Books have always been the most significant part of the Star Wars universe, not counting the movies. They provide an opportunity to expand the world in ways not possible for a 2-3 hour film or a comic series. There are hundreds of them, which means that every genre has been present in this collection, and probaby in many forms and combinations too. This seamless fluidity between genres and maturity led to a whole array of books directed towards different people with various tastes and ages. Let's take a look at some of the more memorable ones - and there were many.
The book that started it all was a simple novelization of the first Star Wars, which was released a year before the movie and named Star Wars: From The Adventures of Luke Skywalker. However, the first book that was free from the shackles of the movie was Splinter in the Mind's Eye (1978). Both were written by Alan Dean Foster, so you could say that he started the whole craze - after the success of the first movie, everyone was dying to get their hands on anything Star Wars related, and that second book was it. So apparently Luke fought Vader before Episode V and lost even more convincingly. Of course that was scrapped with the Disney expanded universe reboot, but in the new comic books this came up once again, meaning that the book had an influence on the Star Wars world even after so much time has passed.
Throughout the years, there were many interesting and well-built Star Wars books, but one trilogy stands out the most. Timothy Zahn's The Thrawn Trilogy was an instant success and met with praises from critics for its quality. It included Heir to the Empire, Dark Forces Rising and The Last Command. These books were for many years considered the true continuation of the three original movies and were rumored to be the basis of the Disney's new trilogy, starting with episode VII. Although it did not happen, many ideas regarding the world building were copied. Thrawn, the legendary villain, was recently aknowledged in the revised canon with new book coming out soon and an appearance in the season 3 of Rebels TV show.
Another great one, The Darth Bane Trilogy, focused on the ancient era of huge battles between the Sith and the Jedi. The titular character was a turning point in the battle scarred and constantly weakening order of the Sith. By creating The Rule of Two, he changed the course of the conflict by moving into shadows and employing secret machinations to grow in power undetected. This is my favourite Star Wars book series by far and is a testament to the kinds of crazy and imaginative stories the writers can create when not bound by the movies, as the events took place thousands of years before the Luke Skywalker's adventure.
There are many wonderful stories to be found in Star Wars books. They expand the reader's imagination and make you feel like this universe really existed in a galaxy far far away, somewhere, some time long ago.
QUESTIONS:
1. What Star Wars book do you see the most in book stores right now?
2. How are the books from before year 2012 recognized in opposition to the official canonical ones?
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