On this week’s WhoDatJedi podcast, we dove into our favorite Star Wars books … so I thought I’d list them here in case anyone wants to take the list and run with it. The fun part of this list is it covers a little bit of everything, from Legends, to kids books, to even a couple of things that aren’t “technically” Star Wars (but really sort of are).
Here we go!
Our Top Star Wars Books
Tales from Jabba’s Palace
This is in the spirit of “From a Certain Point of View,” but Legends, so if you’re a fan of those books, you might like to circle back to this one (and “Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina”) to get more of those side stories and different perspectives on the events of Star Wars.
Heir to the Empire
Dark Force Rising
The Last Command
The famed Thrawn trilogy! They really do live up to the hype, thanks to the establishment of rich, new characters, capturing the proper voice of movie characters, and some shocking plot developments. If you want to dip into Legends stories at all, these Timothy Zahn books are a must and should probably be your starting point.
Five Minute Star Wars Stories
If you’re in the market for something to read with your kids, these short story collections are great! Each of the early saga films is represented, and what’s really cool here is that none of the stories are spoiler-filled. So if you’re still waiting to surprise your kids with some of the twists and turns of the movies, these stories won’t spoil that plan in the slightest.
Shadows of the Empire
This Legends book was part of a major cross promotion event at the time, which included a video game and comics, etc. What was nice about the story is it filled in a lot of the gap found between “The Empire Strikes Back” and “Return of the Jedi.” And bonus … you can go play the N64 game as a compliment.
The Truce at Bakura
Set mere days after the conclusion of “Return of the Jedi,” this Legends novel did a really wonderful job of tying into those events and placing our beloved characters from the films in a brave, new world. There’s no Empire anymore … so now the buck stops with the Rebels.
Children of the Jedi
Part of the Callista trilogy in Legends lore, this novel deals with Luke’s relationship with that title character, a semi-dormant super weapon in the tradition of the Death Star, and of course the children themselves, survivors of the great Jedi purge.
Ahsoka
Some of the best Star Wars books tie into characters/situations from the movies and shows that seem to beg for more development. This young adult novel provides more insight into a character who is immensely popular with the younger set of Star Wars fans, and clues us in on how she went from Jedi dropout to Rebel spy.
Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker
The original movie novelization had kind of a wild name and was credited to George Lucas, though it was ghost written by Alan Dean Foster. All weirdness aside, the novel provided all kinds of additional context not present in the first film (including a bunch of stuff with Biggs and seeing Darth Vader’s perspective).
The New Jedi Order: Vector Prime
The New Jedi Order series of books lasted over 19 volumes (and a ton of comics), so there’s a lot to digest if you’re brave enough to dive into all of it. Vector Prime kicked things off and introduced the Yuuzhan Vong, who were a tremendous set of adversaries within the Legends novels, as they were different from most other enemies developed before or since. Notably, this story killed off Chewbacca, the first time one of the books offed a major character from the movies.
The New Jedi Order: Star by Star
Also featuring the Yuuzhan Vong and released close to the events of Sept. 11, this novel depicts a jedi-killing creature running rampant through the galaxy and develops the character of young Anakin Solo … whose untimely end later inspires Jacen’s decent into darkness. Grim (but entertaining)!
Master and Apprentice
Claudia Gray dives into the backstory of Obi-Wan and QuiGon’s teacher-student relationship, providing a fun adventure that explores their differences and similarities and how those things actually shifted quite a bit over time.
And that’s a great starting point, methinks. Below, you’ll see a number of other titles we spoke to on the podcast that didn’t make our “Top 3” as well as some listener submissions, and finally the podcast itself. Honestly, mileage may vary on all of this, but I can personally vouch for Star Wars and Philosophy, Hero with a Thousand Faces, the new Thrawn books, and Bloodline.
Other Recommendations
- Return of the Jedi novelization
- Revenge of the Sith novelization
- Legacy of the Force
- Jedi Search
- Star Wars and Philosophy
- Hero with a Thousand Faces
- The new Thrawn books
- X-Wing series
Listener Submissions
- Dark Disciple
- Lords of the Sith
- Tarkin
- Darth Plagueis
- Bloodline
- Lost Stars
- Rogue Squadron series
- Alphabet Squadron
- Battlefront II: Inferno Squad
- Rogue Planet
- Legends of Luke Skywalker
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Welcome to the 64th episode of the WhoDatJedi podcast! Your hosts — Aaron Svoboda (@Aaron_Svoboda), Alfredo Narvaez (@NOLA_Fredo) and David Gladow (@davegladow) — are joined by returning guest (and Legends super fan) Michelle Hunter of the Times-Picayune (@MichelleHunter) to talk about Star Wars books! The group lists their favorite books set in the universe Far, Far Away, and each person gives their reasoning behind each recommendation. Whether you’ve been a long-time voracious reader looking to reminisce, a complete newbie looking for a place to start, or somewhere in between, this should be a fun conversation about all things Star Wars books.
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Read more of Fredo’s musings here.
Read more of Dave’s musings here.
Song credit: Far, Far Away (Star Wars Jazz), by the Swamp Donkeys
Visit their website for more of their music!
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