The EU began, unofficially, with the publishing of Splinter of the Mind's Eye in 1978, accelerated in the 1990s with the Thrawn Trilogy and comic books by Dark Horse, and continues to expand to this day. There are literally hundreds of novels, young adult books, and comic books available to us today thanks to the past thirty year time span. It is enough to overwhelm anyone trying to get started!

Here are some tips to help:

Enjoy What You Read
Never forget that the point of experiencing the EU is to have fun! Don't put pressure on yourself to have to read these books in a certain order or by a certain time. Relax and enjoy them!

Pick An Era, Movie or Character You Like
Start with a character or time period of the Star Wars universe you like. It will help filter down the huge scope of the EU. If you love Han Solo, try the Han Solo Adventures from the 1970s or the more recent Han Solo Trilogy. If you love the Clone Wars, pick up the graphic novels of the same name or try the Republic Commando Series. If you love the films, pick up the novel version and discover some things that never made it to the big screen. This web page could help

Ignore the Obnoxious Fans
You will come across a few people who will accuse anyone who hasn't read some particular book series (Thrawn Trilogy, New Jedi Order, Legacy, whatever) to not be a "real Star Wars fan." Otherwise will use all sorts of EU jargon and references to try to sound intelligent. "OMG, you mean you don't know what cartosis armor is?!" Please ignore these people. You don't need to know anything about the EU to be a "true Star Wars fan."

A Warning on Spoilers
One of the hardest thing to do for a 21st Century Star Wars fan is to avoid spoilers (if you don't like them). With the Internet you have quick and easy access to all kinds of information. This can be a bad thing though, because there are many significant deaths, births, and destroyed planets across the EU. Be careful about reading book reviews or visiting wiki-style sites!