# Which Star Wars novels to buy? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 5, 2011, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-star-wars-novels-to-buy/584448 "2011-06-05T22:18:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-star-wars-novels-to-buy/584448/21 "2011-06-07T01:49:06Z")
> [@ExTank](#): > > This is what I came in to recommend. Not great literature by any means, but still pretty enjoyable, and IMO heads-and-shoulders above KJA. I still trot them out on occasion and give them another go-around. > > For an early effort into the SW EU, I think they rank up there pretty good with the better EU material. I agree, they’re not bad. The Lando Calrissian books are on about the same level. A little less Mercenary Guy Han Solo and a little more Gambler/Trader Trying to Make a Profit. I had a good laugh when Lando is blazing away with the Falcon’s guns and he realizes that “OMG! Every shot is costing me money!” -Joe ---
**Author:** ![antonio107](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ea924/32.png) [@antonio107](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antonio107)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-star-wars-novels-to-buy/584448/22 "2011-06-07T01:52:28Z")
OP said he likes Han Solo. I’ve read a few SW novels (was Kevin J. Anderson THAT bad?), but IIRC, I really enjoyed Ann Crispin’s Han Solo Trilogy back in high school, and had at least one friend that agreed with me on those. Might be worth a peak. Also an interesting backstory into the Hutts! ---
**Author:** ![vdgg81](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/3d9bf3/32.png) [@vdgg81](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vdgg81)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-star-wars-novels-to-buy/584448/23 "2011-06-07T08:13:42Z")
My favorites were the books by Timothy Zahn, like everybody else on this thread. The first trilogy was best but _The Hand of Thrawn_ sequence was also fun. _Outbound Flight_ and _Survivor’s Quest_ form a sort of pair and don’t feature Han nor Leia (_Outbound Flight_ is set in the Old Republic days) but were also good light reads. Of the remaining books I’ve read I can recommend most strongly _Labyrinth of Evil_ by James Luceno. It takes place just before and during _Revenge of the Sith_. Honestly, the SW books I’ve read ranged from decent fluff to worse, in some cases, very much worse. They can be good to satisfy a craving for more Star Wars, but don’t expect too much from them. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-star-wars-novels-to-buy/584448/24 "2011-06-07T12:00:06Z")
You might enjoy the Clone Wars cartoons. If nothing else, it’s fun to spot the references and shout-outs to other films. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-star-wars-novels-to-buy/584448/25 "2011-06-07T12:31:57Z")
> [@antonio107](#): > > OP said he likes Han Solo. I’ve read a few SW novels (was Kevin J. Anderson THAT bad?), but IIRC, I really enjoyed Ann Crispin’s Han Solo Trilogy back in high school, and had at least one friend that agreed with me on those. Might be worth a peak. Also an interesting backstory into the Hutts! Yes, they really were that bad. You have a terrible author whose only idea is apparently to try to one-up the original series. Death Star blows up planets? My bad guys have a weapon that blows up stars! Oh, and it’s INDESTRUCTIBLE! Literally. Bounty Hunter? Mine has a bigger gun! Crime lord? Got one, but mine runs an entire asteroid! Death Star? I’ve got TWO! Sith Lord? But mine is a GHOST Sith Lord! I assume there was a Han Solo character but just with a faster ship in there somewhere. I’ve just blocked him out. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-star-wars-novels-to-buy/584448/26 "2011-06-07T13:49:48Z")
Any books starring Porkins? he was one of my favorites. ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-star-wars-novels-to-buy/584448/27 "2011-06-07T13:56:44Z")
> [@Merijeek](#): > > I assume there was a Han Solo character but just with a faster ship in there somewhere. I’ve just blocked him out. > > -Joe That would be Dash Rendar, but I do not remember if he was a KJA character invention or not. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-star-wars-novels-to-buy/584448/28 "2011-06-07T14:12:58Z")
> [@Death\_of\_Rats](#): > > That would be Dash Rendar, but I do not remember if he was a KJA character invention or not. No, that was Shadows of the Empire, which was…Steve Perry? -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-star-wars-novels-to-buy/584448/29 "2011-06-07T16:38:52Z")
> [@johnspartan](#): > > Splinter of the Mind’s Eye is moderately interesting because of where it falls in the continuum. It takes place _after_ a New Hope but was released in 1978 _before_ Empire Strikes Back came out. It’s a pretty quick read, and is more story than just stuff blowing up… By Alan Dean Foster. Seconded. Be warned, he wrote it before Lucas figured out that Luke and Leia were brother and sister, so there’s a definite incesty undercurrent. That said, it has a cool jungle planet, a pair of hard-drinking big strong aliens who help Luke out, a hidden ancient treasure, and Vader. Definitely worth a read! ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-star-wars-novels-to-buy/584448/30 "2011-06-07T16:50:11Z")
Some time ago I filched a Star Wars novel from a roommate’s bookcase and really enjoyed it. It was about Leia and Han and their twin children; it was probably The Last Command. Wiki’ing them I can see The Courtship of Leia looks good, and the series of stories about the twins, and Solo/Leia family stories (including Jacen’s trip into…non-spoilersville) sound really entertaining. Thanks for bringing this up; time to hit Amazon 🙂 [Wiki link on the Solo family in case anyone else was interested, too.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaina_Solo#Jaina_Solo) ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-star-wars-novels-to-buy/584448/31 "2011-06-07T16:52:53Z")
Thanks for the responses, all. I’m going to hit up the local secondhand bookshops first, and then I’m tempted to wait till I have a kindle for the ones I can’t get there. I’m not expecting them to be great fiction, but ‘enjoyable and tells me more about the characters’ will do. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-star-wars-novels-to-buy/584448/32 "2011-06-07T17:00:21Z")
A quick check: are these for you or for your daughter or for both of you? ---
**Author:** ![antonio107](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ea924/32.png) [@antonio107](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antonio107)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-star-wars-novels-to-buy/584448/33 "2011-06-08T01:30:58Z")
> [@Merijeek](#): > > Yes, they really were that bad. You have a terrible author whose only idea is apparently to try to one-up the original series. > > Death Star blows up planets? My bad guys have a weapon that blows up stars! Oh, and it’s INDESTRUCTIBLE! Literally. > Bounty Hunter? Mine has a bigger gun! > Crime lord? Got one, but mine runs an entire asteroid! > Death Star? I’ve got TWO! > Sith Lord? But mine is a GHOST Sith Lord! > > I assume there was a Han Solo character but just with a faster ship in there somewhere. I’ve just blocked him out. > > -Joe Yeah, I read his SW fiction when I was in grade school. That sounds like EXACTLY the sort of thing that would have appealed to me in the 6th grade. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-star-wars-novels-to-buy/584448/34 "2011-06-08T01:43:33Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > Thanks for the responses, all. I’m going to hit up the local secondhand bookshops first, and then I’m tempted to wait till I have a kindle for the ones I can’t get there. > > I’m not expecting them to be great fiction, but ‘enjoyable and tells me more about the characters’ will do. If you’re interested and the postage isn’t too obnoxious I’d be happy to loan you my copies of the Thrawn Trilogy. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-star-wars-novels-to-buy/584448/35 "2011-06-08T01:48:13Z")
Thanks to this thread, I just discovered that all of Zahn’s Star Wars books will be released for Kindle on June 28! ---
**Author:** ![Lobot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ce7236/32.png) [@Lobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobot)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-star-wars-novels-to-buy/584448/36 "2011-06-08T02:02:29Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > You might enjoy the Clone Wars cartoons. If nothing else, it’s fun to spot the references and shout-outs to other films. This is what I was about to post. To be honest, I’m similar to **Smeghead** in that I’ve given the books a fair go and found myself unsatisfied. OTOH, I was a true sceptic about the CG _Clone Wars_ series but was quickly won over. For anyone curious, try the episodes “Rookies” and “Trespass” from the first season. The _Clone Wars_ feature is crap, however, except for a handful of scenes which amuse me greatly. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-star-wars-novels-to-buy/584448/37 "2011-06-08T04:12:59Z")
I rather liked _Children of the Jedi_ and would suggest it to anyone. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-star-wars-novels-to-buy/584448/38 "2011-08-22T05:42:34Z")
> [@Omniscient](#): > > If you’re interested and the postage isn’t too obnoxious I’d be happy to loan you my copies of the Thrawn Trilogy. Sorry, didn’t see this before. I’m in England, so postage would be prohibitive, but thanks anyway. I’ve finally got some books for the Kindle. I’ve read and enjoyed The Courtship of Princess Leia and have just started on the Thrawn trilogy; General Thrawn is an interesting villain. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-star-wars-novels-to-buy/584448.md?page=1)