I'm allowed to listen to audiobooks at work, and because of this I go through them very quickly and am always looking for books to listen to.

I obtained a good chunk of the EU novels in audio format and am wondering what is most worth reading? I've heard the Thrawn trilogy is good and am starting with that.

I haven't read that much of the EU, but I can confirm that the Thrawn trilogy is probably the best place to start

Thrawn trilogy and X-wing books for sure.

Both Han Solo trilogies, but for completely different reasons. One is campy and pulpy as **** and the other is a cool lead in on the story of his life, ending right as Obi-wan sits down with him in the cantina.

Darth Plagueis was amazing. The Republic Commando and the Darth Bane books were pretty good also.

The Yuuzhan Vong series was interesting, but some of the books were terrible.

The rest are pretty hit and miss but I generally enjoyed them.

Darth Plagueis.

Disney should make Pixar do an animated version of that book, with Luceno himself scripting it.

Darth bane was great, Plagueis was cool, and any old republic novels like Revan and the old republic series are awesome. Can you tell i like the sith lol. I liked legacy of the force series done by three authors but the Karen Traviss books were dull. Oh and i absolutely love the tales from Mos Eisley cantina

I have a lot of favorites.

The Thrawn Trilogy - nothing is closer to classic Star Wars than this. After reading these check out Zahn's other Star Wars novels - all are really good.

The X-wing series - follows Rogue Squadron then in book 5 the focus switches to Wraith Squadron. Both the Rogue and Wraith series are good, but both are pretty different from each other.

The Darth Bane Trilogy - set 1000 years before The Phantom Menace, this series follows the life of a Sith who starts the "rule of 2", the rule stating that there can only be two Sith at one time. These books are dark, the fight scenes are cinematic, and the protagonist is very complex.

Darth Plagueis - follows Darth Sidious's (the Emperor Palpatine's) master. This explains away a lot of the plot holes in episode 1 and it's so satisfying seeing the Sith manipulate events such as Palpatine's rise to power behind the scenes.

Death Star - this standalone follows ~8 different characters who all manage to get aboard the Death Star 1 some way or another. It's neat seeing how ordinary people view the Empire, plus you get to see them witness events from A New Hope.

Tales of the Bounty Hunters / Tales of the Mos Eisley Cantina / Tales of Jabba's Palace - remember those weird aliens you saw in one scene? These books give them a backstory.

Shadows of the Empire - this book is set between ep5 and ep6 and introduces Dash Rendar and Prince Xizor. It's a great read, and expands immensely on the story of the video game.

The Truce At Bakura - set right after ep6, this is a great way to get introduced to the Star Wars universe. I liked how it shows the Rebel Alliance turning into a legitimate government and how the Empire is struggling after the loss of their Emperor.

Check out I Jedi too!

Michael A Stackpole is a very good Star Wars Author, as well as Timothy Zahn.

Truce at bakura, thrawn trilogy, corellia trilogy , and the Crystal star

Bounty Hunter Wars.

These were the first SW books I can remember reading, they're possibly the most immersive SW books ever written, and great character pieces for the misfit lineup.

I Jedi. Shatterpoint. The Republic Commando series. Anything by Zahn. The Old Republic: Deceived. The X Wing novels are a little light but pretty good.

Depends on what stuff you want to read that meshes up with the new movies. Most of the EU has been relegated to legends status - that it didn't happen if new content supercedes it. Now if you know this, the books can be fun. However much of the EU takes place after endor, and thus, did not happen. (Unless the new movie says otherwise)

The problem with the Thrawn trilogy is that one: it exists in a now different timeline and doesnt likely mesh with the new movies coming out. Two: it was written before the prequels, so much of the assumptions Zahn makes about the clone wars are wrong due to the on screen canon.

The new canon book, A New Dawn, takes place before the new rebels show and was a fun read. There is a new book, Tarkin, coming out wich will rewrite that characters backstory. Also, a new book about Luke set between A new Hope and The Empire Strikes Back. These new books, and all new media forthcoming, have the distinction of being canon - officially happened.

The Karen Travis Republic Commandos books were great. I was a little pissed when the Clone Wars cartoon went to Mandalore and didn't stick with what she had laid down.

I thought that all of the Tales From X books were fun reads. They are collections of short stories that feature mostly bit characters, like those seen in the cantina or in Jabba's palace.

Or just skips the star wars stuff altogether and read Isaac Asimov's Foundation series. You'll be amused to find it has a galactic empire, centered on a planet called Trantor, which is basically Coruscant, and a smuggler named Hober Mallow who is basically Han Solo.

Darth Plagueis is hands down my favorite.

No one has mentioned the Courtship of Princess Leia. It is very good, and an aweswome introduction of Dathomir.

Unfortunately, though the X-Wing books are really great, there are only abridged audiobooks of all of them available (with the exception of Mercy Kill, which, while not the least of the series, definitely is better if you've read the previous X-Wing books, and probably all of Aaron Allston's NJO and Legacy of the Force novels as well). The abridgement is fine, and Anthony Heald reads them very well, but there's so much missing - Allston is so much a writer of detail and nuance - that it's hard for me to recommend them if the audiobook is your point of entry. (Ditto I, Jedi.)

I'm not a huge fan of Courtship, mostly because while it has some fun worldbuilding, the villains are a pale shadow of what they could be, thus the heroes get off awfully easy.

Sadly, the Star Wars audiobooks that are available in non-abridged format are mostly ones that are competent but not terribly excellent.

Stay away from...

Just an awful series. Barbara started it terribly, Kevin tried to drag it up to "ok", then Barbara shoved it back down to miserable.

I really liked the Thrawn series, Jedi Academy series, and the Bounty Hunter Wars (Warning, i'm biased towards liking anything with bounty hunters...HURRY UP SCUM!!!).

I haven't read that much of the EU, but I can confirm that the Thrawn trilogy is probably the best place to start

I confess to not having read any of them for years, but from what I can remember starting with the Thrawn trilogy is indeed the place to start.

It is also probably the best place to finish.

Unless you want dead Chewie (lol, crit proof that one!) and alcoholic Han and Luke bouncing in and out of the Dark Side and evil dark lords of Solo.

I haven't read that much of the EU, but I can confirm that the Thrawn trilogy is probably the best place to start

I confess to not having read any of them for years, but from what I can remember starting with the Thrawn trilogy is indeed the place to start.

It is also probably the best place to finish.

Unless you want dead Chewie (lol, crit proof that one!) and alcoholic Han and Luke bouncing in and out of the Dark Side and evil dark lords of Solo.

Wow, spoilers much?

The Thrawn series was great on audio book. I got bored with the X-wing first book about an hour in and never touched it again. I like the new Star Wars Rebels audio book.

Is there an audio book for the new Tarkin book? It looks interesting as he always intrigued me.

Death Star sounds cool and I've never heard of it it. I'll have to look into that.

I seem to recall the 'Dark Empire' comic books got a VERY GOOD adaptation into audiobook format.

While they used new voice actors for all the roles (obviously), it is a 'full cast' audio drama, with sound effects and music, different voice actors for the various parts, and all that.

Aside from that, it's also a pretty core story for the return of Star Wars to the public awareness, although, like the (also fantastic) Thrawn trilogy...has had some of it invalidated by what we've already seen, and almost certainly will be completely over-written by the new movies.

Still, it's an interesting story, well told, and with decent production values behind it - very entertaining.

Republic Commando is absolutely amazing. Definitely read it.

I, Jedi is also good.

Hand of Thrawn duology is pretty good.

Republic Commando is absolutely amazing. Definitely read it.

Seconded. My favorite Star Wars books ever! It's probably the best portrayal of non-Force Users in the setting, too.

Republic Commando is absolutely amazing. Definitely read it.

Seconded. My favorite Star Wars books ever! It's probably the best portrayal of non-Force Users in the setting, too.

If that's your style, check out Allegiance. Great story about a rogue band of stormtroopers. Besides, it's by Timothy Zahn. Then its sequel is Choices of One which is also really good.