Intro: May The Force Be With You

 Welcome to StarWarsClassics, the "light" (ha!) sister project to 15MinuteClassics. One day, I decided I wanted to read something easier/fun between THE CLASSICS. So, to keep things low key, I decided to read all* the Star Wars novels in order.** Like I said, keeping it light. It's a fun contrast though.

* Tentatively, I'm using this page as my list of what counts as a novel. This means young readers/chapter books (like the Junior Jedi Knights) series will count, but not pictures books, comics, etc. I'm sure at least some will make appearances if they're relevant/interest me (I gotta do Dark Empire and the Shadows of the Empire tie ins at least).

The focus here is really on the golden age of the old EU, which I'm loosely defining as 1991 (Heir to the Empire) to 1999 ("end" of the X-Wing series, start of the Vong arc, TPM released).  I'll probably do at least some of the later books, but no promises

** For my sanity, I'm giving myself some flexibility here. If I'm in the middle of a sub-series, I may finish it even if there's an intervening book (for example, I read the whole Han Solo/Corp Sec. trilogy without stopping for the Empire Strikes Back novelization). If there's a weird timeline jump, I may swap a book or two to smooth it out. Things like that.

At this point, I generally read a chapter or two at night before bed, and occasionally more on a slow day or if I'm at an interesting part of the book. I'm going to shoot for a post every Friday. I have a few banked from the other blog, and a few that I've read but not written a post about, so I should be good for the first month or so. I've got some summer travel coming up, which should be fertile reading time.

Posts will be similar to the ones on my other blog. For each book, you'll get a small summary, notes on what it introduced to the canon, a mini review, and probably a few bits of related multimedia. My review scale goes something like this:

1/5: Awful Star Wars book. Contributes nothing (possibly actively screws up) the canon. Bad (or out of character) characters, incoherent plot, mechanically flawed writing. If you opened a random Star Wars fic on FF.net or AO3, you'll probably do better than this. Even if you were attempting some sort of "read all the Star Wars books" challenge, I'd still tell you to skip this one. Core Star Wars movies that'd receive this score: Episode 8.

2/5: Bad Star Wars Book. More or less fits in the canon, but doesn't add much. Weak characterization, jumbled plot, minimal typos. Worth it if you're a completionist, or a particular fan of the featured characters, time period, etc. Core Star Wars movies that'd receive this score: Episodes 1,2,9

3/5 Minimum acceptable Star Wars book. Introduces that one space ship that gets reused a couple times. Doesn't ruin anything else. Writing is functional, and the story is fun if nothing else. Probably worth reading once. Core Star Wars movies that'd receive this score: Episodes 3 and 7

4/5 Good Star Wars book. Probably introduces characters or plots that'll get some mileage over the years. Fun to read, and actually manages to give you something to think about or surprises you once or twice. Worth a read for any fan, even if it's in a part of the canon you don't love. Core Star Wars movies that'd receive this score: None. 

5/5 Great Star Wars book. Moves the overall plot of the series along. Legitimately good writing. Recommendable to someone who isn't even a Star Wars fan. Core Star Wars movies that'd receive this score: Episodes 5 and 6.

And, very occasionally, I'll maybe throw out a 0 (so bad the world might've been a better place if it wasn't published) or a 6 (flawless, best ever, life changing, etc. Episode IV rates this by default.)

I'll get the first post (Splinter of the Mind's Eye) up shortly. Enjoy!