Why You Should Read: The Star Wars Expanded Universe (aka Legends) (Spoiler-Free)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 26 ก.ย. 2019
- Mike takes a look back to over 20 years of time spent in the original Star Wars Expanded Universe and what it meant to him growing up and how Disney has poorly misused the wealth of source material that could have made the sequel trilogy memorable.
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#StarWars #Legends #MikesBookReviews - บันเทิง
I'm sorry about the lighting in this one, guys. This isn't my usual recording space and of course a storm rolled in and ruined my natural light as soon as I started recording.
@@chaz9808 It truly does suck. Folks accuse me of taking a victory lap. Man, I just want to be excited about Star Wars again. I just don't see it happening under Kennedy.
@@mikesbookreviews I agree, I read over 90 of the EU novels, still some of my favorite books/series, Thrawn trilogy, Jedi Academy, Republic Commando series, Spector of the past/vision of the future, Legacy of the Force, and Fate of the Jedi (worth the read if you haven't finished it, get to see a lot of growth in Ben Skywalker). Wife and I refused to watch Solo in the theater and I will not go see Rise of Skywalker at the theater either. Hate what Disney has done, I miss actually loving Star Wars like I used to.
@@1amdremer Yeah, that's the true shame of it. The excitement for Star Wars has diminished more in 5 years than I could have imagined.
I will say, though, there are some amazing stories under new Canon you’re missing out on. Aftermath wasn’t great. But “New Republic: Bloodlines” is phenomenal. “Tarkin.” “Thrawn” is wonderful, it doesn’t even really feel like new Canon aside from Outbound Flight not having happened. And “Master and Apprentice” is one of my all time favorites. I’ve heard nothing but great things about Lords of the Sith and Lost Stars also. I do recommend some of New Canon, even if it’s not all great, just like Legends. Starting with Aftermath and writing Canon off is no different than starting with Crystal Star or Mission to Mount Yoda and writing the Expanded Universe off. I don’t think you’ll regret diving into some of them
Oh also, you may not be aware of this because I’ve seen a few of your videos do this: your outro music is copyrighted, so it mutes you. The music stops and then suddenly the whole video is muted because of the copyright protection.
The intro to this video made me more stoked on star wars than any of the new movies haha.
Yeah, so much potential material and they just swept it away. Morons.
The intro lasted forever. My god write a script
The day I return to Star Wars is the day they resume the Expanded Universe.
*High Five*
Executed order with # of likes.
I know right!? how do you have episode 7 without admiral thrawn and Mara jade
@@absentehhh8263 cause disney doesnt know crap about star wars like the true fans which is us they did it for cash grabs
@@andrewfernandez268 its dead. They sucked the life out of it to have a couple years good on paper now no one want to see it anymore what a shame
I love the old EU books! Far superior to Disney. The X-Wing books are some of the best, you should totally check them out!
I mean, I'm sure I will one day. Especially since I still call this my canon and not that dogshit Disney is doing.
Have you noticed something about the new canon books: Thrawn, Tarkin, Phasma, Leia, Alphabet Squadron, Heir to the Jedi (Luke), Queen's Shadow (Amidala). They all just focus on one character. They don't really have stories, certainly not interconnected ones. The main characters usually fights a bunch of people you've never heard about with results. that don't affect anything and are never mentioned again.
THANK you! Finally someone said it!
There is really NO reason that they cannot make more EU books!!!!!
That's all I'm saying. If they want to throw old school fans an apology bone, just allow that universe to continue. It doesn't hurt them one bit.
Capitalism will prevail. Once no one is buying the new stuff they’ll bring it back. They know we will buy it. Give me “Sword of the Jedi”! Now!
I thought the same thing when they announced "legends". I figured ok, multiverse, no prob, we're still good....ahhh optimism...
And amen on sg1 and its spawn lol
@@blackc1479 now they wont even pay the authors wtf!!!!
@@anakinsolo4529 disney is more evil then palpatine
These novels are still canon to me. Disney can go pound sand.
This is the series of my childhood, read it all. Loved it until they went crazy at the end. Jedi Academy, X-wing series, Thrawn trilogy, Young Jedi, New Jedi Order.....
It went a bit off the rails in Legacy of the Force, but I liked it overall. Basically when the focus was Jaina and Jacen, it was really good.
I began reading my first Legends book yesterday and I'm almost done, really fell in love with it, after years colleting star wars comics
I agree with you, as a huge SW fan myself, your analogy comparing the MCU vs Disney is 1000% spot on. Kevin Feige used established marvel canon to build a new but old plot line story with all their big characters and in my opinion was the main reason for that franchise success, whereas Disney bought lucasfilm and just scrapped the entire EU without even having a direction or a plan for a REAL sequel trilogy to the original and just came up with garbage stories and characters that some cases seemed like copycats of long established characters in the SW Expanded Universe.
I'm with you the novels are the new canon for me. I just ordered Episodes 1-3, I already have the Han Solo Trilogy and Shadows of the Empire. I also, recently, picked up Heir to the Empire and Spectre of the Past. However I'm going to get as much as I can and read them in chronological order. My first venture into the EU will be Truce at Bakura.
I Only read the Thrawn trilogy but it was very good
It gets to those heights again, but it's definitely the most focused and the most like the OT.
@@mikesbookreviews feel like re-reading maybe after Wheel Of Time😁👍 On book 8 rite now
Great Video! I have added Heir to the Empire to my 2020 TBR List. Thanks for the recommendation.
May the Force be with you.
Man I love your channel. Great video!
Great video. It's always nice to find smart people talking Star Wars.
So happy to have discovered your channel, and to find a fellow EU fan! Not seeing a Legacy of the Force video yet, so I'll just go ahead and get excited for when that drops. Merry Christmas!
I've enjoyed watching your videos regarding the old EU. I just finished the audiobook of Heir to the Empire, and I'm excited to get to the next two books in that trilogy and checking out some additional titles in the Expanded Universe. Your thoughts resonate very much with me because I gave up on Disney Star Wars after The Last Jedi, and didn't bother watching much of anything since then. Zahn's writing really brings those classic heroes to wonderful life again, especially after I went to see Return of the Jedi in the theatre again last week. Really makes me happy seeing a lot of love and exposure for these stories out here!
The fact that Mike digs Star Wars legends is excellent!! And before that, kindly discussing the influence of say Shannara and the nuances of many other book series and stories!
One of the best vids of EU content and breakdown of stories 🙌🏾
Love the EU and this video was great! Great job!!
i reread the books from start to finish and cry every time i get to chewbacca, and anakin, and really ball my eyes out when jacen nd jaina have their show down, even when bazel warve gets it protect alana, and when vestara goes back to the dark and has to run from ben.
After reading original Zahn's Thrawn Trilogy, what do you recommend in EU next? Thanks for your excellent channel!
Thanks for the kind words. I always recommend doing Kevin Anderson's Jedi Academy trilogy if you want a streamlined continuation of the stories Thrawn set up.
@@mikesbookreviews -Thanks for your channel. Very informative. I'm sharing it with my girls.
@@CharlesRBiggs Hand of Thrawn Duology closely follows the characters and some narratives of the Thrawn trilogy and is also written by Timothy Zahn, X-Wing books are also great.
start the series from the beginning and read them all in order, it makes a big differences especially when they start becoming more fluid like one long continuous story and the books become more like very long chapters then books
Read “Darth Plagueis” by James Luceno in addition to the books the other readers mentioned here in the comments. It is so rich in lore and is brilliant backstory for Plagueis, Palpatine, and leads right in to The Phantom Menace.
Dude you did something that hasn't happened since the Force Awakens trailer.
You got me excited for Star Wars.
God, I love this video so much... Is there a possibility of asking for the music at the begining? I loved it!
I don’t really recall where I found it. Let me look around.
Great video, summed up what so many of us feel exactly. I remember going to the bookstore on days of release for NJO and Legacy. We had to wait months in between- aaah such great times in SW. I really wish at the very least that they finish the Legends timeline. Sword of the Jedi sounded epic.
Right. That's like getting the keys to a Maserati and deciding to buy a Tercel instead.
This comment brought a tear to my eye😢. Beautiful sentiment
Thank you Mike...For you great passion for that major original sy fi adventure series...I am turning 30 so for me I really have a soft spot for that mid 90s-mid 2000s Era of star wars...It really was an undeniable time for that major series, I have sorted of found Star Wars is something I can return to time to time for a sense of comfort or just familiarity so I thought this time I would try some of the classic novels I seen them all the time and haven't dismissed them but often thought what they hell would that book be about decided to start off with the Darth Bane series and then if they stories hold my interest I plan to read the Thrawn trilogy!
Hey Mike, just discovered your channel recently... I'm halfway through Gwynne's Malice! Thanks so much I'm loving it!
Just picked up the Thrawn trilogy, and would love to see more Star Wars EU videos... (Also some more comics stuff)
There might be a new Star Wars vid in September. Stay tuned!
@@mikesbookreviews nice! Loving the Dune anticipation vids too.. reading that right now too with Moid's discord crew, looking forward to your read along discussions!
I must say that your channel just popped up in my recommendations with your malazan announcement. Being a huge malazan fan and having lots of malazan search histories the algorithm must have matched me with your video.
But now i find out you're a huge EU fan too? Damn your channel is getting more interesting by the second.
I have been a huuuuge EU nerd for many years having read all the EU books and comics i could get my hands on both gems like The Thrawn Trilogy and Dark Empire and also the well known dudds.
But the Disney EU wipe crushed me. I was so upset i gave up on star wars and took my SW books off my shelves and packed them in boxes. They are still in a box.
The EU wipe is what actually got me on a quest for new series and thats how i stumbled on Malazan. I haven't looked back since. To be honest i think it might be impossible for me to take a SW book seriously now.
I have been thinking of trying the new Timothy Zahn canon books but just can't bring myself to do it.
The only good thing about the new cannon are the comics. I must say the Darth Vader series is a blast, probably one of the best sw comic series.
Anyway hope to see more EU videos. It's such a nostalgic blast.
I was the same way! I was so upset I didn't even read Fate of the Jedi. But the good thing about the new movies and books being crap (IMO) is that it made me remember how much I loved the EU and I finally pulled them out of my closet again. I'm hoping to get into talking New Jedi Order down the road.
@@mikesbookreviews ivw been watching this guy matt Wilkins reviews of the EU and now in going through a lot of the EU right now I'm still in the in between before ep 4 I just finished the novel kenobi. I have some han solo and lando books but I will eventually get to Heir to the empire.
I'm in my late 30's so I grew up reading these EU books, and I'm in the same boat with the new canon. I gave it as best of a chance that I could, but Rise of Skywalker was really the last nail in the coffin of my interest in the Disney stuff. Do I watch it? Sure. Am I invested? No. What Rise did for me was inspire me to go back and start reading all of these EU books in order of release, including ones I missed back in the day, and it's been so much more rewarding. I'm finally caught up to where I left off back then, which is the beginning of the Yuuzan Vong arc, and the only reason I stopped back then was because Vector Prime had just came out and I was an impatient teenager that lost interest in waiting. My favorite part of reading them in order of release is how each book that comes out no matter where it falls chronologically is how they're always informed by the one before. It felt like such a cohesive universe, and even though events were kinda haphazard at times with a handful of retcons (looking at you, I Jedi) it's still way more fulfilling than knowing that no matter what new show Disney+ puts out, Force Awakens hangs over it like the sword of Damocles, and somehow Palpatine returns.
Rather read these old books.
Heir to the Empire series was amazing. I loved it. I'm so disappointed that they didn't use Luke's Jedi school and all the new Jedi and Mara Jade in the series.
I liked the Asuka book mainly because she was an amazing character
Right on brother!!! ✊✊🏻✊🏼✊🏽✊🏾✊🏿
It was so artistically done
I was always mildly interested in the EU, now I'm super interested and I agree with you that non canon doesnt matter. Thanks for hyping it up for me! My Thrawn books just jumped up to the top of my TBR 👍😊
Janna H The Thrawn Trilogy was so great and the perfect starting place. Just did a video on that series yesterday. Enjoy!
@@mikesbookreviews yes that video brought me to this one. Thanks!
@@jannarosereads4805 No, thank you! I appreciate the comment.
Canon and Non-Canon doesn't matter, all that matters is that you enjoy what you read.
@@mikesbookreviews My cousin gave me Heir to the Empire shortly before The Force Awakens came out. My first EU book, It's a good book. Honestly I liked both the Thrawn books I've read and the sequels. Even if I feel the Thrawn books are better executed. (As they at least felt they had a cohesive plan that ties each book together.)
I agree 100%. These are cannon to me as well. I hated episodes 7, 8 & 9 but loved Rogue One & Solo. Working my way through the books in order with the comics at the moment.
I love the video Mike I love the Star Wars EU. I gotta ask tho, what song was that in the intro??
I gotta get into these
I really enjoyed the Thrawn trilogy, then I read Shadows of the Empire. Now, I'm working my way chronologically through the EU. Just finished Revan about two weeks ago. We can hope Kathleen Kennedy's successor might open the floodgates again and let the EU continue. You have so much potential material. There's a 20,000 year gap between Dawn of the Jedi and Lost Tribe of the Sith for Chrissakes!
Darth Bane is sooooo good
So I stumbled upon your channel and I absolutely love your ideals. You're not attacking anyone for liking the new Star Wars canon vs the original, and you're fine with different opinions. Thank you for that, that's so awesome. I've been a die hard Star Wars fan since I was about 4 years old, and 20 years later I've started delving into the Legends novels. I just bought the entire Legacy of The Force collection and hope to start that soon, I know that's an odd place to start, but I'll figure it out. I'm sure I'm not the first person to tell you this, but if you've still not looked into the new canon novels I recommend Lost Stars. Well worth the read.
Nah, what I've always loved about Star Wars is it has always been for everyone. No matter race, gender, or creed, everyone could enjoy the galaxy far far away. Then it went ideological due to Kathleen Kennedy and them and media hacks had to go and make something that has been beloved for 40 years divisive and exhaustive. If folks love the new movies, hey that's great. I'm happy for them. I just can't get behind their decisions is all. But I would never criticize someone else for thinking differently in their opinions. To me, opinions are still very much allowed.
@@mikesbookreviews And that's a very appreciated ideal.
@@JokeRsMovieNetwork May the force be with you. Thanks for the chat.
@@mikesbookreviews Thanks for the great content! May the Force be with you.
I feel like they (Disney) had a better framework for the new trilogy when they started things, and the last Jedi really meddled with the plan for the trilogy, and episode ix became a “we gotta fix some things” course correction. I really enjoyed force awakens, when last Jedi came out I was disappointed lol but was relieved to see some of what I thought was important restored in rise of sky walker. At the end of the day I’ll always feel like We would have got a better story without Rian Johnson’s takes.
Anyways,
I’m totally new to the EU just started the thrawn trilogy, I’m excited to be exploring some “legends” novels, glad to have discovered your channel!
Hey Mike! This is an awesome video about the EU. I am quite a bit younger, 20 to be exact, but I feel the same way about the EU. This was the Star Wars I grew up with and fell in love with. I had a good number of books prior to 2014, but when Lucasfilm officially marked the EU as "Legends", I started collecting as much as I could. Great video and May the Force be with you.
That's refreshing to hear. Most younger folks just usually tell me I'm being an old man about this ha ha
Mike's Book Reviews Well they don’t know what they’re missing. The EU is just a superior timeline.
Your comment made my day😁 it’s great to see younger people reading these stories. It’s even greater that you are reading at all🙏. You are the NJO
I really enjoyed the EU. When I was in my teens I'd go to the bookstore every once in a while and pick up a stack of Star Wars novels and I'd be finished all of them in a week or two (I'm a fast reader). At one point I had almost all of the books published in the '90s, plus the New Jedi Order. But I was starting college in 2007, about the time that Legacy of the Force started and I had to stop buying and reading them because I didn't have the time. By the time I was done college, the EU was just about done and I couldn't keep up. I did buy some of them in eBook form and I have a few of my old collection (moving to a smaller house necessitated the need to pick and choose the ones I'd keep a physical copy of) still, so I'm starting from the very beginning, reading the ones I missed initially and rereading the ones I read as a teenager.
I think you are 100 percent spot on. I started reading Dark Horse in 2001 when I was 13 and I feel upon the Dark Empire and Thrawn Trilogies. Both excellent stories, I have only read the Timothy Zahn Thrawn books and the Han Solo Trilogy.
Am reading Fate of the Jedi now. Don’t listen to the revisionist history. The interactions between Ben and Luke are some of the best in the entire EU.
Why can’t they continue writing books for the EU? Because they want to avoid any and all comparison to the superior canon at all cost.
Great vid!
Boy, you said it. I think if the movies had been well received on their own right they would have allowed Legends to continue in its own "alternate" timeline. But the feedback for their mediocre product has made them vindictive AF towards the old guard. I'm sure Fate of the Jedi is fine. The people I hear complain about it are the same ones that rage quit when Jacen's arc happened.
I have started reading these books recently, only read the first two, liked them both, Revan is next and I can’t wait.
As Obi-Wan would say: You’ve taken your first step into a larger world.
Greetings sir from Egypt I currently devouring the EU books beside the Dune novels I totally agree with what you said and I 'm telling that EU lovers are worldwide even for those were English is not their first language !!!!!
Awesome to hear. Enjoy!
I wish I could give you a thousand thumbs up. I totally agree with you that I wasn't even all that salty when at first Disney said "none of this stuff is canon anymore, we are going to do our own, new thing", because I thought surely they would create something that is at least as good as the stuff that was already there for years. Like, how could you possibly screw it up, at worst you throw some new ideas at the wall, compare it to what was there before and if the new stuff isn't up to snuff you go back and rewrite and refine it until it is. They had this perfect measuring bar that they could have used to make their new stories as good as any story could possibly be, and somehow they managed to screw it up. I really don't get it, it was the easiest job in the world.
Also, what I find particularly grating is how people who dislike the Disney movies are sometimes accused of just being misogynists who can't handle a strong female character, when most of us couldn't get enough of characters like Mara Jade, Jaina Solo, Mirax Terrik, Winter, Ysanne Isard and who knows how many other awesome female characters who put Rey to freaking shame in terms of character development and role model potential.
Like, I was so excited when I first saw the trailer to The Force Awakens. A female protagonist, hell yeah. A black man as a Stormtrooper, who will probably feature prominently, sign me the hell up! And then they totally squandered it by just making these characters bland and lifeless and totally uninspiring. I feel so bad for the actors portraying them who were handed such atrocious scripts that no amount of acting ability could ever turn around into something good…
Anyway, I too went back to the EU books recently and am having a great time with them. By the way, you *definitely* should check out the X-Wing books, I actually prefer them over NJO (which I really loved as well) and I think I might actually give them the edge over the Thrawn trilogy, mostly because I think having some stories about non force users is very refreshing for once and Aaron Allston's Wraith Squadron run was pure gold for the often comedic approach that knew just when to pull back and punch you in the gut with drama and feels at the right moment.
Dude, you're not a grumpy old man. You, like me, invested a lot of time and money on the EU. I was invested in those characters.
Now I've got no idea what happened to Jaina, the republic commandos, how they got from Luke to Cade Skywalker, what happened to the remnants of the Lost tribe of the Sith, etc.
This should be good. I'm looking to find plenty of places to discuss the books as I've only recently gotten into the true Expanded Universe.
Thanks for uploading this. I only got into the Star wars franchise in the mid 2000s as a kid back in Nigeria and after disney has effectively ruined it and toxified the fandom, I decided to start getting pre-disney era star wars like the Clone wars show and the EU novels. I already got the Thrawn trilogy, The Bane trilogy, the OG and prequel novelizations, Tarkin and Sidious novels but have only read Path of destruction so far. Someone recommended Legacy of the Force series and I just ordered them via amazon. Cannot wait!
Go for the 20th anniversary audiobook of “heir to the empire” . the voices and sound effects are SO good!
I've only read two of the books so far, I can't wait to read thrawn, republic commando, darth plagues and so many more.
Plagueis is the shit!
New viewer and this video struck me hard. I loved the EU books - time for a reread I think.
The new movies being so painful only increased my love for the true EU.
@@mikesbookreviews YES!!
Thanks for putting up the facts. Great work. Hopefully Disney makes the Old EU Legends as Canon for new and revised movies
Now that would be a New Hope.
The mid to late 90s were a halcyon time for a star wars fan. The prequels hadn't come out yet and there were books continuing the story after the empire fell. There were video games (xwing, TIE fighter, KOTOR, dark forces, etc)
Just finding your channel, I totally agree
Hey Mike
I like your videos and they’re helpful
I’m just getting into the Star Wars world I love the expanded universe video, so my question for you is
Should I start with the high republic series or do you have a way for me to start with the legends series that would make me understand the whole Star Wars world?
My reading goal is to revisit the EU starting with Truce at Bakura (the 1st one i ever read many years ago) i have and have read all 32 i own. the goal is to read through the whole thing. not really including the short story stuff. but i want the full impact. i am an avid reader and reading these books always feels like coming to a cozy home. Thanks for the Review. EU will always be the real deal. It keeps the spirt and soul alive that is why its so loved. when they did risky stuff with characters( you know what i mean ) it hit you good. and i didn't hate them for it. they capitalized on the long game and EU won hands down.
I am aware that this video is more than 18 months old, but I could not refrain from commenting myself.
I am an EU nut. I have a large library and the Star Wars selection is substantial. My first Star Wars novel was the original from New Hope, this was followed over the next few years by Empire and Return. During that time I would peruse the shelves at Walmart and read sections of the latest Star Wars novels, or I would read snippets from other EU novels at the library. I believe my first completely EU novel that I read was New Rebellion. Shortly thereafter I added the Thrawn Trilogy, The Jedi Academy Trilogy, and the Hand of Thrawn Duology. At some point in this, I began to buy the books rather than read them at the library. One of my younger brothers and I split the cost of Splinter of the Mind's Eye. I also bought several of the younger Jedi Knight Academy series. Eventually I had acquired roughly 1/10 of the total published novels that I could trace as being in the Canon. Without counting for accuracy, I believe that my current total stands at roughly 80-90 physical volumes, most of which I have read.
Thank you for sharing your love of the REAL EU Canon.
To anyone looking to start the EU, my recommendation is to start with the movie novelization of New Hope, Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi. From there maybe read Tales from Jabba's Palace, Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina, Tales of the New Republic, and Tales of the Bounty Hunters. These will provide a number of launch points to various aspects of the EU.
Another entry point is through the prequels. Read the Phantom Menace novelization and then the surrounding novels as you move toward Attack of the the Clones and finally into the Revenge of the Sith and the Rise of Darth Vader novels. These will prepare you to leap far forward into the New Jedi Knight, Legacy of the Force, and Fate of the Jedi series. Those series offer enough call backs to prior novels that you could then at leisure move back to them without too much complication.
Gonna be completely honest, I've never read an EU book. I've read a few Disney Canon books that I thought were pretty good (Lost Stars, Thrawn, and Master and Apprentice). I'm really looking forward to getting into the books that you guys love so much though. Starting with the Thrawn Trilogy.
Enjoy!
#LegendsIsMyCanon
Oh hell yes. The books where Luke is a bad ass well into his 60's and not whatever the hell that was in TLJ will always be my canon.
Traitor is probably one of the best Star Wars books ever written and I know maybe one or two people that have read it, yet there are thousands of people that call themselves Star Wars fans but couldn’t tell you the Yuuzhan Vong are.
*high five* So many friends I knew that quit on NJO because of what happens with Jacen just made me sad for them. Characters die, some don’t stay good. It’s realistic. Such a wonderful book. And the YV >>>>>> The Empire.
There’s fans and there are the people who love things. You are one of the latter🙏
Traitor is such an emotional ride with the culmination of some of the best character arcs in SW’s. I think SxS is still my favorite in the NJO though🤔 then again...Ganner👏💪😢
Hey mike's, would you do a top 10 EU books/series? Already read Thrawn, and almost finished the new Jedi order based on your recommendations...
Let's just say they were awesome! :D
Honestly, one of the good things that came out during Disney's control of the franchise, is that fans of the EU seemed to have become a lot more active on platforms like TH-cam. I remember back in middle school wanting to watch videos (around 2010ish) about the EU (at that time I had mostly been into the video games, but not so much with the novels. I read the Jedi Academy Trilogy, but other than that I just didn't know where to look). But I ran into barely anything other than cutscenes from the video game Star Wars: Rebellion, a small animated short of the Sun Crusher ramming one of Admiral Daala's Star Destroyer's (and a poor-quality animation at that), plus a few crappy animations of some Yuuzhan Vong War fan fiction.
Now, we have channels like Corey's Datapad, EckhartsLadder, Star Wars Explained, etc. (and of course, your channel) that cover this stuff extensively, and give us both lore summaries, and guidance on where to go.
One thing I always wished for was more exploration of Force users that weren’t explicitly Jedi or Sith. Luke and Jacen did *some,* but there’s so much more out there.
And I agree about the quality of NJO: Heretic. Such a phenomenal book. It should have been put into a hardcover slot rather than mass market paperback.
I think my favorite Star Wars novel is still I, Jedi.
"If you like the new canon, fine, I'm happy for you. Just because I don't like it, doesn''t mean I'm gonna talk about why you're wrong and why I'm right."
Not gonna lie that phrase alone made my day. I know not every people disappointed with the new canon, and not every EU fan is like that. But there has been a lot of negativity surrounding this fandom, and a lot of people who think they get to call someone a "Fake Fan" just because they like some piece of SW that they don't.
(And if anyone with that mentality is reading this, no, I don't give a shit how many sw books you've read, how many games you've played, how many comics you've read, how many movies you've watched, how many shows you've watched or even how many documentaries and interviews with George Lucas himself you've read or watched. That STILL doesn't give you the right to gatekeep this franchise from others, NOTHING gives you that right, nothing will EVER give you that right. You're not special ok? Let people enjoy things. "Oh but that new crap isn't Star Wars", YES IT IS, just because you don't like it, doesn't mean it's not Star Wars, you don't get to decide what is and isn't real Star Wars either. You're a fan, you're not a figure of authority on Star Wars, you're just a fan like you, me and everyone else.)
I only caught Kevin Hearne's SWEU book. Loved it.
I need to pick more up. There's just so many too choose from.
Meanwhile, The Expanse.
Star Wars is science-fiction. The Expanse is science-fact. I love it. I actually feel like gravity is a character in The Expanse novels. So good.
So basically for you The new Star Wars it like the Celvin timeline of Star Wars
Somewhat. I thought the Kelvin timeline was taking a chance by Abrams and I didn’t feel like the creators were so disrespectful to fans that didn’t like it.
do a video on your collection on star wars books
I loved it all
right on
The original eu feels a lot more like star wars, you know, how it feels to watch a new hope or empire strikes back, and it feela really damn nice. Even so, I don't think you should completely write off the new eu, I do feel like some of the stuff feels really manufactured and soulless but reading a lot of the new stories from between episode 3 and 4 feels so cool, the stories feel like their being written by people that care about star wars. I do wish that disney allowed writers to do crazy shit in the books like we had in the original eu because the new eu definitely feels a lot more tame
(I prefer the old EU) I don't care about the new EU characters except: Ashoka Tano, every Clone except Fox (I care about them even more than the old clones), revived Maul, Duchess Satine, Savage Oppress
All time favs for me have to be thrawn (best EU "villain" period.) The Bane trilogy( 2nd best villian) Early and late NJO, legacy, and honestly the clone commando books. I loved that they brought in a whole new non force user outlook. Just wish we had closure on that one.
Didnt really dig Fate, despite the luke/ben stuff. Some of the concepts just didnt hit for me (trying not to spoil).
Plenty of other great eu stuff, including comics. Some others that....ehh werent as good.
Crucible wasn't spectacular, but kinda felt like a good cap for the era.
And i still havent given in and read any of the new canon, other than a few of the GNs.
I never would have imagined that the rat could screw up SW to the point that 2 years on there are movies that i still have no interest in watching. The only bright point is the mandalorian.
I think you should really give The High Republic era a try, while it's not a continuation of the EU by any means, it's a brand new era that's never really been explored in Star Wars before and has the same kinda feel to it.
And coming back, if you haven't read the Rogue Squadron and Wraith Squadron books wow you are missing out. They are up there with the best SW EU books. And they are not only focused on Wedge Antilles in fact other characters such as Corran Horn and Tycho Celchu take center stage.
Yeah, I've had a handful of folks tell me what I've been missing with the X-Wing books.
The newer Thrawn trilogies, especially Ascendency, is a great read and really fleshed Thrawn’s character out. He’s nothing like in Rebels.
Fate of the Jedi are worth reading.
*is
I really love the EU. I played through the Dark Forces/Jedi Knight series again, and I love this universe.
Although, I do have some questions as far as books go. How would you say the Han Solo and Bounty Hunter trilogies are? I really like the Imperial Remnant and other fragmented parts of the Empire, is the Black Fleet trilogy worth reading as well? As a reference, I've never really been a big reader. I occasionally read the Horus Heresy series, but not much besides that.
When vector prime came out, around the same time episode 1. Alotttt of people hated on chewbacca's death. It was the first time a major character was killed and fans were really really hurt, even though vector prime is an amazing book imo, and the new jedi order series is great, i just think it should of been tied up with less books, it dragged out a bit. But that whole scenario was unique for starwars, both sides having to team up and face a extragalactic race thats immune to the force, and with the solo kids coming of age its pretty cool to see. But the hate that book got just because they killed off chewy people were so mad. To me, those books are cannon because george lucas gave them the ok and told them who they could kill off. Yeah new jedi order and vector prime especially are my favorite books. Also trying to find the audio books unabridged for those books are next to impossible, i know a few sources, but you basically have to get them from old librarys that had them for blind people.
13:50! You were so close! 🤣🤣🤣
So predictable.
I’m starting with the Thrawn, Jedi academy, The new jedi order, legacy of the force, and then fate of the Jedi after that I’m gonna read the prequels and old republic and then I’ll start the comics and then continue the canon timeline
Great stuff in the comics! Nomi Sunrider is a beast💪
Starwars Legends and the Starwars Legends expanded Universe is my main favorite.
Hey Mike, I'm still waiting on you to read some high republic content.. please give us a book review on that
Yep I do eu is my canon, it was the first canon and Lucas was more involved and it followed his vision more clearly.
Still to this day i think as the EU as the holy bible of star wars , so many scriptures. So much lore
💯
Clone wars is good and Dave Filoni is a great writer
Filoni is a genius and he needs more power.
@@mikesbookreviews The Clone Wars TV show was initially supposed to be part of the EU. However, it contradicted with pre-established EU material.
I’m fine with the sequels as I do luv em but I’m interested in reading these. Idk exactly where to start or end because there’s a lot of them but I’ll make an effort to try to read it from beginning to end because as an actual fan I wanna read and watch every piece of SW media
Hi, I’m reading the Darth Bane trilogy. After watching the Rise of Skywalker it made me wanting to read the original timeline. I’ll start with the Old Republic.
I still want to read those. I own them.
@@mikesbookreviews I highly recommend them. Some of the best written SWs books and easily one of the best Sith lords in Darth Bane.
@@Avarn388 I haven't heard even the biggest EU detractors say anything bad about them.
@@mikesbookreviews bane is excellent
@@mikesbookreviews confusing me? Isn’t that part of the legends?
Wow you right about Rey being the Emperors daughter!
Hey Mike! Is there anything you recommend reading before picking up vector prime and tackling the NJO?
1:00 Dude this intro music is so baller. I wanna know what it is so I can look it up. :)
Data's like Star Wars and Star Trek never really NEED to end. There is always a place to explore, and evil to be fought, and a lesson to be learned.
Love most of the EU and the Disney Fan Fiction. You should definitely give the new Thrawn book a shot.
As a newcomer to the EU I‘m actually not as disheartened about the fact that they‘re not producing Legends material anymore. It makes it more achievable to read through everything. As for why they chose to stop: Disney probably doesn‘t see Legends as an addition, but more so as an adversary to their own new canon (I think it would sell far better than their own works, so that‘d be an embarrassment). Thank you for the cool video! What do you think about the Old Republic era of Star Wars? So far it‘s my favourite.
I love Star Wars and am a original trilogy purist and feel the same way about the direction Star was is going . But I am a TNG trekker at heart. I would like to read the Star Trek and Star Wars books but my TBR pile is already tall enough. I wonder how Star Wars would have turned out had Universal purchased the franchise.
I think they should continue Legends as an alternate universe. I agree the sequel trilogy lacked the cohesive vision. The only way they could’ve made a sequel trilogy in continuity with the Expanded Universe is have it after Crucible or Legacy. Kylo Ren was a new canon replacement of Jacen Solo and The Rise Of Skywalker brought back Palpatine and confirmed he was a clone in TROS novel just like the EU comic series Dark Empire.
Hi! I'm so new to the Star Wars universe - I don't even know what EU/Legends/Canon means. But I recently watched your bookshelf tour and the Star Wars collection made me want to read it so badly! Can you tell me how to go about it? Should I watch the movies first or read the books or is there a tv show and what exactly is this universe? If I should read the books where should I start and how should I go about it? IM SO CLUELESS but you seem like the perfect person to ask!
Hey if you want I can guide you in how to watch star wars and get the most out of it. I would love to introduce you to star wars. Do you have discord?
The republic/imperial commando series was amazing I still consider it canon
The New Jedi Order and Legacy of the Force are some of the best Star Wars stories ever! I still remember how much Star By Star devastated me when it came out.
What is the music for the intro it sounds cool