Best products from r/StarWarsEU

The book I'd recommend most for good stories focusing on leia or other female leads would be one that just came out last week, and I just finished. It is in the new canon, and is called 'Bloodline'. Leia is front and center in it, and the book is basically bridging the gap between return of the jedi, and the force awakens. It takes place about 6 years before TFA (the force awakens), and deals with Leia trying to get things done in the senate despite political stagnation (nobody agrees on anything, and so nothing gets done), while also trying to stop a rising cartel from gaining more power, and eventually her creating the resistance seen in TFA. It's by Claudia Gray; she is quickly becoming one of my favored authors, across both old and new star wars eu.

She has another book called 'Lost Stars' that is pretty good too, but may not be what you're looking for. It is, at it's core, a romance between a guy and a girl, starting before a new hope, and taking them through all the events of the original trilogy of movies. It focuses on both of them, and switches between their perspectives every so often, so it focuses on a female lead, but also on the male lead pretty evenly, so I'm not sure how well that one fits your criteria. But it is pretty good! :)

So,
Those are both in the new canon. If you're looking for stuff from the old canon, I'm not sure of anything that is actually focused on Leia or another female lead, instead of being focused on Luke or Han and having a prominent secondary female character. I know theres at least a few, but their names aren't coming to me at the moment. I keep thinking of a trilogy called 'Sword of the Jedi' that was going to center around Han Solo's daughter Jaina, but that trilogy got cancelled in the shakeup of disney buying lucasfilm...
Hmm, lets see, I know theres something haha, I'm positive... I might edit this or reply to it when I remember. Hopefully this has helped a little though!

Oh, and welcome to reddit, as well as the star wars EU! :D
I hope you'll enjoy your stay, haha!

I've only read the first book, Commencement, but it was definitely awesome. If OP is interested, there's an omnibus coming out soon that contains the first five books at a more-than-decent price point. I'm definitely jumping on that one. xD

I loved Young Indiana Jones as a kid, but rarely got to see an episode on TV for some reason. Now it's all on Netflix. The dialogue, pacing and acting are often lacking, but it's amazing what production value Lucasfilm managed for a tv miniseries. They also cover tons of obscure historical stuff, and an entire season or arc on the Great War. There seem to be three "arcs": Indiana Jones as a kid, Jones as a Belgian volunteer and eventually secret agent during the First World War, and Jones finding his true calling through several postwar adventures. If you can find "the lost Journal of Indiana Jones"http://www.amazon.com/The-Lost-Journal-Indiana-Jones/dp/1416563156 its a pretty good recapitulation of all his various adventures.

I though the description of Thrawn was a bit strange, like there was something off. Might be the hints you are talking about.

Outbound Flight might be the next SWEUBC book, and i have it on my reading list, will check it out soon. Been meaning to pick up NJO since forever, just haven't gotten around to it yet!
Cool. I will add vision of the future to my reading list :)

Maybe my word phrasing was bad. I didn't feel immersed in the story and the events, for me, just seemed like 'another day in the galaxy'.

I know this is one of the earliest EU books and the explanation/development of the universe might be what is making it feel like it drags out. I have read most of the The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia. Yes, obi-wan's goodbye was a good read and i also enjoyed luke's trip to dagobah.

It seems like it is just me that doesn't get the book. Going to finish it and probably the other two in the series anyway :)

Thanks a lot for you input!

/u/Chronibus has a great list.

I'd add on Barbara Hambly's stuff. Children of the Jedi and Planet of Twilight. They're almost unreadably bad.

Legacy of The Force is mostly pretty bad in my opinion as well, but a lot of that is due to Traviss.

Fate of the Jedi is pretty "meh" as well in my opinion. I kept getting the new books out of the library and having to read 50 pages in before I could figure out if I read it or not, since it was just a lot of filler about HoloNet reporting.

LoF and FoJ are alright if you're out of other books, but I'd make sure to read the entire New Jedi Order series first as they're just fantastic.

For the older EU books, if they're hard to find it often means they're not great. One fantastic exception is the The Han Solo Adventures which is really good.

Aside from the Niven, Asimov, and other well known authors you'll get in this thread, you should try some books by BV Larson. His books have that Pulp Sci-Fi feel that has been missing from the genre lately.

BV Larson:

Star Force series (10 books: Series 1 is book 1-9, Series 2 starts at 10)

Undying Mercenaries (3 books: Still in its first series, currently no end in sight)

Best part is that he publishes through Amazon, so the books come out fairly quickly one after the other. I've also had a good time listening to the audiobooks -- pretty good production.

I received today my first Star Wars book ( https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/2413007296/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1 ), as Darth Maul is one of my favourite character I thought it'd be a great one to start and I'm really enjoying it. Btw if anyone got suggestions of books like that (legend or canon idc) that'd be great

I can't speak from a ton of experience over the list of novels in the EU, but I personally enjoyed Kenobi. Fits into Ben's time on Tatooine.

Could go for the new marvel comics as well, few decent reads in the bunch.

When it comes to stepping into the EU for the first time, you should generally read the Thrawn Trilogy, X-Wing up to starfighters of Adumar/courtship of princesses/I, Jedi, and the Jedi Academy Trilogy first, as those are the earliest works that are integral to the EU (at least the post-endor EU). But really, you should read Zahns books in the order they were released. And yes, Mara Jade: by the Emperors hand is worth reading. It's well written, and revolves heavily around Mara as an Imperial Agent. It is more difficult to get a hold of now though, because of the Disney buy out. It's probably cheaper to get it in an omnibus with other stories. I got it with the Shadows of the Empire omnibus back when Dark Horse published them, but now they're probably in the legends epic collection published by Marvel. It's probably in the first volume of the New Republic collections.

edit: Yes, it is. https://www.amazon.ca/Star-Wars-Legends-Epic-Collection/dp/0785197168/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&qid=1478640230&sr=8-13&keywords=legends+epic+collection

second edit: Also, unless you already know Mara's mission given to her by the Emperor, then you may want to read the Thrawn Trilogy first.

I like Rebellion and Empire set between Star Wars and Empire Strikes Back but my favourites are Knights of the Old Republic and Legacy.

• Knights Of The Old Republic - This takes place some years before the games of the same name (4,000 years before the movies) and it follows failed Padawan Zayne Carrick as he tries to clear his name after he's framed for murder. You don't need to know a lot about the universe, but it's a really great series and a good introduction to the Star Wars comics.
  
  
• Legacy - At the other end of the timeline, 140 years after Return of the Jedi, it follows Cade Skywalker, descendant of Luke and another failed Jedi now I think of it. Again, you don't need a lot of prior knowledge. It's a pretty good series with great art.
  
  
• Vector - A crossover story that spans four different eras. Knights of the Old Republic and Dark Times in Volume 1 and Rebellion and Legacy in the second. It's a good introduction to these four comics, and it's where I'd start if you're not sure what to read first. The only thing is that it's a bit spoilery if you do want to go back and read Dark Times and Legacy on their own.
  

No I've read "the rise of darth Vader" it's good as well.

I'm talking about the YA book "the Rise and Fall of Darth Vader" Easy to mix up lol

Wikia Entry http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/The_Rise_and_Fall_of_Darth_Vader
Amazon listing https://www.amazon.com/Star-Wars-Rise-Darth-Vader/dp/0439681324

Listing for the book you are talking about

https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Lord-Rise-Darth-Vader/dp/0345477332/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_t_0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=4EZPXBJ0WJM6SYEMZ7ZN

https://www.amazon.com/Star-Wars-Book-Deluxe-Secrets/dp/1603803793/ref=mp_s_a_1_1_sspa?keywords=book+of+sith&qid=1564931672&s=gateway&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1


Comes with a book! It's amazing and scares the shit out of my dogs. 10/10

You would have to buy it. This DVD set is the one to get

I have it, excellent set. It comes with both the original editions, and the 2008 updates.

Rothco has various colored USAF style flight suits. They're aren't 100% screen accurate, but their orange flight suit bears a remarkable resemblance, aside from a few differences in pocket placements. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002CKDL2/ref=twister_B018MSP9CU

I'd definitely recommend starting with the Thrawn trilogy, here's a link to the first book: http://www.amazon.com/Heir-Empire-Star-Wars-Trilogy/dp/0553296124/

Heir to the Empire is under $5 new right now on Amazon.

I've been buying used from there and from Powells (and a local shop) for a while, though, and the quality is almost always totally fine. Most of the time you spend about $4, shipping included.

1) Lords of the Sith

Dark Side Power on display by Vader and Sidious.

2) Lost Stars

Getting a whole new perspective (a couple actually) on the events of the Original Trilogy (and beyond) though the eyes of two childhood friends (a boy and a girl) who dream of becoming Imperial pilots together and eventually find themselves on opposite sides of the Galactic Civil War. I really enjoyed the characters in this book, and really hope to see more of their story in the future.

Note: This is listed as a "young adult" novel, but I really don't understand why, other than possibly it's length. There was actually more 'adult' type content (i.e. sex related) in this book than most of the Star Wars novels as there is sort of a coming-of-age element to the story (maybe that's why it got the YA tag, idk).

3) A New Dawn

Just a fun story of a former padawan in hiding after surviving order 66, and an anti-Imperial pilot looking to stir up trouble. Lots of action and an interesting villain. This story introduces two of the characters from the Rebels tv series, and takes place about 6 years before the series iirc.

4) Tarkin

An in depth character novel on one of the real villains of the original Star Wars film, and it did not disappoint. It might be considered informational than entertaining as it wasn't very action-packed.

Those are my top-4, all for totally different reasons because they are all totally different kinds of stories and I think that each did what it was trying to do very well. I think it's a very exciting time to be a Star Wars fan!