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Dear Star Wars Book Readers: Unfortunately, a policy change at Amazon has broken all the images on this site, and it would take many hours of tedious work to fix them all. Since the Book Finder tool doesn't seem to be very popular anyway, I'm planning to stop updating it for the foreseeable future. But if you have strong feelings about this (or suggestions), do feel free to let me know by email: books@yodasdatapad.com. You can still use the tool if you don't mind that the pictures are missing and it doesn't include the newest books.


Here are your Star Wars book recommendations for origin stories:
Showing posts with label origin stories. Show all posts

Queen's Peril

Queen's Peril by E.K. Johnston
This young adult novel is both a prequel to Queen's Shadow and a lead-in to the story of Episode I: The Phantom Menace. It tells the story of Padme just after she's been elected as Queen Amidala of Naboo, and how she handles that challenge.

This is E.K. Johnston's third full-length young adult Star Wars novel, after Queen's Shadow and Ahsoka.

Buy from Amazon!

This is a book from the New Canon timeline! It's guaranteed to be consistent with future movies, TV shows, books, and comics (and all new stories since mid-2014).

Dooku: Jedi Lost (Audiobook and Script)

Dooku: Jedi Lost by Cavan Scott
Unlike other Star Wars audiobooks, which are readings of books that were written for print, Dooku: Jedi Lost was made especially for audio - the first Star Wars book of its kind. It's also narrated by a full cast playing the different characters in the story, in a way more like a radio play than a book.

The "book" is a sort of origin story for Count Dooku, telling the backstory of how he rose in the Jedi ranks and ultimately ended up leaving the order and turning to the dark side. In the story, his background is being researched during the Clone Wars by his apprentice, Asajj Ventress.

If you don't like to listen to audiobooks or aren't able to, you can also buy the script of the story as a printed book.

Buy from Amazon!

This is a book from the New Canon timeline! It's guaranteed to be consistent with future movies, TV shows, books, and comics (and all new stories since mid-2014).

Thrawn Ascendancy: Chaos Rising

Thrawn Ascendancy: Chaos Rising by Timothy Zahn
The new canon adventures of fan favorite Grand Admiral Thrawn continue in this prequel to the first Thrawn novel, part of the new Ascendancy Trilogy. The trilogy tells the story of Thrawn's history in his home region, the Chiss Ascendancy of the Unknown Regions, before joining the Empire. For the first time, we can go in-depth to see Thrawn's formative years, before he was a Grand Admiral or a famed tactical genius. 

The book takes place at the same time that the Clone Wars were raging elsewhere in the galaxy, and overlaps with the flashback story in Thrawn: Alliances.

Order from Amazon!

This is a book from the New Canon timeline! It's guaranteed to be consistent with future movies, TV shows, books, and comics (and almost all new stories since mid-2014).

Thrawn Ascendancy: Greater Good

Thrawn Ascendancy: Greater Good by Timothy Zahn
The adventures of young Thrawn continue in this second book of the Ascendancy Trilogy, the prequel to the canon Thrawn novel. The trilogy tells the story of Thrawn's history in his home region, the Chiss Ascendancy of the Unknown Regions, before joining the Empire.

This book takes place in the following year after Thrawn Ascendancy: Chaos Rising, putting it during the earliest days of the Empire - but with a whole new set of crises and political challenges happening unknown to those in the rest the galaxy.

Order from Amazon!

This is a book from the New Canon timeline! It's guaranteed to be consistent with future movies, TV shows, books, and comics (and almost all new stories since mid-2014).

Thrawn Ascendancy: Lesser Evil

Thrawn Ascendancy: Lesser Evil by Timothy Zahn
The adventures of young Thrawn conclude in this third book of the Ascendancy Trilogy, the prequel to the canon Thrawn novel. The trilogy tells the story of Thrawn's history in his home region, the Chiss Ascendancy of the Unknown Regions, before joining the Empire.

Order from Amazon!

This is a book from the New Canon timeline! It's guaranteed to be consistent with future movies, TV shows, books, and comics (and almost all new stories since mid-2014).

Catalyst: A Rogue One Novel

Catalyst: A Rogue One Novel by James Luceno
This is an important prequel to the 2016 spin-off film Rogue One! Written by veteran Star Wars author James Luceno, Catalyst tells how pacifist scientist Galen Erso, later infamous for designing the devastating Death Star superlaser, was manipulated into the role by one-time friend Orson Krennic. A thoughtful, character-based tale that provides a rich backstory to the opening scene of Rogue One, this novel also reveals a great deal about the creation of the Death Star according to the new Star Wars canon.

Catalyst is the tenth Star Wars novel by James Luceno, whose other works include the canon novel Tarkin, fan-favorite Legends novel Darth Plagueis, and two other Star Wars movie lead-in books.

Buy from Amazon!

This is a book from the New Canon timeline! It's guaranteed to be consistent with future movies, TV shows, books, and comics (and all new stories since mid-2014).

Tarkin

Tarkin by James Luceno
Veteran Star Wars author James Luceno, in his first new canon novel, takes readers into the mind of Grand Moff Tarkin, the Imperial official who infamously gave orders to Darth Vader in the original Star Wars movie. Set in the years between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope, this is the story of Tarkin's rise to prominence in the Empire.

Buy from Amazon!

This is a book from the New Canon timeline! It's guaranteed to be consistent with future movies, TV shows, books, and comics (and all new stories since mid-2014).

Solo: "Expanded Edition" movie novelization

Solo: Expanded Edition novelization by Mur Lafferty
This is the official book of the Solo: A Star Wars Story movie, expanded to tell more of the story! Added content includes Han Solo 's time in the Imperial Navy and more about how Qi'ra came to be involved with the Crimson Dawn criminal organization.

(For a prequel to the story of Solo, check out the Han and Qi'ra novel Most Wanted.)

Buy on Amazon!

This is a book from the New Canon timeline! It's guaranteed to be consistent with future movies, TV shows, books, and comics (and all new stories since mid-2014).

A New Dawn

A New Dawn by John Jackson Miller
A prequel to the Star Wars: Rebels TV show and the first Star Wars novel of the new canon. A New Dawn tells the story of how idealistic pilot Hera and cynical ex-Jedi Kanan first met, before they were a couple and before they led the famous rebel crew of the Ghost.

Buy from Amazon!

This is a book from the New Canon timeline! It's guaranteed to be consistent with future movies, TV shows, books, and comics (and all new stories since mid-2014).

Leia, Princess of Alderaan

Leia, Princess of Alderaan by Claudia Gray
Ever wonder how Princess Leia first joined the Rebellion against the Empire? In 2016's Bloodline, author Claudia Gray wrote about how Leia came to found the Resistance against the First Order. Now, the same author winds back the clock with this novel about the princess's teenage years, during the events of the Star Wars: Rebels TV show and three years before Rogue One and Star Wars: A New Hope.

Though officially a young adult novel, Leia, Princess of Alderaan is 400 pages long and a part of the same more-mature publishing line as Lost Stars, Ahsoka, and Rebel Rising.

Buy from Amazon!

This is a book from the New Canon timeline! It's guaranteed to be consistent with future movies, TV shows, books, and comics (and all new stories since mid-2014).

Thrawn

Thrawn by Timothy Zahn
Because author Timothy Zahn's Thrawn Trilogy kicked off the Legends publishing program in the early 1990s, it holds a special place in the hearts of Star Wars book fans. So for lots of us it was a big disappointment to see those books overwritten by the new movies. But that doesn't mean the trilogy's namesake character, blue-skinned military genius Grand Admiral Thrawn, is gone for good.

Now the fan-favorite character is back in the Star Wars canon with this novel about the beginnings of his career in the Imperial Navy, leading into his role in Season 3 of the Star Wars: Rebels TV show. And he's in good hands: The book is written by the same author as the original Thrawn Trilogy. In fact, this book could fit almost as well into the Legends timeline as it does into the New Canon!

Buy from Amazon!

Thrawn's career is continued in Thrawn: Alliances.

This is a book from the New Canon timeline! It's guaranteed to be consistent with future movies, TV shows, books, and comics (and all new stories since mid-2014).

Rebel Rising

Rebel Rising by Beth Revis
This is one of two prequel books to the spin-off movie Rogue One, the other being Catalyst: A Rogue One Novel. While Catalyst is the slow-paced political story of how Orson Krennic and Galen Erso came to work together on developing the Death Star, Rebel Rising is focused on fiery rebel Jyn Erso's childhood and teenage years fighting with Saw Gerrera's extremists. The book is set between the first scene of Rogue One and the rest of the movie.

Though officially a young adult novel, Rebel Rising is 400 pages long and a part of the same more-mature publishing line as Lost Stars, Ahsoka, and Leia, Princess of Alderaan.

Buy from Amazon!

This is a book from the New Canon timeline! It's guaranteed to be consistent with future movies, TV shows, books, and comics (and all new stories since mid-2014).

Doctor Aphra (Audiobook and Script)

Doctor Aphra by Sarah Kuhn
Based on the popular Doctor Aphra character from the canon Darth Vader comic books, Doctor Aphra is the second Star Wars story to debut as an audiobook exclusive, with a full cast of voice performers just like Dooku: Jedi Lost.

The audiobook both adapts and expands upon the story from the comics, telling the story of how a quirky rogue archaeologist ends up working for Darth Vader himself.

If you don't like to listen to audiobooks or aren't able to, you can also buy the script of the story as a printed book.


Buy from Amazon!

This is a book from the New Canon timeline! It's guaranteed to be consistent with future movies, TV shows, books, and comics (and all new stories since mid-2014).

Poe Dameron: Free Fall

Poe Dameron: Free Fall by Alex Segura
In The Rise of Skywalker, we found out that Resistance hero Poe Dameron had a shady past as a smuggler on the planet Kijimi. But how did the son of two rebel heroes end up turning to crime? This book tells the story of Poe's rough start as a teenager, more than a decade before he met Finn and helped save the galaxy.

Though categorized as a young adult novel, Poe Dameron is 350 pages long and part of the same more-mature publishing line as A Crash of Fate, Lost Stars, Ahsoka, Queen's Shadow, and other great books.

Buy from Amazon!

This is a book from the New Canon timeline! It's guaranteed to be consistent with future movies, TV shows, books, and comics (and all new stories since mid-2014).

Phasma

Phasma by Delilah S. Dawson
Ever wondered who chrome-armored Captain Phasma is behind the mask? In this story, an encounter between a high-ranking First Order stormtrooper and a Resistance spy reveals the secrets of Phasma's backstory - you may even get a glimpse at what she looks like beneath her helmet!

Buy from Amazon!

This is a book from the New Canon timeline! It's guaranteed to be consistent with future movies, TV shows, books, and comics (and all new stories since mid-2014).

The Darth Bane saga

 
The Darth Bane saga by Drew Karpyshyn
A thousand years before the events of the Star Wars movies, the last Sith Empire was defeated...but one ambitious survivor saved the Sith Order by taking it underground, setting the stage for the rise of Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader a millennium later. This is the story of that man, and one of the most raved-about Star Wars book series.

Buy from Amazon:
Book 1: Path of Destruction
Book 2: Rule of Two
Book 3: Dynasty of Evil

This is an Old Republic era series from the Legends timeline. It may be contradicted by newer books, movies, or TV shows (if so, just think of it as an alternate universe).

Darth Plagueis

Darth Plagueis by James Luceno
A story set over the course of decades, this is the history how the Sith rose again to power through the schemes of Darth Plagueis, the ambitious Sith Lord who trained the later-emperor Palpatine in the ways of the Force! 

In many ways, it's more of a biography of Palpatine (a.k.a. Darth Plagueis) than of Plagueis himself, so it comes very much recommended for anyone interested in young Palpatine as well.

A fan-favorite novel, and something of a masterpiece of the late Legends publishing days, pulling together and drawing dots between many of the other Legends books, comics, and even video games set during the prequel era.

Buy from Amazon!

This is a prequel era book from the Legends timeline. It may be contradicted by newer books, movies, or TV shows (if so, just think of it as an alternate universe).

Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader

Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader by James Luceno
After joining the dark side, destroying the Jedi, and losing his only love, Anakin Skywalker must learn to live as the villain Darth Vader and earn his place in the new Galactic Empire.

Buy from Amazon!

This is a prequel era book from the Legends timeline. It may be contradicted by newer books, movies, or TV shows (if so, just think of it as an alternate universe).

The Han Solo Trilogy

 
The Han Solo Trilogy by A.C. Crispin
A popular trilogy of novels telling the story of Han Solo's life before A New Hope, from youth on the streets, to his expulsion from the Imperial Academy, to the height of his career as a smuggler.

Buy from Amazon:
Book 1: The Paradise Snare
Book 3: Rebel Dawn

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

Death Star

Death Star by Michael Reaves & Steve Perry
A novel about the construction of the first Death Star, and the many different people whose lives it touched.

Buy from Amazon!

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