#34 Star Wars

Ok this is broad and full of great novels and series, and full of complete trash. There are books that I return to, and others that just make me cringe.

I will not go into the horrors of some of the books. I actually started to make a list of the bad books, and the mediocre books, before I moved into the best of them. Then I remembered this was a “Best of” list, so I decided to scrap that idea

Ahsoka by E.K. Johnson

My favorite story in all of these is the Ahsoka book by E. K. Johnston. It tells the story of a broken character trying to find their way without the force and alone on a deserted planet. It is not as unique now that we have seen the Obi Wan series. Likewise, it is very much that story. She is in hiding, inquisitors come to hunt her. She wants to protect the locals, then reveals herself.

You see how she escaped, how she left the clones and her lightsabers behind, then how she fights the inquisitors to get her hew lightsabers. Then she helps start the rebellion. There are so many good stories in here.

Darth Plagueis by James Luceno

Another gem amid the dross. Telling the story of how Darth Plagueis recruits a Senator from a backwater world, give him power and then is destroyed by his apprentice at the height of victory. This is very much a story that takes place behind the scenes of episodes 1 and 2. He is there pulling the strings in the shadows. Not believing in the Sith rule of two and planning to raise a group to fight the Jedi and control the galaxy. It was fun, enjoyable and just well done.

The Jedi Academy Trilogy by Kevin J Anderson

This is no longer considered in the timeline. It is when Luke decides to stop fighting the imperial remnant, at least focusing on that. He and his friends begin searching for Jedi to train. The first training site for new Jedi are set up, and he begins his work to train them. It ends with an attack on the academy and the padawan fighting off the invaders.

I loved this series as a youth. I have not read it in many years, but the story was well told, and I liked the idea of him stopping the fight and letting others focus on that. Luke starts his next battle, training and dealing with wayward students. Many with their own dark tendencies.

The New Jedi Order series.

This series starts 20 or so years after the second death star is destroyed, and covers five years and twenty books by over a half dozen authors. The Jedi have started to rebuild, the academy is in place. There is a tentative peace between the different factions, and an invasion begins. Slow at first. A race of beings arrive from another galaxy after spending years crossing the void, intent on new resources and a home.

The Yuuzhan Vong are a terrifying adversary. Hating computers, and building biological ships, and modifying themselves through genetic manipulation to be better fighters, with built-in weapons, and they exist outside the force. This makes it particularly hard for the few Jedi to fight.

The arc does have some books that are lower on the interest level, but the story is well-thought-out. It covers the death of Chewbacca, and the mourning by Han. Han and Liea’s kids and Luke and Mara Jade’s kids play a large role in these battles. It is fun to see what might have been.

In Summary.

There are others, but those are my favorites. It is a minefield. If you go in not knowing past books, it can leave a hole in the story for you. In the end they are fun, and tell you what star wars was when it was sold from George Lucas.