, except for Darksaber. Yikes.

I used to read the Jedi Apprentice books when I was a little kid. I enjoyed reading them...

Red Five,

I forgot I Jedi. I really liked it, not just because it is centered on Corran Horn, but because it rewrites a lot of the hidieous Jedi Academy trilogy.

I recently decided to reread my EU stuff I have before kicking off the NJO. I breezed through the Thrawn trilogy and the Rogue Squadron series, then started the Jedi Academy trilogy. I made it about a third of the way through Dark Apprentice and just stopped reading, They were tolerable when I was 13. Now, not so much.

I started reading Wraith Squadron once but never really got into it. I might try it again. Other than the Hand of Thrawn duology, what else must I reread before getting into the NJO?

I read them in chronological order starting with the Truce of Bakura. More or less $20 at a consignment book shop and you can have months of EU reading. If you read the X-Wing series stop before Wraith Squadron (imho).

I skipped a few of the novels and read none of the comics so I didn't know a lot of the background for NJO - it draws from Sooooooo many sources.

Wasn't really a problem though. If there was a reference that wasn't obvious from context I could look it up.

Nothing they've done since has come close but then again, how do you top a galactic invasion?

Thrawn trilogy
The NJO (Star by Star, Traitor, and The Unifying Force are especially good, but read all 19 order for best effect)
I, Jedi is one of my favorites... pretty effective job of writing in the first person.
Anything by James Luceno
Shatterpoint is a good one that takes place during the Clone Wars.
The old Han Solo trilogy by Brian Daley is pretty good, but it was the first SW book I read so I may be biased.
I like The Bounty Hunter Wars trilogy as well. Can't go wrong with Fett.
The X-Wing series is pretty good as well.

[This message has been edited by Ulrich (edited 3/23/2011 8:09p).]

The New Republic is also a great read.

Courtship of Princess Leia has a boring story but is told decently well.

Hana Solo trilogy is where I would start though. Good to know his background before you learn his future.

Some of the comics are terrific and are worth a look.

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The old Han Solo trilogy by Brian Daley is pretty good, but it was the first SW book I read so I may be biased.

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I loved the old Han Solo trilogy as well. Some great characters in that one.

As far as NJO-prep, I think the Zahn books, X-wing books, Academy trilogy (for Kyp), and the Corellian Trilogy (for Corellia, Thrackan Sal-Solo, and the Solo kids) would be the major background you would want to know. NJO dips from pretty much everywhere- the Ssi-Ruuk, Yevetha, plenty of others- but you can get by with the recaps they give you of those books when they are reintroduced in the NJO story IMO. Really though, like NoAC said, I don't think you would be too confused if you just picked it up and started reading.

The 2 Solo trilogies are great reading, but if you wanted strictly to dive as soon as possible into NJO, I wouldn't consider them essential reading.

[This message has been edited by Red Five (edited 3/23/2011 9:10p).]

Ok, so what I am getting is that I need to get Heir to the Empire(is this part of the Thawn Series? because if not then add it to the list), the X-Wing series, the Jedi Academy trilogy, the Han Solo trilogy, and the New Jedi Order series. Any order that these should go in?

There are two Han Solo trilogies. The one by Brian Daley is just stories, the other one has a lot more of Han's backstory and examines how he became the person he is. They are both good.

I would hold off on the NJO series for a couple reasons... first, it's a fairly big undertaking, and second, it takes place 25 years after the last movie so it would be good to catch up on some of the stuff that goes on in between. Like other people said, catch the Thrawn trilogy (which does include Heir to the Empire) and either I, Jedi or the Academy trilogy before you take off on NJO.

Heir to the empire is book 1 in the thrawn trilogy

I think it would be best to not try to think of any of it as required reading. Read what interests you. There are 3 kind of broad "eras" in the EU- New Republic, NJO, and post-NJO which happens many, many years after the movies.

New Jedi Order is a self contained 19-book story arc. The Legacy of the Force and Fate of the Jedi series deal with the universe post-NJO, I wouldn't try to read those out of order.

In the New Republic "era" however, its a lot more disjointed. There are lots of stand-alone novels and trilogies centered around certain events. You don't really need to read about any particular thing unless you just want to, although I would consider the major events to be:

Thrawn Trilogy - establishment of the Republic/Empire relationship in the post-Emperor universe
X-Wing - a more "actiony" feeling series centered on fighter pilots, great characters and deals with the early struggles of the Rebel Alliance attempting to become the New Republic
Jedi Academy Trilogy - not the best writing, but establishes the role of the Jedi in the New Republic
Hand of Thrawn - 2 book series "wrapping up" the New Republic era

Aside from that I would read whatever is about the characters you like. If you like Han Solo, there are 2 trilogies to read. There is a collection of 3 Lando Calrissian stories. Most of the New Republic era books are going to be predominantly about Luke, but that's not such a bad thing.

There are way more than three eras - there are books that are concurrent with the first trilogy, the prequels, in between, and thousands of years before either.

We've only focused on the books that take place after Jedi. (Imo the rest of them kinda suck but I've only read a few.)

Yeah, my bad. I was only considering post-ROTJ stuff because I've never been much impressed with the pre-ANH material, aside from the Solo and Calrissian stuff.

Some fun reading (although not nearly as awesome as the Thrawn trilogy) is the Tales from Mos Eisley Cantina and Tales from Jabba's Palace.

Basically a collection of short stories about all of the characters that are on screen for 2 seconds in those two locations. The stories are written by a variety of sci fi authors, in different ways from the individual perspectives, but they are woven together (along with the action from the movies) to tell "the rest of the story".

What was up with the weird guy smoking in the Cantina's cheeks? Why was the droid in Jabba's palace burning the feet of another droid? The weird frog dog? The creepy devil? Fingrin Dan and the Modal Nodes?

Great stuff