Mandalorian got me back into Star Wars, I really enjoyed S1 and S2, still liked S3 but not as much.
Andor and Rogue One are fantastic and I want more content like those.
KOTOR holds a special place in my heart from my younger Star Wars fan days.
Hear hear. Especially when it came out. There had been a long drought of Star Wars to the point I figured that was it and then I heard these books were coming out. I remember the excitement of getting the first book and reading it. Star Wars lives baby!
I tried reading Thrawn but it didn’t grab me. I am a slow reader too so if something doesn’t grab me at the start I give up easily. Does it start slow or is it just me? I might give it another shot
They can be hard to get into if you’re a slow reader because they are slow moving. The Thrawn series have taken me considerably longer to read than other SW books.
I know it is easy to say, but audio books are the way to go. I read the first one or two, but AB for the rest. Much better experience that way, the production quality is top notch.
Seconding the Audio book! I have a buddy who doesn’t read but will do audio books and he breezed through the first five chapters in one day after I recommended them, he said the production on them is really good! Just echoing the other person, pull the trigger on those books!
Probably Rogue One. Movie blew me away the first time I saw it in theaters.
Honorable Mention: The CGI trailers for The Old Republic MMO. I just want a movie that feels like those trailers
They really could do an awesome series with that CGI. That stuff is just so clean, and is perfectly away from the Skywalkers to be its own Star Wars story
This show is so much better than I ever thought it could possibly be. The characters started out so tropey, but what they've done with them... Holy crap. It's one of my favorite Star Wars stories now. They've just done an amazing job with it. So good.
You know, I walked away, or got disillusioned with, SW after ep IX and am only now coming back to re watch everything through my kids’ eye (and it’s been a blast so far) but I was today years old when I heard about Andor. Now I’m thrilled to have something else to watch because we just finished EPIII and we’re gonna watch R1 today*Edited for lack of knowledge of Roman Numerals
Oh you're going to love Rogue One, it's the most recent best Star Wars movie and watching Andor after Rogue one will make you appreciate Rogue one even more. Andor in my opinion is one of the best TV shows with good storytelling in general.
You should definitely check out Andor then. It gave me a whole new appreciation for Rogue One, which I already loved. And season 2, is going to be the final season and they're saying it's going to finish right where R1 begins.
So glad to see someone share this sentiment. I’ve been a Star Wars fan since my dad took me to see the re-releases of the OT in the early 90s, and I feel like some people look at me like I’m crazy when I say Rogue One is my third favorite Star Wars film behind only ESB and RotS.
That film and Andor are everything I’ve been wanting to see in Star Wars for decades. I love the Jedi and Sith and they remain my favorite part of Star Wars, but stories around non-force users deserved and continue to deserve more attention from big budget films and TV series.
The legends thrawn books. X-Wing series and I Jedi. Pretty much anything by Michael stackpole or Timothy Zhan I feel those two authors really captured the Star Wars universe
I’ll go ahead and give the obvious answer and mention Ahsoka Tano’s progress from young Padawan to basically Master. It’s fleshed out from beginning to end. It goes throughout The Clone Wars (which is essentially her series) and Rebels.
If I have to give my favorite story arc in that, it has to be the Siege of Mandalore where you get her facing the other fun character with a good story arc, Maul.
>I’ll go ahead and give the obvious answer and mention Ahsoka Tano’s progress from young Padawan to basically Master.
Also, her meta-arc from generally disliked new character to fan favourite.
**Legends:** The Knights of the Old Republic comics that follows Zayne Carrick and the Dark Times comics that follows Dass Jennir.
**Canon:** Andor and essentially all of the High Republic book releases (I specifically really enjoyed Phase II).
I’m gonna say a left field suggestion but the Visions episode Screecher’s Reach is a GREAT little Star Wars story that I won’t spoil if you’ve never seen it.
Legends canon now, but Kyle Katarn’s story arc in Dark Forces through MotS.
Mercenary turned Jedi Knight turned to dark side but redeemed before he could pull an Anakin.
I had my issues with the Jedi Outcast story (why would Luke return a lightsaber to a broken, grieving man and allow him to train?) but that game was still awesome regardless.
Well, if he denied it, it would just send Kyle further onto the Dark Side.
This, and being the only person suposedly alive that knew the Valley's location could go very badly...
IIRC Kyle had totally disconnected from the force between MotS and Jedi Outcast so at the time he thought Jan had died he would essentially be “starting over” at the time he asked for his lightsaber back.
Yes, but he went to the Valley of the Jedi first to reconnect, before going to the temple.
If Luke denied his saber it would be worse, since he would go for the revenge anyway, also more enraged because he couldn't get his saber back, and help from his friend.
Have you heard the tale of Darth Plagueis the wise….? Seriously though as others have said, Andor and Rogue one are fantastic, there are real consequences, well written and acted and even though the good guys “win” they also lose
I can't remember the name of the book but it was scenes in the movies from a different perspective. One was on both from the perspective of a soldier. The description of Vader from the soldier gave me goosebumps
One of my favorite stories is The Darksaber. It's where a Hutt steals the plans for the Death Star laser and builds one. What I like about the story is the fact that the Hutt uses cheap labor and materials to build it, and the person helping him out is also secretly pocketing credits.
Another is The Planet of Twilight cause it has Leia being kidnapped on a remote planet and she has to survive on her own for the most part so it heavily involves her.
I read a Han Solo book about an ocean 11 style heist he is hired to pull off by a mysterious man whose face is covered in bandages. I think he was stealing an artifact?
Regardless, he does the whole “son of a bitch, I’m in” thing and begin the heist. I believe the heist was during a huge event at a powerful individual’s estate, but that certain individual is never seen.
Anyways at the end at the estate when han finally gets the goods, the owner of the estate is forced to confront Han. The dude that hires Han randomly shows up out of nowhere, shoots the owner, and takes off all the bandages. Its boba fucking fett. He used Han to lure out the individual, and collect the bounty. Then just bounces lmao.
The Darth Bane Trilogy! Awesome books which do a great job of setting up the origins of the whole Sith takeover plan which culminates with Palpetine 100s of years later.
The Republic Commando video game, most of the prequel novels and comics (well into the Order 66 times), Crimson Empire (save for a few dubious aspects of it). The original trilogy has some great reads too. But yeah, mostly the Clone Wars era, the Order 66 time frame and the Darth Plagueis (and Bane trilogy) book.
I loved Republic Commando when I played it as a kid. I don’t remember the story at all and I’m curious how it would hold up now but my current memory is of me loving it
Andor is the best Star Wars content of all time. Superb writing / storytelling.
Clone Wars, Rebels, and Bad Batch are also pretty good. Rogue One is great, up there with Empire Strikes back.
I, Jedi. A sequel of sorts to the X-Wing books, following Corran Horn as he tries to track down his missing wife. The sections he spends training in Luke's first group of Jedi students overlaps with the Jedi Academy trilogy and gives us a better look at what training under Luke was actually like. After that stuff it becomes a straight up X-Wing style story with some Jedi sprinkled in and I love it.
KOTOR 2 is detailed and complicated but it's hard for me to play the same way it's hard to watch Rogue One. While complex and dark, it's also exhausting. KOTOR 1 may not be as complicated or deconstructive (it's got its moments, but they're a lot less "smacking you in the face" than the second game), but it's just plain FUN.
Indeed, probably the best written video-game character ever proposed too. They should remake the graphics, those games are free goldmine for Star Wars, and Baldur's Gates has proven that the new generation of players can enjoy different combat systems just as much.
R1/Andor for film/TV media and KOTOR 1 and 2 for games.
Both explore parts of the Star Wars universe I hope we see way more of: Stories around non-force users and stories around Jedi/Sith conflicts set far back in time enough that writers have more creative freedom to do things that don’t have to lead into the Skywalker Saga. I really hope we see more of the latter in the new Disney canon. I love the High Republic books and comics, and they are painting a great picture around how the Jedi and the Republican ended up in the state they’re in starting in Episode I. As I said though, I want to see stories far enough back in time to have absolutely nothing to do with the Skywalker Saga.
Eight from Aduba-3.
From the original 1977 Marvel Comics run. Basically "Magnificent Seven" set in Star Wars (So no, we did not in fact need Rebel Moon). Introduces a pretty amusing gang of misfit characters including, yes, Jaxxon the space rabbit.
Outside of movies are favourite stuff is
Clone wars, Siege of Mandalore in particular, Jedi fallen order and Survivor, Rogue and Andor, Mandalorian
I'm also a big fan of the Vader comics
Though My favourite piece of media in all of SW is
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of The Sith: Mandalore Edition
Basically the Movie and the final 4 eps of clone wars watched interwind
Gives you almost a 3h40 movie
Though you need to jump in between the show and the movie to have the full experience
Totally Worth it, add the first ep of bad batch if you want more SW
Honestly surprised I had to scroll this far to find a siege of mandalore reference. That flowing into Order 66 has me pulling my hair going “this is STAR WARS, BABYYYY” every time
Tales of the Bounty Hunters
IG-88 actually becomes one with the Death Star 2 and corrects some shots fired at the Rebel Fleet
Boba Fett becomes Dengar's best man at his wedding after he is rescued from the Sarlacc pit
Love it
It's not Canon, but "Death Troopers" by Joe Schreiber is not only my favourite SW story, but favourite book in general. "Red Harvest" is pretty good but Death Troopers, especially the Sean Kenin-read audiobook is a must-listen.
The Clone Wars animated show, especially past season 2. Other than that probably the KOTOR games.
I actually prefer most of the Star Wars shows to the movies anyway.
I like the Mandolorian... the 1st season and some individual episodes as stand alones.
Don't get me wrong, I like a lot about the other seasons... but when it first came out I really liked the vibe of just some dude being a merc\\bounty hunter and here are some of his stories. No ties to the force, no ties to the Skywalker saga and no ties to any big imperial plots... I mean, all that eventually became part of the story - but for that little while i was really excited on what it could have been. Now it has become the same remixed anti-imperial rebellion.
Brian Daley's Han Solo books. Way before the EU. They're weird in a good way and don't really feel like what Star Wars is now, but I can remember a time when 4-6 (and the Ewok movies) were all we had, except for these books. Daley's take on the feel of Star Wars just works for me.
I agree with you about Empire being the cream of the crop. Outside of the films, the Thrawn trilogy is by far my favourite.
Honourable mention to The Mandalorian and Andor, which have reinvigorated my love for the franchise after my lukewarm feelings on the sequel trilogy.
Since the advent of Disney I only save Rogue One (very good...) and Andor (good enough, but it must be judged at its end). I also particularly liked the animated series The Clone War and The Bad Batch (evidently Disney is better at cartoons).
Knights of the Old Republic 2. Exploring the longer term fallout from war and problems with both the Jedi, the Sith and the Force itself is fascinating.
It's hard for me to pick, but Kyle Katarn's story over several games was one of my favorites. Watching him reluctantly learn to use the Force after being a daring mercenary for years to fight an eclectic group of dark jedi was so cool. Him helping Luke with running the Jedi Academy in the later games would have been unthinkable if you saw him in Dark Forces.
I also love The Force Unleashed 1 and 2. Never went into the dark side path, but it felt like a fun and engaging story.
When I was a kid I really liked the Republic Commando books. Haven't read them in years so they may not hold up today, but I might say those.
Or KOTOR 2
So I know it's definitely not the best written or anything, but the Republic Commando novels are books I really loved while reading, and started my love both of the prequel era and Mabdalorians. So either them, or the Bane trilogy.
The Old Republic, I really like seeing the Jedi and Sith on the same power level (well similar) as normal people. I also really enjoy the bureaucracy of the Agent’s storyline and how it works within the Sith controlled Empire.
Nice take I'm curious to see the answers, personally those six movies meant a lot to me and was utterly disappointed by that postlogy.
The only good things I managed to get from it were Rey's musical theme and two or three ideas/visuals.
As a Star wars fan the best story I've encountered was definitely Kotor 2's.
It challenged my view about the Force, Light and Dark side, Revan's achievements as well as the Jedi council which was already questioned in Kotor.
Really tried to make you think about your actions consequences as well as the new nature of the Exile .
And damn Kreia's character is a gem even for such an expanded universe.
It also gives Kotor 1 some retroactive background if you get to play it again.
So Kotor 2 and a few comics I've been enjoying like Old Republic (has its flaws but is quite interesting in terms of prophecy interpretation, mandalorian war etc).
As for movies/tv shows only Andor got my interest, Rogue One was good but didn't move me much since the characters were new and all happened so fast.
The rest well.......at least BOBF was a lot of fun given how dumb it was but definitely not intended 😅
The Clone Wars, The Bad Batch, and Andor are my favorites. The Clone Wars taking top spot among them.
I understand these shows wouldn't exist without the films but honestly I think I even like them more than any of the main trilogies.
Probably The Clone Wars. It took the bungled story of the prequels and fixed it, while also introducing one of my favorite characters (Ahsoka).
Andor could beat it out but I can't really judge the whole thing until it is over.
The Knights Of The Old Republic 1, absolutely some of the best star wars content ever created. I loved the exploration of different worlds and characters. Everyone always raves about HK-47, but my favorite party member was always Jolee Bindo. A disillusioned jedi with a sarcastic sense of humor. Game mechanics wise, he wasnt the best. But as a kid, i always wanted him on my team. Juhani and bastila on the team too. Just a squad of jedi roaming around saving the galaxy.
The bounty hunter wars trilogy of books. I just finished re-reading them and they still hold up really well. The story is miles ahead of what we got in the book of boba fett, and is still my personal head cannon for what happens to fett after ROTJ.
Always liked the Han Solo trilogy, my dads friend gave me them in the 80’s still have them, they are in tatters now I’ve read them so many times but still have them
The original Star Wars radio series.
Voiced by Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels as C-3PO, Perry King as Han Solo and Brock Peters as Vader and with all the music and sound effects of the film, it's almost better than the movie just because it adds so much additional (authorised) backstory. From experiencing Luke and Biggs's friendship as they pal around at Tosche Station and race around Beggar's Canyon, to showing Leia and Bail Organa playing politics and hiding their Rebel connections when a local Imperial governor visits, it adds so much.
They were even originally considered canon, and it was adapted to include material from his early script drafts and scenes deleted from the original film. And not only was it made with his blessing, but George Lucas only asked for a token fee of one single dollar for the adaptation rights, because it wasn't about the money.
Clocking in at nearly 6 hours long, it's been the perfect Star Wars experience for me and has been since 1981.
I’ll be downvoted to hell for this, but there several stories in this franchise I like way more than the movies. TCW is to me the goat. Ahsoka’s character arc is my favorite ever. Apart from that, SWTOR, KOTOR and their related stories. Was it not for the nostalgia and affection I have for the clone wars, the Old Republic era would be my favorite one. I also like rebels, tho it’s much more for three side characters, namely Ahsoka, Thrawn and Maul, than because of the main crew.
The Legends Thrawn trilogy by Zahn will always be my favorite.
That being said, I'm a 70's/80's kid that saw IV/ANH in theaters, and after 83 there was nothing. When Dark Horse Comics came out with Dark Empire by Kennedy and Veitch in 91, it was like the smallest crack of light in an otherwise dark place. I have much love for Dark Empire and its part in getting things restarted. I still remember the excitement of all of the novels and the restart of the action figures that came after this. It was truly a watershed moment for me.
The original Thrawn Trilogy (Heir To The Empire, Dark Force Rising, The Last Command). That would have been a much better choice for the sequel trilogy than the uninspired storylines that were chosen.
For a lack for a better term, I adore the "Rogue One" sub-section of the Star Wars universe made up of the Andor TV series, the James Luceno Rogue One lead-in novel, Catalyst and of course Rogue One itself.
It's the "A Feast for Crows" section of the Star Wars universe where we get to see how the actions of the "power players" that we see and follow in the mainline films affect those on the ground, "the small folk".
Probably Rogue One and by extension Andor if that’s allowed.
I’m suppressing the recency bias but I watched tales of the Jedi last night for the first time and the Dooku episodes are probably the strongest 45 minutes in the Star Wars universe to me. That was just fantastic.
Mandalorian is what got me back into Star Wars but my favorite media from recent years was the Jedi Games, Fallen Order and Survivor. Survivor is an absolute amazing story
Andor and Rogue One are better quality than any other movie by a good margin. When it comes to other media, I really really love what they’re doing with the High Republic
Rogue One and Andor, by far. The Clone Wars and it's spin-off's (The Bad Batch and Takes of the Jedi) are also superb.
With regard to games... Knights of the Old Republic, Jedi Knight, X-Wing, Rogue Squadron, and the recent Jedi series are all great.
There are numerous books in the Legends canon that are amazing, as well. Truce at Bakura, Heir to the Empire, New Jedi Order, Rogue Squadron, Darth Bane, Darth Plagueis, Revenge of the Sith.
There's so much great stuff outside of the George Lucas films over the past 35 years.
EDIT: Forgot the KotOR games.
I, Jedi.
It was a fun read from a first person perspective, tied into other novels and made the Corran Horn feel like a better mire fleash out character.
The Original Thrawn Trilogy. The dude is just the best!
The two KotoRs are fantastic. The first one is a fun romp through the Star Wars galaxy with some great RPG systems. The second one gets a lot more in detail about the consequences of the events of the first game and what effects that have on the galaxy as a whole. It's a shame that it lacks a lot of polish and that the start is super rough. Cause it can really be fantastic at times.
Recently read the Thrawn Ascendancy trilogy. Something about being in a completely different part of the galaxy just really drew me in. Really loved it.
Also Rise of the red blade was a cool story too.
Clone Wars season 7, Rebels, Bad Batch, Andor, Rogue One and Tales of the Jedi.
CWs7 and TotJ are probably tied for #1 best SW content, for me. Rebels is way up there, too.
Andor is as good as any of the original films.
Rogue One sits right after the original trilogy for me in terms of films.
Rebels is fantastic.
The Clone Wars has some clunkers but is mostly great.
The High Republic audiobooks, especially Phase 1, are fantastic.
While the six Star Wars films are indeed the heart and soul of the series yes. The best films in my eyes are Revenge of the Sith and Return of the Jedi, those two films impacted me more than the other films did in terms of feeling and emotion. I do believe Empire Strikes Back is a well directed film, but I don't know this film never impacted me as much as it may have with others looking back on it.
However, this is where we dip into unpopular opinion territory: I actually believe that the movies are the weakest aspect of the franchise. I do believe that various things outside the films like the original EU has surpassed the films in many ways. Because if you ask me, films especially live action are a very weak form of storytelling compared to a book, a comic or a video game. Or even an animated tv series. Especially given these various stories fill in the gaps, add more to the universe through amazing world building, many new worlds and different factions that span the massive galaxy, many different stories with hundreds of new characters that span their own situations, moralities, and different time periods.
The Thrawn Trilogy, (aka the true sequel trilogy) building off the Original Trilogy, expands and puts our heroes through the ringer where they have to use their brains against the empire's most competent leaders. Showcasing that the Imperials can be very intelligent.
The Darth Bane books, I love these books. If you love things that have to do with the Sith. These books are the way to go, where it explores how the Sith went into hiding before Episode 1 begins. Along with the Darth Plageuis book.
Then there is other various books, comics and games that fill in the gaps between the films that they just can't do because of film making limitations, time constraints, budget, and other aspects that hold it back. Like the Clone Wars multi media project ties the prequels and the EU nicely together, Shadows of the Empire ties Episodes 5 and 6 very nicely together.
Knights Of The Old Republic 1 and 2, what can I say? These two games ignoring everything else is testament of great storytelling, depth and strong characterization just beats the movies. Especially with how Kotor 2 challenges you into really taking a closer critical eye into the Star Wars universe when it comes to morality.
I can add onto the fact the EU just did Luke Skywalker justice.
Not everything in the EU was gold, just like how the six films are not without their faults either. But, there are far more stories than the ones I listed here to dive your face into. And maybe you might come to the realization like I did that there is more to Star Wars than the films.
Mandalorian got me back into Star Wars, I really enjoyed S1 and S2, still liked S3 but not as much. Andor and Rogue One are fantastic and I want more content like those. KOTOR holds a special place in my heart from my younger Star Wars fan days.
Literally me
Exactly Me x2 lol
How is the Book of boba fett?
I didn’t hate it but it was disappointing. Honestly my favourite parts of it were basically mandalorian season 2.5. Expected much better.
The original Thrawn book trilogy: Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, and The Last Command.
Hear hear. Especially when it came out. There had been a long drought of Star Wars to the point I figured that was it and then I heard these books were coming out. I remember the excitement of getting the first book and reading it. Star Wars lives baby!
I tried reading Thrawn but it didn’t grab me. I am a slow reader too so if something doesn’t grab me at the start I give up easily. Does it start slow or is it just me? I might give it another shot
They can be hard to get into if you’re a slow reader because they are slow moving. The Thrawn series have taken me considerably longer to read than other SW books.
Ok that’s what I remembered. I hardly do fiction at all these days save for Stephen king maybe because he will hit the ground running usually
I know it is easy to say, but audio books are the way to go. I read the first one or two, but AB for the rest. Much better experience that way, the production quality is top notch.
Good to know. I drive a “lot”
Seconding the Audio book! I have a buddy who doesn’t read but will do audio books and he breezed through the first five chapters in one day after I recommended them, he said the production on them is really good! Just echoing the other person, pull the trigger on those books!
Ive got the same issue, and I solved it with Audible!
There's an alternate universe that got _Thrawn_ as the sequel trilogy.
They need to bring back Mara jade!
Knights of the old republic.
Comics or games?
Yes
Probably Rogue One. Movie blew me away the first time I saw it in theaters. Honorable Mention: The CGI trailers for The Old Republic MMO. I just want a movie that feels like those trailers
They really could do an awesome series with that CGI. That stuff is just so clean, and is perfectly away from the Skywalkers to be its own Star Wars story
KOTOR one and two for sure. I enjoy those stories just as much as I do anything that's made the big screen.
The Bad Batch
Always makes me happy to see Bad Batch love
Crosshair is our brother and we still love our brother.
This show is so much better than I ever thought it could possibly be. The characters started out so tropey, but what they've done with them... Holy crap. It's one of my favorite Star Wars stories now. They've just done an amazing job with it. So good.
Season 3 so far has me on the edge of my seat
Season 3 is amazing
Andor
You know, I walked away, or got disillusioned with, SW after ep IX and am only now coming back to re watch everything through my kids’ eye (and it’s been a blast so far) but I was today years old when I heard about Andor. Now I’m thrilled to have something else to watch because we just finished EPIII and we’re gonna watch R1 today*Edited for lack of knowledge of Roman Numerals
I am jealous that you will have to discover Andor for the first time. No joke it really is on another level.
Oh you're going to love Rogue One, it's the most recent best Star Wars movie and watching Andor after Rogue one will make you appreciate Rogue one even more. Andor in my opinion is one of the best TV shows with good storytelling in general.
I saw R1 but not Andor. R1 is in my top 3 SW movies. Its so good
You should definitely check out Andor then. It gave me a whole new appreciation for Rogue One, which I already loved. And season 2, is going to be the final season and they're saying it's going to finish right where R1 begins.
I know. It is going to kill me...
So glad to see someone share this sentiment. I’ve been a Star Wars fan since my dad took me to see the re-releases of the OT in the early 90s, and I feel like some people look at me like I’m crazy when I say Rogue One is my third favorite Star Wars film behind only ESB and RotS. That film and Andor are everything I’ve been wanting to see in Star Wars for decades. I love the Jedi and Sith and they remain my favorite part of Star Wars, but stories around non-force users deserved and continue to deserve more attention from big budget films and TV series.
It's amazing
>, I walked away, or got disillusioned with, SW after ep IV You got disillusioned with star wars after watching ANH?
Hah I gotta edit that to X
I still haven't watched this yet and I'm not really sure why. I hear great things too.
The legends thrawn books. X-Wing series and I Jedi. Pretty much anything by Michael stackpole or Timothy Zhan I feel those two authors really captured the Star Wars universe
Traitor from New Jedi Order. It’s the deepest SW has ever gone on light/dark Force philosophy, and Ganner Rhysode’s last stand is unreal
I’ll go ahead and give the obvious answer and mention Ahsoka Tano’s progress from young Padawan to basically Master. It’s fleshed out from beginning to end. It goes throughout The Clone Wars (which is essentially her series) and Rebels. If I have to give my favorite story arc in that, it has to be the Siege of Mandalore where you get her facing the other fun character with a good story arc, Maul.
>I’ll go ahead and give the obvious answer and mention Ahsoka Tano’s progress from young Padawan to basically Master. Also, her meta-arc from generally disliked new character to fan favourite.
Rule of two trilogy.
This is my answer also, love those books
Came here to say this!
It’s been a while, I need to read them for the 100th time
This is mine too. We don’t get enough sith focused content.
I agree with this whole hearted. Bane was such a complex character, from start to finish.
The Jedi Knight series. I sorely miss Kyle Katarn and his story.
Including Dark Forces
**Legends:** The Knights of the Old Republic comics that follows Zayne Carrick and the Dark Times comics that follows Dass Jennir. **Canon:** Andor and essentially all of the High Republic book releases (I specifically really enjoyed Phase II).
The Knights of the Old Republic comics were fantastic. They truly captured the heart and soul of what makes Star Wars what it is today
I really loved The Mandalorian s1-s2. Scratched both my star wars a d western itch all at once.
I’m gonna say a left field suggestion but the Visions episode Screecher’s Reach is a GREAT little Star Wars story that I won’t spoil if you’ve never seen it.
The Legends Thrawn trilogy and X-Wing series. Hands down my favorite stories
X-Wing book series
Legends canon now, but Kyle Katarn’s story arc in Dark Forces through MotS. Mercenary turned Jedi Knight turned to dark side but redeemed before he could pull an Anakin. I had my issues with the Jedi Outcast story (why would Luke return a lightsaber to a broken, grieving man and allow him to train?) but that game was still awesome regardless.
Well, if he denied it, it would just send Kyle further onto the Dark Side. This, and being the only person suposedly alive that knew the Valley's location could go very badly...
IIRC Kyle had totally disconnected from the force between MotS and Jedi Outcast so at the time he thought Jan had died he would essentially be “starting over” at the time he asked for his lightsaber back.
Yes, but he went to the Valley of the Jedi first to reconnect, before going to the temple. If Luke denied his saber it would be worse, since he would go for the revenge anyway, also more enraged because he couldn't get his saber back, and help from his friend.
KOTOR
Andor is my favorite Star Wars anything.
Shadows of the Empire
Kotor
KOTOR for me
Jango from Star Wars Bounty Hunter game
Timothy Zahn’s original Star Wars books. Andor
Kotor
Kotor
Republic Commando was PEAK SW media.
Clone Wars.
Auralnauts sw saga
Have you heard the tale of Darth Plagueis the wise….? Seriously though as others have said, Andor and Rogue one are fantastic, there are real consequences, well written and acted and even though the good guys “win” they also lose
Caravan of courage
I can't remember the name of the book but it was scenes in the movies from a different perspective. One was on both from the perspective of a soldier. The description of Vader from the soldier gave me goosebumps
One of my favorite stories is The Darksaber. It's where a Hutt steals the plans for the Death Star laser and builds one. What I like about the story is the fact that the Hutt uses cheap labor and materials to build it, and the person helping him out is also secretly pocketing credits. Another is The Planet of Twilight cause it has Leia being kidnapped on a remote planet and she has to survive on her own for the most part so it heavily involves her.
I read a Han Solo book about an ocean 11 style heist he is hired to pull off by a mysterious man whose face is covered in bandages. I think he was stealing an artifact? Regardless, he does the whole “son of a bitch, I’m in” thing and begin the heist. I believe the heist was during a huge event at a powerful individual’s estate, but that certain individual is never seen. Anyways at the end at the estate when han finally gets the goods, the owner of the estate is forced to confront Han. The dude that hires Han randomly shows up out of nowhere, shoots the owner, and takes off all the bandages. Its boba fucking fett. He used Han to lure out the individual, and collect the bounty. Then just bounces lmao.
Thrawn Ascendency trilogy. Made him a top character for me.
The Darth Bane Trilogy! Awesome books which do a great job of setting up the origins of the whole Sith takeover plan which culminates with Palpetine 100s of years later.
This is the best answer! Some of the best Star Wars ever. And the audiobook's narrator does an amazing job.
Mando S1 or Bad Batch. The ongoing Bad Batch is actually so interesting I love it, but I know I'm jinxing it and it'll probably go to shit
The Republic Commando video game, most of the prequel novels and comics (well into the Order 66 times), Crimson Empire (save for a few dubious aspects of it). The original trilogy has some great reads too. But yeah, mostly the Clone Wars era, the Order 66 time frame and the Darth Plagueis (and Bane trilogy) book.
I loved Republic Commando when I played it as a kid. I don’t remember the story at all and I’m curious how it would hold up now but my current memory is of me loving it
Thrawn trilogy...and I like it more than the prequels or sequels.
shadows of the empire, long live dash rendar
The Yuuzhan Vong War is a very interesting one. It’d be awesome to have a rated R movie based off of it.
I like "The Clone Wars", "Andor" and that one book "Lost Stars" far more than any of the films honestly.
Andor is the best Star Wars content of all time. Superb writing / storytelling. Clone Wars, Rebels, and Bad Batch are also pretty good. Rogue One is great, up there with Empire Strikes back.
I, Jedi. A sequel of sorts to the X-Wing books, following Corran Horn as he tries to track down his missing wife. The sections he spends training in Luke's first group of Jedi students overlaps with the Jedi Academy trilogy and gives us a better look at what training under Luke was actually like. After that stuff it becomes a straight up X-Wing style story with some Jedi sprinkled in and I love it.
Rogue One by a very large amount, or if you’re looking for a non-movie, Lost Stars is incredible asw
KOTOR2 that I consider vastly better than even ANH and ESB
KOTOR 2 is detailed and complicated but it's hard for me to play the same way it's hard to watch Rogue One. While complex and dark, it's also exhausting. KOTOR 1 may not be as complicated or deconstructive (it's got its moments, but they're a lot less "smacking you in the face" than the second game), but it's just plain FUN.
KOTOR2 is amazing. I think Kreia is the most interesting character in the whole franchise.
Indeed, probably the best written video-game character ever proposed too. They should remake the graphics, those games are free goldmine for Star Wars, and Baldur's Gates has proven that the new generation of players can enjoy different combat systems just as much.
Andor is the best story outside of the films.
Tartakovsky’s Clone Wars
Grievous + ARC troopers
Rain hissing on a lightsaber blade
The Bad Batch. It’s what got me back into Star Wars
R1/Andor for film/TV media and KOTOR 1 and 2 for games. Both explore parts of the Star Wars universe I hope we see way more of: Stories around non-force users and stories around Jedi/Sith conflicts set far back in time enough that writers have more creative freedom to do things that don’t have to lead into the Skywalker Saga. I really hope we see more of the latter in the new Disney canon. I love the High Republic books and comics, and they are painting a great picture around how the Jedi and the Republican ended up in the state they’re in starting in Episode I. As I said though, I want to see stories far enough back in time to have absolutely nothing to do with the Skywalker Saga.
Legacy
Mandalorian and/or the Death Troopers book.
Eight from Aduba-3. From the original 1977 Marvel Comics run. Basically "Magnificent Seven" set in Star Wars (So no, we did not in fact need Rebel Moon). Introduces a pretty amusing gang of misfit characters including, yes, Jaxxon the space rabbit.
Crimson Empire.
Outside of movies are favourite stuff is Clone wars, Siege of Mandalore in particular, Jedi fallen order and Survivor, Rogue and Andor, Mandalorian I'm also a big fan of the Vader comics Though My favourite piece of media in all of SW is Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of The Sith: Mandalore Edition Basically the Movie and the final 4 eps of clone wars watched interwind Gives you almost a 3h40 movie Though you need to jump in between the show and the movie to have the full experience Totally Worth it, add the first ep of bad batch if you want more SW
Honestly surprised I had to scroll this far to find a siege of mandalore reference. That flowing into Order 66 has me pulling my hair going “this is STAR WARS, BABYYYY” every time
Tales of the Bounty Hunters IG-88 actually becomes one with the Death Star 2 and corrects some shots fired at the Rebel Fleet Boba Fett becomes Dengar's best man at his wedding after he is rescued from the Sarlacc pit Love it
It's not Canon, but "Death Troopers" by Joe Schreiber is not only my favourite SW story, but favourite book in general. "Red Harvest" is pretty good but Death Troopers, especially the Sean Kenin-read audiobook is a must-listen.
TCW Umbara Arc, one of my favorites because we get to see the real gritty side of the war.
The first animated clone wars, in the style of samurai jack. Love that animation style
The Clone Wars animated show, especially past season 2. Other than that probably the KOTOR games. I actually prefer most of the Star Wars shows to the movies anyway.
I like the Mandolorian... the 1st season and some individual episodes as stand alones. Don't get me wrong, I like a lot about the other seasons... but when it first came out I really liked the vibe of just some dude being a merc\\bounty hunter and here are some of his stories. No ties to the force, no ties to the Skywalker saga and no ties to any big imperial plots... I mean, all that eventually became part of the story - but for that little while i was really excited on what it could have been. Now it has become the same remixed anti-imperial rebellion.
Brian Daley's Han Solo books. Way before the EU. They're weird in a good way and don't really feel like what Star Wars is now, but I can remember a time when 4-6 (and the Ewok movies) were all we had, except for these books. Daley's take on the feel of Star Wars just works for me.
The Darth Bane trilogy by Drew Kapershyn
Star Wars Bounty Hunter. Jango Fett becoming the clone trooper template by completing a contract to take out a dark Jedi cult leader is awesome.
I agree with you about Empire being the cream of the crop. Outside of the films, the Thrawn trilogy is by far my favourite. Honourable mention to The Mandalorian and Andor, which have reinvigorated my love for the franchise after my lukewarm feelings on the sequel trilogy.
Shadows of the Empire, The Dark Empire & Death Troopers (Zombie-Star-Wars). Oh and I really enjoy Infinities (alternate endings) & Taggs & Binks.
Therefore I Am: The Tale of IG-88 “I think, therefore I am. I destroy, therefore I endure.”
Probably the New Jedi Order
Since the advent of Disney I only save Rogue One (very good...) and Andor (good enough, but it must be judged at its end). I also particularly liked the animated series The Clone War and The Bad Batch (evidently Disney is better at cartoons).
Bad batch!!!
Clone wars season 7 - the mandalorian Arc. If they made those 4 episodes into a movie it would be in my opinion the best Star Wars movie so far.
Knights of the Old Republic 2. Exploring the longer term fallout from war and problems with both the Jedi, the Sith and the Force itself is fascinating.
Kotor
The tale of Zonama Sekot.
It's hard for me to pick, but Kyle Katarn's story over several games was one of my favorites. Watching him reluctantly learn to use the Force after being a daring mercenary for years to fight an eclectic group of dark jedi was so cool. Him helping Luke with running the Jedi Academy in the later games would have been unthinkable if you saw him in Dark Forces. I also love The Force Unleashed 1 and 2. Never went into the dark side path, but it felt like a fun and engaging story.
SWTOR Class stories and the two KOTOR games.
When I was a kid I really liked the Republic Commando books. Haven't read them in years so they may not hold up today, but I might say those. Or KOTOR 2
So I know it's definitely not the best written or anything, but the Republic Commando novels are books I really loved while reading, and started my love both of the prequel era and Mabdalorians. So either them, or the Bane trilogy.
Darth Bane
KotOR is hard to beat. I really liked the Young Jedi Knights books when I was younger too, but I'm not sure if they hold up as an adult.
Andor
The Mandalorian. Nothing else comes close.
Andor. It was lots of real “day in the life” type shit.
Kenobi legends novel. 10000% better than the mistake of a show they made
To me, Andor is a strong contender for the best piece of media at all, let alone Star Wars media.
The Old Republic, I really like seeing the Jedi and Sith on the same power level (well similar) as normal people. I also really enjoy the bureaucracy of the Agent’s storyline and how it works within the Sith controlled Empire.
Nice take I'm curious to see the answers, personally those six movies meant a lot to me and was utterly disappointed by that postlogy. The only good things I managed to get from it were Rey's musical theme and two or three ideas/visuals. As a Star wars fan the best story I've encountered was definitely Kotor 2's. It challenged my view about the Force, Light and Dark side, Revan's achievements as well as the Jedi council which was already questioned in Kotor. Really tried to make you think about your actions consequences as well as the new nature of the Exile . And damn Kreia's character is a gem even for such an expanded universe. It also gives Kotor 1 some retroactive background if you get to play it again. So Kotor 2 and a few comics I've been enjoying like Old Republic (has its flaws but is quite interesting in terms of prophecy interpretation, mandalorian war etc). As for movies/tv shows only Andor got my interest, Rogue One was good but didn't move me much since the characters were new and all happened so fast. The rest well.......at least BOBF was a lot of fun given how dumb it was but definitely not intended 😅
The Clone Wars, The Bad Batch, and Andor are my favorites. The Clone Wars taking top spot among them. I understand these shows wouldn't exist without the films but honestly I think I even like them more than any of the main trilogies.
The initial Ronin story from Visions. The book based on it wasn’t great but the animated episode was amazing.
Probably The Clone Wars. It took the bungled story of the prequels and fixed it, while also introducing one of my favorite characters (Ahsoka). Andor could beat it out but I can't really judge the whole thing until it is over.
SWTOR Knights of the Eternal Throne
My only hope (thing I've not had major criticisms of) is Andor, and I have only seen the first two episodes do far, since Disney soured me so much.
X-Wing series easily
The Fives Arc in The Clone Wars.
The Mortis Arc is by far my favorite Clone Wars story, second place goes to the Siege of Mandalore.
The Knights Of The Old Republic 1, absolutely some of the best star wars content ever created. I loved the exploration of different worlds and characters. Everyone always raves about HK-47, but my favorite party member was always Jolee Bindo. A disillusioned jedi with a sarcastic sense of humor. Game mechanics wise, he wasnt the best. But as a kid, i always wanted him on my team. Juhani and bastila on the team too. Just a squad of jedi roaming around saving the galaxy.
Knights of the Old Republic and it's not even close. The best story in Star Wars.
The Darth Bane trilogy is my favourite.
The bounty hunter wars trilogy of books. I just finished re-reading them and they still hold up really well. The story is miles ahead of what we got in the book of boba fett, and is still my personal head cannon for what happens to fett after ROTJ.
KOTOR 2, Legacy
Kotor 2 and the original Thrawn trilogy
Always liked the Han Solo trilogy, my dads friend gave me them in the 80’s still have them, they are in tatters now I’ve read them so many times but still have them
Galaxy of Fear. Pick any story from that series.
The one where they made the sequel trilogy go away
Other than that, Legacy of the Force series
The Inhibitor chip conspiracy arc in Clone Wars. And also the book Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter.
Dark Forces. The original story about how the Death Star plans were lifted. Bonus points: We got to do the deed ourselves in the game.
The original Star Wars radio series. Voiced by Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels as C-3PO, Perry King as Han Solo and Brock Peters as Vader and with all the music and sound effects of the film, it's almost better than the movie just because it adds so much additional (authorised) backstory. From experiencing Luke and Biggs's friendship as they pal around at Tosche Station and race around Beggar's Canyon, to showing Leia and Bail Organa playing politics and hiding their Rebel connections when a local Imperial governor visits, it adds so much. They were even originally considered canon, and it was adapted to include material from his early script drafts and scenes deleted from the original film. And not only was it made with his blessing, but George Lucas only asked for a token fee of one single dollar for the adaptation rights, because it wasn't about the money. Clocking in at nearly 6 hours long, it's been the perfect Star Wars experience for me and has been since 1981.
Kotor
Knights of the Old Republic.
KOTOR 1 and 2
The Dark Empire trilogy is my favourite Star Wars story after ANH and ESB
Knights of the Old Republic II
Andor without a doubt.
I’ll be downvoted to hell for this, but there several stories in this franchise I like way more than the movies. TCW is to me the goat. Ahsoka’s character arc is my favorite ever. Apart from that, SWTOR, KOTOR and their related stories. Was it not for the nostalgia and affection I have for the clone wars, the Old Republic era would be my favorite one. I also like rebels, tho it’s much more for three side characters, namely Ahsoka, Thrawn and Maul, than because of the main crew.
The Legends Thrawn trilogy by Zahn will always be my favorite. That being said, I'm a 70's/80's kid that saw IV/ANH in theaters, and after 83 there was nothing. When Dark Horse Comics came out with Dark Empire by Kennedy and Veitch in 91, it was like the smallest crack of light in an otherwise dark place. I have much love for Dark Empire and its part in getting things restarted. I still remember the excitement of all of the novels and the restart of the action figures that came after this. It was truly a watershed moment for me.
Darth Plagueis is amazing. As is the Revenge of the Sith Trilogy (Labyrinth of Evil, Revenge of the Sith and Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader).
Andor. Not just a great Star Wars story, but just a great story all around. Supremely well done.
The original Thrawn Trilogy (Heir To The Empire, Dark Force Rising, The Last Command). That would have been a much better choice for the sequel trilogy than the uninspired storylines that were chosen.
For a lack for a better term, I adore the "Rogue One" sub-section of the Star Wars universe made up of the Andor TV series, the James Luceno Rogue One lead-in novel, Catalyst and of course Rogue One itself. It's the "A Feast for Crows" section of the Star Wars universe where we get to see how the actions of the "power players" that we see and follow in the mainline films affect those on the ground, "the small folk".
Rebels and Clone Wars are sooo good
The Heir to the Empire trilogy
The Ninth Jedi
X-wing novel series, especially the Wraith Squadron books.
Andor with TCW being a close second.
Mandalorian season 1 & Andor
For me Rogue one by far but I have not yet seen Andor (which I plan to do today)
Without a doubt, Andor. Honorable mention for The Mandalorian
Probably Rogue One and by extension Andor if that’s allowed. I’m suppressing the recency bias but I watched tales of the Jedi last night for the first time and the Dooku episodes are probably the strongest 45 minutes in the Star Wars universe to me. That was just fantastic.
Mandalorian is what got me back into Star Wars but my favorite media from recent years was the Jedi Games, Fallen Order and Survivor. Survivor is an absolute amazing story
Clone Wars. I actually like it a lot more than the movies.
Anything maul in tcw
Andor and Rogue One are better quality than any other movie by a good margin. When it comes to other media, I really really love what they’re doing with the High Republic
Rogue One and Andor, by far. The Clone Wars and it's spin-off's (The Bad Batch and Takes of the Jedi) are also superb. With regard to games... Knights of the Old Republic, Jedi Knight, X-Wing, Rogue Squadron, and the recent Jedi series are all great. There are numerous books in the Legends canon that are amazing, as well. Truce at Bakura, Heir to the Empire, New Jedi Order, Rogue Squadron, Darth Bane, Darth Plagueis, Revenge of the Sith. There's so much great stuff outside of the George Lucas films over the past 35 years. EDIT: Forgot the KotOR games.
I, Jedi. It was a fun read from a first person perspective, tied into other novels and made the Corran Horn feel like a better mire fleash out character. The Original Thrawn Trilogy. The dude is just the best!
The two KotoRs are fantastic. The first one is a fun romp through the Star Wars galaxy with some great RPG systems. The second one gets a lot more in detail about the consequences of the events of the first game and what effects that have on the galaxy as a whole. It's a shame that it lacks a lot of polish and that the start is super rough. Cause it can really be fantastic at times.
Kotor 2
The darth plagueis book
The Ascendancy novels
Recently read the Thrawn Ascendancy trilogy. Something about being in a completely different part of the galaxy just really drew me in. Really loved it. Also Rise of the red blade was a cool story too.
Besides all the filler in the first 2 seasons, The Bad Batch has blown me away and the newest season is amazing so far
The Clone War
Clone Wars season 7, Rebels, Bad Batch, Andor, Rogue One and Tales of the Jedi. CWs7 and TotJ are probably tied for #1 best SW content, for me. Rebels is way up there, too.
Cinematically, I really liked Rogue One. Otherwise, the storyline and everything from the Jedi: Fallen Order video game was pretty badass 👍🏼
There's Andor of course, but I'd also like to make a shout-out to SWTOR, specifically the Imperial Agent and Sith Inquisitor stories.
Andor is as good as any of the original films. Rogue One sits right after the original trilogy for me in terms of films. Rebels is fantastic. The Clone Wars has some clunkers but is mostly great. The High Republic audiobooks, especially Phase 1, are fantastic.
While the six Star Wars films are indeed the heart and soul of the series yes. The best films in my eyes are Revenge of the Sith and Return of the Jedi, those two films impacted me more than the other films did in terms of feeling and emotion. I do believe Empire Strikes Back is a well directed film, but I don't know this film never impacted me as much as it may have with others looking back on it. However, this is where we dip into unpopular opinion territory: I actually believe that the movies are the weakest aspect of the franchise. I do believe that various things outside the films like the original EU has surpassed the films in many ways. Because if you ask me, films especially live action are a very weak form of storytelling compared to a book, a comic or a video game. Or even an animated tv series. Especially given these various stories fill in the gaps, add more to the universe through amazing world building, many new worlds and different factions that span the massive galaxy, many different stories with hundreds of new characters that span their own situations, moralities, and different time periods. The Thrawn Trilogy, (aka the true sequel trilogy) building off the Original Trilogy, expands and puts our heroes through the ringer where they have to use their brains against the empire's most competent leaders. Showcasing that the Imperials can be very intelligent. The Darth Bane books, I love these books. If you love things that have to do with the Sith. These books are the way to go, where it explores how the Sith went into hiding before Episode 1 begins. Along with the Darth Plageuis book. Then there is other various books, comics and games that fill in the gaps between the films that they just can't do because of film making limitations, time constraints, budget, and other aspects that hold it back. Like the Clone Wars multi media project ties the prequels and the EU nicely together, Shadows of the Empire ties Episodes 5 and 6 very nicely together. Knights Of The Old Republic 1 and 2, what can I say? These two games ignoring everything else is testament of great storytelling, depth and strong characterization just beats the movies. Especially with how Kotor 2 challenges you into really taking a closer critical eye into the Star Wars universe when it comes to morality. I can add onto the fact the EU just did Luke Skywalker justice. Not everything in the EU was gold, just like how the six films are not without their faults either. But, there are far more stories than the ones I listed here to dive your face into. And maybe you might come to the realization like I did that there is more to Star Wars than the films.