I am trying to be optimistic.

Because of my work at West End Games and our assistance with providing authors like Timothy Zhan material that ranged from Strike Class Cruisers to Golan Battle Stations to our version of Kashyyk, we got an early look at his great novel Heir to the Empire.

My general comments of what I think of the writing of the "new canon" I will hold off for now, but I will say that it's NO Heir to the Empire. Nowhere close I am afraid.

"Leaked" excerpts from the early chapters of Aftermath.

I find it hard to believe this was an error, I think this is a from of "teaser."

When I was a kid, I decided I would read the novelization of each film before going to see the film. I did that beginning with Empire. When I finished reading Revenge of the Sith, I breathed a sigh of relieve, thinking, "That's over. I doubt they will ever do any more Star Wars movies after this." Other than that, the only other Star Wars novel I ever read was Splinter of the Mind's Eye. So here I am, wondering if I should pick up with my vow where I left off, and whether I should include these prequel novels, too. Maybe I should skim this "leaked" teaser to help me make my decision.

I have a very limited perspective on the EU novels - having only read the original Zahn Trilogy, the Truce at Bakura, the Dark Empire comic trilogy and literally forced myself through the first New Jedi Order book where they meet the Borg. Time, interest, and ability all took off in different directions.

Now though that the slate has been wiped clean and I could start at the 'beginning' I have read all of the new canon books - and.....they are ok. For me, I think 'New Dawn' is the best so far, but I think there is likely a decent easter egg / setup in the Luke book. Dark Disciple held my interest the least because I don't care too much about the Clone Wars but it was a decent read if fairly predictable (but honestly - they all are)

If you've got the free time and money - I'd go ahead and recommend given them a whirl to bide time until September / December. You could read them in publishing order or in chronological order - but overall there isn't much, if any, continuity between them.

I'm really happy those celebrators on Coruscant got shot up. Like what did you think was gunna happen guys?

I find these 'leaked' words to be quite acceptable in premise!

Pretty convenient leak, starting at the beginning thus revealing no spoilers and ending on a cliff hanger.

I find these 'leaked' words to be quite acceptable in premise!

Pretty convenient leak, starting at the beginning thus revealing no spoilers and ending on a cliff hanger.

It's not a leak. It's an official excerpt from the book. They don't mention leak anywhere in that article. They mention that someone at the publisher accidentally posted the excerpt (not in its entirety) a bit earlier, which was removed shortly before EW posted their official excerpt.

I'm very excited for this book.

Well that makes more sense!

I don't have a lot of time to read, so I'm more excited about the bite-sized nature of 'Shattered Empire', but I'd definitely kindle this next time I have to fly somewhere.

Aftermath has promise. None of the new books have been as good as the Zahn trilogy or x-wing books. None have been as bad as the New Jedi Order, The Jedi Academy, the Tales from <fill in blank>, courtship of Leia, etc.

I stopped reading the old garbage a couple books into Jedi order. These aren't great, but I really enjoy the audio versions, they're like radio dramas.