Everyone's got their own opinion of what's canon, because there are so many inconsistencies. For me, Zahn's books and the X-Wing series are canon except where they conflict with the prequels; I'm conflicted on whether to consider some of all of the Vong storyline canon, and I ignore everything that comes after it.
But I think virtually all fans accept basic elements of the book (Han and Leia marrying, the formation of the New Republic, Luke re-establishing the Jedi, the Empire not being completely over as of Ro TJ) as canon despite their not being mentioned in the movies.
"Tim Zahn's Thrawn books."
Can't find these things anywhere.
The latest Fate Of The Jedi book just came out, anyone read it yet?
Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, The Last Command, Specter of the Past, and Vision of the Future.
Or, for ease of use, The Thrawn Trilogy and Hand Of Thrawn.
edited 30th Dec '10 4:52:01 PM by Willbyr
^^it's full of mandalorian wankage and annoying Solo-Skywalker cliques. They should have all died in the Vong War (Leia, Han, Luke, Mara, etc, etc). Star Wars has gone to shit. But WHYYYYYY do I pay attention to the shit that Star Wars generates now, other than the universe analysises and tech discussions..... >_<
also
>>You know I actually kind of liked the books until fans started insisting that the books, video games, card games, action figures, lego sets and animated series were all "canon".
Word of God says that
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Canon
http://www.canonwars.com/SWCanon2.html
>>Say for example a nation decided every city could pass its own laws and they could be held equal to laws made by every other level of government.
STAR WARS CANON DOES NOT WORK THAT WAY
edited 4th Jan '11 9:29:38 PM by BalloonFleet
WHASSUP....... ....with lolis!Star Wars canon is divided into "levels", IIRC. The movies are highest, then books, comics, video games, etc. Things that are "more canon" override things that are "less canon" — so if a video game has Blasty Mc Awesome using a left-handed smokeshifter to kill a rancor, but a novel has him using a can of headlight fluid instead, then it's canon that he used headlight fluid, because novels are "more canon" than video games.
I've only been able to stand reading a rather small minority of Star Wars novels. At some point they run into the shonen anime problem — how many times can you save the world (galaxy, universe, whatever) before it gets ridiculous? For me, the limit is around the Thrawn trilogy. Pretty much anything after that trips my suspension of disbelief circuts and I can't bring myself to enjoy it.
The best novels, in my opinion, are the ones where the main characters of the movies aren't involved (or at least are minor characters). The X Wing Series books are excellent — especially the Wraith Squadron arc.
Really from Jupiter, but not an alien.I didn't have a problem with Mara Jade prior to NJO. That was about the point that I completely burned out on Star Wars, and only read one or two of the books, so I have no idea what happened with her aside from what I've gleaned through TV Tropes.
It was pretty good when I first read it, but now it's lost some lustre. Darksaber and The Crystal Star were easily the worst of the novels that I read. All of Zahn's novels, The Truce At Bakura, and I, Jedi were my favorites (not counting the X-wing books).
edited 5th Jan '11 8:24:52 PM by Willbyr
mrjeff: Mara Jade is not a Mary Sue, because she's a character who has flaws, makes mistakes, undergoes emotional growth, and has limitations.
People who call her a Mary Sue probably do so because: 1) in the first series where she appears, there's a final battle where about 5 good guys are facing two bad guys. Mara ends up killing both of the bad guys. For a new character who wasn't in the movies, that's a pretty substantial role, and when people see OCs with major roles, they tend to think 'Mary Sue'. 2) She marries Luke Skywalker. Marrying one of the main characters despite not being in the original work (ie, the movies) is another thing you frequently see with Mary Sues. 3) ANY female character with a major role is going to be accused of being a Mary Sue by <i>someone</i>.
I think she's a very well-crafted character and one of my favourites.
If there's any Sue or Stu characters in the pre-NJO books that I've read, it's Thrawn in Outbound Flight.

You know I actually kind of liked the books until fans started insisting that the books, video games, card games, action figures, lego sets and animated series were all "canon".
The only thing I accept as canon are the six film episodes, but why would anyone even suggest such an absurd continuity. Say for example a nation decided every city could pass its own laws and they could be held equal to laws made by every other level of government.
edited 28th Dec '10 6:55:11 PM by Cider
Modified Ura-nage, Torture Rack