Least favorite EU book/series

[Jedi Master Kyle]

for me it would have to be the Black Fleet Crisis. i can't believe that i stayed awake to read thru those 3 books.

[Darth Dyzm]

Dude, You Cant be more right,
when i read those books I had no other EU book to read at the time,
having to read through all that crap was pure torture, even for the most evil sith.

Best would have to be the Dark Tide 1, Onslaught

[Jedieb]

If I remember right the Black Fleet crisis is the series where the Republic is threatened because this alien race has plans to take revenge on Humans and the Republic because they were enslaved by the Empire. They think themselves above humans and even have to cleanse themselves after touching humans. (Kind of like the Vong in the New Jedi Order.)

Not a bad premise but what dragged it down was Luke's story line. Let's take the EU's best and most important character (IMHO) and have him hook up with some boring whiny female and search for his long lost mommy. Who has special force powers but doesn't believe in killing and using the Force for defense and attack. Idiots. Han's getting beaten to a pulp but Luke can't help because he's searching for mommy. Stupid, stupid, stupid. And what was up with having Luke crawl into the side of a mountain to become a hermit?

And didn't Black Fleet also have Lando and Lobot stuck in that idiotic phantom ship? What was the point of that?! You guys are right, Black Fleet did suck.

A much better trilogy was the Correlian series with Centerpoint station.

[Jedi Master Kyle]

you know jedieb, it was so bad that i hardly even remember the alien race. i just remember that luke was searching for his mom (didn't luke get some action in hyperspace from that girls he was with?) and that lando and lobot were stuck on a ship that was alive and kept cloaking itself. lame.

[Bromine]

Never read Black Fleet Crisis, but I did read Truce at Bakura. To this day I can't even believe it was a Star Wars book. It really didn't have much to do with the Star Wars universe, other than the names of people and places. Not to mention it was a boring story to begin with. Sometimes I wish authors would have the guts to just make up their own characters if they don't want to tell a SW story, instead of trying to change SW to fit their purposes.

[Doc Milo]

Mine has to be "The Crystal Star." It just did not have a Star Wars feel at all. I would think that storyline would fit better in the Forgotten Realms Fantasy line of books!

Other than that, I might be in the minority, but I really didn't like the Dark Empire premise of a resurrected Emperor having his spirit jump from clone emperor to clone emperor, and having Luke turn to the dark side to be saved by Leia.

I'd think once Luke touched the dark side in RotJ, and then moved past it, to finally become a Jedi, he would be able to resist such temptations, and also be intelligent enough to heed Yoda's warnings about "once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny" so he wouldn't even consider turning bad "for good reasons."

In fact, with the advent of episode 1 and the "balance of the Force" theme, I'd think that part of the imbalance, part of the gray area that Lucas described when he was telling CUT magazine what Balance of the Force really means, would be Jedi dabbling in dark powers for "good reasons." (The Ends Justifies the Means, sort of.) And once Vader is redeemed and kills the Emperor, Luke, as a symbol of Balance being restored, going to the dark side -- either tempted there or voluntarily turning so he can do good (namely get close enough to destroy the resurected emperor) -- just doesn't work for me.

[Darth Turbogeek]

Man, where do you start with bad EU?

The Black Fleet crisis was terrible. Alos, anything with the Solo children, gross.

The Jedi Acadamy was pretty bad, but surely the worst was Children of the Jedi. Oh please help us all, what an awful book. TERRIBLE!!!!

I gave up on the EU after that one. I have only read I Jedi and the Hand of Thrawn books sonce and I dont intend to read any others. I'm afraid my love of Star Wars just wont let me see it dragged down by two bit authors

[Darth Dyzm]

DT read, Onslaught, it has everyone and it fits in with other books, even the crappy ones, Like they mention those Aleins in the Black Fleet Crisis Once.

[Jedieb]

I liked I, Jedi. And of course the Thrawn stuff is great. But for me the EU is really 50/50. For every one book I like there's 1 I barely made it through. One series I did like that not many people read was The Young Jedi Knights series. They're aimed at the same reading level as some of my students so I'd buy them, read them, and then place them in the classroom library.

[Bromine]

One problem that hasn't been mentioned yet is the "new enemy/aliens" angle. In Truce at Bakura, there are dino-like aliens from an unexplored part of the galaxy; in The Courtship of Princess Leia, there are the Hapes Kingdom which is incredibly powerful and rich; The Black Fleet Crisis; and now the Vong. Seems to me a lot of authors keep wanting to give the good guys a new enemy, but it never sticks. These all-powerful forces conveniently disappear by the next book.

To me, Star Wars shouldn't be about the good guys fighting some new alien race. Star Wars is about a galaxy in which the population has long since met and formed a more or less cohesive whole, and the problems the galaxy goes through together. It's not about going where no man has gone before and discovering new aleins to fight.

Am I alone in that opinion?

[Darth Dyzm]

The Aleins in Black Fleet got killed,
The Hapens Are Mentioned now and again (they aint enemys)

The Sussiruuk (or however u spell it) got whiped by the Imps and the Rebels, and both sides had minimal Ships, 1 SD or One Mon Cal would have ended the fighting faster.

The Vong Make Sense, Creatures from out side the galaxy, and Lucas Likes it, he even said it was ok to kill Chewie, i'm ok with that

[Bromine]

Yes, I do like the Vong. The others just seemed so lame, like they were borrowed from another Sci-Fi story.

[Darth Turbogeek]

Hey, Bromine has it right. Too many EU books read like Star Trek.

Screw ST. I want SW, not some dumb ass ST deep throat 90210 crap. Spare me.

[RHJediKnight]

Yeah, the YJK series does indeed suck. But, at least they made the Solo kids pretty badass in the New Jedi Order books. Especially Anakin, he seems to be made of more Jedi Knight material than his brother and sister. Jaina's pretty cool, she's a pilot in Rogue Squadron. Jacen kinda sucks, he seems too wimpy to me <g> He was so eager to be a Jedi in the ::shudder:: Young Jedi Knights books, and suddenly he's doubting his career choice. Poor boy...

[Jedieb]

I liked the YJK series. But the Solo kids have taken on different personalities in the New Jedi Order series. Jacen does whine a bit too much. He really got pasted by that Vong warrior at the lake. Meanwhile, Anakin was kicking Vong butt all over Dantooine. Pretty good stuff.

[Darth Turbogeek]

The Solo kids must die. Ewww, almost as bad as Callista

[RHJediKnight]

DIE TURBOGEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ::tackles TG and starts to strangle him, then looks around seeing everyone looking at him oddly, and stops strangling TG:: :o Sorry...just even the Solo kids don't deserve to be compared to ::spit:: Callista. Well, maybe Jacen...maybe Jaina, too.

[GuardPiett]

The Vong??

[Jedieb]

The Vong are the new enemy the Republic and the Jedi are facing in The New Jedi Order series. (Vector Prime, Onslaught) And they're mentioned indirectly in the new Anakin and Obi-Wan novel Rogue Planet as well.

[Dalethria]

Anything written by Kevin Anderson is bad IMO. He has no grasp for details.

Dalethria

[Bromine]

And he needs to stop bringing back the Death Star! ("Jedi Aacademy", "Darksabre")

[Dalethria]

Kevin Anderson cannot write anything unless there is something big ~IN~ it:

DeathStar
SunCrusher

Gah...there does not have to be something threatening the entire universe all the time lol. I mean, if you want to shake things up, that is good, but there are nice filler stories that can be fun and does not have to affect everything...

Dalethria

[RHJediKnight]

Heh, if ya wanna destroy a planet, slam a moon into it like the Vong did. ;)

[Atreyu]

KJA is a strange one - he only seems to be able to write books that are based on other works like SW, X-files, and more recently with Dune. As far as I'm aware he's hardly done his own original work like Zahn and Stackpole (2 undisputed masters of the EU).

[dalethria]

Slam a moon into a planet? Hmm....let me thinks. Yep, that sucks too...I SO hated Vector Prime...

My smallest complaint is, does RA ever mention the color of anyones lightsaber? no...

Do the characters seem to be acting like themselves? no....

Personal displesure....the fact that he is messing up Mara and so soon since her and Luke got married...so wrong

Dalethria

[RHJediKnight]

Hmm, I thought Vector Prime was great. Much better than most of the crap Bantam fed us...

[dalethria]

I agree that Bantam feds us crap, but Vector Prime did not cut it for me. I LOVE RA, don't get me wrong. The power levels are just way too high when he writes and in Visions, Zahn was trying to lower how powerful Luke could be. Luke can do anything he wants true, but Zahn wanted to instill in Luke that using the Force all the time is not the right path. Look at Ben and Yoda...only use the tools that are needed when it is the right time....

[Atreyu]

My smallest complaint is, does RA ever mention the color of anyones lightsaber? no...
Of course not, because LFL specifically told him NOT to. Same with Chewie - they told him to kill Chewie off (I believe he wasn't real happy about it but he ended up doing it of course). I think that's sometimes a problem with the EU - LFL tells the authors what they can/can't do so it can at times restrict their creativity.

Sometimes I wish LFL would do what a lot of other serries do - get a whole bunch of authors to write what they want and then choose the good ones from the bad ones then warp them a bit until the story is right, rather than get specific authors to specially write a book but load them with a list of dos/don'ts of what they can do in the book.

[dalethria]

Your kidding???

RA Could not mention the sabers...geesh. Every other SW writer can, but he can't. Talk about not making a lot of sense. Of course, LFL needs to be mroe flexible. The shackles the put on the authors unless you like Zahn or Stackpole is ridiculous and I agree with you. I really had a good idea for a comic story for SW but there is no way that would ever happen since LFL is so stringent on who does what and can write anything. Marvel and DC at least listen to you and give you their address to send submission. Nothing is for SW...

[Bromine]

Well, I don't think Marvel is a good example. There you have scores of writers all using the same characters. One author takes the characters in one direction and next week in another series another writer un-does it. I watched a show a while back where they interviewed a bunch of writers from Marvel and the one thing they all complained about was not being able to have control over any character and the problem of trying to carry on a plotline while fixing all the things other writers are adding.

I think LFL has to put some controls on authors, but I think the problem is they pick dumb things to control. They make a big deal about mentioning lightsabre colours, but they let really twisted and dumb storylines through, like giving Luke god-like abilities at times and making him powerless at others.

[dalethria]

Bromine,

You miss understood me. I mean that Marvel and DC at least look at most submissons, unlike SW dark horse. I agree that Marvel does not know what to do with their characters since I think the editors are not sure what to do sometimes. I think they have too much to do and it stresses them out. I agree that Marvel and SW have way too many constraints and cannot do what the really want to do with their characters.

If there was more control, plots would be more linear and make more sense when you look back at them. Writer's need to do the group huddle and work together to make the books great which then make the series great and you can see constancy and effort. THAT will sell. When the people reader the book see the character they love given that time, they know that the people behind the scenes care as well.

[Atreyu]

I agree Bromine that LFL should take some control, but sometimes their decisions seem to be out of whack. In the case of Salvatore they got an author who had hardly any idea about the EU to write the lead novel for new publisher Del Rey - pretty weird.

As for the thing about lightsaber colours I think that's due to the Prequels. I don't know why but the rumour is that only certain colours are available for lightsabers (they haven't finalised this yet however) so they want to put an end to EU authors using colours that aren't allowed. That's only a rumour of course.

[dalethria]

okay, if that is the case, how come we are back to colors in oh what was the name of the book after Vector...gah...mind relapse!

[Atreyu]

You mean Dark Tide: Onslaught? I have no idea. Like I said, it was a rumour.

[dalethria]

thanks for the title Atreyu. My mind has been warped from working ^_^

[Doc Milo]

What's the big deal about whether or not a lightsaber color is mentioned? It would make it a better story to you if he said: "Luke ignited his lightsaber. The green bladed glowed in the gloom." As opposed to "Luke ignited his lightsaber." ????

[dalethria]

Well, how about the characters that I dont know about like the Solo kids? When you are reading a book, those visual cues are important. Luke sure fine everyone knows that his is green. With Mara, I was excited to know what color she chose for her saber since making one would finalize that she is a Jedi. Plus, the little details matter

[Atreyu]

Well the thing I read about RA not being allowed to mention saber colours was at TFN in their EU section. As for why - ask LFL. :)

[dalethria]

Oh like LFL will say anything anyway...there's a dead end lol

[Aprentize]

i hate the truce at bakura. i have told my self to read it many times, but i read a chapter or two, and then im on to the next book. i havent read BFC, and im not going to.
I love KJAs work really. Everybody hates him, i dont get it. The academy trilogy is one of m favorite sw trilogys, and YJK rules.

And one question: What is a graphic novel? Is it like Soldier For the Empire, or what??? (By the way, that one sucks too)

[YJK82]

I've hated all the New jedi Order books i've read so far. I thought they were lame. I though that the author's (RA, and Stackpole) should have read the YJK books so they good get Jacen to seem a little more like Jacen. Okay, I know you some of you guys think the YJK books stink, but I disagree. They are pretty good. They continued the SW story line by showing the solo twins (and there friends) be trained in the ways of the force. They were written for 'younger audinces' so they don't have complex plots. But, if the authors of the NJO books read thoese books they could have found some usefull charecters to use, and mabye some good sub-plots for the NJO series. Here's one that I have herad YJK fans suggest. The New Republic needs help to fight the Yub Yub Pong (I mean vuzza vong! or however you spell them) so they ask Hapes for help. At first they dont want to help the NR because they would not immeadletly benifit from it, but Jacen's friend Tenel Ka (who happens to be the Princess of Hapes) makes Hapes send the New Republic help. At the same time Jacen fall madly in love with her. or not.

Kevin

[Chama resou]

Iliked the YJK series too. The book that I had a hard time with was the "Courtship of Princess Leia" I didn't like how DW portrayed Han. It was very disappointing.

[Bromine]

"Courtship of Princess Leia" left a bad taste in my mouth, too. I thought it would have been a better story had it not involved Star Wars. The Star Wars characters (especially Han) seemed to be forced into the story but they didn't really belong.

YJK seemed kinda lame to me, but I know that's mainly because it was written for younger audiences. The stories themselves did feel like they belonged in the SW universe, and the writers actually came up with original ideas instead of always falling back on places and people we already know. Overall, a decent series for youg'uns.:)

[Aprentize]

I agree the COPL wasnt really sw. More like down to earth normal fantasy. This thing with witches and them saying spells when using the force, its just too much midevil kinda fantasy.
And i agree the authors for NJO could have read the YJK first, heck Tenel Ka and Lowie isnt eaven in the @#%$!

AND WHATA F*CK IS A GRAPHIC NOVELL PLEASE!!

[Bromine]

A "graphic novel" is basically a very long comic book.:)

[Aprentize]

Thanks.

[Darth Taxes]

The "Bounty Hunter" trilogy was unreadable. I swear.

"The Crystal Star" was the worst of the books I was able to actually finish. I still don't know how I managed it.

"Planet of Twilight" was unbelievably bad.

I was thoroughly confused by the "Black Fleet Crisis". At least Luke got a little, for a change. I think.

The "Correllian" Trilogy with Han's nasty evil twin cousin and an overdose of the Solobabies, was lousy. You could fit the plot into one book and have room left for "Gone With the Wind."

"Splinter of the Mind's Eye" is bizarre. Lucas should've suppressed it, since he changed his mind later on the general plot, but he didn't.

"Vector Prime" was--bar none--the biggest disappointment of the lot. I bought all the hype, and expected something better than the lame Bantam stuff. They took no trouble at all and produced a giant, steaming piece of generic crap.

[Lukes Roommate]

Please never let Barbara Hambly get her hands on another SW novel, SHE IS FRIGGIN HORRIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :( :(

[Jedi Master Carr]

Probably the worst SW book I have ever read was the Truce of Bakura I found it kind of boring plus the aliens what ever their names were, were lame. But many of the others that have been trashed I have liked. I think the NJO is terrific each book, to me at least, gets better and better maybe thats because I see the story growing and want to know what the film outcome will be. And even though I hated Bakura I actually liked Tyers Balance Point and am disapointed that there will not be another one until March. Another series trashed, the Bounty Hunters wars I also like, I guess its because I have always wondered about the stories of the different bounty hunters and I liked how that the series treated them. I have just started the Jedi Academy books and so far they seem okay I have only read book one and I liked Admiral Daala she is one the more interesting villains that the EU have created right after Thrawn and the Vong. But I am afraid to see the next two books I think these are the ones Exar Kun takes over Kyp's body which sounds a little lame.

[DvdJervs]

"Courtship of Princess Leia" left a bad taste in my mouth, too. I thought it would have been a better story had it not involved Star Wars. The Star Wars characters (especially Han) seemed to be forced into the story but they didn't really belong.
Pity, because now that I've read the Allston books in the X-Wing series I might have to read it just to find out what happened to Zsinj and co (Allston ended off where COPL began).

[Pat Za Ponor]

Well I've read Truce at Bakura, Shadows of the Empire, The Courtship of Princess Leia, The Jedi Academy Trilogy, Darksaber, The Thrawn Trilogy, all of the NJO novels, Planet of Twilight, I Jedi, and the New Rebellion.
The one I really couldn't stand at all was Planet of Twilight. That book was awful. It took me forever to finish it because I read it in like 20 page installments because it was all I could stomach.

[Darth Turbogeek]

We agree Barbara Hamby must be fed to a Sarlacc for inflicting her crap onto the EU?

[ReaperFett]

I dont overly dislike any books. Zahn wussified Luke, which I hate, and put in all these things to make Jedi worse. Then, he made Thrawn, who is probably the most flawed character I have ever seen. Basically, he knows everything? What a lame character.

ANother gripe is Stackpole. I love the X-Wing series, but why does Corran do EVERYTHING? An X-Wing is about 12 pilots, not one. Look at Allstons novels. Twelve characters, all with decent story. THATS how to write a novel.

And FYI, my top 5:

5. Darksaber
4/3/2. Han Solo Trilogy(Probably in the order 2,1,3)
1. Starfighters of Adumar

Books chock full of Kyp, Han, Wedge and Janson. Heaven:)

[Satine Capashen]

I like the YJK books. They were actually the first SW books I read...

I can't stand TAB or COPL, Darksabre's ok, but I love the Starfighters of Adumar. IT's porbably one of the best X-Wing books there is.

[Le Machin]

Black Fleet Crisis was the first EU I read, so I didn't have much to compare it to... but now I do, and two-thirds of the series was terrible. The fleet action between the New Republic and Yevetha was pretty cool, but otherwise... blah.

Stackpole is one of my favorites, but I don't like the NJO series at all. A bunch of mysterious alien masochists isn't that clever. I can't stand the idea of Corran Horn being anything more than a minor Jedi. He was so much better when he was simply an X-wing pilot! I never liked the Solo kids very much, which means I didn't like Corellian Trilogy at all. Did anyone ever notice how similar all the titles were? Ambush/assault/ambush at Corellia/Selonia/Centerpoint... hmm. " I find your lack of creativity disturbing."

Starfighters of Adumar was great, I think I should go and read it again. Aaron Allston is superb!