Help! My brain is now 95% Star Wars!

[ermingarden]

In the eternity and a half since I last posted something, I've been drawn back into my very first fandom: Star Wars. As I've mentioned before (...a while ago), I was pretty shaken by the sequels because I'd been primarily into the post-OT Expanded Universe novels - i.e., precisely what the sequels displaced. These days, though, I've been pulled into prequels/Clone Wars era, so my engagement with the fandom and with fanworks is both familiar, in that I've loved Star Wars since childhood, and new, since I'm coming at canon from a different (temporal) angle.

That said: This is a cry for help! Has anyone read the Republic Commando books by Karen Traviss and wants to talk about them? I just read Triple Zero and True Colors and I have THOUGHTS and OPINIONS! I've already read (and love) Karen Miller's Clone Wars novels, but I hadn't read anything by Traviss - they're such different perspectives!

In conclusion, although I should be working on my thesis, I think I will be writing fanfic instead.

Comments

[independence1776]

I can't help with the Karen Traviss novels (I refuse to touch them), but my complete sympathies on being 95% Star Wars. That's pretty much what happened to me a year ago and I'm still firmly stuck here. I can recommend a couple of the new Prequel-era canon books, at least?

[ermingarden]

I'd really appreciate that! I love the Karen Miller novels, love some parts of Traviss but don't like others, but I haven't really read any other authors in the prequel era.

[independence1776]

These are all Disney canon, not Legends. I read some of the Legends Prequels novels as they were released, but I don't remember them well.

1. Catalyst by James Luceno. It's a prequel to Rogue One focusing on the Erso family, set during and immediately after the last two Prequels. It's the most Legends-feeling of the new canon books, likely because it's written by someone who wrote Legends.

2. Master and Apprentice by Claudia Grey. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan, set about seven years before TPM. I thought the writer captured Qui-Gon perfectly.

3. Star Wars Propaganda. It's an art book of propaganda posters (some of which are gorgeous and some of which are too derivative), but the explanatory text is written in-universe. It covers the Prequels through TFA.

4. Ahsoka by E. K. Johnston. If you haven't seen The Clone Wars cartoon, you might want to skip this because it relies on you knowing Ahsoka's history.

5. Queen's Shadow by E. K. Johnston. It's about Padmé's first year as senator. It's a YA book and reads like one (it also reads like fic), but it is an enjoyable read, if sometimes oddly flat emotionally. The author openly states in her blurb that she reads fanfic.

6. Dooku: Jedi Lost by Cavan Scott. Originally an audiodrama, the script is now available in hardback. Dooku's life from childhood until he left the Jedi.

[ermingarden]

Thank you so much for the recommendations! I downloaded Master and Apprentice yesterday and I really like it so far, though I've been too busy to read much yet.

[independence1776]

You're welcome!

[ermingarden]

I just finished Master and Apprentice - it was AMAZING! Thank you so much for the recommendation!

[independence1776]

You are very welcome.