Review: Star Wars Extended Universe

I love star wars which is to say not only the 6 movies but that also includes the Extended Universe.  Many are familiar with the Star Wars movies. A lot are also familiar with the Clone Wars TV show.  There is so much more to Star Wars and the setting then just what is covered in the movies.  That is where the Extended Universe comes into play.  Did you know that Clone Wars the TV Show is actually part of the Extended Universe?

The Expanded Universe is the ever unfolding and continuing story of the Star Wars universe.  It covers all of the official and even some unofficial fictions set in the Star Wars setting.  The expanded universe includes books, comic books, video games, movies, television shows, toys, and other media.

Likes

• Get so much more detail for the universe

• Find out what happened before there was a Yoda, Palpatine, Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker.

• Find out what happens to the beloved heroes from the movies like: Luke, Leah, Han Solo and Chewbacca and what happens to the rebels after they win the day.

• Learn so much more about the force philosophies behind it and the real differences between the Light and Dark side.

• Fresh and new stories with different heroes, villains, and sometimes even different struggles.

• The universe is constantly growing and evolving.

Dislike

• In the early days of the Extended Universe the fiction was very formulaic and had a lot of what is worse about franchise fiction.

The Eras of the Extended Universe

The Extended Universe is broken up into several eras.  The date structure for the Extended Universe is all set to BBY which is the Battle at Yavin that happened in Episode 6: Return of the Jedi.

Image by Cayusa via Flickr

I’ve also included several really good works to check out from the Extended Universe.

• The Old Republic (25,000 BBY – 1,000 BBY)

  • Reign of the Fallen:  Fan Film

  • Lost Tribe of the Sith:  Stories read for free here.  Get the Kindle version here

  • Knights of the Old Republic

    

    : Game

  • Knights of the Old Republic

    

    : Comic series

  • The Old Republic series

    

    : Book series

  • The Old Republic MMORPG

    

    : Online Role Playing Game

• The Rise of the Empire (1,000 BBY – 0 BBY)

  • Darth Bane series

    

    : Book series

  • Shadow Hunter: Darth Maul

    

    : Book

  • Star Wars Battlefront II

    

    : Game

  • The Force Unleashed

    

    : Game

• The Rebellion (0 BBY – 5 ABY)

  • The Truce at Bakura

    

    : Book

• The New Republic (5 ABY – 25 ABY)

  • Crimson Empire

    

    : comic series

  • I, Jedi

    

    : Book

• The New Jedi Order (25 ABY – 36 ABY)

  • The New Jedi Order

    

    : Book series

  • Dark Nest

    

    : Book series

• Legacy (40 ABY – 137+ ABY)

  • Legacy of the Force

    

    : Book series

  • Fate of the Jedi

    

    : Book series

  • Dark Resurrection: Italian Fan Film

Getting into the Expanded Universe

There are several great ways to get into the Expanded Universe.

For those who want to pick up right where the movies leave off there is The Truce at Bakura.  For me I would recommend either starting with The New Jedi Order series for what happens after the movies this is when the stories got great and broke from the usual formulaic nature found in most franchise fiction.

For before the movies the Knights of the Old Republic period is awesome.  I got into this period through the amazing game Knights of the Old Republic.  There is also a great series which I have started reading The Old Republic series.

How did you get into the Expanded Universe?