[ndhaon91]

Good stories... bad writing...

anbody have any favorite author's from the star wars universe? prior to this, i'd only read the five books by Zahn and the one by Salvatore, all of which i loved.

[scooter13]

Matthew Woodring Stover's "Shatterpoint" and Michael A. Stackpole's "I, Jedi" are my two favorites. The funny thing is that "I, Jedi" has a few scenes from Anderson's Academy trilogy in it. Boy does it show how much better Stackpole's writing is.

[NoneShallPass]

I was really young when ever I read Kevin J. Anderson's stories, so I thought they were good... I guess for kids he is not bad. But I think the best writing is done by several of the New Jedi Order guys. also I started the one by Greg Bear, i think it was called Balance Point, but it was pretty well written. It had my favorite line of all time. "The passions of youth burn like newsprint, very hot and fast" or at least it was something like that.

Ray Bradbury should write a Star Wars book. that would be the greatest one ever.

[jediprankster]

Timothy Zahn and Michael Stackpole are the best to have written in the Star Wars universe. Kevin J. Anderson's stuff wasn't nearly as bad as Vonda McIntire's (not sure on spelling) The Crystal Star. It was just atrocious. It seemed like a story written for a different series with a completely different tone that was slightly reworked to be a Star Wars story instead.

[Shehzad]

Matt Stover, Tim Zahn and Stackpole, in that order.

Stover's Traitor redefined what a Star Wars novel could be: dark, philosophically challenging and redefining preconcepions about the nature of the Force. His Mace Windu novel Shatterpoint asked the crucial question: How would a Jedi react to a war with atrocities evident on both sides. A brilliant re-imagining of Conrad's Heart of Darkness in a SW setting. And of course, his novelization of Revenge of the Sith, which showed us the thoughts and motivations behind the fall of Anakin to the Dark Side.

Zahn's original Thrawn trilogy is Star Wars at its space operatic best: brilliant space battles, cool villains and a beautiful plot. However, its follow-up, The Hand of Thrawn is weak at best.

Stackpole's X-Wing series are polished, fun-to-read novels.

[Jay_T]

Timothy Zahn and Michael Stackpole are the best to have written in the Star Wars universe

I think Sean Stewart's name has to be on that list, he is an incredibly gifted writer who has a couple of excellent non-Starwars novels out.

Regarding Kevin J. Anderson, I'm sure there are worst authors, however, I'm not sure if there is an author who has written more bad books then Anderson in speculative fiction.

[Legend]

Anderson's Jedi Academy Trilogy is one of the most heavily referenced books in the entire Star Wars series, for the people and places later developed. He's provided a solid foundation upon many interesting characters are offered and used time again.

Yes, every Star Wars book, short story and comic is written for young teens. And many have criticised his overuse of superweapons. But you must remember, at that time, superweapons were not overdone. And aside from John Alvin's spectacular cover art, the Jedi Academy Trilogy is actually a decent read in itself. The first book Jedi Search is his strongest, and had some slick escape scenes.

Sure, his prose is simple, but you can add 80 percent of all Star Wars authors to that count too. It's being viewed as young adult, and it's being written like one, a few notables excepted.

[lokiju]

Can someone provide me with an acceptable reading order for the SW novels? I am presently reading 'Dark Force Rising' of the Thrawn Trilogy (by Zahn), and wondering where I will go after this series?

[Avi_stetto]

Good stories... bad writing...

That's the thing. He doesn't actually write the books. He takes nature hikes and dictates them into a tape recorder. Then, he has a full-time secretary that goes back and transcribes the tapes, and then he edits the transcriptions. That's not writing -- it's assembly line mass production in my mind. Which is great for keeping the money flowing (hey, even KJA has to eat), but not good for the creative process.

also I started the one by Greg Bear, i think it was called Balance Point, but it was pretty well written.

Ray Bradbury should write a Star Wars book. that would be the greatest one ever.

Kathy Tyers wrote Balance Point, actually. Greg Bear wrote Rogue Planet, which I really liked.

About Bradbury: if wishes were fishes, I'd have seafood every night!

Matt Stover, Tim Zahn and Stackpole, in that order.

Add Troy Denning and we'll agree. He's really been impressing me with the Dark Nest trilogy so far. Very interesting stuff going on there.

Sure, his prose is simple, but you can add 80 percent of all Star Wars authors to that count too. It's being viewed as young adult, and it's being written like one, a few notables excepted.

Also, I think that the language used in Star Wars is trying to harken back to the day when the pulp space opera ruled the genre. Lucas makes several references to Buck Rogers and such as an inspiration (even though it feels like a cheap ripoff of Dune). I think the writers, for the most part, are trying to reflect that.



Can someone provide me with an acceptable reading order for the SW novels? I am presently reading 'Dark Force Rising' of the Thrawn Trilogy (by Zahn), and wondering where I will go after this series?

You can go over to theforce.net (http://www.theforce.net/books/reviews/novels_chrono.asp) and take a look at their chronologically ordered book reviews. That's how I read the Extended Universe, and I thought it was a pretty good way to do it.

[scooter13]

That's the thing. He doesn't actually write the books. He takes nature hikes and dictates them into a tape recorder. Then, he has a full-time secretary that goes back and transcribes the tapes, and then he edits the transcriptions. That's not writing -- it's assembly line mass production in my mind. Which is great for keeping the money flowing (hey, even KJA has to eat), but not good for the creative process

Are you serious?