Star Wars Novels/Graphic Novels

[Joe Pesci]

Just finished Tarkin.

It was decent enough. Not great as Plagueis novel, but still quite enjoyable. Interesting to see Tarkin and Vader from some other perspective. 'Sheev' looked still evil as fuck though.

I loved the small hints to Darth Plagueis book. Not much, but enough to make you think about it, and in some way to canonize the events there.

I'm into Chapter 9, and I also like the Plagueis spots to make them canon. Also, the amount of old EU planets that are being named as well. The other new canon books seem to mostly make up new planets in them, and the names are terrible.

[Joe Pesci]

DP

[AndrewJ]

I'm surprised no-one is talking about "Before The Awakening" here (or, if they did, I missed it). Short stories for each of Finn, Rey and Poe - giving each of them a little more back story (though nothing too revealing).

I only heard of it today and intend to download it and read it soon (probably after the movie novelisation though - and after I finish another book I'm reading currently)

http://www.amazon.com/Star-Wars-Awakening-Digital-Picture-ebook/dp/B00XJKK8FK/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

 

[Spaßvogel]

I'm surprised no-one is talking about "Before The Awakening" here (or, if they did, I missed it). Short stories for each of Finn, Rey and Poe - giving each of them a little more back story (though nothing too revealing).

I only heard of it today and intend to download it and read it soon (probably after the movie novelisation though - and after I finish another book I'm reading currently)

I read it after I saw the movie the first time.  The Finn story was the weakest just because it talks about his training in simulators to be a stormtrooper.  He shows signs of being too compassionate for less-skilled teammates, but really there isn't much for him to do. There is nothing about him being a garbage man on Starkiller base.  Rey's doesn't delve too far back in her story, but talks about her scavenging and her relationship with other scavengers.  There is also an attempt to explain why she was so good at flying the Falcon.  It's a little weak, but I suppose it works. 

The Poe Dameron chapter explains a lot more about the complex relationship between the First Order, the Republic, and the resistance.  Why the resistance is somewhat separate from the Republic, and how the First Order is underestimated by the Republic.  (It even appears that the Republic made a treaty or cease fire with the Imperial remnant and divided up the galaxy.

I won't spoil anything else, it's an okay book with some important exposition that wasn't totally clear in the movie.

[lady narcissa]

I'm reading Lost Stars...about 70% through.  It's okay but I'm not enjoying it as much as I hoped.  With Star Wars, YA, and romance it seemed like the perfect combination for me but the relationship between the couple is a bit dull.  However, between the two of them they are managing to be at every event in the OT and its fun to see those events from another perspective. 

[First of My Name]

I'm reading Lost Stars...about 70% through.  It's okay but I'm not enjoying it as much as I hoped.  With Star Wars, YA, and romance it seemed like the perfect combination for me but the relationship between the couple is a bit dull.  However, between the two of them they are managing to be at every event in the OT and its fun to see those events from another perspective. 

I'm also 70% into Lost Stars, and the couple's relationship is a pleasant surprise for me because it feels more realistic and logical. Their bond is more mental than physical (I think you could even argue that it's not a romance so much as a drama), and for me that makes it more interesting to follow the two of them.
I also like how this 500 page book covers basically the entire Galactic Civil War.

[Corvinus85]

Finished the novelization of The Force Awakens. Initially I had a bad reaction to it, almost as bad as for Aftermath. Why? The constant jump between character POVs on the same page took some adjusting to. Also the first third of the book is nearly a play-by-play of every scene in the movie. But then it gets better, and more of the extra details I was expecting to see are included, details that do improve the story and some of the characters. So in the end, I liked it.

[Yevah]

I've always wanted to get into the star wars hype but I've never been able to get through the first original trilogy. I struggle watching movies from that long ago. 

Is there a book series based on the original three? That stays close to the original movies? I'd rather read the series than watch it anyways. Considering any book series I've ever read I started after watching the movies/show

[C.T. Phipps]

I really liked Lost Stars and think it's the best Star Wars story since Shatterpoint despite being YA. I admit, though, I'm not sure why it's classified as such since its 500 pages long and it's no more or less adult than any of the other Star Wars books I've read over the years (save the DARKER AND EDGIER New Jedi Order). I really think I may be letting my Imperial fanboyism affect my judgment, though, as I loved the character of Ciene Ree. I loved watching her go through the gauntlet of having her idealism shattered and just praying for the Empire's death even as I understood her rationalizations throughout her service to the Empire.

Aftermath, however, I straight up did not like the main characters of. I loved Admiral Rae Sloane, I loved the Interludes, and I loved the ending but Norra is quite possibly the single most annoying Rebel who ever lived. I kept wanting her to die horribly and she has entered into a special group consisting solely of Ken Palpatine, Rosh Penin, and Admiral Daala for characters who should just take a walk into a sarlaac.

Before the Awakening was entertaining and I give it a thumbs up for describing more of what was going on in the new movies. It's nothing really absolutely NECESSARY but there's some good character vignettes there. I think I liked Finn's story best.

[First of My Name]

I've always wanted to get into the star wars hype but I've never been able to get through the first original trilogy. I struggle watching movies from that long ago. 

Is there a book series based on the original three? That stays close to the original movies? I'd rather read the series than watch it anyways. Considering any book series I've ever read I started after watching the movies/show

There are novelizations of all the movies, yes.

I really liked Lost Stars and think it's the best Star Wars story since Shatterpoint despite being YA. I admit, though, I'm not sure why it's classified as such since its 500 pages long and it's no more or less adult than any of the other Star Wars books I've read over the years (save the DARKER AND EDGIER New Jedi Order). I really think I may be letting my Imperial fanboyism affect my judgment, though, as I loved the character of Ciene Ree. I loved watching her go through the gauntlet of having her idealism shattered and just praying for the Empire's death even as I understood her rationalizations throughout her service to the Empire.

I finished it this afternoon, but I mostly agree. It's a simple but really well executed story, and I think Ciena Ree is one of the best female SW characters I've read about. The author makes her completely believable. I think the characterization of Ciena and Thane is the highlight of this book, along with the Original Trilogy's Greatest Hits aspect. I really, really like this book, and I think it's one of the best SW books out there.

[Calibandar]

I've been trying hard to find a SW novel with Vader in it that I like, because he is who I want to read about.

But I am failing every time I try one.

I've sampled several chapters of:

Shadows of Empire-Berry

Rise of Vader-Luceno

Lords of the Sith-Kemp

Is there no novel that has Vader and is actually good?

The Berry and Luceno novels were very mediocre prose wise, couldn't get through that.

Lord of the Sith is more promising but only seems to focus on Vader and Palpatine kicking everyone's ass in battle, and at least half of the book is given over to Twilek resistance fighters from the looks of it.

Anything? Maybe just try Stover's Revenge of the Sith, even though he's not Vader yet there.

[C.T. Phipps]

Revenge of the Sith by Matthew Stover is almost a rewrite of the movie and Vader's psychology.

[underarmsauce]

There was a trilogy of books that were more obscure, and I haven't personally read them called Courscant Nights trilogy and a stand alone novel tying into that trilogy called the last jedi. I know that Vader is a presence in these novels, to what extant I can't say. In the reviews on Amazon Vader seems to have a good presence in the last jedi. Again, these books are on the more obscure level in the eu. 

"Let me make this clear. Anakin Skywalker is dead. Burned to a cinder and blown away by the winds of betrayal." Darth Vader 

[First of My Name]

Revenge of the Sith by Matthew Stover is almost a rewrite of the movie and Vader's psychology.

Yeah, but it's an improvement.

[lady narcissa]

Finished Lost Stars and unlike everyone else here who has read and commented on it, I thought it was only okay.  The plot on its own is fine although a bit too close to many a fanfic with the Gary Stu and Mary Sue main couple participating in every main battle in the original Star Wars trilogy and meeting just about most of the main characters.  The one meeting that was a bit too too for me...

So they meet Tarkin when they are kids and then he remembers them many years later.  Uh huh.  And then Ciena is all excited and proud about him remembering her and thinking what this might do for her career advancement and yet no wistful thought of regret for the loss of this connection and what might have been when he dies.

But on a whole I liked the idea of a story about two kids being raised in the Empire and going to the Academy and seeing how someone could end up working for the Empire and being on their side and thinking of the Rebels as terrorists.  I liked the idea of seeing all the OT events from the other side.  And learning about the Battle of Jakku and how that debris we see in The Force Awakens ended up there for Rey to scavenge.  And I think it sets things up nicely for how the First Order might arise from the end of the Empire.  However, the story as written that left me indifferent and bored.  It didn't help that I didn't care about Ciena or Thane or what happened to them or their relationship.

And the ending...

So we have this story that is focused on these two people and their relationship and yet the book doesn't end with them, it ends with Nash and clearly a lead in to a future book with Nash as the main character.  Grr.  That should have been an epilogue or at least a chapter before a last chapter with Ciena and Thane.

And I was kind of annoyed the last we see of them Ciena is in jail.  We all know she is going to get out of jail and they will end up together so to end it short like that was unsatisfying.

[Goldhand]

Listening through A New Dawn ('bout 1/3 through) and it's pretty good. Nothing outstanding.

[TheRevanchist]

Yeah, but it's an improvement.

I actually liked always the movie, but I started loving it after reading the novelization. It is really brilliant, and adds so many things to the movie. When I rewatch the movie, I know that some things make sense because the book filled the gaps.

[First of My Name]

Finished Lost Stars and unlike everyone else here who has read and commented on it, I thought it was only okay.  The plot on its own is fine although a bit too close to many a fanfic with the Gary Stu and Mary Sue main couple participating in every main battle in the original Star Wars trilogy and meeting just about most of the main characters.  The one meeting that was a bit too too for me...

Hidden Content

But on a whole I liked the idea of a story about two kids being raised in the Empire and going to the Academy and seeing how someone could end up working for the Empire and being on their side and thinking of the Rebels as terrorists.  I liked the idea of seeing all the OT events from the other side.  And learning about the Battle of Jakku and how that debris we see in The Force Awakens ended up there for Rey to scavenge.  And I think it sets things up nicely for how the First Order might arise from the end of the Empire.  However, the story as written that left me indifferent and bored.  It didn't help that I didn't care about Ciena or Thane or what happened to them or their relationship.

And the ending...

Hidden Content

They weren't Gary Stu or Mary Sue-like at all. I think they're some of the most realistic characters in the Star Wars universe, actually. They felt like real people, with strengths an flaws. Not simply archetypes like Luke or underdeveloped/poorly written like a host of Legends characters. Ciena in particular is very well-realized, with a unique worldview that allows her to make choices that the reader doesn't agree with but still understands.

They meet two main characters, not most. Also you say that the end you liked seeing the OT events from their perspectives, but also dislike the fact that they were present at the battles? That's kind of ontradictory.

As for the ending:

I took it very differently. We don't 'know' that she'll be getting out. I'm not convinced Ciena will be spending her life with Thane; the final scene is obviously intended as a microcosm of their relationship ('they were touching, but forever apart'), to show that nothing has really changed, and that also implies that their future will be as turbulent as their past. (I know these are assumptions, but it's what I took away from the ending). If anything I think it's left to the reader to imagine the outcome, and that their future isn't as set in stone as you think it is.
Where do you get the idea that the last scene has to mean that there will be a sequel with Nash as the protagonist? That's a rather wild assumption. It doesn't seem to me like there will be a sequel at all. And it seems that the last scene is more intended as a lead-in to the First Order than as a set-up for a direct sequel. Finally, even if there was to be a direct sequel, there's simply no way to tell if Nash would be the lead based on this scene alone. If a sequel was confirmed and I'd have to guess it's contents based on this scene, I'd be convinced of the opposite, actually. Thane and Ciena would return as the leads, to fill up the open ending, and Nash seems to be set up as antagonist rather than protagonist, because of how his relation to them is portrayed (he hates Thane and adores Ciena, setting up tension in this hypothetical sequel. If it's intended as set-up it looks he would drive a wedge between the two, try to kill Thane and retrieve Ciena. Which sounds like an antagonist to me).
 

 

You can't really watch it the same way after reading it. It's like they were based on two different scripts when it comes to the quality though.

[C.T. Phipps]

Re: Lost Stars

 

I don't think she's going to get out of jail or join the New Republic, actually. Part of what makes Lost Stars so good is it doesn't go for the usual Star Wars happy ending. The Rebellion doesn't want to Ciena Ree to join the New Republic, they want to make an example of her as an Imperial loyalist. She's not going to join the New Republic either despite what Thane thinks is going to happen because neither of them are going to betray their respective governments for love. That's part of what makes the story good....it's an anti-romance.

Also, Nash  is a Space Nazi. He might show up as a villain in a future book but not as a main character. The ending just foreshadows The Force Awakens and the First Order, populated by true believers like him. I also don't think a sequel is intended by Claudia Gray either.

I think it's a perfectly fine ending as each, Ciena Re and Thane never getting together because...well, politics.

[Goldhand]

Does anyone know if there's a list of upcoming new-canon SW books?