Books have played a crucial role in developing the Star Wars canon and keeping fans interested even during the years between film installments. The best Star Wars books either expand on the events depicted in the movies or describe the backstories of characters who didn’t get much screen time. There have been a lot of Star Wars books released over the years. However, the question is, which are the must-reads for every die-hard fan?
From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker: Origins of the Star Wars Saga
Fans of the franchise who aren’t avid readers may not know that the first Star Wars book was published in August 1977, six months before the release of the first movie, A New Hope. In 1977, George Lucas commissioned ghostwriter, Alan Dean Foster, to adapt the script for the smash hit film into a novel. After meeting with George Lucas, Alan Foster agreed to pen the story, although Lucas is given credit for writing it. The book begins with the lines “Another galaxy, another time,” which departs from the film’s opening, “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.” The months after the release of A New Hope saw the book’s sales skyrocket, propelling it to the top of the New York Times bestsellers list. In the future, Foster was hired to pen the companion novel A New Hope, titled Splinter of the Mind’s Eye.
The Thrawn Trilogy
There was the longest gap in film history between releasing a new Star Wars film in 1983 and 1999. Thankfully, in 1991, Timothy Zahn, author of 14 Star Wars novels, stepped up to the plate with Star Wars: The Thrawn Trilogy. Heir to the Empire, the first book in the series, is widely considered among the best Star Wars novels ever written. It debuted at the top of the New York Times bestsellers list. To help the Galactic Empire regain its former position as the dominant force in the universe, Heir to the Empire centers on the original Grand Admiral Thrawn persona and his attack on the New Republic. Zahn would go on to write two more novels set in the same universe as the first in the trilogy, Dark Force Rising and The Last Command, and the three books together would go on to sell 15 million copies.
The Jedi Academy Trilogy
No one should be surprised to learn that the Star Wars canon includes a trilogy published in 1994 that centers on Luke Skywalker. Ten years after the events of Return of the Jedi (1983), Kevin J. Anderson’s trilogy focuses largely on Exar Kun, a human Jedi Knight who turned to the evil side and is now out to stop Luke from reestablishing the Jedi Order. As a precursor to the events of Star Wars: Episodes I–III (published between 1999 and 2005), Exar Kun devotes most of his energy to corrupting numerous of Luke’s Jedi apprentices.
The Han Solo Trilogy
A.C. Crispin published a series of novels in the late 1990s that explored Han Solo’s past before the publication of Solo: A Star Wars Story. Han Solo starts as a petty criminal in these volumes before he grows up to become a racing flyer in the years before A New Hope. The novels are more of a biography than a dramatic plot. However, they cover everything from Hans Solo’s betrayal of the Imperial Academy to his rescue of Chewbacca to how he met Jabba the Hutt and Boba Fett.
The Bounty Hunter Wars Trilogy
Long before the 2019 premiere of Disney+’s The Mandalorian, Boba Fett had already been a fan favorite. K.W. Jeter’s trilogy, written in 1998 and 1999, continues the story from Star Wars: The Return of the Jedi after Han Solo is rescued from Jabba’s palace. Novels feature Boba Fett and other Star Wars bounty hunters, including Zuckuss and 4-Lom, the latter of whom also refuses to remove his helmet after escaping the Sarlacc pit.
