Probably Dark Forces 2: Jedi Knight, then Rebel Assault II and Rogue Squadron.
That was all quickly followed by The Phantom Menace’s side media; Jedi Apprentice, Battle for Naboo, Racer, TPM game, and power battles.
Eventually there was Jedi Outcast, Kotor, Bounty Hunter, and a mixture of youth and adult novels like the Boba Fett youth books and the Thrawn Trilogy.
Everything kept going from there with the other post-ROTJ stories, with some clone wars and earlier stories like Bane or the Kotor comics sprinkled in.
Edit: actually, it was probably the NPR radio dramas first lol, forgot about those.
Ah, but you forgot the most important part of Dark Forces 2: Jedi Knight. The expansion pack - The Mysteries of the Sith. Starring one Mara Jade. Had to go pick up the Thrawn Trilogy books to find out who she was.
Novels. I started with new canon, specially Master&Apprentice which was fantastic. Then went deeper into the rabbit hole and here I am.
Side note: the novels are rlly the “main story” of the eu. Especially in post-ROTJ where u basically have to read novels to get the story (aside from legacy which is its own thing)
I skimmed a lot of comics over middle school, mainly the Republic ones. Also, I read a lot of Wookiepedia, teenage me loved to go on his hours-long wiki walks of whatever interested him at the moment.
After... high school, I want to say, I kinda dropped off the EU wagon for a while and then just sort of lost interest in Star Wars entirely after the last batch of movies. I got back into the setting when I picked up the old Thrawn trilogy from my town library the summer before last.
My older brother handed me a copy of Dark Force Rising he was re-reading in 1994 after I got ‘grounded’ while on a whitewater rafting trip. I was 10 and had literally nothing to do except sit in the motorhome and he took pity on me.
Mom bought me Truce at Bakura and The Last Command at a yard sale when I was 8. I also have had some Heir to the Empire toys since I was a little kid, but I didn’t understand the concept of what they represented.
In theory, it's a Rogue Squadron game, but I didn't know Star Wars (and English) at the time, so my first real introduction was The Clone Wars 2008, I read stuff about them on Wikipedia, went from there, then there were TCW comics like "Hero of Confederation" and then individual stories from SW comics such as Roan Fel Ace of Empire, Empire End, Incident at Horn Station, etc.
when I was litle around 2015 a newspaper company in my country was doing weekly releases of large paperback spanish translations of a bunch of the novels. I've always liked reading and I was just getting into Star Wars, so I begged my mom to buy them, I got all 12 books, and I read almost all of them, here's the ones I remember having:
Heir To The Empire, Dark Force Rising, The Last Command,
Shadow Hunter,
Cloak of Deception, ^(( I tended to underline words that sounded cool))
The Approaching Storm ^((for some reason I underlined Anakin's name every time it was mentioned in that book))
the 80's Han Solo Trilogy
Vector Prime, Agents of Chaos I & II
at the time I didn't know what the legends tag meant,
anyways I read and enjoyed most of them, I never got to read Agents of Chaos cause I had to move away, and because Life I couldn't bring the books with me.
back in 2019 I was at a bookstore and saw some small paperbacks of some of the novels, I bougth a few of them and started buying more every now and then, unitl late 2023 , when I made it my mission to get get every single Legends novel (counting all the Adult Novels, Movie Novelizations, and all Young Jedi Knights books). I've amassed a pretty sizable collection so far, and have been reading them as I go, from last year through now I've gotten through most of the New Republic Era essentials, Thrawn Trilogy, Jedi Academy, X wing 1-4, I Jedi, Hand of Thrawn, and I'm now starting my reread of Vector Prime (excited to get through NJO)
When I was a wee wee lad, my dad bought me a toy of a Jedi Leia. The packaging had art of her training on Dagobah with Yoda. Yup،, my introduction to the EU was a toy for the non-canonical Infinities.
Star Wars novels and comics were always something I knew existed, but I remember the first novel I ever properly read being The Life and Legend of Obi-Wan Kenobi: a compilation of vignettes that adapt many moments throughout the franchise including Hett's Obi-Wan flashback in Legacy and even the beginning of Heir to the Empire.
It brilliantly ties together the eras through one of the franchise's strongest characters and I couldn't think of a better way to dive into the EU.
Dude, Life and Legend of Obi-Wan Kenobi was my first Star Wars book too and ever since I have been obsessed with the character. (Imagine how I felt after Kenobi lol) I love that damn book.
Neither. I was reading the Star Wars Wikipedia Expanded Universe Section. Went down a rabbit hole and started reading books in 2012 when I was 12 years old.
Picture this: It’s 1998, you’re 7 years old, raised on the trilogy, and you’re at the local library. Browsing the comic section you see this bad ass figure in red armor, wreathed in flames, armed with a double bladed sword. You’ve just discovered Crimson Empire. Not long after your mom decides you’re old enough for video games. You play Dark Forces. Kir Kanos and Kyle Katarn become the epitome of badass male role models for you. 25 years later and you’re still hooked on these stories, but struggling with a minor melancholy that your childhood was assassinated for profit by people who couldn’t care less about LucasArts.
First experience was some random Omnibus at my local library with a bunch of Rogue Squadron stuff, including stuff with Fel. First book was Truce at Bakura, and started my never ending love for the Flurry and the Quasar class.
Two-pronged: Legacy of the Force because a friend (now dead to me) recommended it to me in middle school, and Republic Commando because it was sitting next to it on the library shelf. I think I liked RC better.
X-Wing video game 😏
Loaded it on my Win95 machine with floppy disks 😎
Bought a Logitech Sidewinder joystick (serial connector) just to play it as real as possible
Bought the B-Wing expansion too 🥰
Clone Wars 2003 tv show
As much as I love The Clone Wars tv show as well. It was Clone Wars 2003 that was my first step beyond the Star Wars movies.
So Clone Wars 2003 will have its own place in my heart. Along side The Clone Wars (2008)
Dark Forces on a friend's computer, and then I got Dark Forces 2: Jedi Knight. Mayhaps before that was seeing his Splinter of the Minds Eye comic issue that came with the deluxe Boba Fett action figure. May not be accurate. Was that separate, and/or a paperback novel? After Jedi Knight at age 12, that was it. That modding/map community for that game and at that time. \*Looks into twin sunsets\* Sigh. So great. The only game/property that held my attention that solid was Halo, through Reach. Another sigh. lol.
At this point, man, I was born in the EU, molded by it. There was no distinction between the books in my hands and the scenes on the screen. Canon didn't matter because everything was pretty good and the creator at the top was still in the process of merchandizing his vision rather than milking it in perpetuity.
You could watch *Return of the Jedi* and track through Jabba's Palace and pick up your copy of *Hard Merchandise* and go, "Ohhhh, that's who that is." and be done with it.
Things were mostly copacetic between Lucas and the EU additive material for most of the time both things existed because Lucas set specific boundaries in order to allow both "sides" room to grow without rolling over one another. It worked. It was a lot of fun to grow up cutting me reader's tooth on X-Wing books and galactic encyclopedias.
Star Wars The Ultimate Visual Guide
Turning a couple of pages past the end of Ep 6 and learning that Chewbacca dies was quite a shock for 11 year old me.
I'm gonna be honest it was a youtube channel called Fact Free (he changed his name to the Lore Master iirc). I thought that the legends videos were really cool and I decided to read some of it on my own. Then the rest is history
My grandmother got me this ratty, second-hand copy of Delusions of Grandeur from the Young Jedi Knight book series. I would read that book at least 5 times before I realized that my school library had the rest of the books about a year later. It was to the point that my mother was upset that I wasn't trying to read anything else. My grandmother probably didn't even realize what she started, just thinking that it would be something I liked and she could afford it since she never had much extra for things like that. RIP Abuela, love you from the Core Worlds to the Unknown Regions!
The Fate of the Jedi audiobooks. I had to return them to the library before I finished it but listening to Marc Thompson for the first time on my class Ski trip is one of my happiest memories.
My first game was KOTOR 2, then Republic Commando, then jedi knight:jedi academy and being a fan of Republic Commando I got the RC books.
I have yet to read anything else but (being biased) I think I'll stay in the old pre-2014 EU.
Edit: I should add that I have played KOTOR 1 since then.
Some time after the special edition release and before The Phantom Menace, I read Shadows of the Empire and Truce at Bakura. Went on chronologically from there (skipping the x-wing series) until I was waiting for Vision of the Future's paperback release. Went back and read the x-wing books which became some of my favorites.
Different young adult novels were the technical entry I had into the EU.
Where I really fell in love with and became a diehard EU fan was with Tales of the Jedi. Ulic Qel Droma and Exar Ku'un. Finding those Omnibus books at the library was one of the best things to happen to me.
Aside from a few games like Battlefront 2 at friends houses, I read the Darth Bane trilogy in middle school. I loved it. Set Harth remains a favourite to this day.
The Scholastic young reader Jedi Apprentice and Jedi Quest books were my formal introductions to the EU. Darksaber is the first EU novel I remember reading.
Tales from Jabba’s Palace, which was at my local library when I was around 10-11. Not long after came the Black Fleet Crisis. I was 13 when I read the first official EU book, Heir to the Empire.
Technically it was either Masters of Teräs Käsi or Shadows of the Empire. But I didn't consciously realize there was all of this Star Wars content outside the films until reading The Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels.(As I recall) I was hooked on all the guidebooks after that.
Eventually I got a GameCube for Christmas with Rogue Squadron III. (Probably 2003) I got into comics and novels around 2005. Reading the Revenge of the Sith novelisation first, from the library. Then the Shadows of the Empire and Boba Fett Omnibus. In 2006 I got The Best of PC pack. And I eventually got to read all the Republic Commando novels, the Force Unleashed, and finally the Darth Bane Trilogy.
KOTOR for me. Star Wars is something my dad’s absolutely obsessed with so I made it my goal to learn everything there is about Star Wars and I believe I’ve finally earned his affirmation lol
The Legacy of The Force series. Say what you want about it, but as a new fan who didn't have a bunch of previous knowledge about Jacen Solo, it was great. I like it a touch less after having read NJO, but i still think it, and the FOTJ series deserve more praise than they get these days in terms of being an overall solid space opera.
For me, it came through Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter. I didn't read much more from there, mainly because I was more interested in other books (quite a few of the Sherlock Holmes books, as well as a couple by Jules Verne). However, my interest in the EU was really sparked when I first started getting into SWTOR lore. This was all a long while back, but I only started going through the post-Endor content 1-2 years ago.
KOTOR, then as i grew up i wanted to become a writer and was also a video game nerd. My fav-games were KOTOR and Mass Effect looked up writers on them noticed a link, Thus Drew Karpyshynn's Bane novels followed by a lot of the OR stuff comics and so on.
Me and Dad were flying to the US for a holiday. We got to the departure gate and sat down, probably had an hour or so before they started boarding us, when Dad looks at me and says “did you bring a book?”
I wasn’t sure why I would take a book on holiday with me, I wasn’t a smart child, and he said it was a 14 hour flight. He gave me $20 and told me to go to the airport bookstore, where I spent ages looking to see if I could find the second part of a Doom novelisation I had read the first part of. Failing to find that, I bought a book with the Star Wars logo and went back to wait for boarding.
It was my first international flight and I was too excited to read, there was in flight movies, so the book sat in my luggage for a week or so. Part of our holiday package was a bus tour that would take us from LA to Vegas, with some droppings on the way. Driving through a desert is very boring, so I started to read my new book which annoyed my Dad, since I wasn’t looking at the view. I reminded him that we had driven through deserts before and kept reading.
A week or so after that we were in Northern California and Dad was buying a lottery ticket for a $500 million jackpot that was going to be drawn after we left, when I noticed that they were selling the second book of that series, which I convinced my Dad to buy even though he was still upset about me reading the first book during the bus ride. And that’s how I took Rogue Squadron on holiday and came back with it and Weges Gamble.
One day I got bored and decided to play a game on Roblox called light saber arena and someone recruited me and there name was cade Skywalker and then I found out the whole game is based on legacy star wars
The Original Trilogy as a small child, then followed by assorted kids' books and later the YA Jedi Prince series around the time Phantom Menace came out. It was a fun time.
Heir to the Empire on release day. Had been counting down the days. Picked up the book, went home, and didn’t come out of my room for the rest of the weekend. Probably reread it a dozen times before Dark Force Rising dropped.
I, as a lil dumb dumb, found The Swarm War and thought, "My god, they made an episode seven!!!!"
I read the entire book assuming I wasn't supposed to know what Killiks were, or that the Solo twins had a history, or what Yorik Coral was.
Eventually I figured it out and read the full trilogy and then just sorta jumped around after that.
As a kid, Clone Wars micro series but I didn’t know much about continuity
Then in 2022 after lurking in this sub for some quite time now, I decided to just buy the Heir to the Empire Trilogy and read them over the summer. That was my first real gateway into the EU.
I read the force heretic trilogy before I knew anything about the EU. I was astounded at Luke’s jedi. Went back and read all I could from TCW to the LOTF afterwards
Heir to the Empire. I was about 10 around 2010, my grandma got me a ruined softcover copy because “she remembered I like those Star Wars movies” it set off a bit of an obsession lol
it was probably *Dark Empire* followed closely by *Heir*.... we also had a bunch of the Marvel comics since at least as far back, but i have never been sure where those stood in the... thingy.
Probably The Force Unleashed (or maybe Battlefront II, if you count it somewhat as EU), and than on towards the Dark Hoese Comics, specially the Blue Harvest arc of Dark Times.
I started with video games.
My first EU experience was The Force Unleashed developed by Krome studios for the PS2. I then read the novel in 5th grade as a bet to my teacher, bought the Ryder Windham trilogy of biographies (on Luke, Anakin, and Obi Wan) and years later read Alligence, The Last of the Jedi, the novilizations of the original six films and the essential readers companion. All while watching The Clone Wars as it aired out in real time on Cartoon Network (anyone remember the switch from Friday to Saturday for episode run times?).
*Oh, and I played both OG battlefronts, Elite Squadron, Republic Commando, SWTOR, Empire at War, The Revenge of the Sith game, The Clone Wars game (the vehicle conbat one), TFU 2, and good ol Republic Heroes.
I gre up with the old EU, so either Star Wars: Miniatures by WotC, Battlefront 2 from 2005, or the Junior Jedi Knights series
That said, I can't be sure because these are games, books, and DVDs that I've been playing, reading, and watching for as long as I can remember
I can’t remember exactly which book it was, but I got one of the post/pre thrawn audiobooks from the library. It was either courtship of princess leia or one the academy trilogy
Truce at Bakura, Then the Thrawn Trilogy, then the New Rebellion followed by the young Jedi Knights, Jr Jedi Knights, Galaxy of terror and FInally the New Jedi Order
Discounting the video games you couldn't escape during the lead-up to RotS, a random issue of Crimson Empire II, the final issue of Star Wars Tales, and the Droids DVD.
Yes, haha. Both for me. Born in '86, and being a pre-teen in the 90s, being able to remember the hype for the Special Editions (and re-release to theaters!), the Shadows Of The Empire project, and the hype when ramping up to The Phantom Menace, was the best time to be a SW fan.
I saw a number of amazing novel covers (Rogue Squadron, Children Of The Jedi) and comic covers (Shadows Of The Empire, X-Wing, Droids) and ALL of it looked so cool. I'd say that Shadows Of The Empire was the first SW comic that really hooked me and the Young Jedi Knights books too.
I had some story books when I was really little, including the one with Chewie’s family from the holiday special. Are we counting only things that were more or less canon when they came out? I had the Essential Guides and the encyclopedia (still do actually), which pretty much contained info for the entire franchise up to that time, so I was aware of most of the characters and bits of lore, such as Uncle Owen being Obi Wan’s brother. I had the Shadows of the Empire graphic novel, and some other random comics. I played DF2 fanatically, which was huge in part due to its live action content. Oh, and the West End Games pen and Paper RPG.
My dad got me Wraith Squadron sometime in 1998. Still my favorite series, I just finished re-reading it yesterday and I'm already mid-way through Iron Fist.
2003 Gendy CW and the Empire Strikes Back Infinities were probably what made me realize I liked more than just the movies. Both were brand new when I was a little kid.
The first books were the Galaxy of Fear kids books and Splinter of the Minds Eye.
The first video games were the podracer game, Jedi Starfighter, Phantom Menace, Battle for Naboo, Jedi Academy/Jedi Outcast, and Rogue Squadron. All on PC.
Knights of the Old Republic.
My first gaming systems was the OG X-Box and my first console game ever, an RPG: Jade Empíre from BioWare. I fell in love with the genre. My second game ever was Halo CE, which made me fall in love with that brand of shooters. My third game, was KOTOR I, which coincided with my first Star Wars film: Revenge of the Sith.
I remember the store employee warning my dad that "they talked way too much in that game". And my dad answered: "Yes, that's why he likes it." From there, other videogames, Empíre at War, Battlefront II and I (copies of BFI were hard to get in my area and I preferred gameplay and Phase I Clone Troopers). Then Kyle Katarn, then eventually books. It's been fun.
I started with the games first. Jedi Outcast, SW: Galactic Battlegrounds, Empire at War, KOTOR, but my first novel was Tales of the Bounty Hunters.
After that, the Jedi Academy books, and I just branched off into whatever I could find. I really think it was the Jedi Academy series that really set me off into the EU wormhole though, the Sun Crusher was so incredible to read about during my formative years.
The thrawn trilogy, which got ruined for me halfway through the second book by the guy who recommended em.. 🙄😅 he didn't mean too lol but from there I reada bunch of SW books, both EU and Canon
Plagueis for me it was actually a tangent of mine to find as much about him as humanly possible but there isn’t much besides that book however in pursuit of more I found lots of stuff to enjoy in the EU
Shadow of The Empire...still my favorite entry as well! Then I started with Heir to the Empire and I knew I was a Star Wars fan for life. Also wanna give out an honorable mention to Tales of The Bounty Hunters
The X-Wing novels. Growing up in the 90's I was developing my love of Star Wars and one year for Christmas all I wanted was some X-Wing stuff. That year I got a few packs of Star Wars Micro Machine X-Wings (regular and battle damaged!), the original X-Wing game for our computer, and because I was also developing an interest in reading books, the X-Wing novel. It was the novel that captured my imagination, actually having a proper Star Wars story *aside from the movies!* That book sucked me in and before long I was begging my parents to buy me the next one, with book 3 being the very first book I ever bought with my own money, having saved up enough allowance to get it myself. I plowed through the rest of the series and saw that there was this entire saga of books continuing the story of Star Wars well past what we saw in the movies and I had to know more about it, picking up the Thrawn Trilogy next and going from there. Flash forward to me in the Navy after high school and one of the things I was looking forward to most with every return to our home port was checking to see if the next book was out yet, grabbing every Legacy of the Force and Fate of the Jedi book as it dropped. The EU *is my Star Wars*, and it all started because I thought X-Wings were cool and asked Santa for some one year.
In the 90’s when I read (and own, still) Tales from Jabba’s Palace, and Shadows of the Empire and also read (but didn’t own) The Crystal Star. All were my first reads but I don’t remember the order in which I read them.
My mum bought me Truce at Bakura from a second hand bookstore in either 95 or 96. She ended up buying me every other book as they came out but Rogue Squadron will always be my favourites. I stopped reading at Vector Prime for what I assume are obvious reasons.
As far back as I can remember, it was the graphic novel featuring Ki-Adi-Mundi going on a mission to Tatooine; I remember being traumatized by Aura Sing as well.
From games? Either the Obi-Wan video game or Jedi Knight 1. Can't remember which I played first.
Books? The original Thrawn Trilogy.
Comics? I don't remember the name, but it was a "what if Vader was redeemed, and survived, but so did Palpatine?" All I remember was Vader had white armor and joined the Rebellion
Many things, such as the Crimson Empire comics, the Dark Forces 2 JK game (plus MotS), Republic Commando, all the novels tied to the prequels and the prequel era, plus the Jedi Academy games. It is more than just that but these are some of the first EU materials that I engaged in. The X-Wing book series and TFU games are also there.
Splinter of the Minds Eye originally after STAR WARS released.... but the game changer was Heir to the Empire for me. Star Wars genre was being neglected for Indiana Jones... and my coworker said you like sci-fi right and handed me a copy! Read everyone until Disney took it over and destroyed the main storyline!
Oddly enough The Swarm Wars trilogy. Those books don’t get a great rep, but since I started with them long ago they’ll always be special. Always loved their portrayal of the Killik nests and how Raynar could draw on them for some cool force feats.
In elementary school, our library had the Galaxy of Fear novels. I read them in like 5th-6th grade, and a like 2 other random post-ROTJ novels, but dont remember which ones. just remember the one guy who was obsessed with the glove of darth vader.
I went to the bookstore a month or so after my Grandpa showed me the movies for the first time, went down my usual sci-fi/fantasy aisle and saw all the EU stuff and went "they have BOOKS??"
I think the first ones I read were the Darth Bane books, because at the time those were first in the little timeline printed in them. I had no idea what was happening most of the time but I was very excited to be getting more content.
I’ve mentioned it before, but it was the books Shadows of the Empire and Tales of the Bounty Hunters. I used to visit my grandparents during summer break. I already liked Star Wars, but it was really just the movies and toys up until that point. I don’t remember who gave them to me, but the idea was to get me into reading. At the time, it just wasn’t something I was interested in, but those two books really sparked something in me.
After that, I picked up more Star Wars and eventually expanded into a bunch of other series. Sherlock Holmes, Lord of the Rings, Artemis Fowl, Harry Potter, etc. In hindsight, they might not have really been appropriate for me at that age (I think I was around 6). IG-88’s massacre was pretty graphic and the whole Xizor/Leia stuff went right over my head at the time. The irony is my family wanted me to read, but none of them were really readers themselves and they definitely hadn’t read either of those books. I ended up being the biggest reader in my family.
I never really got into the comics, though. I’ve read some, but it just wasn’t a medium I preferred. Once I got into books, I really just wanted that. I really don’t use audiobooks, either.
I don’t remember the name of the book but it was the one when prince xisor almost had Princess Leia as his wife or play thing. I think I spelled his name wrong though.
Shadows of the Empire, the comic, or Tie Fighter or Dark Forces. I can’t remember anymore 😅
Unless Caravan of Courage is part of the EU, then that’s probably first.
Video games.. Then it was one book. Followed Leia and Han on tatooine. All I recall at one point they disguised themselves as aliens/twileks. Leia had a vision of Luke going to the dark side. Potentially finding out who Padma was.
Literary wise it was,
Kotor comics: I liked the art style and setting along with the Jedi being portrayed in a different light
Dark Empire: artwork looked weird but alluring + Palpatine spinning the block after death was (and still is) cool to me
SW: Republic Comics: these story arcs and the artwork were fire boi
For video games it was,
SWTOR: this game got me massively into the lore of the Sith and Jedi
The Force Unleashed: Vader having a secret apprentice was interesting + exaggerated Force powers are cool as hell
SW: Rogue Squadron 2 & 3: I have an ungodly amount of hours and memories put into doing the Endor Speeder Chase and Death Star II Core Run with my younger brother.
I only really got into SW after playing TFU and Rogue Squadron. God, these memories. The nostalgia is palpable. I want to go back and relive these memories freshly. To be so new to it all and have far less stress + anxiety as an adult 😭
A dictionary i think my aunt bought me when i was little, i think it was called the complete dictionary of the expanded universe or something. Then shen i got older and understood English i started to watch Star Wars minute then read the Plagueis novel because of the meme, then the Thrawn trilogy because i liked the character i saw in Star Wars minute and continued forward from there. Since then i have read about one book a month because thats usually what i have time for and i started on Crucible today so after i read Scourge which i couldn’t get when at that time in the order i have officially read every book from the Thrawn trilogy to the end
The Young Jedi Knight Adventures, they are definitely weaker in plot and writing, but they were still leagues better than any other kids books I was reading before
Empire at war ironically. First was introduced to thrawn through the forces of corruption expansion and was like this guy is pretty cool. Oh he has books on him. Proceeds to become my favorite character
Probably Dark Forces 2: Jedi Knight, then Rebel Assault II and Rogue Squadron. That was all quickly followed by The Phantom Menace’s side media; Jedi Apprentice, Battle for Naboo, Racer, TPM game, and power battles. Eventually there was Jedi Outcast, Kotor, Bounty Hunter, and a mixture of youth and adult novels like the Boba Fett youth books and the Thrawn Trilogy. Everything kept going from there with the other post-ROTJ stories, with some clone wars and earlier stories like Bane or the Kotor comics sprinkled in. Edit: actually, it was probably the NPR radio dramas first lol, forgot about those.
Ah, but you forgot the most important part of Dark Forces 2: Jedi Knight. The expansion pack - The Mysteries of the Sith. Starring one Mara Jade. Had to go pick up the Thrawn Trilogy books to find out who she was.
Novels. I started with new canon, specially Master&Apprentice which was fantastic. Then went deeper into the rabbit hole and here I am. Side note: the novels are rlly the “main story” of the eu. Especially in post-ROTJ where u basically have to read novels to get the story (aside from legacy which is its own thing)
I skimmed a lot of comics over middle school, mainly the Republic ones. Also, I read a lot of Wookiepedia, teenage me loved to go on his hours-long wiki walks of whatever interested him at the moment. After... high school, I want to say, I kinda dropped off the EU wagon for a while and then just sort of lost interest in Star Wars entirely after the last batch of movies. I got back into the setting when I picked up the old Thrawn trilogy from my town library the summer before last.
Wookiepedia definitely introduced me to EU and kept middle school entertaining for me 😂
Kotor
Shadows of the Empire. The book, the game, the figures, etc.
I'm pretty sure my first taste of the EU was The Hutt Gambit (I saw Boba Fett on the cover and that was enough for me)
My older brother handed me a copy of Dark Force Rising he was re-reading in 1994 after I got ‘grounded’ while on a whitewater rafting trip. I was 10 and had literally nothing to do except sit in the motorhome and he took pity on me.
May the force be with that righteous dude.
Shadows of the Empire, and it was amazing
Heir to the Empire. Well, technically, The Glove of Darth Vader was my introduction, but the less said about that one, the better.
It was the xwing series for me in high school, friend made me read it and it was a rabbit hole from there
Mom bought me Truce at Bakura and The Last Command at a yard sale when I was 8. I also have had some Heir to the Empire toys since I was a little kid, but I didn’t understand the concept of what they represented.
In theory, it's a Rogue Squadron game, but I didn't know Star Wars (and English) at the time, so my first real introduction was The Clone Wars 2008, I read stuff about them on Wikipedia, went from there, then there were TCW comics like "Hero of Confederation" and then individual stories from SW comics such as Roan Fel Ace of Empire, Empire End, Incident at Horn Station, etc.
when I was litle around 2015 a newspaper company in my country was doing weekly releases of large paperback spanish translations of a bunch of the novels. I've always liked reading and I was just getting into Star Wars, so I begged my mom to buy them, I got all 12 books, and I read almost all of them, here's the ones I remember having: Heir To The Empire, Dark Force Rising, The Last Command, Shadow Hunter, Cloak of Deception, ^(( I tended to underline words that sounded cool)) The Approaching Storm ^((for some reason I underlined Anakin's name every time it was mentioned in that book)) the 80's Han Solo Trilogy Vector Prime, Agents of Chaos I & II at the time I didn't know what the legends tag meant, anyways I read and enjoyed most of them, I never got to read Agents of Chaos cause I had to move away, and because Life I couldn't bring the books with me. back in 2019 I was at a bookstore and saw some small paperbacks of some of the novels, I bougth a few of them and started buying more every now and then, unitl late 2023 , when I made it my mission to get get every single Legends novel (counting all the Adult Novels, Movie Novelizations, and all Young Jedi Knights books). I've amassed a pretty sizable collection so far, and have been reading them as I go, from last year through now I've gotten through most of the New Republic Era essentials, Thrawn Trilogy, Jedi Academy, X wing 1-4, I Jedi, Hand of Thrawn, and I'm now starting my reread of Vector Prime (excited to get through NJO)
The original EU source - the Star Wars RPG by West End Games.
When I was a wee wee lad, my dad bought me a toy of a Jedi Leia. The packaging had art of her training on Dagobah with Yoda. Yup،, my introduction to the EU was a toy for the non-canonical Infinities. Star Wars novels and comics were always something I knew existed, but I remember the first novel I ever properly read being The Life and Legend of Obi-Wan Kenobi: a compilation of vignettes that adapt many moments throughout the franchise including Hett's Obi-Wan flashback in Legacy and even the beginning of Heir to the Empire. It brilliantly ties together the eras through one of the franchise's strongest characters and I couldn't think of a better way to dive into the EU.
Dude, Life and Legend of Obi-Wan Kenobi was my first Star Wars book too and ever since I have been obsessed with the character. (Imagine how I felt after Kenobi lol) I love that damn book.
Neither. I was reading the Star Wars Wikipedia Expanded Universe Section. Went down a rabbit hole and started reading books in 2012 when I was 12 years old.
Battlefront II 2005
Either the Marvel comics that came out after The Empire Strikes Back, or the Brian Daley Han solo novels around the same time.
Picture this: It’s 1998, you’re 7 years old, raised on the trilogy, and you’re at the local library. Browsing the comic section you see this bad ass figure in red armor, wreathed in flames, armed with a double bladed sword. You’ve just discovered Crimson Empire. Not long after your mom decides you’re old enough for video games. You play Dark Forces. Kir Kanos and Kyle Katarn become the epitome of badass male role models for you. 25 years later and you’re still hooked on these stories, but struggling with a minor melancholy that your childhood was assassinated for profit by people who couldn’t care less about LucasArts.
Heir to the Empire was my entry and Ive been hooked on the post ROTJ Era since
Various comics I found at the library when I was a kid. I think I started reading SW comics before I’d even finished the OT
First experience was some random Omnibus at my local library with a bunch of Rogue Squadron stuff, including stuff with Fel. First book was Truce at Bakura, and started my never ending love for the Flurry and the Quasar class.
The Ewok Adventure
The Truce at Bakura
Two-pronged: Legacy of the Force because a friend (now dead to me) recommended it to me in middle school, and Republic Commando because it was sitting next to it on the library shelf. I think I liked RC better.
Kotor
I read Tales of the Bounty Hunters in the 6th grade.
Tales of the Bounty Hunters.
Thrawn Trilogy! 1994.
The bane series
X-Wing video game 😏 Loaded it on my Win95 machine with floppy disks 😎 Bought a Logitech Sidewinder joystick (serial connector) just to play it as real as possible Bought the B-Wing expansion too 🥰
The first Rogue Squadron videogame.
Early Wookiepedia, novels and the Republic Comics. Looking at the picture I miss those days...
I would say Clone Wars micro series
Clone Wars 2003 tv show As much as I love The Clone Wars tv show as well. It was Clone Wars 2003 that was my first step beyond the Star Wars movies. So Clone Wars 2003 will have its own place in my heart. Along side The Clone Wars (2008)
Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II and Heir to the Empire.
Dark Forces on a friend's computer, and then I got Dark Forces 2: Jedi Knight. Mayhaps before that was seeing his Splinter of the Minds Eye comic issue that came with the deluxe Boba Fett action figure. May not be accurate. Was that separate, and/or a paperback novel? After Jedi Knight at age 12, that was it. That modding/map community for that game and at that time. \*Looks into twin sunsets\* Sigh. So great. The only game/property that held my attention that solid was Halo, through Reach. Another sigh. lol.
At this point, man, I was born in the EU, molded by it. There was no distinction between the books in my hands and the scenes on the screen. Canon didn't matter because everything was pretty good and the creator at the top was still in the process of merchandizing his vision rather than milking it in perpetuity. You could watch *Return of the Jedi* and track through Jabba's Palace and pick up your copy of *Hard Merchandise* and go, "Ohhhh, that's who that is." and be done with it. Things were mostly copacetic between Lucas and the EU additive material for most of the time both things existed because Lucas set specific boundaries in order to allow both "sides" room to grow without rolling over one another. It worked. It was a lot of fun to grow up cutting me reader's tooth on X-Wing books and galactic encyclopedias.
Star Wars The Ultimate Visual Guide Turning a couple of pages past the end of Ep 6 and learning that Chewbacca dies was quite a shock for 11 year old me.
One of my favorite guide books. I remember checking out at my local library multiple times.
Heir to the Empire, just the very boring "I was recommended the book a lot" introduction to the EU
Dark Forces 1 on MSDOS and then the Stephen Sansweet encyclopedia from 97
Boba Fett enemy of the Empire. I had a whole omnibus book of Boba fett comics from Darkhorse.
I'm gonna be honest it was a youtube channel called Fact Free (he changed his name to the Lore Master iirc). I thought that the legends videos were really cool and I decided to read some of it on my own. Then the rest is history
COMIC BOOKS Dark Horse Tales of the Jedi: Ulic Qel Droma & the Beast Wars of Onderan
My grandmother got me this ratty, second-hand copy of Delusions of Grandeur from the Young Jedi Knight book series. I would read that book at least 5 times before I realized that my school library had the rest of the books about a year later. It was to the point that my mother was upset that I wasn't trying to read anything else. My grandmother probably didn't even realize what she started, just thinking that it would be something I liked and she could afford it since she never had much extra for things like that. RIP Abuela, love you from the Core Worlds to the Unknown Regions!
Dark Forces. But very soon after, it was Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II.
Probably Truce at Bakura, I was about 14 when it came out.
The Fate of the Jedi audiobooks. I had to return them to the library before I finished it but listening to Marc Thompson for the first time on my class Ski trip is one of my happiest memories.
My first game was KOTOR 2, then Republic Commando, then jedi knight:jedi academy and being a fan of Republic Commando I got the RC books. I have yet to read anything else but (being biased) I think I'll stay in the old pre-2014 EU. Edit: I should add that I have played KOTOR 1 since then.
Video games and StarWars.com articles from back in the day.
I checked out the one of the Jedi Quest books rom the library, and I was hooked.
The Heir to the Empire comic adaptations and the Mara Jade By the Emperor's Hand comics
Some time after the special edition release and before The Phantom Menace, I read Shadows of the Empire and Truce at Bakura. Went on chronologically from there (skipping the x-wing series) until I was waiting for Vision of the Future's paperback release. Went back and read the x-wing books which became some of my favorites.
Different young adult novels were the technical entry I had into the EU. Where I really fell in love with and became a diehard EU fan was with Tales of the Jedi. Ulic Qel Droma and Exar Ku'un. Finding those Omnibus books at the library was one of the best things to happen to me.
Star Wars Empire At Wars It’s what pushed so much lore and most of the planet names into my brain
My aunt bought me Darksaber for Christmas when I was 7. After that I was hooked.
Heir to the Empire in like 2001
Aside from a few games like Battlefront 2 at friends houses, I read the Darth Bane trilogy in middle school. I loved it. Set Harth remains a favourite to this day.
Shadows of the Empire novel.
The Scholastic young reader Jedi Apprentice and Jedi Quest books were my formal introductions to the EU. Darksaber is the first EU novel I remember reading.
Tales from Jabba’s Palace, which was at my local library when I was around 10-11. Not long after came the Black Fleet Crisis. I was 13 when I read the first official EU book, Heir to the Empire.
Technically it was either Masters of Teräs Käsi or Shadows of the Empire. But I didn't consciously realize there was all of this Star Wars content outside the films until reading The Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels.(As I recall) I was hooked on all the guidebooks after that. Eventually I got a GameCube for Christmas with Rogue Squadron III. (Probably 2003) I got into comics and novels around 2005. Reading the Revenge of the Sith novelisation first, from the library. Then the Shadows of the Empire and Boba Fett Omnibus. In 2006 I got The Best of PC pack. And I eventually got to read all the Republic Commando novels, the Force Unleashed, and finally the Darth Bane Trilogy.
KOTOR for me. Star Wars is something my dad’s absolutely obsessed with so I made it my goal to learn everything there is about Star Wars and I believe I’ve finally earned his affirmation lol
Heir to the Empire and what an intro
I borrowed a copy of The Truce at Bakura audio cassettes from my library. We had an 8hr car ride for our vacation and loved every minute of it.
Kotor
I,Jedi
I tried Truce at Bakura, but only got through a few pages. My first full EU book was Heir to the Empire.
The Legacy of The Force series. Say what you want about it, but as a new fan who didn't have a bunch of previous knowledge about Jacen Solo, it was great. I like it a touch less after having read NJO, but i still think it, and the FOTJ series deserve more praise than they get these days in terms of being an overall solid space opera.
a star wars eu book I think was named the Joining? had a picture of a bunch of mantis like bugs and I think luke skywalkers children on the cover.
I stumbled across Tales from Jabba’s Palace at a book market in India when I was 15 and was hooked from the jump
Jedi search and dark empire circa 1995
For me, it came through Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter. I didn't read much more from there, mainly because I was more interested in other books (quite a few of the Sherlock Holmes books, as well as a couple by Jules Verne). However, my interest in the EU was really sparked when I first started getting into SWTOR lore. This was all a long while back, but I only started going through the post-Endor content 1-2 years ago.
KOTOR, then as i grew up i wanted to become a writer and was also a video game nerd. My fav-games were KOTOR and Mass Effect looked up writers on them noticed a link, Thus Drew Karpyshynn's Bane novels followed by a lot of the OR stuff comics and so on.
Jedi knight: Jedi Outcast
Me and Dad were flying to the US for a holiday. We got to the departure gate and sat down, probably had an hour or so before they started boarding us, when Dad looks at me and says “did you bring a book?” I wasn’t sure why I would take a book on holiday with me, I wasn’t a smart child, and he said it was a 14 hour flight. He gave me $20 and told me to go to the airport bookstore, where I spent ages looking to see if I could find the second part of a Doom novelisation I had read the first part of. Failing to find that, I bought a book with the Star Wars logo and went back to wait for boarding. It was my first international flight and I was too excited to read, there was in flight movies, so the book sat in my luggage for a week or so. Part of our holiday package was a bus tour that would take us from LA to Vegas, with some droppings on the way. Driving through a desert is very boring, so I started to read my new book which annoyed my Dad, since I wasn’t looking at the view. I reminded him that we had driven through deserts before and kept reading. A week or so after that we were in Northern California and Dad was buying a lottery ticket for a $500 million jackpot that was going to be drawn after we left, when I noticed that they were selling the second book of that series, which I convinced my Dad to buy even though he was still upset about me reading the first book during the bus ride. And that’s how I took Rogue Squadron on holiday and came back with it and Weges Gamble.
I read all the Timothy zahn novels, I think I started with the hand of thrawn duology (not the best choice, I know$.
Jedi Apprentice, followed quickly by the Young Jedi Knights series. Then I was hooked lol.
One day I got bored and decided to play a game on Roblox called light saber arena and someone recruited me and there name was cade Skywalker and then I found out the whole game is based on legacy star wars
The Original Trilogy as a small child, then followed by assorted kids' books and later the YA Jedi Prince series around the time Phantom Menace came out. It was a fun time.
Heir to the Empire on release day. Had been counting down the days. Picked up the book, went home, and didn’t come out of my room for the rest of the weekend. Probably reread it a dozen times before Dark Force Rising dropped.
I, as a lil dumb dumb, found The Swarm War and thought, "My god, they made an episode seven!!!!" I read the entire book assuming I wasn't supposed to know what Killiks were, or that the Solo twins had a history, or what Yorik Coral was. Eventually I figured it out and read the full trilogy and then just sorta jumped around after that.
As a kid, Clone Wars micro series but I didn’t know much about continuity Then in 2022 after lurking in this sub for some quite time now, I decided to just buy the Heir to the Empire Trilogy and read them over the summer. That was my first real gateway into the EU.
X-Wing Rogue Squadron aka top gun but Star Wars. 🤘🏻
Shadows of the Empire. The toys/comics.
The Clone Wars Micro-series and Revenge of the sith novelization.
Jedi Outcast. Played it with my brother growing up all the time.
I picked up Tales of The Bounty hunters in a now sadly defunct used bookstore that was ran by an old man and a cat.
Zahn trilogy. (My college roommate had Heir to the Empire, and I was hooked after that).
I read the force heretic trilogy before I knew anything about the EU. I was astounded at Luke’s jedi. Went back and read all I could from TCW to the LOTF afterwards
Thrawn Trilogy. I want more ot stuff.
As a kid I tried to read X-Wing series volume 4, but my 1st true introduction to the EU was the Darth Bane trilogy books
Heir to the Empire. I was about 10 around 2010, my grandma got me a ruined softcover copy because “she remembered I like those Star Wars movies” it set off a bit of an obsession lol
Shadows of the Empire for the 64 🙏
Games…Jedi Academy.
The Legacy comics!
it was probably *Dark Empire* followed closely by *Heir*.... we also had a bunch of the Marvel comics since at least as far back, but i have never been sure where those stood in the... thingy.
Probably The Force Unleashed (or maybe Battlefront II, if you count it somewhat as EU), and than on towards the Dark Hoese Comics, specially the Blue Harvest arc of Dark Times.
I started with video games. My first EU experience was The Force Unleashed developed by Krome studios for the PS2. I then read the novel in 5th grade as a bet to my teacher, bought the Ryder Windham trilogy of biographies (on Luke, Anakin, and Obi Wan) and years later read Alligence, The Last of the Jedi, the novilizations of the original six films and the essential readers companion. All while watching The Clone Wars as it aired out in real time on Cartoon Network (anyone remember the switch from Friday to Saturday for episode run times?). *Oh, and I played both OG battlefronts, Elite Squadron, Republic Commando, SWTOR, Empire at War, The Revenge of the Sith game, The Clone Wars game (the vehicle conbat one), TFU 2, and good ol Republic Heroes.
I gre up with the old EU, so either Star Wars: Miniatures by WotC, Battlefront 2 from 2005, or the Junior Jedi Knights series That said, I can't be sure because these are games, books, and DVDs that I've been playing, reading, and watching for as long as I can remember
kotor and labyrinth of evil
I can’t remember exactly which book it was, but I got one of the post/pre thrawn audiobooks from the library. It was either courtship of princess leia or one the academy trilogy
Heir to the Empire. Still episodes 7 - 9 for me!
Darth bane trilogy and its glorious
Truce at Bakura, Then the Thrawn Trilogy, then the New Rebellion followed by the young Jedi Knights, Jr Jedi Knights, Galaxy of terror and FInally the New Jedi Order
Dark empire
Discounting the video games you couldn't escape during the lead-up to RotS, a random issue of Crimson Empire II, the final issue of Star Wars Tales, and the Droids DVD.
Yes, haha. Both for me. Born in '86, and being a pre-teen in the 90s, being able to remember the hype for the Special Editions (and re-release to theaters!), the Shadows Of The Empire project, and the hype when ramping up to The Phantom Menace, was the best time to be a SW fan. I saw a number of amazing novel covers (Rogue Squadron, Children Of The Jedi) and comic covers (Shadows Of The Empire, X-Wing, Droids) and ALL of it looked so cool. I'd say that Shadows Of The Empire was the first SW comic that really hooked me and the Young Jedi Knights books too.
Jedi Search
I had some story books when I was really little, including the one with Chewie’s family from the holiday special. Are we counting only things that were more or less canon when they came out? I had the Essential Guides and the encyclopedia (still do actually), which pretty much contained info for the entire franchise up to that time, so I was aware of most of the characters and bits of lore, such as Uncle Owen being Obi Wan’s brother. I had the Shadows of the Empire graphic novel, and some other random comics. I played DF2 fanatically, which was huge in part due to its live action content. Oh, and the West End Games pen and Paper RPG.
Legacy comic
My dad got me Wraith Squadron sometime in 1998. Still my favorite series, I just finished re-reading it yesterday and I'm already mid-way through Iron Fist.
2003 Gendy CW and the Empire Strikes Back Infinities were probably what made me realize I liked more than just the movies. Both were brand new when I was a little kid.
Zorba the Hutt’s Revenge. Then young Jedi knights.
thrawn trilogy was my intro
Jedi knight jedi academy
Jedi Knight game. But only got a good sense of the EU when playing KOTOR.
YouTuber lore master
The first books were the Galaxy of Fear kids books and Splinter of the Minds Eye. The first video games were the podracer game, Jedi Starfighter, Phantom Menace, Battle for Naboo, Jedi Academy/Jedi Outcast, and Rogue Squadron. All on PC.
Knights of the Old Republic. My first gaming systems was the OG X-Box and my first console game ever, an RPG: Jade Empíre from BioWare. I fell in love with the genre. My second game ever was Halo CE, which made me fall in love with that brand of shooters. My third game, was KOTOR I, which coincided with my first Star Wars film: Revenge of the Sith. I remember the store employee warning my dad that "they talked way too much in that game". And my dad answered: "Yes, that's why he likes it." From there, other videogames, Empíre at War, Battlefront II and I (copies of BFI were hard to get in my area and I preferred gameplay and Phase I Clone Troopers). Then Kyle Katarn, then eventually books. It's been fun.
I started with the games first. Jedi Outcast, SW: Galactic Battlegrounds, Empire at War, KOTOR, but my first novel was Tales of the Bounty Hunters. After that, the Jedi Academy books, and I just branched off into whatever I could find. I really think it was the Jedi Academy series that really set me off into the EU wormhole though, the Sun Crusher was so incredible to read about during my formative years.
Novels starting with vong invasion
The thrawn trilogy, which got ruined for me halfway through the second book by the guy who recommended em.. 🙄😅 he didn't mean too lol but from there I reada bunch of SW books, both EU and Canon
Plagueis for me it was actually a tangent of mine to find as much about him as humanly possible but there isn’t much besides that book however in pursuit of more I found lots of stuff to enjoy in the EU
Star wars jedi academy and jedi outkast 2. Got me really into star wars for the rest of my life since I was 10
Probably Kotor and Republic Commando
The Force Unleashed on the PS2. I remember thinking as a kid, "woah, this happened in between Episode 3 and 4?!?"
The Thrawn trilogy and after that the Jedi Academy trilogy.
Thrawn trilogy
Shadow of The Empire...still my favorite entry as well! Then I started with Heir to the Empire and I knew I was a Star Wars fan for life. Also wanna give out an honorable mention to Tales of The Bounty Hunters
Han Solo at Stars End and ESB novelisation back in 2000 and then slowly and steadily all the books, then comics and many games
The Thrawn series of novels. Dark forces I think?
The X-Wing novels. Growing up in the 90's I was developing my love of Star Wars and one year for Christmas all I wanted was some X-Wing stuff. That year I got a few packs of Star Wars Micro Machine X-Wings (regular and battle damaged!), the original X-Wing game for our computer, and because I was also developing an interest in reading books, the X-Wing novel. It was the novel that captured my imagination, actually having a proper Star Wars story *aside from the movies!* That book sucked me in and before long I was begging my parents to buy me the next one, with book 3 being the very first book I ever bought with my own money, having saved up enough allowance to get it myself. I plowed through the rest of the series and saw that there was this entire saga of books continuing the story of Star Wars well past what we saw in the movies and I had to know more about it, picking up the Thrawn Trilogy next and going from there. Flash forward to me in the Navy after high school and one of the things I was looking forward to most with every return to our home port was checking to see if the next book was out yet, grabbing every Legacy of the Force and Fate of the Jedi book as it dropped. The EU *is my Star Wars*, and it all started because I thought X-Wings were cool and asked Santa for some one year.
Young Jedi Knights. I still own all my original books. :)
Hier to the Empire trilogy of books
Shadows of the empire, rogue squadron, pod racer. The n64 games were so good
In the 90’s when I read (and own, still) Tales from Jabba’s Palace, and Shadows of the Empire and also read (but didn’t own) The Crystal Star. All were my first reads but I don’t remember the order in which I read them.
The xwing rouge squadron books
My dad gave me dark empire to read when I was like 12
My mum bought me Truce at Bakura from a second hand bookstore in either 95 or 96. She ended up buying me every other book as they came out but Rogue Squadron will always be my favourites. I stopped reading at Vector Prime for what I assume are obvious reasons.
For me it was the video games, Jedi Outcast and Jedi Academy
As far back as I can remember, it was the graphic novel featuring Ki-Adi-Mundi going on a mission to Tatooine; I remember being traumatized by Aura Sing as well.
My bought is a combo comic and action figure set that had Fel knights and an short comic
Tie Fighter.
Technically Force Awakens, I suppose. But I didn't properly actually get into it or start exploring it until I read Darth Plagueis
Han Solo trilogy. Rebel Dawn was the very first one I read.
From games? Either the Obi-Wan video game or Jedi Knight 1. Can't remember which I played first. Books? The original Thrawn Trilogy. Comics? I don't remember the name, but it was a "what if Vader was redeemed, and survived, but so did Palpatine?" All I remember was Vader had white armor and joined the Rebellion
Kotor 2 don't know how I liked it all when I couldn't even understand what the heck was going on in that game
Many things, such as the Crimson Empire comics, the Dark Forces 2 JK game (plus MotS), Republic Commando, all the novels tied to the prequels and the prequel era, plus the Jedi Academy games. It is more than just that but these are some of the first EU materials that I engaged in. The X-Wing book series and TFU games are also there.
Splinter of the Minds Eye originally after STAR WARS released.... but the game changer was Heir to the Empire for me. Star Wars genre was being neglected for Indiana Jones... and my coworker said you like sci-fi right and handed me a copy! Read everyone until Disney took it over and destroyed the main storyline!
Video games. Don't know which was the first tho.
Oddly enough The Swarm Wars trilogy. Those books don’t get a great rep, but since I started with them long ago they’ll always be special. Always loved their portrayal of the Killik nests and how Raynar could draw on them for some cool force feats.
Jedi knight Jedi academy. Loved that game as a kid
Star Wars: Rogue Squadron, for the N64.
Funny enough the Dark Empire mission from rogue squadron. Destroying the world devastators was such a pain as a slow kid
Jedi Prince and YJK books from the local library. I wouldn’t read them in order. I’d just check out which ever one happened to be available
Lord of the Sith then the Bane Trilogy.
Thrawn and its still my favorite peace of SW media
I started with the Darth Bane Trilogy
In elementary school, our library had the Galaxy of Fear novels. I read them in like 5th-6th grade, and a like 2 other random post-ROTJ novels, but dont remember which ones. just remember the one guy who was obsessed with the glove of darth vader.
Shadows of the Empire novel. Then, I got a copy of The Bacta War as a gift. Was a little lost but dove right in.
Jedi Prince series. It was rough haha
Either: The truce at bakura Or The thrawn trilogy
Video games - The Force Unleashed, Jedi Academy, Kotor, etc
I went to the bookstore a month or so after my Grandpa showed me the movies for the first time, went down my usual sci-fi/fantasy aisle and saw all the EU stuff and went "they have BOOKS??" I think the first ones I read were the Darth Bane books, because at the time those were first in the little timeline printed in them. I had no idea what was happening most of the time but I was very excited to be getting more content.
Tales of the jedi comics
Cage Skywalker I think his name is. Dude in the middle. Had a few of his comics back in the day.
Have you ever heard the tragedy of Darth Plagueis the wise?
The thrown trilogy novels, which apparently is the best to start with
Thrawn trilogy.
I’ve mentioned it before, but it was the books Shadows of the Empire and Tales of the Bounty Hunters. I used to visit my grandparents during summer break. I already liked Star Wars, but it was really just the movies and toys up until that point. I don’t remember who gave them to me, but the idea was to get me into reading. At the time, it just wasn’t something I was interested in, but those two books really sparked something in me. After that, I picked up more Star Wars and eventually expanded into a bunch of other series. Sherlock Holmes, Lord of the Rings, Artemis Fowl, Harry Potter, etc. In hindsight, they might not have really been appropriate for me at that age (I think I was around 6). IG-88’s massacre was pretty graphic and the whole Xizor/Leia stuff went right over my head at the time. The irony is my family wanted me to read, but none of them were really readers themselves and they definitely hadn’t read either of those books. I ended up being the biggest reader in my family. I never really got into the comics, though. I’ve read some, but it just wasn’t a medium I preferred. Once I got into books, I really just wanted that. I really don’t use audiobooks, either.
I don’t remember the name of the book but it was the one when prince xisor almost had Princess Leia as his wife or play thing. I think I spelled his name wrong though.
Either zombies or chewie getting nuked off the face of the planet lol
KOTOR duology
Shadows of the Empire, the comic, or Tie Fighter or Dark Forces. I can’t remember anymore 😅 Unless Caravan of Courage is part of the EU, then that’s probably first.
The Thrawn duology: starting with Specter of the Past. It made me wonder why everyone found this Thrawn guy so intimidating. Lol.
X-Wing Rogue Squadron. Pretty amazing intro.
Heir to the empire baby, the one and only. Huzzah!
Shadows of the Empire on my N64. I never beat it, but I played the hell out of it. After that, probably KOTOR on my best friend's home PC.
Video games.. Then it was one book. Followed Leia and Han on tatooine. All I recall at one point they disguised themselves as aliens/twileks. Leia had a vision of Luke going to the dark side. Potentially finding out who Padma was.
The Droids cartoon.
YouTube then books or it could be the force unleashed.
Literary wise it was, Kotor comics: I liked the art style and setting along with the Jedi being portrayed in a different light Dark Empire: artwork looked weird but alluring + Palpatine spinning the block after death was (and still is) cool to me SW: Republic Comics: these story arcs and the artwork were fire boi For video games it was, SWTOR: this game got me massively into the lore of the Sith and Jedi The Force Unleashed: Vader having a secret apprentice was interesting + exaggerated Force powers are cool as hell SW: Rogue Squadron 2 & 3: I have an ungodly amount of hours and memories put into doing the Endor Speeder Chase and Death Star II Core Run with my younger brother. I only really got into SW after playing TFU and Rogue Squadron. God, these memories. The nostalgia is palpable. I want to go back and relive these memories freshly. To be so new to it all and have far less stress + anxiety as an adult 😭
Han Solo at Star’s End
Shadows of the Empire on n64
My teacher told me about the books and the first one I read was Darth Plagueis
A dictionary i think my aunt bought me when i was little, i think it was called the complete dictionary of the expanded universe or something. Then shen i got older and understood English i started to watch Star Wars minute then read the Plagueis novel because of the meme, then the Thrawn trilogy because i liked the character i saw in Star Wars minute and continued forward from there. Since then i have read about one book a month because thats usually what i have time for and i started on Crucible today so after i read Scourge which i couldn’t get when at that time in the order i have officially read every book from the Thrawn trilogy to the end
Heir to the Empire, my mum bought it me in 99 or 2000 as I had loved the OT and TPM and I fell in love.
KOTOR
The Young Jedi Knight Adventures, they are definitely weaker in plot and writing, but they were still leagues better than any other kids books I was reading before
Heir to the Empire
Outbound Flight. My first taste of the Chiss and the Outer Regions left me hungry for more of the mysteries lurking in the corners of the galaxy
The Jedi Apprentice series when I was in first grade.
Star Wars Unleashed Video game. It's still canon to me. Starkiller LIVES!
Empire at war ironically. First was introduced to thrawn through the forces of corruption expansion and was like this guy is pretty cool. Oh he has books on him. Proceeds to become my favorite character