Scoundrels

Scoundrels by Timothy Zahn
The Death Star has been destroyed, but Han Solo is still deep in debt to Jabba the Hutt. When a stranger recruits Han to carry out an ambitious heist to steal a fortune from a powerful mafia boss, Han finally sees his chance to pay off the debt. But he won't be able to do it without Chewie's loyal backup, Lando's best con-man routine, and a team of the galaxy's most skilled thieves, hackers, and cheats. A whole book of rollicking good scoundrel fun!

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This is a classic era book from the Legends timeline. It will likely be contradicted by newer books (if so, just think of it as an alternate universe).

Honor Among Thieves

Honor Among Thieves by James S.A. Correy
The last book ever published in the Legends timeline, Honor Among Thieves is a book focused on Han Solo, set between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back. The Rebel Alliance assigns new member Han Solo to extract a rebel spy from behind enemy lines, but the mission turns out to be way more complicated than anyone expected.

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This is a classic era book from the Legends timeline. It will likely be contradicted by newer books (if so, just think of it as an alternate universe).

Allegiance

Allegiance by Timothy Zahn
Young Imperial agent Mara Jade is on a mission to root out corruption in the Empire's middle levels, even as a squad of stormtroopers on the same planet deserts and sets out to uphold justice on its own terms. Before long, Mara, the rogue stormtroopers, and the heroes of the Rebellion will see their paths converge - despite the fact that Mara and Luke Skywalker won't meet face-to-face until almost eight years later! In the process, each person will have to contemplate what "allegiance" means to them.

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Story continued in Choices of One. 

This is a classic era book from the Legends timeline. It will likely be contradicted by newer books (if so, just think of it as an alternate universe).

Choices of One

Choices of One by Timothy Zahn
In this sequel to Timothy Zahn's novel Allegiance, Mara Jade and the Hand of Judgment are sent on a mission to prevent a traitorous Imperial governor from allying with the rebels - even as Luke, Leia, and Han are on their way to meet with that very governor. Looming over the whole thing is a threat from a mysterious warlord from the Unknown Regions, whose power might take both Rebel and Imperial courage and brains to overcome.

A younger version of fan-favorite character Thrawn - not yet a Grand Admiral - plays a role in the story, and this book is also a must-read for any fans of his future right-hand man, Gilad Pellaeon.

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This is a classic era book from the Legends timeline. It will likely be contradicted by newer books (if so, just think of it as an alternate universe).

Empire and Rebellion: Razor's Edge

Empire and Rebellion: Razor's Edge by Martha Wells
One of the last books to be published in the Legends timeline, Razor's Edge is a book focused on Princess Leia between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes back. On a mission to save the Rebellion, Leia and friends come up against a group of dangerous pirates with a secret that will chill Leia to the bone.

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This is a classic era book from the Legends timeline. It will likely be contradicted by newer books (if so, just think of it as an alternate universe).

Splinter of the Mind's Eye

Splinter of the Mind's Eye by Alan Dean Foster
The first ever Star Wars expanded universe novel, released in 1978, this book was written under the requirement that it could be made into a cheap sequel to the first Star Wars film in case the movie didn't do well enough to justify a big-budget follow-up. It tells the story of Luke and Leia crash-landing on a swamp planet, where they must keep a powerful Force-magnifying crystal from falling into the hands of the Empire. Before the end, they'll have to face the Empire's most feared villain: Darth Vader.

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This is a classic era book from the Legends timeline. It will likely be contradicted by newer books (if so, just think of it as an alternate universe).

Galaxies: The Ruins of Dantooine

Galaxies: The Ruins of Dantooine by Voronica Whitney-Robinson with Haden Blackman
A tie-in to the Star Wars: Galaxies online video game, this novel follows the story of two Imperial defectors who join the Rebellion to help protect vital information about the future of the Jedi. The book has been widely criticized for its simple story and excessive references to the structure of the video game, though it does have its fans.

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This is a classic era book from the Legends timeline. It will likely be contradicted by newer books (if so, just think of it as an alternate universe).

Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back novelization

Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back novelization by Donald F. Glut
Based on the movie script and written while the film was still in production, this is the original adaptation of The Empire Strikes Back from 1980. It closely follows the plot of the movie, but with some small differences (such as a "blue" Yoda) due to the fact that author Donald F. Glut didn't get to see the movie before writing the book.

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This is a movie novelization from the Legends timeline. Though the movie itself is canon, original content in the book could be contradicted by future books, movies, or TV shows (if so, you can think of it as an alternate universe).

Tales of the Bounty Hunters

Tales of the Bounty Hunters by various authors
This book is a collection of five (not-so-short) short stories about the bounty hunters seen in The Empire Strikes Back: Boba Fett, Bossk, Dengar, IG-88, Zuckuss, and 4-LOM. It's a varied and interesting look inside the minds of these characters whose loyalty is neither to the Empire or to the Rebel Alliance.

The book's "Tale of Boba Fett" was written before the bounty hunter's childhood was revealed in Attack of the Clones, so there are some contradictions - however, many fans actually preferred this book's take on Boba Fett over the newer backstory from the movies.

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This is a classic era book from the Legends timeline. It will likely be contradicted by newer books (if so, just think of it as an alternate universe).

Shadows of the Empire

Shadows of the Empire by Steve Perry
The only novel set between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, this book was published in 1996 as a refreshing return to the classic trilogy era, in the years where most novels took place after the defeat of the Emperor. The book is essentially a lead-in to Return of the Jedi, setting up the background for many of the events in that movie. However, it revolves heavily around a new character, the crime kingpin Prince Xizor, who is competing with Vader for the Emperor's favor.

Though the book tells a reasonably engaging story, many readers remember it more for its creepy attempted rape scene (for the record, most Star Wars novels have no sexual content at all).

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This is a classic era book from the Legends timeline. It will likely be contradicted by newer books (if so, just think of it as an alternate universe).

Episode VI: Return of the Jedi novelization

Episode VI: Return of the Jedi novelization by James Kahn
Written based on the script while the film was still in production, this is the original novel adaptation of Return of the Jedi from 1983. Author James Kahn brings depth and a slightly different perspective to what is probably the second-best of the main Star Wars movie novelizations (after Matthew Stover's Revenge of the Sith). Though there are naturally also some inconsistencies with the final film and later books, the novel also includes interesting expanded versions of some of the scenes from the movie.

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This is a movie novelization from the Legends timeline. Though the movie itself is canon, original content in the book could be contradicted by future books, movies, or TV shows (if so, you can think of it as an alternate universe).

Tales from Jabba's Palace

Tales from Jabba's Palace by various authors
The palace of Jabba the Hutt on Tatooine comes to vivid life in all its depravity in this collection of short stories tying in to Return of the Jedi. From the band and the dancers, to the guards and the rancor keeper, to the many others hiding in the shadows, this fun and diverse volume takes readers into the lives of the palace's denizens one by one. It's also memorable for a bizarre story of Boba Fett's experience rotting away inside the belly of the sarlacc.

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This is a classic era book from the Legends timeline. It will likely be contradicted by newer books (if so, think of it as an alternate universe). 

Tales from the Empire

Tales from the Empire by various authors
A collection of short stories, selected as some of the best originally published in the Star Wars Adventure Journal roleplaying game magazine in the mid-1990s. Fan favorite characters such as Mara Jade, Grand Admiral Thrawn, and Corran Horn all make major appearances, and the book includes a novella collaboratively written by beloved authors Timothy Zahn and Michael Stackpole (who also each contribute one other story to the collection).

Despite the cover art, Boba Fett only appears in this book from a certain point of view.

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This is a classic era book from the Legends timeline. It will likely be contradicted by newer books (if so, think of it as an alternate universe).

The Bounty Hunter Wars

 
The Bounty Hunter Wars trilogy by K.W. Jeter
From veteran cyberpunk author K.W. Jeter comes a unique saga of intrigue, violence, and paranoia set in the gritty but high-tech criminal underworld of the Star Wars galaxy. Though centered on Boba Fett, the story includes all the bounty hunter characters introduced in The Empire Strikes Back: Dengar, Bossk, Zuckuss, 4-LOM, and IG-88.

After the defeat of Jabba the Hutt in Return of the Jedi, Dengar must decide how to proceed after discovering the dangerous Boba Fett helpless and nearly dead in the sands of Tatooine. His choice is made much more complicated by the appearance of a dancer from Jabba's Palace who has mysteriously lost her memory, knowing only that she has some important connection to Fett. All the while, a powerful corporate executive watches from the shadows with unknown motives.

Meanwhile, half of the story is told through flashbacks to a time soon after the destruction of the first Death Star, when criminal kingpin Prince Xizor seeks favor with the Emperor by engineering a brutal war between the galaxy's bounty hunters. In a scheme that thrusts Boba Fett into an uncomfortable double-agent role, the Bounty Hunter's Guild will be torn to pieces, and only the most skilled and ruthless bounty hunters will survive.

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Book 1: The Mandalorian Armor

Book 2: Slave Ship

Book 3: Hard Merchandise

This is a classic era series from the Legends timeline. It will likely be contradicted by newer books (if so, think of it as an alternate universe).

The Truce at Bakura

The Truce at Bakura by Kathy Tyers
Immediately after the destruction of the second Death Star, the heroes of the rebellion are caught up in a quiet alien invasion at the edge of known space. If the evil Ssi-ruuk are allowed to steal the minds of the planet Bakura's population to power their droid army, the rest of the galaxy could be next. Rebels and Imperials will have to work together to defeat the invasion.

The Truce at Bakura is the earliest Legends novel in the post-Return of the Jedi timeline, but the Thrawn Trilogy (set five years later) was the first published.

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This is a post-Return of the Jedi novel from the Legends timeline. Think of it as an alternate universe from The Force Awakens and newer books.

Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor

Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor by Matthew Stover
An unusual but intersting novel from author Matthew Stover, known to Star Wars fans for the exceptional philosophical and emotional depth of novels like Shatterpoint, Traitor, and the Revenge of the Sith novelization.

Dismayed by sensational film portrayals of his exploits for the Rebel Alliance, the self-critical Luke Skywalker finds himself caught up in an all new B-movie adventure, facing off against a mysterious dark side foe who has a theatrical side of his own. Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor is a self-consciously pulpy adventure that winkingly explores the sometimes unclear relationship between reality and fiction (while still staying strictly within the Star Wars universe).

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This is a post-Return of the Jedi novel from the Legends timeline. Think of it as an alternate universe from The Force Awakens and newer books.

X-Wing (Rogue Squadron Arc)

 
X-Wing series (Rogue Squadron Arc) by Michael Stackpole
This series of fan-favorite novels tell the story of Wedge Antilles's newly re-formed Rogue Squadron X-Wing pilots in the years after the destruction of the second Death Star. The varied Rogues will have to learn to work together if they are to cripple the flailing Empire, recapture the galactic capital planet Coruscant for the New Republic, and save the galaxy from the machinations of a sociopathic Imperial warlord. These books are remembered fondly by many Star Wars fans for their highly engaging, character-driven stories.

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Book 1: Rogue Squadron
Book 2: Wedge's Gamble
Book 3: The Krytos Trap
Book 4: The Bacta War

The next three X-Wing novels follow a different group of pilots, Wraith Squadron. The story of Rogue Squadron is continued in Book 8: Isard's Revenge.

This is a post-Return of the Jedi series from the Legends timeline. Think of it as an alternate universe from The Force Awakens and newer books.

X-Wing (Wraith Squadron Arc)

 
X-Wing series (Wraith Squadron Arc) by Aaron Allston
In the fifth-through-seventh books of the X-Wing series, the story shifts to cover Wraith Squadron, a group of misfits brought together by Wedge Antilles to be combination fighter pilots and special operatives. They soon find themselves in a series of high-spirited adventures against dangerous Imperial adversaries, by the end coming under the command of the famous General Han Solo. Author Aaron Allston made his Star Wars debut with this series of fan-favorite novels that skillfully combine laugh-out-loud humor with vivid emotional realism and well-developed characters.

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Book 5: Wraith Squadron
Book 6: Iron Fist
Book 7: Solo Command

Story of Wraith Squadron continued (decades later) in The New Jedi Order series and X-Wing: Mercy Kill.

This is a post-Return of the Jedi series from the Legends timeline. Think of it as an alternate universe from The Force Awakens and newer books.

The Courtship of Princess Leia

The Courtship of Princess Leia by Dave Wolverton
An early Star Wars novel from the 1990s revival, this book tells the spunky story of how Han Solo and Princess Leia finally ended up getting married. After Leia receives a marriage request from the powerful prince of the neutral Hapes Consortium, she's divided between her love for Han and her duty to the New Republic. Han, reverting under pressure to the criminal instincts of his past, kidnaps Leia and spirits her away to the remote plant of Dathomir. They soon find themselves stranded groundside - trapped between the Empire and a clan of Force-using, rancor-riding witches - with Luke Skywalker obliged to come to the rescue.

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This is a post-Return of the Jedi novel from the Legends timeline. Think of it as an alternate universe from The Force Awakens and newer books.

Tatooine Ghost

Tatooine Ghost by Troy Denning
Written long after most of the post-Return of the Jedi Legends books, Tatooine Ghost is a story of the recently married Han Solo and Princess Leia, set just before the events of the Thrawn Trilogy. It was the first novel that set out to bridge the events of the original Star Wars movies and the prequels.

In the story, the Millennium Falcon travels to Tatooine to protect vital New Republic military secrets. But in the adventure that follows, Leia finds herself on a journey of discovery, turning up surprising links to the early life of her father, Anakin Skywalker.

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This is a post-Return of the Jedi novel from the Legends timeline. Think of it as an alternate universe from The Force Awakens and newer books.