Why You Should Read: The Star Wars Expanded Universe (aka Legends) (Spoiler-Free)
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- Опубліковано 28 вер 2024
- Mike takes a look back to over 20 years of time spent in the original Star Wars Expanded Universe and what it meant to him growing up and how Disney has poorly misused the wealth of source material that could have made the sequel trilogy memorable.
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#StarWars #Legends #MikesBookReviews
I'm sorry about the lighting in this one, guys. This isn't my usual recording space and of course a storm rolled in and ruined my natural light as soon as I started recording.
@@chaz9808 It truly does suck. Folks accuse me of taking a victory lap. Man, I just want to be excited about Star Wars again. I just don't see it happening under Kennedy.
@@mikesbookreviews I agree, I read over 90 of the EU novels, still some of my favorite books/series, Thrawn trilogy, Jedi Academy, Republic Commando series, Spector of the past/vision of the future, Legacy of the Force, and Fate of the Jedi (worth the read if you haven't finished it, get to see a lot of growth in Ben Skywalker). Wife and I refused to watch Solo in the theater and I will not go see Rise of Skywalker at the theater either. Hate what Disney has done, I miss actually loving Star Wars like I used to.
@@1amdremer Yeah, that's the true shame of it. The excitement for Star Wars has diminished more in 5 years than I could have imagined.
I will say, though, there are some amazing stories under new Canon you’re missing out on. Aftermath wasn’t great. But “New Republic: Bloodlines” is phenomenal. “Tarkin.” “Thrawn” is wonderful, it doesn’t even really feel like new Canon aside from Outbound Flight not having happened. And “Master and Apprentice” is one of my all time favorites. I’ve heard nothing but great things about Lords of the Sith and Lost Stars also. I do recommend some of New Canon, even if it’s not all great, just like Legends. Starting with Aftermath and writing Canon off is no different than starting with Crystal Star or Mission to Mount Yoda and writing the Expanded Universe off. I don’t think you’ll regret diving into some of them
Oh also, you may not be aware of this because I’ve seen a few of your videos do this: your outro music is copyrighted, so it mutes you. The music stops and then suddenly the whole video is muted because of the copyright protection.
I love the old EU books! Far superior to Disney. The X-Wing books are some of the best, you should totally check them out!
I mean, I'm sure I will one day. Especially since I still call this my canon and not that dogshit Disney is doing.
There is really NO reason that they cannot make more EU books!!!!!
That's all I'm saying. If they want to throw old school fans an apology bone, just allow that universe to continue. It doesn't hurt them one bit.
Capitalism will prevail. Once no one is buying the new stuff they’ll bring it back. They know we will buy it. Give me “Sword of the Jedi”! Now!
I thought the same thing when they announced "legends". I figured ok, multiverse, no prob, we're still good....ahhh optimism...
And amen on sg1 and its spawn lol
@@blackc1479 now they wont even pay the authors wtf!!!!
@@anakinsolo4529 disney is more evil then palpatine
I am aware that this video is more than 18 months old, but I could not refrain from commenting myself.
I am an EU nut. I have a large library and the Star Wars selection is substantial. My first Star Wars novel was the original from New Hope, this was followed over the next few years by Empire and Return. During that time I would peruse the shelves at Walmart and read sections of the latest Star Wars novels, or I would read snippets from other EU novels at the library. I believe my first completely EU novel that I read was New Rebellion. Shortly thereafter I added the Thrawn Trilogy, The Jedi Academy Trilogy, and the Hand of Thrawn Duology. At some point in this, I began to buy the books rather than read them at the library. One of my younger brothers and I split the cost of Splinter of the Mind's Eye. I also bought several of the younger Jedi Knight Academy series. Eventually I had acquired roughly 1/10 of the total published novels that I could trace as being in the Canon. Without counting for accuracy, I believe that my current total stands at roughly 80-90 physical volumes, most of which I have read.
Thank you for sharing your love of the REAL EU Canon.
To anyone looking to start the EU, my recommendation is to start with the movie novelization of New Hope, Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi. From there maybe read Tales from Jabba's Palace, Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina, Tales of the New Republic, and Tales of the Bounty Hunters. These will provide a number of launch points to various aspects of the EU.
Another entry point is through the prequels. Read the Phantom Menace novelization and then the surrounding novels as you move toward Attack of the the Clones and finally into the Revenge of the Sith and the Rise of Darth Vader novels. These will prepare you to leap far forward into the New Jedi Knight, Legacy of the Force, and Fate of the Jedi series. Those series offer enough call backs to prior novels that you could then at leisure move back to them without too much complication.
The fact that Mike digs Star Wars legends is excellent!! And before that, kindly discussing the influence of say Shannara and the nuances of many other book series and stories!
The mid to late 90s were a halcyon time for a star wars fan. The prequels hadn't come out yet and there were books continuing the story after the empire fell. There were video games (xwing, TIE fighter, KOTOR, dark forces, etc)
Traitor is probably one of the best Star Wars books ever written and I know maybe one or two people that have read it, yet there are thousands of people that call themselves Star Wars fans but couldn’t tell you the Yuuzhan Vong are.
*high five* So many friends I knew that quit on NJO because of what happens with Jacen just made me sad for them. Characters die, some don’t stay good. It’s realistic. Such a wonderful book. And the YV >>>>>> The Empire.
There’s fans and there are the people who love things. You are one of the latter🙏
Traitor is such an emotional ride with the culmination of some of the best character arcs in SW’s. I think SxS is still my favorite in the NJO though🤔 then again...Ganner👏💪😢
I really enjoyed the Thrawn trilogy, then I read Shadows of the Empire. Now, I'm working my way chronologically through the EU. Just finished Revan about two weeks ago. We can hope Kathleen Kennedy's successor might open the floodgates again and let the EU continue. You have so much potential material. There's a 20,000 year gap between Dawn of the Jedi and Lost Tribe of the Sith for Chrissakes!
Darth Bane is sooooo good
I liked the Asuka book mainly because she was an amazing character
The newer Thrawn trilogies, especially Ascendency, is a great read and really fleshed Thrawn’s character out. He’s nothing like in Rebels.
Gonna be completely honest, I've never read an EU book. I've read a few Disney Canon books that I thought were pretty good (Lost Stars, Thrawn, and Master and Apprentice). I'm really looking forward to getting into the books that you guys love so much though. Starting with the Thrawn Trilogy.
Enjoy!
Man I love your channel. Great video!
Yep I do eu is my canon, it was the first canon and Lucas was more involved and it followed his vision more clearly.
Still to this day i think as the EU as the holy bible of star wars , so many scriptures. So much lore
💯
And coming back, if you haven't read the Rogue Squadron and Wraith Squadron books wow you are missing out. They are up there with the best SW EU books. And they are not only focused on Wedge Antilles in fact other characters such as Corran Horn and Tycho Celchu take center stage.
Yeah, I've had a handful of folks tell me what I've been missing with the X-Wing books.
Just finding your channel, I totally agree
Hey Mike, I'm still waiting on you to read some high republic content.. please give us a book review on that
It was so artistically done
I think you should really give The High Republic era a try, while it's not a continuation of the EU by any means, it's a brand new era that's never really been explored in Star Wars before and has the same kinda feel to it.
God, I love this video so much... Is there a possibility of asking for the music at the begining? I loved it!
I don’t really recall where I found it. Let me look around.
I love Star Wars and am a original trilogy purist and feel the same way about the direction Star was is going . But I am a TNG trekker at heart. I would like to read the Star Trek and Star Wars books but my TBR pile is already tall enough. I wonder how Star Wars would have turned out had Universal purchased the franchise.
I wholeheartedly agree with you, but I wish your videos would be more on topic and less bashing the mouse club. I literally own all of the EU adult books and would love to see more discussion on plot lines, character development, and general love for the EU.
Well this video is 3 years old. However, Thanks for giving the channel a try.
The republic/imperial commando series was amazing I still consider it canon
Hey Mike! Is there anything you recommend reading before picking up vector prime and tackling the NJO?
I’m just getting into the EU now. I’m reviewing the books and comics as I go along, I’d appreciate it if anybody took the time to stop by.
I never watch any Star Wars movies because of what I heard from my friends about what Disney did until I replayed the Force Unleashed, than I thought about getting into the Movies just to find Galen isnt Canon and I found a video about Abeloth and I'm more interested in the EU. I still haven't read a book but Fate of the Jedi is going to be my Start
1:32 - Disney bought lucasfilm in 2012 but EU stopped being published in 2014 (25.04). Books like Kenobi, Maul Lockdown or Dawn of the Jedi were published in 2013+
-04.2014 but they are part of legends continuity.
Star Wars for you, Harry Potter for me and my husband and MCU for our girls. Our six-year-old wore a Captain Marvel costume for "when I grow up" day at Kindergarten.
I’m interested in collecting some of the EU mostly regarding Kyle Katarn but I’ll be making sure to buy third party. I’m not giving Disney groomers a dime.
Ha ha you can find most of these in used bookstores pretty cheap.
I'm on the last book of the Thrawn Trilogy. Next I'll start the Darth Bane Trilogy
Have you started it yet? I fucking love the Darth Bane trilogy .
I’m fine with the sequels as I do luv em but I’m interested in reading these. Idk exactly where to start or end because there’s a lot of them but I’ll make an effort to try to read it from beginning to end because as an actual fan I wanna read and watch every piece of SW media
I just got interested in EU, because it looks cool, so scifi, it was first, it is old, and it has a limited quantity book (athough they are many) By now, I am watching the movies, because I would love to enter in this world. All of this reminds me of Dragon Ball GT. Two years ago I decided to watch all the episodes from Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball GT, just because those episodes bring memories from my teen years. I know there are new episodes, new series, but I was not interested on that. what I know, is that GT, as it was not created by Toriyama, is not canon anymore. But I dont care. Those are my memories, and even there is a new canon, I will always feel that GT was the best and most beautiful ending for the series. I know it doesnt have to do with Star wars, but I just wanted to share this. My doubt is that, are Canon books of Star wars, in someway, changing the story or the time line of the books from Legends? I mean to say, if I happen to read Legends book, and then I want to read Canon books, the story will be different? I know the video is old, but if you happen to see my comment, I would love you clarify my doubt.
As for prefering to treat the EU as canon and the new canon as an "Earth two". (Whatever that means) I don't think that makes you delusional, if you prefer the EU then there's no harm in it, just like if you prefer the new canon, there's no harm in it. Hell, I personally tend to kinda mix what I like from both canons and mesh them together in my own head canon. Head Canons exist for a reason, and stories are meant to be fun. SW is meant to be fun, SO GO HAVE FUN! WITH WHATEVER SW CONTENT/CANON YOU ENJOY!
Apparently you’re real broken up over this. To each their own, my friend. If you like the new canon my opinions on it don’t take that away from you. Have a great evening!
@@mikesbookreviews I don't know what you mean by broken up, but sure, and a nice evening for you as well.
Are you ever going to go back and read the fate of the jedi series?
A New Dawn was the first book in the new canon, not Aftermath.
I love the legends stuff I've read, and I'm pretty indifferent to the new trilogy, I kind of went with that I'm not the target audience but I quite like the Luke Skywalker arc in The Last Jedi. I feel there's a place for it and it's definitely an interesting angle which could set him up to be a different master/mentor than Obi Wan, but I don't feel it was done as well as it could have.
There’s def good stuff in Fate man. Ben really shines
disney may have bought the names. they did not have any right to say what was and was not canon. That's up to the Creator. and last i heard, he had no opposition to the idea of keeping the EU canon.
All they knew was Kathleen Kennedy wanted to insert an agenda into the movies. It had nothing to do with the EU. She could care less what fans want and I think that's impossible to argue against.
Is the Republic Commando series in the Legends category?
Mcu before Mcu. I prefer the term Clone wars before clone wars. People say that anakin is better then Luke because he has clone wars. (note i like anakin). Well yes luke got his clone wars in the EU
Hey What did you think about Luke being in The Mandalorian?
Traitor is amazing! Ganner owns that book😢
Hey I actually liked the new thrawn book, it's no original thrawn trilogy but its the only good thing in the new cannon, as I hated every other Disney book, and I even gave a few of them a chance. For rebels thrawn was very entertaining , I know you said he was fine and yeah it's true but he's such a good character that he is still great to see on screen even if he is a tiny bit off.
I don't think Timothy Zahn could write a bad Star Wars book.
@@mikesbookreviews that's true I really hope that now that the main trilogy is done that we can get some new stories that will be interesting and good again, Zahn is not boxed in to not mess with the main trilogy anymore so his writing can be fully realized again, I would be up for a new book trilogy set 10 years after the um not so good sequel trilogy. I can still hope at least.
@@duitk I'm still hoping against hope they'll let the EU continue as an alternate timeline someday.
@@mikesbookreviews i highly doubt Disney will continue the EU. They can make more money by rewriting and covering the same period again with the new disney characters.
@@alexwallachian7720 Yeah, that's the sad truth of it.
The republic commando series by Karen Traviss could be rounded out a little bit better. I say this in response to continuing the EU books.
Screw disney canon they dont know whats good. Making plageus bane and all that not canon shame shame
he mention a book Dark Star? cant seem to find that book?
Fate of the Jedi is great.
I shall read it eventually. For sure.
The day I return to Star Wars is the day they resume the Expanded Universe.
*High Five*
Executed order with # of likes.
I know right!? how do you have episode 7 without admiral thrawn and Mara jade
@@absentehhh8263 cause disney doesnt know crap about star wars like the true fans which is us they did it for cash grabs
@@andrewfernandez268 its dead. They sucked the life out of it to have a couple years good on paper now no one want to see it anymore what a shame
The intro to this video made me more stoked on star wars than any of the new movies haha.
Yeah, so much potential material and they just swept it away. Morons.
The intro lasted forever. My god write a script
@@mikesbookreviews Intro had me choked up, good on you sir.
Have you noticed something about the new canon books: Thrawn, Tarkin, Phasma, Leia, Alphabet Squadron, Heir to the Jedi (Luke), Queen's Shadow (Amidala). They all just focus on one character. They don't really have stories, certainly not interconnected ones. The main characters usually fights a bunch of people you've never heard about with results. that don't affect anything and are never mentioned again.
THANK you! Finally someone said it!
These novels are still canon to me. Disney can go pound sand.
After reading original Zahn's Thrawn Trilogy, what do you recommend in EU next? Thanks for your excellent channel!
Thanks for the kind words. I always recommend doing Kevin Anderson's Jedi Academy trilogy if you want a streamlined continuation of the stories Thrawn set up.
@@mikesbookreviews -Thanks for your channel. Very informative. I'm sharing it with my girls.
@@CharlesRBiggs Hand of Thrawn Duology closely follows the characters and some narratives of the Thrawn trilogy and is also written by Timothy Zahn, X-Wing books are also great.
start the series from the beginning and read them all in order, it makes a big differences especially when they start becoming more fluid like one long continuous story and the books become more like very long chapters then books
Read “Darth Plagueis” by James Luceno in addition to the books the other readers mentioned here in the comments. It is so rich in lore and is brilliant backstory for Plagueis, Palpatine, and leads right in to The Phantom Menace.
This is the series of my childhood, read it all. Loved it until they went crazy at the end. Jedi Academy, X-wing series, Thrawn trilogy, Young Jedi, New Jedi Order.....
It went a bit off the rails in Legacy of the Force, but I liked it overall. Basically when the focus was Jaina and Jacen, it was really good.
I'm with you the novels are the new canon for me. I just ordered Episodes 1-3, I already have the Han Solo Trilogy and Shadows of the Empire. I also, recently, picked up Heir to the Empire and Spectre of the Past. However I'm going to get as much as I can and read them in chronological order. My first venture into the EU will be Truce at Bakura.
I Only read the Thrawn trilogy but it was very good
It gets to those heights again, but it's definitely the most focused and the most like the OT.
@@mikesbookreviews feel like re-reading maybe after Wheel Of Time😁👍 On book 8 rite now
I got into Star Wars with the help of some friends in 2019. They explained to me that there are two canons and that the old one is better. They explained the differences to me and I picked up the EU novels after episode 6. Glad I did, and I've still got EU content to work through.
TBH the "Legends" label never came across as "these aren't real!" to me, just "this canon is called Legends", but I guess most other people and perhaps Disney don't see it that way haha!
I really wish they'd release more books under the Legends label.
I began reading my first Legends book yesterday and I'm almost done, really fell in love with it, after years colleting star wars comics
I agree with you, as a huge SW fan myself, your analogy comparing the MCU vs Disney is 1000% spot on. Kevin Feige used established marvel canon to build a new but old plot line story with all their big characters and in my opinion was the main reason for that franchise success, whereas Disney bought lucasfilm and just scrapped the entire EU without even having a direction or a plan for a REAL sequel trilogy to the original and just came up with garbage stories and characters that some cases seemed like copycats of long established characters in the SW Expanded Universe.
I HONESTLY CARED MORE ABOUT THE BOOKS THEN THE MOVIES, THATS HOW GREAT THE eu WAS, THEY COULD OF DONE FUCK ALL WITH THE MOVIES AND MADE THEIR MONEY AND I wouldn't of cared as long as they kept the original story line going, people need to get petitions going and write disney to get the books that were on the rack released like the sword of the jedi books they had coming for jaina and get them to pick up the series were they left off with crucible.
Dude, you're not a grumpy old man. You, like me, invested a lot of time and money on the EU. I was invested in those characters.
Now I've got no idea what happened to Jaina, the republic commandos, how they got from Luke to Cade Skywalker, what happened to the remnants of the Lost tribe of the Sith, etc.
After reading Legends (aka the real Canon) i wil never forgive Disney for what they have done to "Grandmaster Luke" & Han, for al the awesome Characters they choose to not use and in case of Kylo they even went as far to intrduced a travesty of Ben Skywalker and Jacen ... i just c'ant ... let's not even talk about that the New Empire is practicly a joke or even worse al the new Disney movies ... this new Canon and the direction that Disney is going overal is just gut wrenching -.-
Am reading Fate of the Jedi now. Don’t listen to the revisionist history. The interactions between Ben and Luke are some of the best in the entire EU.
Why can’t they continue writing books for the EU? Because they want to avoid any and all comparison to the superior canon at all cost.
Great vid!
Boy, you said it. I think if the movies had been well received on their own right they would have allowed Legends to continue in its own "alternate" timeline. But the feedback for their mediocre product has made them vindictive AF towards the old guard. I'm sure Fate of the Jedi is fine. The people I hear complain about it are the same ones that rage quit when Jacen's arc happened.
Great Video! I have added Heir to the Empire to my 2020 TBR List. Thanks for the recommendation.
May the Force be with you.
#LegendsIsMyCanon
Oh hell yes. The books where Luke is a bad ass well into his 60's and not whatever the hell that was in TLJ will always be my canon.
All time favs for me have to be thrawn (best EU "villain" period.) The Bane trilogy( 2nd best villian) Early and late NJO, legacy, and honestly the clone commando books. I loved that they brought in a whole new non force user outlook. Just wish we had closure on that one.
Didnt really dig Fate, despite the luke/ben stuff. Some of the concepts just didnt hit for me (trying not to spoil).
Plenty of other great eu stuff, including comics. Some others that....ehh werent as good.
Crucible wasn't spectacular, but kinda felt like a good cap for the era.
And i still havent given in and read any of the new canon, other than a few of the GNs.
I never would have imagined that the rat could screw up SW to the point that 2 years on there are movies that i still have no interest in watching. The only bright point is the mandalorian.
Heir to the Empire series was amazing. I loved it. I'm so disappointed that they didn't use Luke's Jedi school and all the new Jedi and Mara Jade in the series.
i reread the books from start to finish and cry every time i get to chewbacca, and anakin, and really ball my eyes out when jacen nd jaina have their show down, even when bazel warve gets it protect alana, and when vestara goes back to the dark and has to run from ben.
I've enjoyed watching your videos regarding the old EU. I just finished the audiobook of Heir to the Empire, and I'm excited to get to the next two books in that trilogy and checking out some additional titles in the Expanded Universe. Your thoughts resonate very much with me because I gave up on Disney Star Wars after The Last Jedi, and didn't bother watching much of anything since then. Zahn's writing really brings those classic heroes to wonderful life again, especially after I went to see Return of the Jedi in the theatre again last week. Really makes me happy seeing a lot of love and exposure for these stories out here!
(I prefer the old EU) I don't care about the new EU characters except: Ashoka Tano, every Clone except Fox (I care about them even more than the old clones), revived Maul, Duchess Satine, Savage Oppress
I say if it's not made or approved by George Lucas it's not canon, it's fan fiction.
CANON:
Movies 1-6
The Clone Wars Animated Series
Expanded Universe (Legends)
I agree 100%. These are cannon to me as well. I hated episodes 7, 8 & 9 but loved Rogue One & Solo. Working my way through the books in order with the comics at the moment.
SW "legends" is way better than the current canon. All my kids share my point of view and they are of differents ages spanning from 3 - 16.
Stellar parenting 👏👏👏
I was always mildly interested in the EU, now I'm super interested and I agree with you that non canon doesnt matter. Thanks for hyping it up for me! My Thrawn books just jumped up to the top of my TBR 👍😊
Janna H The Thrawn Trilogy was so great and the perfect starting place. Just did a video on that series yesterday. Enjoy!
@@mikesbookreviews yes that video brought me to this one. Thanks!
@@jannarosereads4805 No, thank you! I appreciate the comment.
Canon and Non-Canon doesn't matter, all that matters is that you enjoy what you read.
@@mikesbookreviews My cousin gave me Heir to the Empire shortly before The Force Awakens came out. My first EU book, It's a good book. Honestly I liked both the Thrawn books I've read and the sequels. Even if I feel the Thrawn books are better executed. (As they at least felt they had a cohesive plan that ties each book together.)
So basically for you The new Star Wars it like the Celvin timeline of Star Wars
Somewhat. I thought the Kelvin timeline was taking a chance by Abrams and I didn’t feel like the creators were so disrespectful to fans that didn’t like it.
Greetings sir from Egypt I currently devouring the EU books beside the Dune novels I totally agree with what you said and I 'm telling that EU lovers are worldwide even for those were English is not their first language !!!!!
Awesome to hear. Enjoy!
The original eu feels a lot more like star wars, you know, how it feels to watch a new hope or empire strikes back, and it feela really damn nice. Even so, I don't think you should completely write off the new eu, I do feel like some of the stuff feels really manufactured and soulless but reading a lot of the new stories from between episode 3 and 4 feels so cool, the stories feel like their being written by people that care about star wars. I do wish that disney allowed writers to do crazy shit in the books like we had in the original eu because the new eu definitely feels a lot more tame
Hey man great video! I'm always glad to find a Star Wars fan who shares my opinions. If your interested there's a group of like minded Star Wars fans on a Facebook group called The Allaince to Preserve The Expanded Universe it's a community to be a part of. Also I recommend that you check out the UA-cam channel of Matt Wilkins he's another awesome Star Wars EU fan!
I’m in that group!
That's awesome! Thanks for replying.
When vector prime came out, around the same time episode 1. Alotttt of people hated on chewbacca's death. It was the first time a major character was killed and fans were really really hurt, even though vector prime is an amazing book imo, and the new jedi order series is great, i just think it should of been tied up with less books, it dragged out a bit. But that whole scenario was unique for starwars, both sides having to team up and face a extragalactic race thats immune to the force, and with the solo kids coming of age its pretty cool to see. But the hate that book got just because they killed off chewy people were so mad. To me, those books are cannon because george lucas gave them the ok and told them who they could kill off. Yeah new jedi order and vector prime especially are my favorite books. Also trying to find the audio books unabridged for those books are next to impossible, i know a few sources, but you basically have to get them from old librarys that had them for blind people.
I mean the idea of "canon" is just an illusion anyway. They called the Force Awakens novelisation canon, yet it contradicted the following two films in many ways. Canon is just a marketing term.
I mean it is all imaginary, so whatever is best for you is the best way to go.
Fate of the Jedi are worth reading.
*is
OMG that opening to this video!!! [sniff] Man, forget what travesty Disney wrought upon Star Wars and our beloved characters in their so-called "canon" sequel trilogy! Bad, overfunded fan fiction if you ask me..! It hasn't been all bad - I do like Rogue One, Rebels, Andor, even Solo and parts of Book of BF... BUT the original EU IS THE REAL CANON!
I’m starting with the Thrawn, Jedi academy, The new jedi order, legacy of the force, and then fate of the Jedi after that I’m gonna read the prequels and old republic and then I’ll start the comics and then continue the canon timeline
Great stuff in the comics! Nomi Sunrider is a beast💪
I agree with you in a lot of points, except that the MCU is a good thing and that Filoni is a good writer/storyteller. I have read some EU Books but they are hard to come by here in Germany. So I dont know how to continue the NJO books, since I only have the first three, and they were AWESOME! Besides that I own the Thrawn Trilogy and Plagueis and Bane books. And I really want to get more, but amazon dont have it all, and its quite detrimental. I always wanted to read EU as a kid, but didnt have the time nor money to buy the books, and now that I do, I cant find them all...
New viewer and this video struck me hard. I loved the EU books - time for a reread I think.
The new movies being so painful only increased my love for the true EU.
@@mikesbookreviews YES!!
"If you like the new canon, fine, I'm happy for you. Just because I don't like it, doesn''t mean I'm gonna talk about why you're wrong and why I'm right."
Not gonna lie that phrase alone made my day. I know not every people disappointed with the new canon, and not every EU fan is like that. But there has been a lot of negativity surrounding this fandom, and a lot of people who think they get to call someone a "Fake Fan" just because they like some piece of SW that they don't.
(And if anyone with that mentality is reading this, no, I don't give a shit how many sw books you've read, how many games you've played, how many comics you've read, how many movies you've watched, how many shows you've watched or even how many documentaries and interviews with George Lucas himself you've read or watched. That STILL doesn't give you the right to gatekeep this franchise from others, NOTHING gives you that right, nothing will EVER give you that right. You're not special ok? Let people enjoy things. "Oh but that new crap isn't Star Wars", YES IT IS, just because you don't like it, doesn't mean it's not Star Wars, you don't get to decide what is and isn't real Star Wars either. You're a fan, you're not a figure of authority on Star Wars, you're just a fan like you, me and everyone else.)
As a newcomer to the EU I‘m actually not as disheartened about the fact that they‘re not producing Legends material anymore. It makes it more achievable to read through everything. As for why they chose to stop: Disney probably doesn‘t see Legends as an addition, but more so as an adversary to their own new canon (I think it would sell far better than their own works, so that‘d be an embarrassment). Thank you for the cool video! What do you think about the Old Republic era of Star Wars? So far it‘s my favourite.
You should definitely read the Rogue Squadron and Wraith Squadron books. After the Thrawn Trilogy, they are some of my absolute favorites. (One or two duds in there, but the average is HIGH)
I've got NO idea why they can't continue the Legends timeline. Having that general scenario works for:
DC
Marvel
The Walking Dead
Jason Bourne
Game of Thrones doesn't follow exactly.
Pretty much every property that is on film and novels/comics differ from each other.
Their mishandling of this highlights how poorly they handled Luke. Luke is a BEAST in the novels. And then he's whatever this was in the movies.
I will always support Star Wars, but Kathleen Kennedy had completely screwed this up.
Great video bro.
When the sequel trilogy trailers started to come out and I saw Rey jump on that speeder (obviously I didn't know who she was at the time) I thought "fantastic, it's Jaina Solo, now where is Jacen and the other young Jedi Knights, Kyp Durron, Mara Jade, Jagged Fel, the Chiss, etc??!!" Then I go and see the films... What a total disappointment!!
The books are so much better than this total pile of *"%@#!! that the new films are.
In my view the EU are the prequels & and sequels and the new films are the legends.
Hey Mike
I like your videos and they’re helpful
I’m just getting into the Star Wars world I love the expanded universe video, so my question for you is
Should I start with the high republic series or do you have a way for me to start with the legends series that would make me understand the whole Star Wars world?
I couldn't even get halfway through aftermath.
It was one of the most poorly written things I've ever read. “‘The TIE wibbles and wobbles through the air, careening drunkenly across the Myrrann rooftops - it zigzags herkily-jerkily out of sight" was my first red flag.
I just got Aftermath at a thrift store as you guys call them and couldn't finish two pages. Its like it was written by a 13 year old. Terrible.
@@mikesbookreviews lmfao fr i dropped it after i read that
People will swear it’s a great book even trilogy yet those people never read Heir to the Empire. There’s fans and then there’s love. Anyone can be a fan. Love takes work and dedication. Gods bless all who read, love and appreciate the real EU
Imagine if Disney had just gone with the Heir to the Empire premise and gone from that plot line? They would’ve had classics instead of the crap they are shoving down our throat.
"Why did they allow Marvel to continue writing in any timeline but not Star Wars?"
It's simple...the MCU (up until very recently arguably) always had tremendous success. Therefore, why not allow continued writing in the alternate universe if it garnered success too?
The difference with Star Wars is simple...fans largely rejected Disney's vision. Therefore, we are not allowed to have anything else until we accept their vision. Period.
SPOILER: Disney is run by Darkfriends and are under compulsion by Dar Siders. NO JOKE
Clone wars is good and Dave Filoni is a great writer
Filoni is a genius and he needs more power.
@@mikesbookreviews The Clone Wars TV show was initially supposed to be part of the EU. However, it contradicted with pre-established EU material.
Thankfully Dave Filoni is George Lucas' long lost son and is saving disney star wars.
I just wish that he would make some legends characters Canon.
Erase the sequels and make the Caedus storyline ik that's a pipedream but a girl can dream right? Lol.
I don't like the new trilogy at all. I had high hopes with TFA and looked forward to how it would play out. It turns out it was awful. That said, every SW trilogy reflects the real-world politics of the era they were made in. The OT had Palpatine as Richard Nixon while the PT had Anakin/Vader reciting Bush rhetoric. I'm not sure what current politics the ST is supposed to be mirroring. There's no consistency, it's hard to feel attached to any of the characters even when you specifically WANT to, and it seems like the creators hate the fans.
I know some people want the EU to come back, however, and I'm not trying to be mean to anyone or anything, but I'm pretty sure many of the writters behind the EU already either moved on, or in some cases passed away. If the EU were to come back, even as non-canon but still recieving new stories... It would probably be written by many of the same people behind the current canon, which a lot of people don't like, and as a result would only end up disappointing people further. Honestly, I'm glad Disney at least seems willing to re-release these books under the Legends Essentials Collection, hell by the time I first got to experience the Thrawn Books, the decanonization had already happened, and as a result my copy has that big fat Legends label on it.
(Also it's really a minor thing, but I really love the idea of calling them Legends, as in they're legends told in the SW universe about many of the heroes and vilains on what may or may not have happened to them and all. It's kinda my headcanon that while the stories may or may not have actually happened, some of these stories are probably told by people on the universe to others as well... legends... And like I said, it's headcanon so anything goes cuz I'm the one who makes that headcanon.)
a new hope=empire strikes back=return of the jedi- the forest battle is much greater than all of disney star wars, including kenobi, the mandalorian, the sequel trilogy and rogue one.
I'm 52 now and the EU is still my canon.