Hi reddit
I want to start reading into some deeper Star Wars lore, but I have a hard time understanding where I should start. I am wondering how something is considered "official" or not? Are there titles I should avoid reading? I've seen some reddit threads recommending Dath Bane Trilogy (which I am thinking to start with)? Any advice coming into this would be much appreciated, as there are just so many titles out there!
Posted Mar 6, 2019, 9:05 AM UTC
Star Wars is Star Wars. Feel free to start with the Bane trilogy if you want to, it’s a fantastic series. Just know that the stories being told are no longer a part of the current Star Wars canon, and are now part of Legends, which was the old continuity before the Disney buyout.
A lot of Star Wars media will have the “Legends” logo on it in order to tell you that is no longer considered canon, or official if you want to call it that.
If you want to look for some canon/official works, try reading the Aftermath trilogy and the newer Thrawn novels. Those are some great stories to begin with. Comics-wise, I must urge you to read the Darth Vader series pronto. It is absolutely incredible. The new “Age Of” series is great too, especially the Dooku story. If you haven’t watched The Clone Wars or Rebels, I strongly urge you to watch those as soon as possible, as they provide some pretty crucial background for the new canon. The new Resistance series is also a good series to watch for some more context behind the Force Awakens and Last Jedi.
Don’t feel like you have to stick strictly to canon material, because most of the really popular Star Wars works are now considered Legends. The Bane trilogy, the original Thrawn trilogy, the X-wing and Rogue Squadron books, and my personal favorites, the Republic Commando series, are all fantastic and are a must read for any Star Wars fan. Comics-wise, I definitely recommend the Republic series. The original Clone Wars Cartoon Network series is a must watch in my opinion.
It’s fun to read all of these stories regardless of if they’re canon or not. And reading the Legends material makes it all the more satisfying to see characters and stories from that continuity make their way into the new canon.
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If you want to focus on the new canon then it's quite easy, pretty much everything that has been published after Disney's acquisition of Lucasfilm is canon.
https://starwarscanontimeline.com
Start here, it lists all current Star Wars Cannon in chronological order with a brief synopsis of each story. Read the stuff you think you would like then move on to the next thing on the list.
You could also pick up a few visual dictionaries for the movies that interest you.
If the making of the movies is what interests you there are some really good books about that.
The Darth Bane Trilogy is now no longer strictly speaking cannon but some would debate that, its still a really good trilogy worth reading just know its not really cannon.
If you aren't concerned with many many obvious spoilers, hop on wookieepedia and just click around. That's how a lot of us fall down the rabbit hole. You can really get a grasp on how interconnected all the stories are.
After SW was sold by Lucas, the lore was split into "Canon" (all the feature films, the Clone Wars series, and all material produced after), and "Legends" (the first six feature films, the Clone Wars Series, and all material produced before the sale).
Wookieepedia labels each page as Canon or Legends, they're labeled at the top. You can even tab between the Canon and Legends articles for things that appear in both continuities.
Legends has an elaborate continuity that is honestly often inconsistent with itself both in tone and facts, but has some really really good content. More and more elements are being used for the current canon as well.
The new canon is definitely more consistent with itself, though is much "safer" so far than Legends. This is good and bad because while they've avoided some of the pitfalls of the Legends universe they've also made their own missteps and IMO have relied on too many familiar characters and plotlines. But I'm hoping that after Ep IX there will be an expansion in what stories and eras authors are able to approach.
Honestly I think the best approach is to be excited we have two huge storylines to explore! There's something in Star Wars for everyone, and I hope you find some cool stuff to start delving into as well!
May the Force be with you!
Speaking as someone who started VERY young, I would say start wherever you want or feel comfortable. If you're wanting to dive into Legends material (non-Disney Canon), there's no place to go wrong, really. Yes, some stories are better than others but, it's all Star Wars. If you want to start with a book, start with a book. If a TV series is more your speed, there's three really good ones, two of which fit into Disney's Canon. If you play a lot of videogames or like watching YouTube vids about them, go that route. There's no singular starting point other than a love of the movies and the franchise.
Now as for things I would recommend, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (or KOTOR, as you'll see it called) is a great game with a twist arguably better than even Empire's. The Thrawn trilogy is a good series of books following the events of Return of the Jedi. Clone Wars is a fantastic (and I believe award-winning) series that feels like it expands the universe in a fun and engaging way that doesn't really feel bloated. Its follow-up, Rebels is one I didn't find as good but, I think that's in part because they were restricted to a Y-7 rating (unlike Clone Wars, which had TV-PG). Seriously, though, I can't gush about Clone Wars enough. KOTOR 2 is obviously a follow up to KOTOR 1 and is great. That should be some good stuff to get you started but, like I said, start where you want to, invest time where you want to. A good majority of the content really is worthwhile. Hope I helped at least a bit and may the Force be with you. :)