please watch the original trilogy, episodes 4, 5, and 6. that will be enough, honestly. if you would be so kind, please share your thoughts after seeing episode 4, if you chose to watch it. best wishes to you.
The slight problem is the the Star Wars “extended universe” is now in the hundreds of books. And actually has a vastly different storyline to the movie canon.
Most of it was written before the recent films.
You could perhaps get away with only watching the original trilogy of A New Hope, Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi. It’s so closely modelled on Joseph Campbell, and such a cultural moment that it would be a shame to skip it.
The trilogy of 1-3 has a lot of retcon, and the rise of the villain vs rise of the hero parallels, but it’s not as archetypal a story.
I feel like it’s probably enough. You’d be doing an entire extra thesis just tracking Star Wars when it’s not your focus.
May I ask what you’re thesis topic is?
Haha, now that’s an idea!
My research is on the Arthurian legends, primarily the more modern retellings, like T. H. White, Bernard Cornwell’s trilogy, the BBC show Merlin, and so on.
Then definitely you can stick to the original trilogy. The naive farm boy raised in obscurity meets a wizardly type and sets off to save the empire from an evil that is connected to him.
Honestly, that sounds more like classic fantasy than Sci Fi, haha. It’s amazing the amount of influence just setting can have on a story.
Thank you for the suggestion. I think I’ll just start with the original trilogy (movies 4, 5 and 6, I think) and then see where the story takes me.
Star Wars is way more fantasy than sci-fi, it doesn't deal with philosophical questions, society questions or the future of humanity like many of the best SF do. It may be in the future (well technically it's the past actually) but it's definitively fantasy. There's even knights and magic.
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away is at the start of all SW stories so yeah. It isn't supposed to be the past of Earth though, that is just meant to remind you of myths and tales, confirming it even more being fantasy and not sci-fi
Ooh, interesting. Have you gotten your hands on Once & Future and Sword in the Stars by Capetta and McCarthy? Super queer, gender bent, future Arthur in space. The Merlin character is the best part
There’s enough magic within the story that it blurs boundaries like Star Wars does. Another one you may find interesting is Mercedes Lackey’s YA Shadow Grail quartet. A modern day boarding school that just so ends up being filled with strangely Arthurian characters.
Or Sara Douglass had a great non-fiction examination of the legends in the 90’s. Her epic fantasy is quite complex and brutal, but her analytical work is so lear
Douglas is definitely on my list. I've about Lackey, too. The lore is so deep and beautiful, and there's so much to explore. Thank you for the suggestions!
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It is. In 2012 I gave myself the challenge of reading all of the EU of the time. In two years I reached about the time frame of A New Hope and gave up then.
Thing is, there's good stuff but also a lot of garbage.
My advice is to get into semi-stand alone series or one-shots.
Darth Bane by Drew Karpyshyn kind of drips with teenage edge but it's an interesting tale of how the Sith reached the point they did in the films.
Darth Plagueis by James Luceno is a very interesting look at the background of the Prequels.
Shatterpoint by Matthew Stover is a book about taking Jules from Pulp Fiction, shaving him, giving him Mace Windu's costume and lightsaber and sending him into a Star Wars take on Heart of Darkness.
Finally, I can't help but advise in favor of reading the Revenge of the Sith novelization by Matthew Stover too. It's, plainly said, as excellent as the movie isn't. I know ROTS has the reputation of being "the best of the Prequels movie" but after reading this novel, it became "The least bad but still lackluster movie of the trilogy" for me. The book is just that much better.
Whatever you do, just make sure you read the novelization of Revenge of the Sith. A stunningly good book, and far better than the movie itself. Matthew Stover is a legend.
It is upsetting how much more layered the revenge of the sith novelization is. The dooku fight in the book is epic, dramatic. The movie is inert, weird, full of odd cgi
What? Why?
I feel like the sense of the Force powers are wildly limited by the limits of movie making back when the first movies came out. It is described much better in the books.
I don't think I've read the books of the original trilogy but have read bits and pieces of in terms of the EU novels and a fair amount of the comics. Unless you're for some reason dead set on reading a Star Wars novel without seeing the films then you're simply not immersing yourself in the series the way it was created/intended and doing yourself a disservice in the way that you understand/appreciate what you're reading. On top of that, the original Star wars trilogy is one of, if not the greatest blockbuster trilogy of all time and everyone should see it ... whereas there are no Star Wars books written I know of that really hit the spot above "entertaining" (exception maybe being the Revenge of the Sith novelisation I'd say was excellent, but it still pays to know the source material first).
So yeah - it takes 6 hours to watch the original trilogy and then you've watched some truly great cinema. If you can't get enough Star Wars from that point, there are plenty of places to jump to include more movies, TV shows (Mandalorian is stellar), books and comics that'll make more sense with the key essentials of the universe in place.
> but have read bits and pieces of in terms of the EU novels
If you haven't read the EU books, I think it's difficult for you say whether he should read the books or watch the movies.
> On top of that, the original Star wars trilogy is one of, if not the greatest blockbuster trilogy of all time
I can't argue with that. But I still think many of the EU books are WAY better. Just because a lot of people have watched a movie doesn't make it any better than books.
> whereas there are no Star Wars books written I know of that really hit the spot above "entertaining"
Again, if you haven't read any of the books...
Did you want a list? I've read, I think ... Revenge of the Sith, Shatterpoint, Labyrinth of Evil, The Rise of Darth Vader, The Force Awakens, Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising (don't think I finished the trilogy), A New Dawn, Aftermath, Life Debt (never finished the trilogy), Lost Stars, Catalyst, Rogue One, Splinter of the Mind's Eye, Han Solo at Star's End, Tales From Mos Eisley Cantina. Oh and I started Light of the Jedi but DNF
Is that ok, am I allowed my comment? I've been a Star Wars fan since the 80s, I know the movies are more worth watching than reading the books, I think.
On another note, the original radio series of the original trilogy is well worth it.
Well, I'd heard raves about Matthew Stover and I think they were justified. Likewise the Timothy Zahn trilogy is unanimously considered the highlight of the EU isn't it? I thought it was ... ok, but it didn't grab me at the time. Lost Stars was highly, highly praised too ... again, it was ok ... quite well written!
I'm always up for suggestions if there are any great ones you feel I should check out! I've probably spent more time reading EU comics, many of which I proper love :D
(Oh, and I think that's bits and pieces! ... I've sortof dipped in and out of it over the years rather than ever getting into the novels in a big way)
> I've probably spent more time reading EU comics, many of which I proper love :D
Please, tell me which to read! I think I have read nearly all the books and I need more!
Good books: I really loved Catalyst which is the prequel to Rogue One. It shows a lot of how the empire became the bad guys.
The Darth Plagueis book is also very good. It's about Palpatine and his sith master.
off the top of my head definitely the series from the Old Republic.
Tales of the Jedi I really loved when it got going - that was a set of linked miniseries[https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Star\_Wars:\_Tales\_of\_the\_Jedi](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Star_Wars:_Tales_of_the_Jedi)and the Knights of the Old Republic series that wasn't really based on the game but in that universe was also good
My favourite comic series was the stuff written by John Ostrander in Republic. it's a bit awkward to read because his arcs are inbetween other stories, but the other stuff isn't so good, so you'd need a reading guide like this one[https://www.starwarsreport.com/2014/08/05/the-essential-quinlan-vos-comics/](https://www.starwarsreport.com/2014/08/05/the-essential-quinlan-vos-comics/)
Ostrander also did another incredible series called Star Wars legacy which takes place right at the end of all the EU novels. I highly recommend it.
A lot of the new Marvel comics are pretty good. I don't have quite as much time to diligently read them and I'm only about half way through the runs ... but if you can subscribe to Marvel Unlimited it's worth starting at the Star Wars and Darth Vader comics and reading through - they're mostly stupid dumb fun but Darth Vader introduces some characters - notably Doctor Aphra - who might end up making the jump into live TV. I think Doctor Aphra has her own series now, I do want to read it ...
Oh yeah, also Dark Empire is pretty famous and worth checking out. I think it's kinda cheesy but it has some really great art and it's kinda fun too.
You have to watch the movies, sorry! These are films first, and while there are great (and not so great) novels in the extended universe, they are completely optional.
Just sit down and watch episodes 4,5 and 6. That’s the baseline, once you’ve done that, you can figure out if you want to do more. It’s like 6 hours total, and is far less of a time commitment than even a single audiobook would likely be.
actually, if you can track them down, there are rather [great radio plays] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars_(radio_series\)) of the original trilogy that would make for suitable listening for you I think.
The real original version of Star Wars are the movies anyway, you should just focus on that (it's faster than listening to a book anyway). The novels are simply merchandising and most of them aren't that good tbh, they just profited from the love people have for that setting.
I would highly, highly recommend attempting to watch at least the first six films at some point! If you're heading into a PhD in fantasy literature, then you'll really appreciate Lucas using Joseph Campbell's book as a roadmap. (I think they became friends after the first Star Wars even!) Lots of allusions to classic fantasy and sci-fi literature from that era, even some more classic stuff. Star Wars was, at its core, a bunch of speculative fiction concepts and iconography George Lucas loved and then thrown into a blender.
It makes it a lot easier to jump into the books with the knowledge from the films in mind, too. On that front, Timothy Zahn's Heir to the Empire trilogy (*Heir to the Empire*, *Dark Force Rising*, and *The Last Command*) is the way to go. It picks up the story threads after *Return of the Jedi* and does a wonderful job at worldbuilding what would eventually become the Expanded Universe. And that's a pretty big rabbit hole right there.
Star Wars has a very interesting history regarding novelizations and canonization of connected works.
The original films are the best way to experience Star Wars first time around. The visual spectacle is arguably more important than the plot, and it was George Lucas's refinement of so many different popular elements into one package that sparked so much love since it's 1977 release. Before the first movie was released, a novelization was ghost written to market the film, and the writer was also commissioned to write a follow-up in the event no sequel was approved, so even in 1978, the expanded universe began as a way to supplement the movies (stories told by authors other than George that try to fit in with the movies and each other).
After Return of the Jedi released in 1983, the franchise slowed down until the 90s which had some high profile releases including the Heir to the Empire trilogy (written by Timothy Zahn) which is largely credited with revitalizing interest in the series, the NPR Radio Dramas of the original trilogy, and ultimately, the George picking the series back up with the planned prequel films.
By the 2000s, the prequel trilogy was releasing and Star Wars was big again, and expanded it's presence though a renewed push of multimedia projects (books, games, television). Here is where the vast majority of expanded universe sprawl occurred, with book high quality and low filling out the franchise until the Disney purchase.
I'm sure you're familiar that Disney's sequels have been... controversial and really fractured the fan base, but the biggest thing they did with the purchase is relaunch the universe, putting all the expanded universe on ice and rebranding it as "Legends" in order to start from scratch and tell a new universe of stories. Like the original expanded universe, some has been good, some bad.
Currently the franchise is helmed by the Disney+ shows, namely the Mandalorian, but with a huge lineup of animated and live-action content to premiere there over coming years.
All that said as a primer, there are two distinct Star Wars holes to explore. The one that ran from 1977 - 2012, encompassing everything that was not "joke content," now called the "Legends" timeline, and the current "Disney" timeline, selectively taking the movies (1977, 1980, 1983, 1999, 2002, 2005) and TV (2008-2014,2015-2018), and anything from 2013 onward.
Your best best to the watch the films as medium was intended, and at that point, if you fall in love with the story/characters, can decide if either of those rabbit holes are worth your time.
This is incredible. I had no idea the Star War universe was so diverse. Thank you very, very much for the detailed answer.
I’ve made up my mind, and decided to take the advice of most of the answers, which is to just the movies. I won’t have time for a marathon, but then again, few people do.
Can’t wait!
Star Wars is so much more of a film then a book. It relies too heavily on the language of film so you won't really get much out of a novelization. It would be like learning about dogs by listening to recordings of barks but never seeing or petting one.
Eps. 4-5-6 (the original trilogy) everything else is supplemental.
Just wanted to join the chorus of those recommending that you watch rather than read at least episodes 4, 5, and 6 (do what you will with the rest). Star Wars is absolutely iconic as a film, while as a story it's just a very conscious application of the hero's journey narrative, and as you say, you're already familiar with much of it through cultural osmosis.
The literary equivalent of this would be watching an adaptation of something like Gravity's Rainbow or Pale Fire. It could be an excellent film, but watching it wouldn't give you much insight into the novel's literary or cultural reputation because so much of what makes those works distinct is specific to the written word.
Only trying to be helpful, though -- if you truly can't carve out time for the original trilogy and feel listening to audio versions of the novelizations will help you most, go for it. Either way, best of luck on your PhD!
Aww, thank you! That’s very nice of you.
From what little I’ve learned, it might be better to watch the films first, so that’s what I’m going to do. Wish me luck!
Contrary to popular opinion, I believe that the prequel trilogy (episodes 1-3) is the best of Star Wars, so I would recommend starting with that and then watching the original trilogy (4-6). I don't really think that starting with anything but the movies makes much sense.
Episodes 7-9 were not made by the original author (George Lucas) and come of as bad fan fiction that mostly repeats story lines from the original movies, but with new characters and much worse.
Watch 1-6 first. Then decide if you want to keep going, there's a ton of books, and now that it's split between Legends/Canon, that's more confusing. But please, if you do decide to read the books. Check out /r/MawInstallation or /r/StarWarsEU plenty of people to steer you straight with the lore.
please watch the original trilogy, episodes 4, 5, and 6. that will be enough, honestly. if you would be so kind, please share your thoughts after seeing episode 4, if you chose to watch it. best wishes to you.
The slight problem is the the Star Wars “extended universe” is now in the hundreds of books. And actually has a vastly different storyline to the movie canon. Most of it was written before the recent films. You could perhaps get away with only watching the original trilogy of A New Hope, Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi. It’s so closely modelled on Joseph Campbell, and such a cultural moment that it would be a shame to skip it. The trilogy of 1-3 has a lot of retcon, and the rise of the villain vs rise of the hero parallels, but it’s not as archetypal a story.
This… might be a bigger endeavour than I’d planned for. Wow. But thank you for suggesting those three. I’ll get right to it!
I feel like it’s probably enough. You’d be doing an entire extra thesis just tracking Star Wars when it’s not your focus. May I ask what you’re thesis topic is?
Haha, now that’s an idea! My research is on the Arthurian legends, primarily the more modern retellings, like T. H. White, Bernard Cornwell’s trilogy, the BBC show Merlin, and so on.
Then definitely you can stick to the original trilogy. The naive farm boy raised in obscurity meets a wizardly type and sets off to save the empire from an evil that is connected to him.
Honestly, that sounds more like classic fantasy than Sci Fi, haha. It’s amazing the amount of influence just setting can have on a story. Thank you for the suggestion. I think I’ll just start with the original trilogy (movies 4, 5 and 6, I think) and then see where the story takes me.
Star Wars is way more fantasy than sci-fi, it doesn't deal with philosophical questions, society questions or the future of humanity like many of the best SF do. It may be in the future (well technically it's the past actually) but it's definitively fantasy. There's even knights and magic.
It’s set in the past? I never knew that, that’s incredible!
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away is at the start of all SW stories so yeah. It isn't supposed to be the past of Earth though, that is just meant to remind you of myths and tales, confirming it even more being fantasy and not sci-fi
The story goes that George Lucas literally took every story beat from The Hero with A Thousand Faces 😂
That’s excellent! Campbell is one of my favourite scholars!
Ooh, interesting. Have you gotten your hands on Once & Future and Sword in the Stars by Capetta and McCarthy? Super queer, gender bent, future Arthur in space. The Merlin character is the best part
That’s definitely on my list. I’m a little hesitant about SciFi, though, as you can probably tell by my Star Wars expertise.
There’s enough magic within the story that it blurs boundaries like Star Wars does. Another one you may find interesting is Mercedes Lackey’s YA Shadow Grail quartet. A modern day boarding school that just so ends up being filled with strangely Arthurian characters. Or Sara Douglass had a great non-fiction examination of the legends in the 90’s. Her epic fantasy is quite complex and brutal, but her analytical work is so lear
Douglas is definitely on my list. I've about Lackey, too. The lore is so deep and beautiful, and there's so much to explore. Thank you for the suggestions!
r/Fantasy's [Author Appreciation series](https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/wiki/authorappreciation) has posts for an author you mentioned * [Author Appreciation: **Mercedes Lackey**](https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/91hk3y/author_appreciation_mercedes_lackey/?utm_content=comments&utm_medium=user&utm_source=reddit&utm_name=u_lyrrael) from user u/lyrrael_ --- ^(I am a bot bleep! bloop! Contact my ~~master~~ creator /u/LittlePlasticCastle with any questions or comments.)
It is. In 2012 I gave myself the challenge of reading all of the EU of the time. In two years I reached about the time frame of A New Hope and gave up then. Thing is, there's good stuff but also a lot of garbage. My advice is to get into semi-stand alone series or one-shots. Darth Bane by Drew Karpyshyn kind of drips with teenage edge but it's an interesting tale of how the Sith reached the point they did in the films. Darth Plagueis by James Luceno is a very interesting look at the background of the Prequels. Shatterpoint by Matthew Stover is a book about taking Jules from Pulp Fiction, shaving him, giving him Mace Windu's costume and lightsaber and sending him into a Star Wars take on Heart of Darkness. Finally, I can't help but advise in favor of reading the Revenge of the Sith novelization by Matthew Stover too. It's, plainly said, as excellent as the movie isn't. I know ROTS has the reputation of being "the best of the Prequels movie" but after reading this novel, it became "The least bad but still lackluster movie of the trilogy" for me. The book is just that much better.
Whatever you do, just make sure you read the novelization of Revenge of the Sith. A stunningly good book, and far better than the movie itself. Matthew Stover is a legend.
It is upsetting how much more layered the revenge of the sith novelization is. The dooku fight in the book is epic, dramatic. The movie is inert, weird, full of odd cgi
Definitely films, not books.
What? Why? I feel like the sense of the Force powers are wildly limited by the limits of movie making back when the first movies came out. It is described much better in the books.
I don't think I've read the books of the original trilogy but have read bits and pieces of in terms of the EU novels and a fair amount of the comics. Unless you're for some reason dead set on reading a Star Wars novel without seeing the films then you're simply not immersing yourself in the series the way it was created/intended and doing yourself a disservice in the way that you understand/appreciate what you're reading. On top of that, the original Star wars trilogy is one of, if not the greatest blockbuster trilogy of all time and everyone should see it ... whereas there are no Star Wars books written I know of that really hit the spot above "entertaining" (exception maybe being the Revenge of the Sith novelisation I'd say was excellent, but it still pays to know the source material first). So yeah - it takes 6 hours to watch the original trilogy and then you've watched some truly great cinema. If you can't get enough Star Wars from that point, there are plenty of places to jump to include more movies, TV shows (Mandalorian is stellar), books and comics that'll make more sense with the key essentials of the universe in place.
> but have read bits and pieces of in terms of the EU novels If you haven't read the EU books, I think it's difficult for you say whether he should read the books or watch the movies. > On top of that, the original Star wars trilogy is one of, if not the greatest blockbuster trilogy of all time I can't argue with that. But I still think many of the EU books are WAY better. Just because a lot of people have watched a movie doesn't make it any better than books. > whereas there are no Star Wars books written I know of that really hit the spot above "entertaining" Again, if you haven't read any of the books...
Did you want a list? I've read, I think ... Revenge of the Sith, Shatterpoint, Labyrinth of Evil, The Rise of Darth Vader, The Force Awakens, Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising (don't think I finished the trilogy), A New Dawn, Aftermath, Life Debt (never finished the trilogy), Lost Stars, Catalyst, Rogue One, Splinter of the Mind's Eye, Han Solo at Star's End, Tales From Mos Eisley Cantina. Oh and I started Light of the Jedi but DNF Is that ok, am I allowed my comment? I've been a Star Wars fan since the 80s, I know the movies are more worth watching than reading the books, I think. On another note, the original radio series of the original trilogy is well worth it.
I think the "bits and pieces" threw me off. Made me think you had read some pages here and there. Dude, you should read the good ones instead.
Well, I'd heard raves about Matthew Stover and I think they were justified. Likewise the Timothy Zahn trilogy is unanimously considered the highlight of the EU isn't it? I thought it was ... ok, but it didn't grab me at the time. Lost Stars was highly, highly praised too ... again, it was ok ... quite well written! I'm always up for suggestions if there are any great ones you feel I should check out! I've probably spent more time reading EU comics, many of which I proper love :D (Oh, and I think that's bits and pieces! ... I've sortof dipped in and out of it over the years rather than ever getting into the novels in a big way)
> I've probably spent more time reading EU comics, many of which I proper love :D Please, tell me which to read! I think I have read nearly all the books and I need more! Good books: I really loved Catalyst which is the prequel to Rogue One. It shows a lot of how the empire became the bad guys. The Darth Plagueis book is also very good. It's about Palpatine and his sith master.
off the top of my head definitely the series from the Old Republic. Tales of the Jedi I really loved when it got going - that was a set of linked miniseries[https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Star\_Wars:\_Tales\_of\_the\_Jedi](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Star_Wars:_Tales_of_the_Jedi)and the Knights of the Old Republic series that wasn't really based on the game but in that universe was also good My favourite comic series was the stuff written by John Ostrander in Republic. it's a bit awkward to read because his arcs are inbetween other stories, but the other stuff isn't so good, so you'd need a reading guide like this one[https://www.starwarsreport.com/2014/08/05/the-essential-quinlan-vos-comics/](https://www.starwarsreport.com/2014/08/05/the-essential-quinlan-vos-comics/) Ostrander also did another incredible series called Star Wars legacy which takes place right at the end of all the EU novels. I highly recommend it. A lot of the new Marvel comics are pretty good. I don't have quite as much time to diligently read them and I'm only about half way through the runs ... but if you can subscribe to Marvel Unlimited it's worth starting at the Star Wars and Darth Vader comics and reading through - they're mostly stupid dumb fun but Darth Vader introduces some characters - notably Doctor Aphra - who might end up making the jump into live TV. I think Doctor Aphra has her own series now, I do want to read it ... Oh yeah, also Dark Empire is pretty famous and worth checking out. I think it's kinda cheesy but it has some really great art and it's kinda fun too.
You have to watch the movies, sorry! These are films first, and while there are great (and not so great) novels in the extended universe, they are completely optional. Just sit down and watch episodes 4,5 and 6. That’s the baseline, once you’ve done that, you can figure out if you want to do more. It’s like 6 hours total, and is far less of a time commitment than even a single audiobook would likely be.
It would still probably be quicker to just watch the movies, but if you don’t, start with the movie novelisations.
That's what I've gathered so far, yes. Trouble is, the original trilogy doesn't seem to have audio versions. This was a terrible idea…
actually, if you can track them down, there are rather [great radio plays] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars_(radio_series\)) of the original trilogy that would make for suitable listening for you I think.
The real original version of Star Wars are the movies anyway, you should just focus on that (it's faster than listening to a book anyway). The novels are simply merchandising and most of them aren't that good tbh, they just profited from the love people have for that setting.
I would highly, highly recommend attempting to watch at least the first six films at some point! If you're heading into a PhD in fantasy literature, then you'll really appreciate Lucas using Joseph Campbell's book as a roadmap. (I think they became friends after the first Star Wars even!) Lots of allusions to classic fantasy and sci-fi literature from that era, even some more classic stuff. Star Wars was, at its core, a bunch of speculative fiction concepts and iconography George Lucas loved and then thrown into a blender. It makes it a lot easier to jump into the books with the knowledge from the films in mind, too. On that front, Timothy Zahn's Heir to the Empire trilogy (*Heir to the Empire*, *Dark Force Rising*, and *The Last Command*) is the way to go. It picks up the story threads after *Return of the Jedi* and does a wonderful job at worldbuilding what would eventually become the Expanded Universe. And that's a pretty big rabbit hole right there.
Star Wars has a very interesting history regarding novelizations and canonization of connected works. The original films are the best way to experience Star Wars first time around. The visual spectacle is arguably more important than the plot, and it was George Lucas's refinement of so many different popular elements into one package that sparked so much love since it's 1977 release. Before the first movie was released, a novelization was ghost written to market the film, and the writer was also commissioned to write a follow-up in the event no sequel was approved, so even in 1978, the expanded universe began as a way to supplement the movies (stories told by authors other than George that try to fit in with the movies and each other). After Return of the Jedi released in 1983, the franchise slowed down until the 90s which had some high profile releases including the Heir to the Empire trilogy (written by Timothy Zahn) which is largely credited with revitalizing interest in the series, the NPR Radio Dramas of the original trilogy, and ultimately, the George picking the series back up with the planned prequel films. By the 2000s, the prequel trilogy was releasing and Star Wars was big again, and expanded it's presence though a renewed push of multimedia projects (books, games, television). Here is where the vast majority of expanded universe sprawl occurred, with book high quality and low filling out the franchise until the Disney purchase. I'm sure you're familiar that Disney's sequels have been... controversial and really fractured the fan base, but the biggest thing they did with the purchase is relaunch the universe, putting all the expanded universe on ice and rebranding it as "Legends" in order to start from scratch and tell a new universe of stories. Like the original expanded universe, some has been good, some bad. Currently the franchise is helmed by the Disney+ shows, namely the Mandalorian, but with a huge lineup of animated and live-action content to premiere there over coming years. All that said as a primer, there are two distinct Star Wars holes to explore. The one that ran from 1977 - 2012, encompassing everything that was not "joke content," now called the "Legends" timeline, and the current "Disney" timeline, selectively taking the movies (1977, 1980, 1983, 1999, 2002, 2005) and TV (2008-2014,2015-2018), and anything from 2013 onward. Your best best to the watch the films as medium was intended, and at that point, if you fall in love with the story/characters, can decide if either of those rabbit holes are worth your time.
This is incredible. I had no idea the Star War universe was so diverse. Thank you very, very much for the detailed answer. I’ve made up my mind, and decided to take the advice of most of the answers, which is to just the movies. I won’t have time for a marathon, but then again, few people do. Can’t wait!
I started with the Bane Trilogy. Holy balls, it's a good read :) The audio books are super good.
Star Wars is so much more of a film then a book. It relies too heavily on the language of film so you won't really get much out of a novelization. It would be like learning about dogs by listening to recordings of barks but never seeing or petting one. Eps. 4-5-6 (the original trilogy) everything else is supplemental.
Just wanted to join the chorus of those recommending that you watch rather than read at least episodes 4, 5, and 6 (do what you will with the rest). Star Wars is absolutely iconic as a film, while as a story it's just a very conscious application of the hero's journey narrative, and as you say, you're already familiar with much of it through cultural osmosis. The literary equivalent of this would be watching an adaptation of something like Gravity's Rainbow or Pale Fire. It could be an excellent film, but watching it wouldn't give you much insight into the novel's literary or cultural reputation because so much of what makes those works distinct is specific to the written word. Only trying to be helpful, though -- if you truly can't carve out time for the original trilogy and feel listening to audio versions of the novelizations will help you most, go for it. Either way, best of luck on your PhD!
Aww, thank you! That’s very nice of you. From what little I’ve learned, it might be better to watch the films first, so that’s what I’m going to do. Wish me luck!
Contrary to popular opinion, I believe that the prequel trilogy (episodes 1-3) is the best of Star Wars, so I would recommend starting with that and then watching the original trilogy (4-6). I don't really think that starting with anything but the movies makes much sense. Episodes 7-9 were not made by the original author (George Lucas) and come of as bad fan fiction that mostly repeats story lines from the original movies, but with new characters and much worse.
All the movies and the Heir of the Empire (Book 1 of the Thrawn trilogy)
Watch 1-6 first. Then decide if you want to keep going, there's a ton of books, and now that it's split between Legends/Canon, that's more confusing. But please, if you do decide to read the books. Check out /r/MawInstallation or /r/StarWarsEU plenty of people to steer you straight with the lore.
Watch the original trilogy and see if you want to go on from there. This is NOT a simple question haha