The Expanded Universe is, as I assume most of you are aware, the term used for pretty much anything Star Wars that isn't the six movies - video games, novels, animated TV shows, and even roleplaying materials all come under this header.  So, with that in mind, what are your thoughts on the EU?


Personally, I'd say I'm a 'novice' to the EU - I've played the heck out of both KotOR games (which are what made me interested in an SW RPG in the first place), and have finished exactly one SW novel, Darth Bane: Path of Destruction.  A great read, in my opinion, and I am definitely looking forward to the paperback edition of the sequel being released over here.  I'm also an avid reader of both the KotOR and Legacy comic books published by Dark Horse, as well as some of the older Republic comics.


This message was last edited by the GM at 03:52, Sun 24 Aug 2008.

I like EUs, they, well, Expand the Universe. More stories, more ideas. It's all a good thing (provided they're written well).

Let's see...

I used to read the novels. A long time ago I read the novelisations, which were pretty much novels in their own right, IIRC. I used to read the other novels out of my local libaries. I read the Thrawn trilogy, I think I read Truce At Bakura, and I got about 1 or 2 books into the Jedi Academy trilogy before I couldn't find the next ones and pretty much lost interest in keeping track of them. I dislike trilogies for this reason. I also read a few books from a young readers series (Jedi Prince series I think). I might have read some others, all post original trilogy stuff. I have Young Jedi Knights: Shadow Academy laying around too from somewhere, but haven't read it.

I found a few comics too. One about droids, another set during one of the ancient eras.

But this was all in the mid-90s, and I can barely remember a thing from any of them.

More recently, I've played Knights Of The Old Republic 1, though I'm rusty on the details. I want to pick up Kotor 2 some time. And I've played Jedi Knight 2, Jedi Outcast and Jedi Academy, and quite enjoyed them.

I have fond childhood memories of reading Ewok comics. It was years before I ever realised that they also appear in Star Wars. It was like a cross-over. And I think I once saw the Droids cartoon movie.

I'm a bit familiar with the EU, just don't ask me about any of it. :)

I've been reccomended a series of books, I think it's called Rogue Squadron?  Anyone here read those?  I'm going through audiobooks of Harry Potter (currently at OotP), but after I'm done with those, I'll need something new to read, and I think it might be time to return to the galaxy far, far away. . .


Also, since BadCatMan just reminded me - JK2: Jedi Outcast is pretty much the only FPS I've gotten to work on my laptop, ever!  Actually, it's probably the only game with 3D graphics at all that's working on here, sadly...  I miss my KotOR games.  :-(

I've read quite a lot of the EU, though I sadly realize that it's only a small fraction of what is really out there.

Books I've read:
Darth Bane: Rule of Two
Darth Bane: Path of Destruction (both of these were exceptional books)
Cloak of Deception
Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter
Republic Commando: Hard Contact (great read if you're interested in clones)
Shatterpoint  (one of the best Clone Wars Novels, IMO)
The Cestus Deception
Republic Commando: Triple Zero
Jedi Trial
Yoda: Dark Rendezvous
Labyrinth of Evil
Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader
Shadow's of the Empire
Tales From Jabba's Palace
Truce at Bakura
The Mandalorian Armor
Slave Ship
Hard Merchandise
Rogue Squadron
Wedge's Gamble
The Courtship of Princess Leia
Tatooine Ghost
Heir to the Empire
Dark Force Rising
The Last Command
Jedi Search
Betrayal (This whole series has been a great read)
Bloodlines
Tempest
Exile
Sacrifice
Inferno
Fury
Revelation
Invincible (currently reading)

Books I own and haven't gotten to yet:
Episode I: Phantom Menace
Rogue Planet
Outbound Flight
The Approaching Storm
Episode II: Attack of the Clones
Death Star
Allegiance
Dark Apprentice (currently semi-reading)
Champions of the Force
Specter of the Past
Vision of the Future
Force Heretic I: Remnant
Force Heretic II: Refugee
Force Heretic III: Reunion

Now that I've got the list all typed down, it's kind of depressing seeing how many books I already own that I haven't read yet, hah!

Only expanded universe I've really read is the Bounty Hunter wars, but they were okay. Not overly gripping if I remember right, but okay.

Really?  I tried getting into it, but it lost my interest about half-way through the first book. . .  of course, having not read any New Jedi Order/New Republic stuff before, I'm not really familiar with the characters and storylines that have been going on, so I figure that might have something to do with it.  Much prefer the Legacy comic books, then, which keeps getting better with every issue.  :-)

I've never read any of the New Jedi Order novels either and I just couldn't set down any of the Legacy of the Force books once I started reading them.

Does playing the video game count?  :p

Played the game. The Falcon is silly in that game. And so slooow...

I only got it and played it for my son.  It's still around here somewhere.  :p

I've read a little of the EU stuff...mostly stuff written about it to be honest.  It looks liek there are some cool ideas there, but I have to admit to being a bit overwhelmed by the idea of actually trying to read it all and get a good grip on what is really happening, especially with the number of books and inevitable inconsistencies caused by that many authors playing in the same playground.

I am more into the material that covers the Old Republic, though I'm not certain that really counts as EU or not.

Anything written about Star Wars that isn't Episode I-VI is the Expanded Universe.

That means comic books, video games, graphic novels, etc are all expanded universe.

Rouge Squadron was a great read for me when they came out (this was Jr High/HS time)  Most of them are very fast paced and engaging as I recall, though be prepared...  there’s like a dozen of them :p

I've read pretty much everything that was published between 1994 and 2002... and nothing since then :p  after graduating HS and entering the "real world" I haven't had time...  A one-off book based on a character from the rouge squadron books called "I, Jedi" was a personal favorite when it came out, one of the few EU books I saw fit to shell out the bucks for the hardcover (the other one was "Vector Prime", which IMHO is better than all it's followers combined)  I think I stopped reading the Vong era books somewhere around 10-12, its hard to remember exactly...  "The Truce at Bakura" holds a special place in my heart as it was the very first EU book I ever read.  there's so many more that are now packed away that I can't possibly remember them all...  basically if it was published in the nineties or early 2000's I read it! :p :)

So, I just read through the new Force Unleashed comic book, which reveals the 'canon' ending for the video game (though I assume you will be able to go your own way in the game itself, much like in KotOR)...  and, well, it was pretty cool, all things concidered.  And assuming the game gets at least half-way decent reviews, I might just pick up the PS2 version when the price begins to drop.  I'm not going to write too much more about it, because I don't want to spoil it for anyone, but I will say that I'm really looking forward to the TFU campaign guide now, heh.  :p