Jedi In Training: My Midi-chlorian Count Is Low

Can i just say, i just discovered this is on wordpress, and your use of css is amazing, well done. I envy you! ;]

Trek!

Dude, TFU was a great game. If I can dig it up, you can borrow my copy.

Firstly, you avoid the Clone Wars TV series and movie completely. I pretend that they don’t exist at all. They make Ep. 1 look like some sort of masterpiece. If you want, you can watch the stylized 2D CN shorts that came before, but they’re really nothing to write home about, and they conflict with the canon set up in the novels.

There are A LOT of novels. I probably have read less than a tenth of them, but my dad has been at it a lot longer than I have and has probably read 3/4s of them. Truce at Bakura is a must, of course. After you’re done with that try Death Star, which explains quite satisfactorially many of the logic problems you get with A New Hope if you think about it too long. Then there’s a whole slew of novels that detail the adventures of Luke, Han, and Leia up until they’re probably in their 80s and should really give it a rest. You can read those until you’ve had enough and then just imagine that they all live happily ever after. If you need some things to read real quick, the 10 “Last of the Jedi” books, despite being targeted at the teen market, are pretty good, and some of the only easy-to-find canon between episodes III and IV.

I dunno about comics or video games, though. But you should really open your mind to Ep. III, I think it’s the best of the PT and it’s a helpful cornerstone for the canon of that period, which isn’t all bad (Outbound Flight, for instance)

Gotta agree with @tereglith on this one.

Most longtime fans of the original trilogy and even the prequels just pretend that the Clone Wars stuff doesn’t even exist. I expected some kind of mature presentation, but it’s just really sad to see that Lucas has completely shifted his focus towards really really young kids.

Not sure about the comics, but I bet you would really like the Star Wars books about some of the minor characters of the OT. There’s a whole series about what happened to Boba Fett after he fell into the Sarlac Pit (spoiler alert: he’s a badass), and a series of books about Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan’s first missions together as master and apprentice, and it helps really round out the bland characters of the prequels.

I’ve read a lot of the books about after the OT, the whole Mara Jade/Jason Solo/Emperor cloned thing, and while it’s all officially approved canon (unlike Trek books), I can’t really seem to get engaged as much.

I’d say your best bet would be to pick up the books about the Old Republic, and really anything that interests you.

I agree with most of tereglin’s comments. You should absolutely pick Timothy Zahn’s Heir To the Empire, the first part of what is now known as the Thrawn Trilogy. Released in the early 90s, not only are they fantastic reads, they are the spark that started the fire that is the Star Wars Expanded Universe.

I will second zinkmesiter’s recommendation for Zahn’s Thrawn trilogy (Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, The Last Command). They are the best Star Wars books I have read bar none.

TFU was a very good game. Sure, it had it’s flaws, but it really made you feel like the Force was with you. The new TFU2 trailer is a giant box of win. The lighting effects are amazing. Some scenes are extremely realistic.

Back on track…

I haven’t read much of the EU novels, but I’ve read the first 2 volumes of Knights of the Old Republic and Legacy, and thoroughly enjoy both.
I agree that the prequel trilogy is not as good as the original trilogy (George really should have had someone else do the writing), but it’s still Star Wars and that’s good enough for me. I disagree with tereglith, the Clone Wars tv show and the mini episodes are quite good.

Absolutely read Zahn (Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, The Last Command). (Then read his Cobra series while you’re at it.)

If you don’t mind going old skool with the games try out X-Wing, TIE Fighter, and Jedi Knight II:Jedi Outcast. Xwing and TIE Fighter are both Win 95-98 era games but I believe you can get an updated version that will run on XP compatible systems pretty well. Jedi Outcast you can find on Direct 2 Drive for the princely sum of $10. And definitely use the dismemberment cheat for Jedi Outcast. Swinging a lightsaber was never so much fun.

Oh, and if you want to delve into the ancient history of Star Wars, Knights of the Old Republic is one of the best RPGs, period. Regardless of genre.

For novels, I second the Zahn trilogy. My favorites after that would be the Jedi Academy trilogy by Kevin Anderson, and the X-Wing series by Michael Stackpole and Aaron Alston.

Comics are a little more hit and miss. Dark Empire and Dark Empire II are well done, as are the X-Wing series. After that it depends on how geeked out on this stuff you want to get. Each series tends to get more involved, and they tend to rely on you having a pretty good basis of knowledge to really appreciate what’s going on.

Lastly, I seem to be in the minority with the Clone Wars cartoon. I think if the new trilogy had been more like the cartoon in tone, pacing and general coolness, then it would have been a far better trilogy. Don’t discount it just because it’s got Clone Wars plastered all over it. It’s still a pretty good series

I really thought Star Wars shifted to juvenile appeal after the original (Episode IV).

If you go into the book store or library, there is a timeline of the novels in the front of any of the newer books. It’s best to go in chronological order so as not to be too confused.

I completely agree with the above about Timothy Zahn trilogy. Those books are the best of the Expanded Universe. The next books in the chronology are called the Jedi Academy Trilogy by Kevin J. Anderson which in my opinion are also very good. There are hits and misses after that period in the chronology (Michael Stackpole’s I,Jedi is good). I read all the novels up through New Jedi Order series (decent stories that basically focus on Han and Leia’s kids), but the newest novels that take place after that are absolutely unreadable. By this point the Expanded Universe has gotten out of hand.

If you want to go back and get some flavor of the original trilogy, then Shadows of the Empire (novel, comic book, N64 game) might be for you. It was a very early Expanded Universe story that takes place in between ESB and RoTJ. The first TFU game reminded me a lot of the N64 Shadows of the Empire (sans force powers).

If you like some more SW comic books, then the Tales of the Jedi series is good. It takes place hundreds of thousands of years before the movies so it would take some getting used to.

May the force be with you!

This is awesome, everyone. I appreciate it. Keep it coming!