This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy<\/a> and Terms of Service<\/a> apply.<\/p>\n 3. I, Jedi (1998) \u2013 Legends<\/p>\n Even though the Star Wars bookverse was several novels deep by the late \u201890s, Michael A Stackpole did something even those inventive outings had yet to do \u2013 providing a first-person tale from a character never seen in the films. <\/p>\n Following Corran Horn as he learns to develop his Jedi skills under the tutelage of Luke Skywalker, tying in with the aforementioned Jedi Academy trilogy in the process, this provides an interesting insight into how one develops their understanding of the Force, and explores what happens when Luke takes on the role of his former mentor Yoda. <\/p>\n 4. Vision of the Future (1998) \u2013 Legends Vision of the Future.\u00a0Bantam Spectra<\/p>\n In a twist from the usual trilogy set-up, Vision of the Future rounds off the duology The Hand of Thrawn, which picks up after the events of The Last Command.<\/p>\n While author Timothy Zahn arguably takes on a few too many subplots in these books, the chance to spend time with lesser-known characters \u2013 including those close to Grand Admiral Thrawn, such as Admiral Gilad Pellaeon \u2013 is a real treat, and the twists are typically entertaining to uncover. <\/p>\n 5. Labyrinth of Evil (2005) \u2013 Legends<\/p>\n Though the Prequel trilogy introduced a number of great villains, it often felt like they were slightly undercooked. Labyrinth of Evil, set in the lead-up to Revenge of the Sith, goes some way to making them a little more ready-to-eat (this analogy went off the rails fast). <\/p>\n Offering greater insight into General Grievous, and especially his relationship with the unflappable Count Dooku, this is one for the proper Prequel-heads among us. <\/p>\n 6. Allegiance (2007) \u2013 Legends<\/p>\n Stormtrooper helmets are up there with the most iconic symbols in the Star Wars franchise \u2013 but what goes on in the heads of those inside them was largely unexplored in the Original trilogy. <\/p>\n Thankfully, Timothy Zahn\u2019s Allegiance, which follows five Imperial Stormtroopers as they become disillusioned with the Empire, more than makes up for lost time. <\/p>\n Bringing humanity to a group of characters that so often offer little besides poor accuracy and monotone one-liners, this unique tale is a prime example of the level of detail the Star Wars novels can provide, away from the constraints of the filmmaking process. <\/p>\n 7. Darth Plagueis (2012) \u2013 Legends Darth Plagueis.\u00a0Random House Worlds<\/p>\n Did you ever hear the tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise? Now you have. While this James Luceno novel is in the \u2018Legends\u2019 category, meaning it\u2019s non-canon, this prequel tale exploring Palpatine\u2019s rise from Plagueis apprentice to Plagueis slayer could easily remain the official backstory, making it all the more worthwhile to read. <\/p>\n While Palpatine obviously plays a key role in the wider Star Wars story, it\u2019s easy to forget that, in the Original trilogy, the character wasn\u2019t too major a screen presence. So, any extra details on the master manipulator are a joy to behold, and Luceno\u2019s psychological thriller dives deeper into the Sith Lord\u2019s story than any of the films ever could. <\/p>\n 8. Scoundrels (2013) \u2013 Legends <\/p>\n There are few Star Wars characters out there who are more of a blast to hang out with than Han Solo and Chewbacca, and Zahn clearly knows this \u2013 crafting a light-hearted and gag-filled novel that follows our favourite smugglers as they join forces with Lando Calrissian and a ragtag group of ne\u2019er-do-wells to pull off their biggest score yet.<\/p>\n Free from the pressure of galaxy-ending crises, Zahn is able to focus on fun in this slightly silly romp, making it one of the most outright enjoyable reads in his extensive bibliography. <\/p>\n 9. A New Dawn (2014) \u2013 Canon<\/p>\n Star Wars: Rebels amassed a huge following throughout its four-season run, and continues to influence the franchise through shows such as Ahsoka and The Mandalorian. <\/p>\n For those who haven\u2019t yet seen the show, though, or for those simply wanting more from its characters, John Jackson Miller\u2019s A New Dawn provides the perfect introduction to this extensive world, offering a canon prequel to the hit Disney+ series. <\/p>\n 10. Thrawn: Alliances (2018) \u2013 Canon<\/p>\n Bringing Grand Admiral Thrawn into Star Wars’ literary canon was an exciting moment in 2017, when the simply-titled \u2018Thrawn\u2019 hit bookshelves around the globe, but 2018 sequel Alliances offers the peak of this three-book arc. <\/p>\n Getting to dive first-hand into the psyche of the galaxy\u2019s most cunning tactician, all while he\u2019s butting heads with its most formidable villain in Darth Vader, makes Alliances one of the most fascinating \u2013 and tense \u2013 reads in Star Wars lore. <\/p>\n 11. Thrawn Ascendancy: Lesser Evil (2021) \u2013 Canon<\/p>\n Eleven books in and countless stories down, you might assume the whole \u2018Thrawn\u2019 thing was getting tiresome for both us as readers and Zahn as a writer by 2021, but the prolific author simply keeps finding new ways to keep the character interesting.<\/p>\n In the Ascendancy trilogy, Zahn takes us back to the future war expert\u2019s early days on his home planet of Csilla, as he struggles to navigate internal politics but shows early signs of his military prowess. <\/p>\n Stripping back Thrawn\u2019s tools and seeing how he interacts with fellow Chiss is fascinating throughout, but the story comes to a chilling climax in this twist-filled finale. <\/p>\n 12. Light of the Jedi (2021) \u2013 Canon Light of the Jedi.\u00a0Del Rey<\/p>\n There was a lot of pressure on Charles Soule back in 2021, as he was tasked with launching a brand new High Republic multimedia project \u2013 but thankfully he delivered. <\/p>\n Taking readers back to 200 years before The Phantom Menace<\/a>, Light of the Jedi not only had to create new characters and dynamics, but also lay the groundwork for an entirely fresh era in the Star Wars storyline. <\/p>\n Through crafting instantly likeable characters such as noble leader Avar Kriss and wise Master Loden Greatstorm, as well as establishing what the Republic looked like centuries before the films, it proves a winning start to a whole new chapter for the franchise. <\/p>\n 13. Brotherhood (2022) \u2013 Canon <\/p>\n While the on-screen chemistry between Hayden Christensen and Ewan McGregor did a lot of heavy lifting in the prequel trilogy, viewers don\u2019t get that much time to really dive into the \u2018brotherly\u2019 relationship between Anakin and Obi-Wan \u2013 but, unsurprisingly, Brotherhood helps to make up for that. <\/p>\n Set during the Clone Wars, this novel follows the duo as they\u2019re caught in a chilling conspiracy during a politically tense visit to Cato Neimoidia, with author Mike Chen peeling back the layers of their dynamic and taking a comprehensive look at what makes them tick. <\/p>\n Some plot points might be slightly predictable, but the back-and-forth between the pair keeps things interesting throughout. <\/p>\n 14. Padawan (2022) \u2013 Canon Padawan.\u00a0Disney Lucasfilm Press<\/p>\n It goes without saying that Obi-Wan Kenobi is one of Star Wars\u2019 most iconic characters, and Kiersten White\u2019s Padawan offers a canon tale in Kenobi\u2019s time as a \u2013 you guessed it \u2013 Padawan. <\/p>\n After his Master, Qui-Gon Jinn, goes AWOL, a young Obi-Wan spots an opportunity to prove himself, showing signs of the intelligence and wit that helped him to become one of the Jedi Council\u2019s most trusted members. <\/p>\n 15. The Fallen Star (2022) \u2013 Canon <\/p>\n Claudia Gray takes the themes laid out in Light of the Jedi and its sequel The Rising Storm and explores them with greater depth in The Fallen Star, as the author examines the political and psychological consequences of the Nihil\u2019s attack on the Republic Fair.<\/p>\n With the Jedi left shaken, Gray takes a character-first approach to demonstrate how the chaos on Valo changed the culture of the Republic \u2013 and lays the groundwork for the paranoia that the Jedi Masters of the Prequel trilogy are still working through centuries later.<\/p>\n For all the latest RT Book Club news, interviews, Q&As with the authors, reviews of previous books and more, visit The Radio Times Book Club<\/a> sponsored by Dr. Oetker Ristorante<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"But which Star Wars novels are the best of the lot? Read on for 15 of the best…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":72136,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[64,63,457,134],"class_list":{"0":"post-72135","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-books","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-books","11":"tag-entertainment"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72135","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72135"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72135\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72136"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72135"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Vision](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Vision-of-the-Future-39ea59a.jpg\" "\\"Vision")
<\/p>\n![\"Darth](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Darth-Plagueis-751ad13.jpg\" "\\"Darth")
<\/p>\n![\"Light](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Light-of-the-Jedi-cf246ef.jpg\" "\\"Light")
<\/p>\n![\"Padawan](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Padawan-f486c66.jpg\" "\\"Padawan\\"")
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