These books show some of the best of the EU and some of the worst. Writers, while not quite having a blank check, did not have a lot of backstory to worry about or future story to worry about. It was a wide open range and they wrote with all the vigor of a herd of buffalos. Some of the writings smelled like a herd of buffalos had camped too. Win some and lose some I guess.
After these books, the Star Wars EU entered into real Franchise territory, with large storylines being plotted out by editors and multiple authors taking up the mantle. Honestly, the Powers that Be wanted Star Wars to be edgier, grittier and darker. I feel that these books here, no matter how badly written, still captured the spirit of hope and redemption that was showcased in the original movies. Prepare yourselves for dark times ahead.
The X wing series! So nostalgic….. It was still when everyone was doing what they wanted with Star Wars and expanding the universe as much as they wanted
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And as long as the writer was good, that worked. It was when they started hiring mediocre writers that things started to go blah…
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Things started to go blah when they uncannoned many great books….
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X-Wing is so tempting… but it’s quite an investment of time. I have the first 3 or so. Maybe this summer.
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The first 4 by Stackpole tell a complete storyline. the next couple by Allston are more more standalones but much funnier…
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Cool! I will check them out. Esp if I can read them as standalones. Thanks for the tips.
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If you like the first 4 X-Wing books by Stackpole, then I highly recommend “I, Jedi” by Stackpole. It is the continuing story of Corran Horn. He’s a great character…
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That’s the one Stackpole I’ve read, and I really enjoyed it!
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“I feel that these books here, no matter how badly written, still captured the spirit of hope and redemption that was showcased in the original movies.”
I agree. No matter how messy and/or poorly written they were, these books honored the original film trilogy by maintaining its time and themes. Sadly, it was not to last. But at least we still have these particular stories. It’s not a total loss.
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Heck, even the new movies don’t honor that anymore 😦
but that is a big part of why I’m no longer a fan…
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I never got into the Star Wars books… looking at how many there are, I’m now REALLY glad that I never started.
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Thankfully, I read these as they were released, so it was never a flood of “Star Wars” but a steady stream that I could handle. I couldn’t imagine someone exploring the EU (now under the “Legends” monniker) now. They’d be lost 😀
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I saw some blurbs once for Star Wars books where Han and Leia’s offspring were in some kind of political struggle against Luke’s offspring.
Have your read those?
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Yes, those are coming up. Legacy of the Force and Fate of the Jedi were attempts to make the Next Generation of star wars characters. Sadly, they did not succeed.
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I liked Zahn’s trilogy a lot – even though couldn’t care less for Mara Jade, these books were well written, and Thrawn had been a really cool character. It all went downhill from there, sadly, what with the twins and all those stupid storylines about young Solos and Skywalker… 😦 It was about that time I ended my adventure with SWU, and never regretted it 😀
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After several failed attempts at other authors writing love interests for Luke, I was all for him and Mara. Sucks that she was killed off in later series 😦
No regrets! *fist bump*
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Weirdly enough, I never really got into the X-Wing books. But it was mostly a matter of taste in the kind of stories I liked, not that they were bad plots or not well written.
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Honestly, I liked them because there was no “force” involved, just people. Well, in the early books anyway…
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I only read a few of the older Star Wars books. I do feel like I missed out on a lot but at the same time now I don’t have the attachment to the old storylines that many fans have now that the official canon has changed. It’s been an easier transition for me.
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Anyone who wasn’t attached to the old EU is definitely lucky in regards to the new canon being shoved down our throats. I suspect if Star Wars survives as a franchise that a whole new generation of fans will have to learn this lesson in the future when Disney sells it off to somebody else…
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I really liked the X-Wing series, and the Allston series was a lot of fun. I think “I, Jedi” was my favorite Star Wars book ever – I re-read it several times.
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I made the mistake of reading I, Jedi before the X-wing books and I was confused as all getout. Then when I read it again, it was a great book 🙂
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What was so bad about the KJA trilogy (honest question; I think I read it many years ago but all these stories blend together now for me)?
Was that the one where Luke has that weird retreat-into-a-cave-and-become-a-pacifist phase?
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KJA wrote so pedestrian’ly that everybody was a cardboard cutout instead of the characters we loved. He also introduced Kyp Durron and the “Sun Crusher”, a weapon able to super-nova a star. Except it wasn’t used smartly, but more as an excuse for KJA to move his characters around where he wanted them since he couldn’t write himself out of a brown paper bag.
I’m not sure. It would make sense that this is where that happens, as Kyp was supposed to be his apprentice and he ends up destroying a solar system full of people. But authors always over-use that idea when they don’t want him in the story and can’t think of a good way to present it. Like Luke has to be at every Big Event, Because…. *insert huge eye roll*
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It’s just so annoying that this series stepped away from the message of redemption and hope of the original series!!!
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So many fans commented on this very thing. And yet in the new movies do we see any of that getting through?
Sigh…
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haha no- the new movies don’t believe in redemption- they believe in making all the heroes villains! (*sarcastic yay*) I’ve made no secret I’m not averse to that arc- but I mean it in the Dorian Grey sense- NOT making every great character suck!
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I like how knowledgeable you are of the events and how it evolved… to its downfall.
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I was there every step of the way. I saw the rise of the EU with Zahn and yeah, I witnessed its death. It scarred me…
😉
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