The Lando Calrissian Adventures
This trilogy tells the story of Lando Calrissian from the time he wins the Millennium Falcon to
sometime before he loses it to Han Solo. Although there isn't as much action as there is in other
books, the storylines are very good and it is refreshing to see a new cast of characters.Rating: 5
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Rating: 2.5The Han Solo Adventures
These books tell the story of Han and Chewbacca's adventures as freelance smugglers before their
involvement with the Rebellion. They are similar to the Lando Calrissian Adventures, but contain
more action. As with the Lando Calrissian Adventures, it is nice to see a mostly different cast of
characters.Shadows of the Empire
This book covers the events between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Luke finds
himself a most wanted commodity when he becomes the common prize between two rivals. One, Lord
Vader, wants him alive in order to turn him to the Dark Side. The other, Xisor, head of Black Sun,
wants to kill kim simply to discredit Lord Vader before the Emperor. As Luke is chased ny both
bounty hunters and assassins, Leia ironically tries to contact Black Sun, the largest criminal
organization in the Galaxy and owner of one of the largest and best spynets in the galaxy, to find
clues as to who is is after Luke. Shadows of the Empire depicts Lord Vader very well. The book gets
into his thoughts and emotions, and as his character develops, you find that he is not the cold,
evil monster that is portrayed elseware. Instead, he is an extremely powerful yet highly honorable
warriorwho is disgusted by the dishonorable, cut-throat, stab-you-in-the-back politics and spygames
he is forced into by Xisor. The ending to the book is superb, with many things left open.The Truce at Bakura
The Truce at Bakura pics up right where Return of the Jedi ends. A distess message from a far off Imperial world is intercepted by the Rebel Alliance. The Alliance
responds by sending Luke, Han, Leia, Chiewie, ect. They find that the world is under attack by the reptillian Ssi-ruuk, which trap human souls in machines. The plot is fair;
more like Star Trek than Star Wars, and it lacks the special something that makes Star Wars so great.X-Wing: Rogue Squadron series
This series tells the story of Rogue Squadron after the Battle of Endor. So far the series has concentrated on the rebel capture of Coruscant. The first book in the series
was exceptionally boring, but they do get better. One of the things I do like about these books is that they have quite a bit that is based on the X-Wing and TIE Fighter
games from Lucasarts.The Courtship of Princess Leia
When the New Republic tries to form an alliance with the Hapes consortium, sixty-three very rich and powerful worlds. The Hapes monarch aggrees, but only if Leia will marry
the Prince of Hapes. Knowing that Leia will do everything in her power to help the New Republic, Han kidnaps her and takes her to Dathomir, a world he won in a high-stakes
game of sabacc, where he hoped to change her mind and win her heart. Little did they know that Dathomir was an interdicted planet; home to two groups of force-trained 'witches',
one Light and the other Dark, locked in an epic battle, as well as tribes of Rancors. Although most other people disaggree with me, I thought that this was a good book. The
storyline, action, and characters were all great, and it is interesting to find out more about the Rancors.The Thrawn Trilogy
Five years after Return of the Jedi, the New Republic has virtually won the war and driven the remnants of the Imperial fleet away from civilized space. But the last of the
Emperor's twelve Grand Admirals has taken command of the Navy. Under his brilliant leadership, the Empire stands a good chance of retaking the Galaxy. These were the first
and quite possibly best of the new Star Wars books. The Storylines, action, characters, and just about everything else could not get much better. Grand Admiral Thrawn is
definately the best of the new characters introduced in any of the books. He is an unstoppable leader, well respected and able to take a small fleet of Star Destroyers up
against the New Republic Navy and come out victorious most of the time. Unlike the other "Return of the Empire" plots, this is not a case of two fleets going up against one
another and the stronger of the two winning. This book presents a real and very dangerous threat to the New Republic. A critic might ask why, if Thrawn is such a brilliant
leader, did the Empire not win in the first place when he had the might of the Imperial Navy to back him? Zahn masterfully keeps this from being a flaw in his work by making
Thrawn not-quite human. Since Emperor Palpatine had an aversion to nonhumans, very few aliens were allowed to serve the Empire. But Thrawn was too valuable an asset to turn down,
especially since he was almost human, so the Emperor sent him out on an extended mission into the unknown regions, where he could be of service to the Empire yet not seen by
the Emperor. Thus, that far away from the war, his abilities could not affect the struggle between the Empire and rebellion.The Jedi Academy Trilogy
This trilogy is mostly about Luke setting up his Jedi training facility on Yavin IV. The best parts were those that dealt with Han and Chewbacca's imprisonment on Kessel,
which was both creative and informative. Not bad, but for a trilogy they could be better. There really wasn't much exceptional about it.The Crystal Star
When Leia's children are kidnapped, she follows the kidnapper's trail. She learns that the kidnapper is a force-wielding Imperial Officer flying around in a world ship, a
small, hyperspace-capable planet with its own tiny sun, trying to restore the Empire. Meanwhile, Han and Luke travel to a a dying star system to investigate rumors of lost
Jedi. Instead, they find a giant alien from another dimension with mysterious powers and a cult following (sound a little like Star Trek?). This book is boring, the language
can be reminiscent of a 'see spot run' book, the plot is a pathetic 'return of the Empire' attempt, the major villian is a joke, and Leia's kids act so sweet they make you
nauseous.Children of the Jedi
While Han, Leia, and Chewbacca travel to the planet Belsavis in search of the fabled, long-lost children of the Jedi, Luke is guided by intuition to a remote asteroid field
where he encounters a remnant of the Empire: the Eye of Palpatine. The Eye is a dreadnaught governed by an artificial intelligence programmed for the destruction of
Belsavis. Luke must destroy the Eye before it completes its mission. Before the Eye heads towards Belsavis, it travels to nearby former Imperial colonys, expecting to
pick up Imperial troops, but instead finds up Gamorreans, Jawas, Kitonaks, Talz, Sand People, and Affytechans and indoctrinates them to be Imperial troops. However, only the Gamorreans
and Affytechans were affected by this. This book is fair. Although Luke's escapades with the confused aliens were amusing, like the Jedi Academy Trilogy, nothing is really exceptional
about it. Also, the idea of a giant sophisticated warship being contructed for the annihilation of a single planet was pretty far-fetched and unrealistic. If the Emperor had wanted a
particular world destroyed, he would simply have sent a few Star Destroyers.Darksaber
While Durga the Hutt tries to build his own Death Star, Daala joins forces with Vice Admiral Pellaeon in a new attempt to destroy the New Republic. This was a decent book. The storylines
were OK, but there was plenty of action and some parts of the book (the many executions of Death Star designer Bevel Lemilisk at the hands of the Emperor) were excellent.The Black Fleet Crisis
Luke makes a journey in search of his mother and her people. Lando, bored with his current business ventures, voluteers to help a top secret Republic agency on whatever mysterious project
they are currently undertaking and finds himself trying to unlock the secrets of a mysterious spacecraft that has weapons of enormous destructive power and an unknown mission. And a race
of hostile aliens known as the Yevetha have taken command of a large number of Imperial Star Destroyers and are attempting to start a genocidal war to wipe out all non-Yevetha in the Galaxy.
Of the Three major storylines of this trilogy, two were excellent and the third was downright boring. Lando's adventures aboard the Teljiekon Vagabond were full of suspense and
mystery, the kind that won't let you stop reading. The struggle with the Yevethawas full of action and political intrigue. It was also rfreshing to have something other than Rebel-Imperial
conflict. Luke's search for his mother, however, was extremely boring and uneventful. Overall, this trilogy was great.The Corellian Trilogy
A trade summit on Corellia brings Han and his family back to his homeworld. Unfortunately, it isn't the peaceful world of his memories. Instead he finds the place overrun with New Republic
intelligence agents, the five worlds of the star system on the brink of civil war, and a mysterious force that is causing stars to go nova. Soon after he arrives, a system-wide jamming zone and interdiction field go up, blocking off all
communication with the rest of the Galaxy. Although the first half of the first book is boring, if you can stick with it, they are very good. There is plenty of action, but the real strength of this trilogy is in its storyline, which is
well written and full edge-of-your-seat suspense, mystery, and political intrigue. As with the Black Fleet Crisis, it is refreshing to see something other than another "Return of the Empire" plot. It is also very informative about the
entire Corellian Star System, and these are the only books I have read that portray the Solo children well.The Young Jedi Knights series
This series tells the story of the Solo Children's training at the Jedi Academy. These books are written for younger Star Wars fans, and therefore may not be as entertaining for older readers as the other books. The storylines, character
personalities, and language can be sugary sweet at times, and may seem more like the smurfs than Star Wars.
The 'Tales' books are different from other Star Wars novels, but very interesting. Unlike the other books, the 'Tales' series are a collection of short stories written about the creatures seen in the Mos Eisley Cantina, the six elite
Bounty Hunters, and the creatures seen in Jabba's Palace. Most of the Tales are very good, and are masterfully woven together with each other, the Movies, and the other books. Since the Tales are all different, I will give the top five
tales from each book below the overall rating.