While I found that I, Jedi review hilarious, I think the book is actually well worth a read. Yes, Corran serves a bit too much as an author's pet and mouthpiece at times, but he's an engaging and enjoyable character, and I, Jedi in particular serves to highlight his flaws and shortcomings as much as his strengths.

Also, it has my very favorite description of a dogfight with Corran taking on Tycho Celchu (he of the A-Wing ).

I do want to add that since my previous post, I've gotten around to reading "Scoundrels" and found it well worth the read.

Timothy Zahn basically pulled off Ocean's 11 with Harrison Ford replacing George Clooney and threw it all in the Star Wars Universe.

. . . and the Jedi Academy trilogy.

Under no circumstances should you read the Jedi Academy Trilogy. I would only recommend that series to my friends if I was best buddies with Hitler.

. . . and the Jedi Academy trilogy.

Under no circumstances should you read the Jedi Academy Trilogy. I would only recommend that series to my friends if I was best buddies with Hitler.

Wow... there's an opinion I hadn't expected.

I thought the Jedi Academy was pretty cool, what's not to like about Exar Kun?

But yes, Shadows of the Empire, Shadows of the Empire, Shadows of the Empire. Excellent book, OVERFLOWING with the stuff that makes EotE what it is.

Also Tales of the Bounty Hunters was something I enjoyed, albeit its narrow subject matter.

Now if you're a fan of the Age of Rebellion, honestly, feel free to ignore the Force Unleashed games, but read their comics, those stories, to me, was the coolest time period for the Rebellion (short of the original movie trilogy).

Exar Kun was okay - although he was much better in the comics and less a plot device. And I thought the Death Star by committee was pretty well done. The rest of it? Horrible. Mind you, not quite Crystal Star terrible, but still pretty lousy. Its just that KJA is a really bad writer (especially when compared to the well executed plots of Zhan just before him). The characterization of our heroes - a weak point of the Star Wars range - was way off, Daala is a terrible bad guy who seems to have the Idiot Ball permanently grafted to her forehead and it's just a hatchet job all around.

So yes, if Anderson gets thrown under the continuity bus, I'll be thrilled.

Anyway, my top 10(ish) Must Read Star Wars Books:

* Everything by Zhan. Seriously the guy knows Star Wars and gets the tone right. His plots get a little twisty at times, but they're always a fun read

* The Brian Daley Han Solo books from the seventies. No Jedi, no Empire, just 100% distilled EotE in prose format.

* The X-Wing books. The first first four are really strong, the Aaron Allston books are a little weaker, but still pretty good reads and Isard's Revenge is a good capper to the series.

* Darth Plagueis - A fascinating glimpse into a character who has (shockingly) never been really developed.

* Dark Lord: The Rise Of Darth Vader - Much like Darth Plagueis, this one fills in some of the corners we saw in the movies. Sure we got how Vader became Vader in the movies, but adjusting to his new life was something that needed exploring.

* Shadows of the Empire - currently rereading it and I'm shocked on how well it stands up, especially after everything we've learned in E1-3.

I loved Plagueis - excellent book! But I've yet to read any of the Zahn books (something I need to rectify as soon as possible).

OK, I'm going to try out Darth Plagueis since I've seen several recommendations here.

I won't give you books, I'll give you authors.

- Anything by Timothy Zahn. The guy is the best, because he gets Luke. To me, that is the absolute key for anyone playing with the Big Three (Luke / Han / Leia), and his prequel novel is great, too. Scoundrels is a fun read, but honestly, start with the Thrawn trilogy.

- I really like Matthew Stover, and he's done a number of different books that all feel different, but have been very good. Don't let the title of Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor throw you, it's a good read.

- James Luceno came to my attention (unknowingly) as half of Jack McKinney, who wrote the novelizations for the Robotech series with Brian Daley. Both Luceno and Daley are solid with what they've put out for the GFFA.

- I liked all the X-Wing books. I was a fan of Michael Stackpole from his work in the BattleTech universe, and it really carried over for the "Star Wars meets Top Gun" feel of those books. Alliston doesn't do quite as well with describing the dogfights, but he absolutely nails banter. All of the times. My single favorite sequence of any Star Wars novel ever is in Starfighters of Adumar. For those of you that have read it - Janson's "duel." That is all.

- I enjoyed Karen Traviss' work with the clone troopers in her prequel novels (the Republic Commandos series), but she does take a fairly solid "anti-Jedi" (specifically the Jedi Order) view of the galaxy. Interesting perspective, though.

Kevin J. Anderson's stuff isn't terrible (c'mon, Crystal Star and Children of the Jedi should have been nixed before ink hit paper), but it's not really good, either. I think his problem was he was trying to do to much too fast, and it all ended up coming out very "serial-pulpy," and not in a good way.

Some additional grist for the mill.

Exar Kun was okay - although he was much better in the comics and less a plot device. And I thought the Death Star by committee was pretty well done. The rest of it? Horrible. Mind you, not quite Crystal Star terrible, but still pretty lousy. Its just that KJA is a really bad writer (especially when compared to the well executed plots of Zhan just before him). The characterization of our heroes - a weak point of the Star Wars range - was way off, Daala is a terrible bad guy who seems to have the Idiot Ball permanently grafted to her forehead and it's just a hatchet job all around.

So yes, if Anderson gets thrown under the continuity bus, I'll be thrilled.

Wasn't this also where they come up with the (*sigh*) Sun Crusher?

- I liked all the X-Wing books. I was a fan of Michael Stackpole from his work in the BattleTech universe, and it really carried over for the "Star Wars meets Top Gun" feel of those books. Alliston doesn't do quite as well with describing the dogfights, but he absolutely nails banter. All of the times. My single favorite sequence of any Star Wars novel ever is in Starfighters of Adumar. For those of you that have read it - Janson's "duel." That is all.

The first X-Wing book I read was Starfighters of Adumar. Some awesome lines were "like giving a lightsaber to a two year old" and "asking [character removed for spoilers] is like juggling thermal detonators." If you want good writing, hilarious commentary, and a good view into members of Rogue Squadron, read this, even if you don't read them in order.

I am particularly fond of the Karen Travis Republic Commando series, tho not initially impressed with Hard Contact, the story grows through Triple Zero, True Colrs, Order 66 and 501st. I've re-read them several times. A child is born to a Jedi and clone trooper and tons of Mandolorian lore. The training sergeant Kal Skirata may be my favorite SW character if all. Good luck, you have a lot of fun ahead of you. I am not a big fan of Timothy Zahn, altho most folks seem to be.

Though it had been shot by the clone wars canon, Medstar 1 battle surgeons was an excellent read. Think M*A*S*H set in the clone wars.

- I liked all the X-Wing books. I was a fan of Michael Stackpole from his work in the BattleTech universe, and it really carried over for the "Star Wars meets Top Gun" feel of those books. Alliston doesn't do quite as well with describing the dogfights, but he absolutely nails banter. All of the times. My single favorite sequence of any Star Wars novel ever is in Starfighters of Adumar. For those of you that have read it - Janson's "duel." That is all.

Ironically that was the worst part of the book for me simply because it was so preachy in a "I have to literally roll my eyes through 'reading' this passage just to stomach it" way.

I apologize, the author's name is Karen Traviss. She even invented a mandalorian language

So have we figured out what it is FFG is using for it's canon for the game? I saw reference to the Zann Consortium which was surprising since as far as I knew he was only a character in one of the video games. So I am just trying to get an idea where they are drawing from?

So have we figured out what it is FFG is using for it's canon for the game? I saw reference to the Zann Consortium which was surprising since as far as I knew he was only a character in one of the video games. So I am just trying to get an idea where they are drawing from?

Reading through the books, I think they're just picking and choosing what they liked. As for the Zann Consortium, the rise of said Consortium can be seen and played through in Star Wars: Empire at War Forces of Corruption's single player campaign.

Exar Kun was okay - although he was much better in the comics and less a plot device. And I thought the Death Star by committee was pretty well done. The rest of it? Horrible. Mind you, not quite Crystal Star terrible, but still pretty lousy. Its just that KJA is a really bad writer (especially when compared to the well executed plots of Zhan just before him). The characterization of our heroes - a weak point of the Star Wars range - was way off, Daala is a terrible bad guy who seems to have the Idiot Ball permanently grafted to her forehead and it's just a hatchet job all around.

So yes, if Anderson gets thrown under the continuity bus, I'll be thrilled.

I still wonder how much of Daala's charterization by KJA was shear incompentence on his part, and how much was him projecting a dislike of the idea of female military commanders into his story. For the most part she only ever faced two kinds of battles in his writing of her. Those involving movie characters with full hero luck tanks, and/or a literally invincible ship opposing her, and those against forces that her fleet utterly out classed. It would have improved the trilogy greatly IMO if she had faced off against and defeated a few fleets around the strength of hers with experienced military commanders and crews. The only actual fleet she defeated in the Jedi Academy trilogy couldn't even hold its formations together properly, and was vastly out gunned.

I can also strongly recommend the audiobooks, especially recently. The two main narrators Jonathan Davis and Marc Thompson are both very good. Some of the older books are abridged, and very basic. But the more recent ones are more like an audio production with sound effects & music. The Thrawn Trilogy & Duology have both been recently re-released in unabridged versions.

So I took the advise given and read Darth Plagueis. I enjoyed it even if the ending seemed very contrived (but I went in knowing how it had to end).

OTOH, I'm trying to read Slave Ship, the second book on the Bounty Hunter wars, and it's a hard slog. I can't really say I'm enjoying it, but I can use it to help me get to sleep after work.

The New Jedi Order is something people either love or hate. However, the main reason I wouldn't reccomend it as background for Edge of the Empire or Age of Rebellion is simply because the focus is on the antagonists of that story, the Vong. It doesn't provide much bang for the buck as far as adventure seeds or interesting characters to use in an Edge game.

However, if you wanted to run an entire NJO campaign, that could be very, very cool.

Interestingly enough, it was announced at a Disney stockholder meeting that the new films would be taking place 30 years after Return of the Jedi. And given the huge impact that the Vong War had on the galaxy, it seems that the NJO is going to wind up in the same category as Force Unleashed found itself. If we get confirmation that Chewbacca shows up in Episode VII, or that Luke's opted for the celibate life, then we'll know for certain where the NJO stands in regards to the new canon/non-canon classification system.

OK... I have been thinking about starting up with the EU as well, but 2 things (1 in particular) has been holding me back.

1. It is huge and tons to read. Daunting by any standard for people with as little time as I have.

2. Coincides with 1 and leads me to my question. I have heard that Disney has made a canon police group. I have told myself to wait for what they say, so they can be the ones to 'trim the fat' for me.

Question...

Any word on where Disney stands yet in regards to canon?

Another thing folks might want to get ready for is we might not get Mara Jade as Luke's wife. Which I will be honest will disappointing as I always thought she was an awesome character. I also hope that Corran Horn survives this reboot as well.

We will know soon enough how much EU canon remains intact after the first movie. I expect we'll see most of what was available from WEG in its time to survive in some form as that game line did more to expand on existing material rather than create new events or storylines, Earlier novels like Thrawn Trilogy, Shadows of the Empire etc... I think are most likely to remain.

Dark Empire comics is iffy, The Force Unleashed was already relegated to game designer fan fiction. Galaxy spanning events outside the movies that somehow require explanation also likely gone, Jedi Children/New Jedi Order/Legacy stuff likely meets a canon meatgrinder

Bioware by retaining its liscense w/ Disney for Old Republic MMO I think we can safely assume races or locales portrayed within are likely to remain canon, which spares Chiss.

The Lando books just have a very campy vibe, IMO. It's like watching the old Batman live action TV show, sort of.d.

Lando! Nu nuh nu nuh, nu nuh nu nuh Lando!