STAR WARS LITERATURE TIMELINE (Condensed)

Effective October 29, 1999

Book Title

Author

Time Frame* **

GFA RATING ✯

 

 

* Years relative to "Star Wars-A NewHope"
** Years relative to "Star Wars – Return of the Jedi"

Jedi Apprentice #1: The Rising Force

Dave Wolverton

44 years before ANH

✯ ✯ ✯ ✯

Jedi Apprentice #2: The Dark Rival

Jude Watson

44 years before ANH

✯ ✯ ✯ ✯

Jedi Apprentice #3: The Hidden Past

Jude Watson

44 years before ANH

✯ ✯ ✯ ✯

Jedi Apprentice #4: The Mark of the Crown

Jude Watson

44 years before ANH

✯ ✯ ✯ ✯

Jedi Apprentice #5: Defenders of the Dead

Jude Watson

44 years before ANH

✯ ✯ ✯ ✯

Jedi Apprentice #6: The Uncertain Path

Jude Watson

44 years before ANH

Due Jan.2000

Jedi Apprentice #7: Title TBD

Jude Watson

(?) years before ANH

Due March 2000

Jedi Apprentice #8: Title TBD

Jude Watson

(?) years before ANH

Due May 2000

Jedi Apprentice #9: Title TBD

Jude Watson

(?) years before ANH

Due July 2000

Jedi Apprentice #10: Title TBD

Jude Watson

(?) years before ANH

Due Sept 2000

Star Wars Episode One: The Phantom Menace

Terry Brooks

32 years before ANH

✯ ✯

Star Wars Episode One: The Phantom Menace

Patricia C. Wrede

32 years before ANH

✯ ✯ ✯ ✯

(This is the young adult Episode One novelization)

Rogue Planet

Greg Bear

Between TPM and
Episode Two. TBD.

Due May 2000

32 – 10 years before ANH

The Paradise Snare

Ann Crispin

10 years before ANH

✯ ✯ ✯

The Hutt Gambit

Ann Crispin

7-5 years before ANH

✯ ✯ ✯

(Books One and Two of the Young Han Solo Trilogy)

 

 

Lando Calrissian Trilogy

L.Neil Smith

6-5 years before ANH

 

#1 Lando Calrissian and the Mindharp of
Sharu

 

 

✯ ✯

#2 Lando Calrissian and the Flamewind of
Oseon

 

 

✯ ✯

#3 Lando Calrissian and the Starcave of
Thonboka

 

 

✯ ✯

Han Solo Trilogy

Brian Daley

2-1 year before ANH

 

#1 Han Solo at Star’s End

 

 

✯ ✯

#2 Han Solo’s Revenge

 

 

✯ ✯

#3 Han Solo and the Lost Legacy

 

 

✯ ✯

Rebel Dawn

Ann Crispin

3-0 years before ANH

✯ ✯

(Book Three of the Young Han Solo Trilogy)

 

 

Tales from the Empire

Varied

Varied

Varies
(Mostly ✯ ✯ )

Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina

Varied

0 years before ANH

Varies
(Mostly ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ )

Star Wars (A New Hope)

George Lucas

0 years before ANH

✯ ✯

(Ghost-written by Alan Dean Foster)

 

 

Splinter of the Mind’s Eye

Alan Dean Foster

1 year after ANH

✯

(Not quite consistent with rest of the canon)

 

 

Classic SW Graphic Novels

Varied

1-3 years after ANH

✯ ✯

The Empire Strikes Back

Donald F. Glut

3 years after ANH

✯ ✯

Tales of the Bounty Hunters

Varied

3 years after ANH

Varies
(Mostly ✯ ✯ ✯ )

Shadows of the Empire

Steven Perry

3.5 years after ANH

✯ ✯ ✯ ✯

(This takes place in the 6 months between ESB & ROTJ)

3.5 years after ANH

 

The Bounty Hunter Wars Trilogy

K. W. Jeter

 

 

#1 The Mandalorian Armor

 

 

✯ ✯ ✯

#2 Slave Ship

 

 

✯ ✯ ✯

#3 Hard Merchandise

 

 

✯ ✯ ✯

Return of the Jedi

James Kahn

4 years after ANH

✯ ✯ ✯

Tales from Jabba’s Palace

Varied

4 years after ANH

Varies
(Mostly ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ )

Truce at Bakura

Kathy Tyers

4 years after ANH

✯ ✯ ✯ ✯

(Begins the day after ROTJ)

 

 

X-Wing #1 Rogue Squadron

Michael A. Stackpole

6.5 years after ANH
(2.5 years after ROTJ)

✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯

X-Wing #2 Wedge’s Gamble

Michael A. Stackpole

6.5 years after ANH
(2.5 years after ROTJ)

✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯

X-Wing #3 The Krytos Trap

Michael A. Stackpole

6.5 years after ANH
(2.5 years after ROTJ)

✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯

X-Wing #4 The Bacta War

Michael A. Stackpole

7 years after ANH
(3 years after ROTJ)

✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯

X-Wing #5 Wraith Squadron

Aaron Allston

7 years after ANH
(3 years after ROTJ)

✯ ✯ ✯

X-Wing #6 Iron Fist

Aaron Allston

8 years after ANH
(4 years after ROTJ)

✯ ✯ ✯

X-Wing #7 Solo Command

Aaron Allston

8 years after ANH
(4 years after ROTJ)

✯ ✯ ✯1 .

The Courtship of Princess Leia

Dave Wolverton

8 years after ANH
(4 years after ROTJ)

✯

The Grand Admiral Thrawn Trilogy

Timothy Zahn

 

 

#1 Heir to the Empire

 

9 years after ANH

✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯

#2 Dark Force Rising

 

9.5 years after ANH

✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯

#3 The Last Command

 

10 years after ANH
(5-6 years after ROTJ)

✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯

X-Wing #8 Isard’s Revenge

Michael A. Stackpole

9.5 years after ANH
(5.5 years after ROTJ)

✯ ✯ ✯ ✯

Dark Empire (GraphicNovels)

Veitch/Kennedy

10.5years after ANH
(6.5 years after ROTJ)

✯ ✯ ✯

(Includes an important story arc about the cloned Emperor)

 

 

Jedi Academy Trilogy

Kevin Anderson

 

 

#1 Jedi Search

 

11 years after ANH

✯ ✯

#2 Dark Apprentice

 

11 years after ANH

✯ ✯

#3 Champions of the Force

 

11.5 years after ANH
(7-7.5 years after ROTJ)

✯ ✯

I, Jedi

Michael Stackpole

11-12 years after ANH
(7-8 years after ROTJ)

✯ ✯ ✯ ✯

The Children of the Jedi

Barbara Hambly

12 years after ANH
(8 years after ROTJ)

✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯

Darksaber

Kevin Anderson

12.5 years after ANH
(8.5 years after ROTJ)

✯

Planet Of Twilight

Barbara Hambly

13 years after ANH
(9 years after ROTJ)

✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯

X-Wing #9 Starfighters of Adumar

Aaron Allston

13.5 years after ANH
(9.5 years after ROTJ)

Not read yet.

The Crystal Star

Vonda McIntyre

14 years after ANH
(10 years after ROTJ)

✯ ✯ ✯ ✯

The Black Fleet Crisis Trilogy

Michael P. Kube-McDowell

 

 

#1 Before the Storm

 

16 years after ANH

✯ ✯ ✯ ✯

#2 Shield of Lies

 

16.25 years after ANH

✯ ✯ ✯ ✯

#3 Tyrant’s Test

 

16.5 years after ANH
(12-12.5 years after ROTJ)

✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯

The New Rebellion

Kristine Kathryn Rusch

17 years after ANH
(13 years after ROTJ)

✯ ✯ ✯

The Correllia Trilogy

Roger MacBride Allen

 

 

#1 Ambush at Corellia

 

18 years after ANH

✯ ✯ ✯ ✯

#2 Assault on Selonia

 

18 years after ANH

✯ ✯ ✯ ✯

#3 Showdown at Centerpoint

 

18 years after ANH
(14 years after ROTJ)

✯ ✯ ✯

The Hand of Thrawn Duology

Timothy Zahn

 

 

Specter of the Past

 

19 years after ANH

✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯

Vision of the Future

 

19 years after ANH
(15 years after ROTJ)

✯ ✯ ✯ ✯

Junior Jedi Knight Series

Richardson/Moesta

22 years after ANH

✯ ✯

Young Jedi Knight Series (14 books)

Kevin Anderson & Rebecca Moesta

22-24 years after ANH
(18-20 years after ROTJ)

✯ ✯

The New Jedi Order #1 Vector Prime

R. A. Salvatore

25 years after ANH
(21 years after ROTJ)

Not read yet

The New Jedi Order (#2, #3) : Dark Tide

Michael A. Stackpole

 

 

#1 Onslaught

 

Years TBD

Due Jan.2000

#2 Ruin

 

Years TBD

Due April 2000

The New Jedi Order (#4, #5) : Agents of Chaos

James Luceno

 

 

#1 Hero’s Trail

 

Years TBD

Due June 2000

#2 Jedi Eclipse

Years TBD

Due Aug.2000

The New Jedi Order #6: Title TBD

Kathy Tyers

Years TBD

Due Oct.2000

The New Jedi Order (#7, #8, #9) : Title TBD

Michael Jan Friedman

#1: Title TBD

Years TBD

Due Feb.2001

#2: Title TBD

Years TBD

Due March 2001

#3: Title TBD

Years TBD

Due April 2001

Note: This is just a condensed listing. There are many more books/comics/stories. (For example, this does not include all the ancient pre-history stories of the Jedi from the time of the Sith….approx. 4000-5000 years before the time of Star Wars: A New Hope.) Also, the upcoming titles/ place in the timeline is subject to change.

Subjective ratings system. My criteria? First and foremost with the main character (Luke, Leia, Han) stories: did the author get the "voices" right? Can you hear the characters as we know them from the films speaking as the authors have them speaking? Can you picture those characters thinking and responding as the author has them thinking and responding? Secondly, is the crisis or situation set up in the novel believable, and interesting? Thirdly, does the story fit in consistently with the literature and film continuum? (Which includes non-human characters behaving appropriate to what we know of their species, distances between planets/systems matching with other sources, and things like weapons and Jedi powers corresponding to the rest of the books and films). And lastly, is there an interesting "bad guy"? A good nemesis makes for a much more exciting story.