Many know I am a huge Star Wars nerd who loves the expanded universe or what is now known as Legends.
Growing up during the Original Trilogy it was hard as well since nothing was being released for so long. When they did start releasing items for good or bad they did a lot all coming fast.
The books that for me started this was the Heir to the Empire series by Timothy Zahn. He created unique characters and also pushed the already established characters into new directions giving them a hugely diverse voice.
Timothy Zahn for me became the master of Star Wars as he wrote so many amazing stories and made some of the very best characters that we hadn’t seen before.
His writing of Thrawn the blue Skinner Chiss who was the Emporers best weapon. He had such great chemistry for me and wasn’t the traditional bad guy you saw in Star Wars. He wasn’t pure evil like Palpatine or Vader.
In Legends I read 5 books that were about Thrawn including Heir to the Empire Trilogy, Hand of Thrawn duology and Outbound Flight. All were great and had such cohesion in the story.
Other authors like Kevin J Anderson brought a lot to the table as well. He did the Jedi Academy series in which he brought in Cilghal who is one of my favourite side characters ever. However the book didn’t feel quite as strong.
Him and his wife Rebecca Moesta wrote a series of younger books called the Young Jedi Knights which featured the children of Leia and Han that were introduced in Heir to the Empire. They brought out a lot with new characters that will feature heavily in other books down the line in the expanded universe.
The young Jedi feature so much more in the New Jedi Order. They brought so much more to that series than what I ever could have imagined.
The New Jedi Order for me was the final days of the expanded universe as it had a perfect ending for the series. The books just didn’t fit with my perception of what should have been done for those that came after.
With the expanded universe some of the best characters have been created more so than the updates to the established characters
Top characters for me:
Grand Admiral Thrawn – not as evil as Palpatine but shows both a good and bad side as well as a protective side. He was a great villain for me as he was not just a remake of the Sith.
Mara Jade – this one was harder as I loved her but there were times I just felt that she was not great either. She was selfish a lot of the time and just seemed to not have as many people she cared for. This changes throughout the series and you see more about Mara.
Corran Horn – this is my favourite of the characters created and they made a rich background for him and the Corellian Jedi.
Anakin Solo – the youngest of the Solo children he had the greatest potential and I found the character enthralling.
Tahiri Veila – she is such a great character and shows so much of both worlds. Her story is mesmerizing
All things star wars have become my go to items in reading as well as in tv shows.
Crazy Canadian Writing 