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1. Introduction
2. Suggested stories expanding the events seen in the Original Trilogy
3. Suggested stories expanding the events seen in the Prequel Trilogy
4. Suggested stories expanding a theme from the films
5. Suggested stories set after the film saga
6. Jumping in with the New Jedi Order and Legacy series' and how to avoid the pitfalls
7. Using this website to further your reading

Introduction
Firstly, it may be appropriate to read Thirty Years of Star Wars Storytelling, Star Wars Books' own guide to the history of Star Wars story and book publishing. This will give enough background information to understand how Star Wars stories have evolved in the last thirty years.
As most of the stories have evolved from events seen in the six films, this is a good place to decide where to start reading. However, the films themselves cover a time-span of 36 years within the Star Wars Timeline and it is therefore appropriate to separate the films into the two trilogies: Original Trilogy (OT) covers A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi; while the Prequel Trilogy (PT) is The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith.
It also would be wise to know of the seven Eras of Adventure that separate the Star Wars Timeline (all are dated as occurring before or after The Battle of Yavin, the events portrayed in A New Hope), they are:

	The Old Republic	: events occurring between 5,000 and 1,000 years before the Battle of Yavin
	Rise of the Empire	: events occurring between 1,000 years before and up to the Battle of Yavin
	The Clone Wars	: events occurring between 22 years and 19 years before the Battle of Yavin
	The Rebellion	: events occurring between the Battle of Yavin and up to 5 years after
	The New Republic	: events occurring between 5 to 25 years after the Battle of Yavin
	The New Jedi Order	: events occurring between 25 to 35 years after the Battle of Yavin
	Legacy of the Force	: events that occur 40 years after the Battle of Yavin and beyond

So, if you enjoyed the Original Trilogy with the adventures of Luke, Leia, Han, Chewbacca, R2-D2 and C-3PO, you can explore their furthering adventures by exploring The Rebellion era. Conversely, if the Prequel Trilogy was more to your liking with Anakin, Obi-Wan, Padme, Yoda, Mace and Palpatine then the Rise of the Empire era is the place to start. These further adventures that are out with the film saga, that introduce new characters, new planets, new vehicles, new weapons, etc is known as the Expanded Universe (EU).
However, since Star Wars stories are available in a variety of mediums: novel, youth novel, graphic novel (books that collate comic stories into one volume), comics, e-book and short story, it is wise to decide which format you would prefer, although most stories are more readily available as either novels or graphic novels.
Your choice of reading material may also be affected by a story's availability, that is can it be purchased or borrowed? (many libraries still contain copies of some of the early published books). This should be considered when deciding on which approach you would like to take.

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Suggested stories expanding the events seen in the Original Trilogy
There are only four years between A New Hope and Return of the Jedi, and the following stories will help to expand the events of the Original Trilogy, also known as the Galactic Civil War period. Between them they will explain who Biggs is (as seen in the Special Edition version of A New Hope and also the DVD version); what happened to Darth Vader and where our heroes went after the victory of the Battle of Yavin; how Vader discovered the identity of the pilot who destroyed the first Death Star; how Luke, Leia, Chewbacca and Lando were helped in locating Han's frozen body; what happened immediately after the second Death Star was destroyed; and more.
In chronological order these stories are:

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Suggested stories expanding the events seen in the Prequel Trilogy
The Phantom Menace is set 32 years before The Battle of Yavin while Revenge of the Sith is set 13 years later and these suggested stories will expand the role of Darth Maul as a Sith Lord; Valorum's weaknesses as Supreme Chancellor; why Jango Fett was chosen as the clone template; as well as furthering Sidious's/Palpatine's machinations to become Emperor.
They are in chronological order:

Chronologically, the events of The Clone Wars occur between Attack of the Clones and Labyrinth of Evil, but it is not necessary to read any of the books from The Clone Wars to understand and follow the plotlines discussed in the above selected stories.

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Suggested stories expanding a theme from the films
There are four themes mentioned that are never really explored within the films: the Sith, The Clone Wars, the Padawan/Master relationship and the Dark Times. There are enough Expanded Universe stories written about these four themes that it is possible to expand them further than the films could:

select a theme: The Sith|The Clone Wars|The Padawan/Master relationship|The Dark Times

Suggested stories expanding a theme from the films: The Sith
Who were the Sith? Why do they hate the Jedi so much? And why do they have the Rule of Two?
The first two graphic novels, Tales of the Jedi Volumes 1 and 2, collect between them 7 stories set between 5,000 and 4,000 years before the Battle of Yavin. These stories describe who and where the Sith come from and why they hate the Jedi.
The two Darth Bane novels are the story of Darth Bane, the Sith Lord who formed the Rule of Two and why he took the Sith into hiding 1,000 years before The Phantom Menace. Further reading from this time period can be found in The Old Republic era.
They are in chronological order:

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Suggested stories expanding a theme from the films: The Clone Wars
Where did Anakin get his scar? How did General Grievous and Count Dooku kidnap the Chancellor?
At the conclusion to Attack of the Clones, Yoda says "begun, this clone war has" and so a war that would split the galaxy into two sides, Republic and Separatist, started on a dusty planet known as Geonosis. The Republic clone army, lead by the Jedi, fought the Separatist droid army for three long years with both sides trying to obtain the upper hand as the fighting went from planet system to planet system. It was, of course, to no avail as both sides were controlled by one man, Chancellor Palpatine aka Darth Sidious.
There are many stories from The Clone Wars and they are published in all the different formats. To make it easier, the suggested reading list is divided into the two most popular formats: novels and graphic novels, as either one in sufficient in itself to fill the three-year gap of The Clone Wars until its shocking conclusion in Revenge of the Sith.
There is one further suggestion, the Clone Wars animated micro-series is an excellent way to grasp the events of The Clone Wars and it also includes the kidnapping of Chancellor Palpatine by General Grievous and Count Dooku (his rescue by Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker form the first act of Revenge of the Sith).
Further reading from this time period can be found in The Clone Wars era.

These are the suggested novels to read and they examine The Clone Wars from several angles. The Republic Commando books are a look at the war from the soldier's point of view, while Shatterpoint, The Cestus Deception, Jedi Trial and Dark Rendezvous all focus on one Jedi's interpretation of the war each: Mace Windu, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker and Yoda respectively. While the Medstar duology concentrates on the unseen side of war as the story revolves around a mobile medical unit serving in one of the most inhospitable planets at the height of a battle.
They are in chronological order:

Below are the suggested graphic novels to read. Whilst they mainly concentrate on the story of jedi knight Quinlan Vos's attempts to infiltrate Count Dooku's inner sanctum, they also include the reason why Anakin has a scar on his face in Revenge of the Sith, as well as examining both Obi-Wan Kenobi's and Anakin Skywalker's strengths and weaknesses as leaders of soldiers and as warriors themselves.
They are in chronological order:

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Suggested stories expanding a theme from the films: The Padawan/Master relationship
Ever since the term Padawan was first heard or read in The Phantom Menace, people have wanted to find out more and no single author has done more in furthering this knowledge than Jude Watson. Jude has written over 30 books revolving around the Padawan/Master relationships of Qui-Gon Jinn/Obi-Wan Kenobi and Obi-Wan Kenobi/Anakin Skywalker in two separate series: Jedi Apprentice (total of 20 books) and Jedi Quest (11 books). So if you would like to expand your reading on this subject matter then these two series are where to begin, just be aware that the books are written for the youth market of 9-12 year olds and early releases can be hard to find.
A more recent publication is the Legacy of the Force/Secrets of the Force duology which tells of two stories that spans nearly 70 years between them as events in the past come to have consequences for the future.

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Suggested stories expanding a theme from the films: The Dark Times
What are the Dark Times? When was the Dark Times?
Also known as the Jedi Purge, the Dark Times were a consequence of Palpatine's Order 66 as seen in Revenge of the Sith. For those lucky few Jedi who directly survived Order 66, it was a difficult time as Darth Vader and his agents were hunting them down. Most survivors would go into hiding as Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda did, but for a few it was a time to try to strike back. It was during this time that the seeds of rebellion were sown.
This period of the Star Wars timeline has only recently been expanded by the storytellers and currently consists of two story series': the Dark Times graphic novel series and the 10-book youth novel series Last of the Jedi. Summer 2008 will see the expansion of this period with the publication of the Coruscant Nights novel trilogy, while the Star Wars Television Series begins in 2009.
These stories cover a very short period of time, roughly up to 1 year after Revenge of the Sith:

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Suggested stories set after the film saga
While you can concentrate on stories that expand the films and the themes contained there in, it is also possible to begin reading stories after watching just the films. This usually means the stories set after the six films and are the continuing adventures of the film heroes. This is the most popular method of starting to read Star Wars stories.
Just as there are themes contained within the films, there are also stories set after the films that are thematic in content: the role of the X-Wing elite fighter squadrons of the Rebel Alliance played in attempting to establish peace in post-Palpatine's Empire; Luke's attempts to form a new Jedi Order and its Academy; and the recurring threat of the remaining Imperial leaders and warlords are three of the main themes. Almost all of these themed stories occur during The New Republic era.

select a theme: X-Wing stories|new Imperial threats and return of the Emperor|the Jedi Academy

These are regarded as the three main plotlines established after the film saga, although there are other stories to read during this period, our Annals of The New Republic will allow you to understand their main plotlines and suggest further reading for these other stories.

Suggested stories set after the film saga: X-Wing stories
The role that Luke Skywalker and Wedge Antilles and their X-Wing squadrons played following the films is captured in two series that are set just two years apart.
X-Wing: Rogue Squadron: following the events of Return of the Jedi, the X-Wing heroes find themselves playing the roles of both soldiers and diplomats as they travel around the galaxy trying to bring the peace promised by Palpatine's death. All 12 comic book stories of this series are captured in just three Omnibus editions:

X-Wing: Just two years later, when it was believed that the elite squadron would be never required again, Wedge Antilles has to reform Rogue Squadron to save the fledging New Republic. The X-Wing pilots would be instrumental in capturing Coruscant from the remnants of Imperial control, securing supplies of desperately needed medical supplies, and defeat the threat of an Imperial warlord. These stories are contained within the 9 book X-Wing series:

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Suggested stories set after the film saga: new Imperial threats and return of the Emperor
Only five years have passed since the death of Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader, but still remnant Imperial forces threaten the newly formed New Republic government. If any of these Imperial remnants were to find a strong leader then the fledging peace and democracy would surely collapse.
Grand Admiral Thrawn was unique. The only non-human to ever achieve the ultimate rank of an Imperial Grand Admiral, his survival following the Galactic Civil War was missed by the intelligence services of the New Republic and so, gathering his loyal forces, he came close to destroying the 'rebels' once and for all:

Just one year later, as the New Republic was still reeling from the Thrawn catastrophe, a new and greater threat emerges: the Emperor has returned! Our heroes must discover the whereabouts of this cloned Emperor and for Luke, this encounter would be his darkest moment:

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Suggested stories set after the film saga: the Jedi Academy
When Luke discovered that Leia was his sister and Force-sensitive in Return of the Jedi, he made it his purpose to find other Force-sensitive people in the Galaxy. Initially hampered by the immediate post-Empire events, he eventually found the time 7 years later when The New Republic had been established. Thus he began his quest to find other potential Jedi's and to establish an academy where they could be trained. This would be difficult to begin with as most of the existing records of Jedi training methods had been destroyed by the Empire. The following books recount this quest for Luke and the hazards, hardships, successes and failures he encountered:

The continuing adventures of the Jedi Academy and in particular the training of Han and Leia's three children, Jacen, Jaina and Anakin, are covered in the Junior Jedi Knights and the Young Jedi Knights youth novel series'.

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Jumping in with the New Jedi Order and Legacy series' and how to avoid the pitfalls
Both the more recent New Jedi Order and Legacy of the Force eras (beginning 25 years after The Battle of Yavin) have plotlines that are based upon situations and character developments created in the preceding eras: namely The New Republic for The New Jedi Order and The New Jedi Order for situations/characters in Legacy of the Force. The previous suggested reading guides will give you most of the information required to have a basic understanding of these established situations and characters so that you could tackle The New Jedi Order before leading into the newer Legacy of the Force stories . Of course this would mean reading upwards of two dozen or so books before being able to read the newest Legacy of the Force series. You may also be hampered by the availability, or more importantly the lack thereof, of older books. Modern Star Wars story publishing really began in 1991 and thus more than a decade and a half have past since then making some early published books hard to find. Therefore if you would like to jump straight into either The New Jedi Order or Legacy of the Force books, and you want to forgo the suggested reading and possible difficulties of obtaining some of these stories, it is highly recommended that you invest in one or more of the reference books that are available:

Star Wars: The New Essential Chronology by Daniel Wallace and Kevin J. Anderson is an almost complete history from the Tales of the Jedi (5,000 years before The Battle of Yavin) to the end of the New Jedi Order (almost 30 years after The Battle of Yavin). Featuring stories from every movie, book, comic and cartoon (up to 2005) this compendium is an absolute essential in any Star Wars fans library. Unfortunately it does not list the books that each story refers to but it does contain an excellent index that allows for story researching.

Similarly, Star Wars: The Comics Companion (2006) by Ryder Windham and Daniel Wallace lists almost every Star Wars comic ever printed (up to 2006), including some of the earliest comic strips from the LA Times (1981-1984). More importantly, it includes many stories that have yet to be published as a graphic novel, such as The Devaronian Version, that allows for expansion of storylines and plots.

Whilst both of the previous books concentrate on the stories, Star Wars: The New Essential Guide to Characters (2002) by Daniel Wallace is an encyclopaedic guide to over 130 characters that inhabit the Star Wars galaxy. It charts those characters' life stories and their involvement and contribution to the Star Wars galaxy.

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Using this website to further your reading
Every Star Wars story listed on this website has been catalogued according to the Era of Adventure it is set in. And, just like this page, every story's entry is cross-referenced by Related Stories, that is by either overall plotline or by character development. A related story may be one or more of the films, it may be another novel, a graphic novel or a short story. This allows the reader to find what stories are connected to the story they are reading, and particularly in the case of short stories, allows them to discover other stories that they may have missed.
For example, let us imagine someone beginning their reading with Heir to the Empire (as suggested in Suggested stories set after the film saga: new Imperial threats and return of the Emperor) and after reading all three books of this trilogy they wanted to further their reading. Locating Heir to the Empire's entry (either from this page or by searching), there are eight Related Stories listed: one time-framed as occurring prior, two are the trilogy's sequels, and five occur after Heir to the Empire. Simply clicking on any one of these Related Stories allows the reader to discover what stories are related by either plotline or by character development.
Another facility offered on this website is the Everyone Has A Story feature. This expanding series focuses on a single character and lists all the stories that they appear in. Again, in our Heir to the Empire example, we find that on that book's entry a link for Grand Admiral Thrawn. Clicking on the link takes us to Thrawn's Everyone Has A Story page and we discover that as well as the current trilogy and two of the previous novels listed in Heir to the Empire's Related Stories, there are a further four stories featuring Grand Admiral Thrawn. All of which occur prior to Heir to the Empire and of which three are short stories. Thus the reader has the option to further their reading by following these links.
Of course, these Related Stories are stories that are related to the current book being read. We can use other facilities to further our reading: the index page to every Era of Adventure lists every book and graphic novel published from that Era in chronological order and we can see that the next story following the Heir to the Empire book trilogy is Dark Empire, a graphic novel. However, if we take a look at the Timeline entry for this Era (The New Republic) we find that there is a short story and another novel set before Dark Empire (the novel in this instance has been sub-listed within the X-Wing series of The New Republic, listed at the beginning of the index page). Thus, the reader can decide whether to advance to Dark Empire, read the short story and other novel, or if they prefer they can forgo the graphic novel and move on to the next novel (Jedi Search, the first in the Jedi Academy trilogy). The choice is with the reader.
This raises the point of whether to read every story or just to focus on those published in a particular format. The Timeline also includes two special entries: the Novels Timeline and the Graphic Novels Timeline. Both of these list, in chronological order, the published stories of their respective formats and are updated, as is the rest of this site, when new stories are published.
For more information using this site, please read our Help page.

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