It’s no secret that I’m a big Star Wars fan. And, in some ways, I’d say that I’m even more a fan of Star Wars know than I’ve ever been for, driven mostly by the plethora of modern-day content and that fact that I’m able to partake in Star Wars content (even the content I don’t love) without losing my mind like so many people on the internet these days.
Seriously…it’s not that hard to just enjoy things. You should try it sometime, if you never have before.
(Which isn’t to say people aren’t allowed to criticize things they dislike, there just reaches a point where you have to ask yourself why all you do is hate things all the time.)
Got a little off-topic there, sorry.
My point is, I love Star Wars in all its many forms. But, while I could talk for hours about the Star Wars video games, movies, shows, and toys that I adore, I could talk for dozens of hours about the books from the franchise that I love.
I’ve been reading Star Wars books essentially since I learned how to read, and I’ve never really stopped. My bookshelves are at least 20% Star Wars books, and that number is only growing now that I’m financially able to indulge my addiction to the galaxy far, far away in paper form!
But there was something that struck me a little while ago, a random thought that popped into my head one day: Wow, there are a lot of Star Wars books, aren’t there?
So today, I wanted to go over just a tiny, itty-bity sliver of the vast universe of Star Wars books. Specifically, the ones that were a formative part of my reading journey in my younger years, and some more recent favorites of mine!
Star Wars: Jedi Prince
If anyone remembers what this series is, you might’ve just reflexively reared back in horror. I apologize.
A series so reviled that it was stricken with “non-canon” status practically the moment it released, I’m not even sure how much I have to say about this series overall. I think I read it from start-to-finish once, and then never again. It’s got complicated family trees and secret relatives, a guy with three eyes (or maybe two guys with three eyes?), literal space wizards, and so much more. It’s the sort of glorious mess you get when basically anyone could write a Star Wars novel back in the day. And, to a certain extent, I almost miss that wild craziness.
Star Wars: Galaxy of Fear
There weren’t many books cooler than Goosebumps as a kid, but one series that was was this one right here. And it’s not hard to see why, considering it’s literally just Goosebumps but Star Wars.
It’s got the cheesy moments of ‘horror‘, mixed with some actually unsettling bits (the book set on the abandoned pitch-black space station really spooked me as a kid, as did the book about a planet haunted by sentient shadows). It’s got the eye-roll-worthy end-of-chapter cliffhangers (where one chapter ends with “suddenly a hand landed on my shoulder” and the next starts with “wait, it’s just my brother“). And it’s got more shenanigans than you can shake a stick at. Don’t take these books too seriously.
That being said, they’re super fun! There’s a lot of cameo appearances from the likes of Luke, Leia, and Han, but then also Darth Vader and Thrawn. The core protagonists are really enjoyable, and I like the genuine attempt at an overarching plot (at least for the first arc of the series). The unique spooky concepts are also compelling, like an amusement park plagued by a nightmare-inducing machine, a luxury cruiser taken over by an evil AI, or a planet infested with massive bugs.
Star Wars: Jedi Quest
A lot of people close to my age grew up wishing they could be wizards attending Hogwarts. I, on the other hand, grew up wishing I could be a Youngling in the Jedi Temple, and a large part of that was thanks to books like this (and it’s predecessor series, Jedi Apprentice).
There was just something so enthralling about reading a series of books set in a universe you love, with protagonists (Obi-Wan excluded) that were the same age as you. It made it an effortless task to envision myself as the hero of these stories, swinging my plastic lightsaber around as the scenes from these stories played out in my imagination-powered backyard.
Also, a special shout-out to the book I featured in the image above. That’s unironically one of my favorite Star Wars books of all time. I love the story of Obi-Wan and Anakin having to put aside their differences to do battle with an eclectic assortment of violent bounty hunters. Lots of fun moments in that story!
Star Wars: The Old Republic
I missed the boat on a lot of content from the Old Republic era of Star Wars, so I’ve been making up for lost time in recent years by diving into these novels. And, by and large, they’re super good! It’s not hard for me to understand why this was an era that people cherished so much. Heck, the long-running The Old Republic MMO is still covering stories within this time period to this day!
Fatal Alliance, pictured above, was my favorite out of the books I’ve read so far, as I felt it did a really good job conveying a compelling narrative filled with multiple POVs and characters thrust together into unlikely alliances against a greater threat. But Annihilation was a really fun, classic-feeling adventure story, and Revan presented some interesting angles of beloved characters from the Knights of the Old Republic video game.
You may notice that these books have a little ‘Legends‘ tag added onto them. Some people view this as the end of the world. Me? I prefer to view it for what it really means…that being ‘nothing‘. The book still exists whether it has that sticker or not. Just read it and enjoy it, and if you want to still think of this material as canon, who is going to stop you?
Star Wars: The High Republic
On the flip-side to the Old Republic, I was on the ground-floor of the launch of the High Republic era of Star Wars content, eagerly and enthusiastically scooping up as many of the new books and comics as I could. Or, well, to a point. A bout of unemployment left me in a financial situation unable to keep up with the tidal wave of output this narrative force was driving, so I’m a little behind. I’ve still got ten novels, six comics, a manga volume, and a character encyclopedia!
Some of the grander intricacies of how the narrative of the High Republic is structured doesn’t fully gel with me, but one thing that rules is the setup to the series, and the individual stories being told in each novel! An era where Jedi were everywhere and mostly beloved, only for a massive hyperspace disaster, a pirate uprising, and an evil planet species invasion to happen all at the same time? It’s the perfect recipe for chaos and crazy shenanigans galore.
By-and-large I think I’d say the YA corner of the High Republic is what I enjoyed the most, though the Adult-aimed trilogy is still really good as well. Honestly, all of the High Republic content I’ve read so far has been very entertaining! I can’t wait to jump back in where I left off and try to complete my collection!
Also, shout-out to Geode, the sentient rock guy (as in he’s literally just a rock, but alive…only when people aren’t looking at him). 10/10 character!
And that’s not even to get into other trilogies and series and collections! There’s a new and old “Thrawn” trilogy, the “Young Jedi Knights“, the “New Jedi Order“, “Republic Commando“, “Legacy of the Force“, “Darth Bane“, and about a million standalone novels!
So…that’s a lot of books, huh? And like I said earlier, that’s only the very tip of the iceberg. We’d be here for years if I tried to actually mention every single Star Wars book ever written!
But one thing I can say is that I love them all, so I for one am stoked there’s so many to read! And if you’ve never tried out a Star Wars book before, I think you owe it to yourself to go for it!
But hey, that’s just my opinion!
The Contrarian Corner 