Where to start?

Lord Invictus · Where to start?

Well. I've seen all the Star Wars movies, but I never got into the expanded universe. I've never read the books, or played the videogames (by that, I mean Knights of the Old Republic and that stuff), so I don't know a lot about the expanded universe other than what's been told to me.

Can you guys recommend where to start as in what books to read about this first?

Lord Embeion

Play KoTOR1,2, and Jedi Academy. Read the Thrawn trilogy to start off on the books (Because its the greatest EU trilogy eva!). Theres also a book called Jedi vs. Sith: The essential guide to the Force. That has TONS of information in it.

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/...er-Windham/e/9780345493347/?itm=1

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/...mothy-Zahn/e/9780553296129/?itm=5
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/...mothy-Zahn/e/9780553560718/?itm=1
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/...mothy-Zahn/e/9780553564921/?itm=4

Rive Caedo

For video games, I'd definitely recommend picking up this collection.

Star Wars: The Best of PC

That gives you the famous Knights of the Old Republic. One of my personal favorites, Jedi Outcast (Kyle Katarn!). And Republic Commando (which I still haven't played anything beyond the demo, but was supposedly pretty good).
And Empire at War and Battlefront to boot, which are fun but aren't very immersing in an Expanded Universe fashion.

As for books. It's almost indisputable that everyone should start off with the classic Thrawn Trilogy. Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, and The Last Command. Those are practically the unofficial Episodes VII, VIII, and IX and introduce you to a bundle of characters that come back repeatedly in later materials.

Beyond that. It really depends on your interests.

If you're interested in participating in active discussion of new books with fellow fans, there's two releases coming up.
One is a one-shot hardcover "Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor" in October that details Luke's final battle before he left the New Republic military to go full-time Jedi.
The other is the "Jedi Twilight" trilogy that takes place shortly after Order 66. The first book "Jedi Twilight Coruscant Nights I" comes out June 24th.

But, there's no guarantee that either of those will be good Very Happy

There's a lot of junk books that have come out over the years - here's my definitive listing of the stuff that WASN'T.

If you're interested in the prequel era and clones - the three (soon four) Republic Commando books are a solid bet.
Labyrinth of Evil and Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader are also rather solid tie-ins to Revenge of the Sith.

If you're interested in the period leading up to the original trilogy, the Han Solo trilogy (The Paradise Snare, The Hutt Gambit, and Rebel Dawn) was put back into print years ago during the Special Edition period and you can still pick up that edition on Amazon.com

Now, hopping into the "beyond the movies" era. The Hand of Thrawn duology is supposedly a solid sequel to the original Thrawn trilogy, but I - shamefully - still haven't gotten around to reading them.

The only other thing in this era that's really worthwhile before the New Jedi Order series is the X-Wing series. I DO highly recommend the X-Wing series BUT it doesn't focus around characters from the films really. You get good ol' Wedge and his adventures. It's nine books and unlike NJO and Legacy they all were well received. I think all nine are still available on Amazon.com

I've also heard good things about "Tatooine Ghost" and how it ties the Prequel Trilogy to the Original Trilogy, but I haven't read it myself.

Now on to the meat of things...
I do NOT recommend trying to read through the entire "New Jedi Order" series it is LONG and doesn't really go much of anywhere.
However, you could pick-and-choose the best books in the series and ignore the flops. I don't think it takes much imagination to fill in the gaps of the weaker books and you could probably read a summary of any of the books you skip on Wookieepedia or something.
I'd recommend...

Vector Prime
Dark Tide I
Dark Tide II
Edge of Victory I
Edge of Victory II
Star By Star (not great, but contains essential plot points that I wouldn't recommend just reading a summary of)
Enemy Lines I
Enemy Lines II
Traitor
The Final Prophecy
The Unifying Force

That still seems long - 11 books - but I skipped 8 of them.
I'd recommend prioritizing other books above New Jedi Order though, unless you really really want to find out what happens "beyond the films".

Finally, Legacy of the Force just finished up and continues on from the New Jedi Order series.
I haven't finished it yet myself, but it's really a shame that supposedly the final three or four books of the nine book series are ALL rather weak. The first book, Betrayal, made the series seem so promising. Again, only recommended if you find yourself really loving the "beyond the movies" era.

Lord Invictus

Thanks, I'll try to read those sometime. I'm hoping (once I finished the Battle of the Labyrinth and my Summer reading assignment, I'll get to the books you recommended) I can finish a lot of those this summer, or later this year. I was especially excited about Labyrinth of Evil, as it's a Clone Wars.

Xander Vos

Wow, didn't realise Jedi Twilight was out so soon.

Really Rive? I found Star By Star the best of the series.

Interestingly, I'm actually reading through the entire NJO series, I started in December last year I think, can't actually remember, and I'm up to Rebel Dream. If I tried hard I could probably finish the series in a month or so, but I haven't been flat out reading them - school books such as Hard Times and Heart of Darkness have taken priority, and I'm now reading Traviss' own series which I have downright loved from the start.

It's basically what Star Wars would be if every book was written by her. The c'naatat are basically the Mandos, but since they are vital to the plot, it doesn't at all seem forced.

Another book I recommend Mortalis, is I,Jedi, which covers the events of the Jedi Search trilogy which wasn't very good, but I,Jedi is a great book, only one as of yet written first person, and greatly received. It also ties into the X-Wing series which I strongly recommend, they were great books.

Io Lee

Or if you find something in the book or game you want to know more about you can always go to starwars.wikipedia.com

Cimil

And, Darth Bane: Path of destruction is a pretty look into the Sith before the Rule of Two. I think it takes place 1000 years before the phantom menace.

Lord Embeion

Dakoth

Read anything that mentions Boba Fett. Boba Fett is amazing and thus anything written about him, by the transitory property is also amazing. Hell, I would even read a "Boba Fett and Master Chief go to Hogwarts" book.

Ga'nen

Lord Vexen

Rive Caedo

Xander Vos

And Sacrifice, and Revelations. Wink