Let’s Read About Star Wars — the book list
UPDATED 5/30/17 WITH A FEW PLOT DETAILS THAT COULD BE CONSIDERED SPOILERS BY THE VERY INTENSE AMONG YOU NO JUDGEMENT
“What Star Wars book would I like?”
“Does it matter what order I read them in?”
“I read all the old books but then they deprecated them, should I even bother with these new ones?”
And the other day Kelly Murphy wrote,
“As I look forward to The Last Jedi and how that lightsaber is received by Luke (or not?) I’m looking to fill in the gaps in my story lines. I’ve pretty much seen the Clone Wars and working to stay up on Rebels (over my 9 year old’s shoulder), but what books should I read also? I’m not really one for comics, but you have mentioned a few books on the podcast. Ahsoka and Bloodline come to mind. What about Aftermath?”
Over here at the Let’s Talk About Star Wars podcast, Tom Merritt, Garrett Weinzierl and I get some variation of this question a lot, but it was Kelly’s email that finally got me to make you all a list.
First: You can read these series in any order. It won’t ruin the Aftermath series if you read Lost Stars, for example. And it won’t ruin Bloodline if you don’t read Lost Stars. But you should.
Which brings us to our first book.
From the Department of Read This First
Lost Stars — Claudia Gray
Tom Merritt has been our most loyal champion for Lost Stars, and as usual, he’s right. It’s a great story about two childhood friends who experience events in the Star Wars universe that you’re already familiar with, but from a different point of view. It’s a great first book to read if you’re diving back in to Star Wars books. And even though it covers a lot of time, the book feels like it ends abruptly. As Brian K. Woodard writes:
Sorry, dude. There are no current plans for a sequel, but I believe there will be with all of my heart.
Marvel’s Star Wars & Vader Down Series
These are not technically books, but don’t tell that to a serious comic book fan, because they will yell at you. All the recent Star Wars comics are great, but these two series in particular are really well written and beautifully illustrated. They take place right after the medal ceremony in A New Hope (see Luke’s jacket). And there’s a great crossover story between the Rebellion and the stuff going on with Darth Vader. They’re the characters you care about at their most vibrant, and if you don’t want to hunt down all the trades, just get a year of Marvel Unlimited and you can read most of them online.
Bloodline — Claudia Gray
We’re big fans of Claudia Grey around here, and this book is just as well-written as Lost Stars, but has more grown-up subject matter. It’s also much closer to “The Force Awakens” in timeline.
If you liked all those Legends books about Princess Leia’s political maneuvering, you’ll love this. If you didn’t so much, it’s still pretty compelling. It definitely gives you a sense of the post-Princess, pre-General woman who meant so much to us through the years.
As we’ve mentioned on the podcast, Claudia Gray is pretty much the only person we trust to write the final story of Princess Leia, some time in the future. But only after the sequel to Lost Stars. Please. For Brian.
Star Wars Ahsoka — E.K. Johnston
If you watched the Clone Wars animated series, and/or the Star Wars Rebels animated series, you’ll enjoy this book which explains what happened to Ahsoka Tano between those two series. It’s well-written and engaging, and has zero Padawans running around with backpacks, which we can all agree is a good thing.
If you haven’t watched either of those two series though, go do that! It will redeem the prequels, and that’s more valuable than winning the Millennium Falcon in a game of sabacc.
(Almost.)
Books I Like OK Now (UPDATED)
Right now you’re probably wondering, but what about all those Aftermath books I keep hearing about? Well, I finally finished them. Here’s how it went: I tried to read the first one and couldn’t get locked in. Then I heard the third one was about Jakku, and so I ladied up and read them all. They take place after the destruction of the second Death Star, hence the whole concept of Aftermath. Here’s a quick breakdown of the books from Tom & Garrett, who read them first.
Aftermath: Star Wars — Chuck Wendig A team of misfits comes together. If you’re a Snap Wexley fan, you might get more out of it. Kinda slow, but some good parts, and and you might enjoy a new character named Rae Sloane on the Empire side of things.
Life Debt: Aftermath — Chuck Wendig This one gets better, says Tom. Especially if you like Han Solo and Chewbacca, and really, who doesn’t? Jennie is now in a position to mostly concur, but note to LucasFilm Books: While your efforts are valiant, you’re just not going to convince me to care about Mon Mothma. Ever.
Empire’s End: Aftermath —Chuck Wendig If you liked “The Force Awakens”, and want to know how all those Star Destroyers ended up embedded into Jakku’s desert sands, this book is for you. It’s the book that finally got me to commit to finishing the first two Aftermath books. And yes, the final battle is rad, and as with all of these new canon books, the end is tantalizing. But you gotta GET TO THE END.
Final summation: This is one of those series that answers small questions, without being given permission to answer larger ones. Which pretty much sums up….
Book I’m most excited for that’s not out yet
Oh wait. New title
Book I was most excited for and now my heart is crying sad tears
Star Wars Thrawn — by Timothy Zahn
As I’ve mentioned on almost every episode of Let’s Talk About Star Wars, I’m a huge fan of the Timothy Zahn Heir to the Empire novels that now reside on the Legends bookshelf. (But don’t let that stop you, read them anyway!) A major character in that book was Grand Admiral Thrawn, and he has since been re-canonized in the animated series Star Wars Rebels. Which is damned cool. So you know, this book is almost here, and I cannot wait. And if Mara Jade is not in this book, I’m gonna BURN IT ALL DOWN.
Update: I now know whether or not Mara Jade is in this book.
For a more detailed update full of plot details, please head on over to “The 7 stages of reading Thrawn”
But what about the movie novelizations?
I mean, if you’re the type of person who goes to the dentist and says “no thanks” to the Novacaine? Maybe. Or if you’re the type of person who’s like, “look at this ONE LITTLE DETAIL” I just learned from this otherwise execrably written novelization!” then sure, why not. Or maybe you’re about to be a guest on the Novelization Realization podcast. Well, then I’d say go for it.
Otherwise, Novacaine exists for a reason.
OK, that should get you started. Let me know which books I missed, which ones you liked the best, and most importantly which one I should read next!
Update: Ken from Chicago has a different suggestion for how to read the Star Wars books
And Ian kinda liked this article, which you know? I’ll take it. :)
Jennie Josephson is a co-host of the Let’s Talk About Star Wars podcast with Tom Merritt and Garrett Weinzierl. Jennie is also trying to read every book in her house, which is impossible.
