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Pantless Wookiee
date posted: Jul 15, 2008 6:48 AM  |  updated: Jul 25, 2008 4:55 AM
Expanding the Essential Expanded Universe
In Star Wars Insider UK #77, Daniel Wallace recommends a number of essential EU must-reads/must-plays/must-sees recommending various EU media for you, some of which I think have done more harm than good to the constinuity, and others which I think are right on. I'd like to offer my additional recommendations in this entry (some of which have also proven unhealthy to the continuity, I might add).

The original list
Wallace's original list is as follows:

Novels:
Must read: Thrawn Trilogy (Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, The Last Command)
Don't overlook: New Jedi Order series

Comicbooks:
Must read: Dark Empire
Don't overlook: Star Wars Legacy

Reference works:
Must read: The New Essential Chronology
Don't overlook: Behind the Magic

Games:
Must play: Knights of the Old Republic
Don't overlook: Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight

Television:
Must see: Clone Wars, the microseries
Don't overlook: Star Wars: The Clone Wars

Expanding the Expanded Universe list
...And here are my recommendations:

Novels:
Must read: Splinter of the Mind's Eye - it's quite well written, and then it's a seminal EU-novel - it does contain a couple of things that are perhaps a bit incompatible with present-day canon, but that makes it an even more interesting read
Don't overlook: I, Jedi - stands out by being written in first person, and recounts, uiquely in the perspective of Corran Horn events known from other novels

Novellas:
Must read: The Dark Forces trilogy (Soldier for the Empire, Rebel Agent, Jedi Knight) - dynamic and action-packed canonical descriptions of many of the events of Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight, which also fills many of the gaps in the computer game.
Don't overlook: Side Trip - the first Zahn-Stackpole collaboration, which in itself makes it worth mentioning, this novella features a number of EU darling characters.

Short stories:
Must read: A Boy and his Monster: the Rancor Keeper's Tale - the heartbreaking story behind the crying rancor keeper in EP VI
Don't overlook: Charlene Newcomb's Alex Winger stories, which carved out a corner of the Star Wars continuity of their own

Comics
Must read: Star Wars Marvel comics stories featuring Shia Brie/Lumiya (Coffin in the Clouds, Hello, Bespin, Goodbye, Sundown, Shira's Story, Screams in the Void, The Mind Spider, Figurehead, No Zeltrons, Duel With a Dark Lady, Escape, First Strike, All Together Now) - firstly, they tie in with the Legacy of the Force series, secondly, a lot of them are simply darn good stories, especially Hello, Bespin, Goodbye, Screams in the Void, No Zeltrons, and Duel with a Dark Lady.
Don't overlook: Evasive Action - the story of a surviving pack of padawans, and I still think it should be released in TPB form! It features a number of popular characters.

Reference works:
Must read: any Star Wars Adventure Journal gaming article - probably not reference works as such, but nonetheless full of canon.
Don't overlook: Wookieepedia - not official, but full of info and growing every day.

Games:
Must play: Galactic Battlegrounds - loads of epic canonical battles and missions
Don't overlook: Shadows of the Empire - the video game aspect of the Shadows of the Empire multimedia project.

Television:
Must see: Star Wars Holiday Special - of course :-P
Don't overlook: The Ewoks movies - left a lot of retconning to be done

Honorable mentions
Novels: Shadows of the Empire
Novellas: Interlude at Darknell
Short stories: Tales from Mos Eisley Cantina collection, Tales from Jabba's Palace collection, Peter Schweighofer's Dirk Harkness stories,
Comics: Shadows of the Empire, Knights of the Old Republic (TOJ), Redemption, Knights of the Old Republic series,Betrayal, Darklighter,The Savage Heart, To the Last Man, 8 for Aduba-3, Droidworld, The Last Jedi, Death in the City of Bone, Outlander, Oh! Jawajawa, Perfect Evil 1 and 2, Rookies, Rogue Squadron.
Reference works: Galactic Phrasebook and Travel Guide, all New Essentials, StarWars.com database, Star Wars Encyclopedia (although arguably outdated now - but I've heard there's a new edition on the way)
Games: Mysteries of the Sith, Jedi Outcast, Jedi Academy, Force Commander, X-Wing Alliance (although I dislike the last couple of levels), Rebellion (only partially canonical).
Television: Droids, Ewoks (I wonder what they were on when they made that).

That was my list of Expanded Universe recommendations. You're invited to make your suggestions in the comments section.

usetheforce19
MasterMonkey13
date Posted: Jul 15, 2008 7:11 AM
Thanks for the list! I've been wanting to start the EU for quite some time, but I didn't want to end up reading useless books.
the_wookiee_has_no_pants
Pantless Wookiee
date Posted: Jul 15, 2008 8:37 AM
I recommend you start with the Thrawn Trilogy and Shadows of the Empire. In terms of comics, my faves are the old Marvel classics, but they're a bit out of line with the continuty at times. The Tales from the... anthologies are pretty good, except Tales of the Bounty Hunters which contains a couple of stories that I don't like.
  comanderbly
That's Impossible. Even for a Computer.
date Posted: Jul 15, 2008 8:57 AM
I agree Heir to the Empire is a great start if you are looking for OT appeal.

I also think that the X-Wing series is high on my personal list. There is very little with the jedi but its great stuff - Especially for anyone looking to read I, Jedi.

I am tempted to add Jedi Twilght which is part of a series that just came out - I really enjoyed the book myself.
the_wookiee_has_no_pants
Pantless Wookiee
date Posted: Jul 15, 2008 9:25 AM
True, the X-wing books are quite good generally. An happily Jedi-free.
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