The 20 best star wars books of all time canon and legends. Star wars is an american epic spaceopera media franchise, centered on a film series. Ask any star wars reader what book to start with, and nine times out of 10, youll. All stories are presented here in inuniverse chronological order, as opposed to realworld release dates. This includes all film novelizations, novels, comics, young readers, reference books, roleplaying sourcebooks, and more. The result is a huge number of novels that cover the clone wars. The high republic mixedmedia series, now seems like a great time to look back on the novelizations, stand alones, and book series that have been an integral part of building the rich and expansive universe that we know and love today the first star wars novelization was released six months following the premiere of star wars. It was called the ashla by the lasats, it by the dianoga omi, the life current by the mustafarians, the sight by the chiss, the life wind by the zeffo, and the luminous mist by the mistweavers. Ghostwritten by alan dean foster, but credited to george lucas, it was first published on november 12, 1976, by ballantine books, several months before the release of the film. George lucas and the origin story behind star wars.
This is a timeline for books considered canon in the new continuity. Force ghosts are the dead that join and fully merge into the force yet retain part of their self post mortem only to do the forces bidding, selfless, so the force can express itself through their ghosts to. No if you want to get technical, the film originally titled star wars, and later retitled star wars. The ultimate guide to reading the star wars books reedsy. In the first star wars book, at the begging, anakin was described like a really good child, but stubborn and really ambitious.
Thriftbooks sells millions of used books at the lowest everyday prices. When george lucas returned to making star wars movies, he chose to go back in time to tell the story of anakin skywalker before the events of the original trilogy, but that didnt mean fans were deprived of further adventures of han, leia, luke, and other star wars favorites from the original trilogy. It also describes those who committed a final act of selflessness that led to their death, and have come to terms with it. The force awakens, there will be 20 new star wars books published, all. The force was an energy field that connected everything in the universe, and was known by a variety of names throughout galactic history. Young readers adaptation of the first act of star wars. Star wars is usually very black and whitethese books are very definite about the empire being bad and the new republic being good, but have a more nuanced view of both. That makes seven new canon books planned to hit the shelves this year. The first star wars book published six months before the film released. From my experience, many star wars books are either very deep and have little action, or are very shallow filled with tons of action. When i started reading star wars books at the tender age of tenorso, there werent so many that i couldnt catch up to what was out there.
Lucasfilm just announced the star wars books that will. Heres 5 things you probably didnt know about star wars books. Two new star wars book recently were added to the schedule for 2019. Unfortunately, i believe this book might have fit better when it first came out, but now suffers greatly from analogies that no longer hold true. Understanding the complex world of star wars publishing. In later years, it was republished under the title star wars. The force was created by life, and therefore, resided in all. A complete guide to the new star wars canon before the.
Its clear from the off that san tekka has extensive knowledge of the force and is aligned to the jedi. But first, she has a strong arc on clone wars that comes to a bittersweet but noble conclusion, and is generally a cool addition to the sw. On january 1, 1976, he finished the fourth draft of the script, the one eventually used when production began in tunisia on march 25, 1976. Thankfully, this book is right smack in the middle. But the daddy of the force awakens books surely has to be the official novelization by alan dean foster, who was the ghost writer for the very first star wars novelinterestingly, the ebook is available from december 18, but the hardback is not available until january 1st, which means fans cannot receive it for christmas and bookshops have. The series depicts the adventures of various characters a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. A complete list of all fulllength star wars novels in chronological order. Disney should keep this in mind when making the next star. This year is shaping up to be a big one for star wars. There are so many star wars books for fans to read and consume, but with. To differentiate force ghosts from sith spirits id say this.
The first novel published after disney purchased lucasfilm, a new dawn. The first book describe the beginning of his life, the slave days on the tatooine planet, along with his mother, how he helped lots of people from death and how he even helped a crow of wild animals from the hunters. The force awakens trench run against starkiller base introduced a whole new squadron of resistance pilots in addition to poe dameron and two of them come straight from expanded universe novels. Simple list of star wars books in order of when they take place, with sidebyside timelines for legends and the new canon. Besides the books that are the written versions of the movies there has been written a lot of books based in the star wars universe. This book is an analysis of the christian similarities to the mystical religious aspects of the force as seen in star wars. As specified in chuck wendigs first aftermath novel, moments after the statue of the. The star wars legend, who has spent 43 years acting as the golden droid, reflects on the end of the skywalker. Lucasfilm and del rey have announced that between now and the premiere of star wars. For lucas, star wars was finally coming into focus. Aftermath, by chuck wendig we know very little about this september release. The force awakens will delight both star wars fans and film enthusiasts for years to come. A complete guide to the new star wars canon before the force.
The enduring popularity of xwing ace wedge antilles proves that certain star wars fans love rebel pilots. Books whose stories overlap within the same timeline are listed in recommended reading order based on my own judgement. Many derivative star wars works have been produced in conjunction with, between, and after. After reading this book i understand the light and dark sides of the force a little better, and i was also very appreciative of some of the more philosophical. In broad strokes, these novels paint the major galactic events that have taken place and add tons of context to the events taking place between the movies. The story of star wars, for the kind of fan that wants to know. Enjoy this special first look at the cover featuring the mysterious kylo ren in a painting by legendary star wars concept artist. If you really want to read all of the books, the respective novelizations are worth picking up. In cases where series were not published in their chronological order, we have noted that as well. Bursting with hundreds of beautiful works of art that include production paintings, concept sketches, storyboards, blueprints, and matte paintings, the art of star wars. Approximately 39 bby before the battle of yavin, which concluded with the destruction of the. Some sith lords learned similar techniques, which in some cases allowed them to physically interact with their.
Updated regularly, with new releases and upcoming titles highlightesd. The star wars franchise famously includes a wide range of mediums beyond just the films numerous books, comics, and games fill in the untold corners of the galaxy, and have set up the world. We personally assess every books quality and offer rare, outofprint treasures. Was star wars a book series before it was a film series. The force ghost was the soul and essence of a deceased forcesensitive who denied the will of the force upon death, yet was able to interact with the living. Theres going to be 20 star wars book prequels to the.
From the adventures of luke skywalker is the original title of the novelization of the 1977 film star wars. This trilogy consisting of heir to the empire, dark force rising, and the. The former expanded universe stretched several decades beyond the battle of endor, telling. The star wars series began in 1978 with splinter of the minds eye, to be followed by hundreds of novels by many different authors. A complete guide to the new star wars canon before the force awakens the books, movies, and tv shows that make up the star wars universe. Abrams, lawrence kasdan and michael arndt, introduced audiences to a new generation of star wars characters, while weaving in. Aftermath should have been the book that hooked people on star wars books, the big read this before you watch the force awakens number that also made people realize theres a whole universe to explore and make them want to explore it. A star wars story, alexander freed the force awakens, alan dean foster.
I cant imagine anyone wanting to read another star wars book if they start with aftermath. How is that lor san tekka knows kylo rens true identity in star wars. True, novelizations about popular films generally come out a month or two. Based on your question, i assume you have seen all the books out there, but they did come after the movies. Simple star wars book list timeline of star wars novels. We have listed all of these star wars series by their chronology. Zahn has now written two books with more to come focusing on his brilliant. The companys focus would be shifted towards a restructured star wars canon based on new material.
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