While most people only know about the cinematic side to the Star Wars phenomenon, there are plenty of fantastic books expanding on the story, giving us information and background on events and characters the films and TV shows don’t always have the time to relay to us.
While waiting for the films, here are 11 terrific Star Wars books to help you dive deeper into the enchanting universe.
Star Wars: The Jedi Path & Book of Sith Deluxe Set (By Daniel Wallace)
A nice and luxurious way of binding the teachings of the light & dark side of the force together. These Star Wars books go hand in hand, offering the Jedi Path which is an ancient training manual, and the Book of Sith, which includes dark texts put together by Darth Sidious.
Star Wars Character Encyclopedia (By Pablo Hidalgo & Simon Beecroft)
For those who love to go deep into the details of their favorite Star Wars characters, this is the ideal universe expansion, which explores more than 200 characters from the Star Wars saga. Plenty of fun facts and information to keep you intrigued for a very long time.
Star Wars Ahsoka (By E.K. Johnston)
Ahsoka Tano is one of the more intriguing characters in the Star Wars universe, making appearances in The Clone Wars and Rebels animated shows. This book explores everything that happens after she left the Jedi Order up to her re-appearance in Rebels.
Star Wars: Bloodline (By Claudia Gray)
A terrific book by Claudia Gray that explores the political movements in the galaxy in the years leading up to The Force Awakens, focusing on Leia Organa and her disillusionment with the power and motivation of the Galactic Senate to make things better.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (by Alexander Freed)
This isn’t just a different way of writing down the scrip of Rogue One, but a terrific story, perhaps the best novelization of a Star Wars film ever written. It fleshes out the characters, explains and expands their motivations, and gives us a much better understanding of what’s at stake and what we didn’t see during the fantastic film.
Catalyst: A Rogue One Novel (By James Luceno)
A precursor to Rogue One, Catalyst dives into the creation of the first Death Star, exploring its beginning which dates back to the days of the Republic, before it becomes the empire.
5-Minute Star Wars Stories
A book that includes short stories from all 7 (at the time) Star Wars films, intended to help parents get their kids even more involved in the series, and does a terrific job of getting both adults and children excited about them.
Star Wars Thrawn Trilogy: Heir to the Empire (By Timothy Zahn)
The first book in Timothy Zahn’s Thrawn trilogy, Heir to the Empire is the best book out of the three, introducing the best character yet to be seen in a Star Wars film, but his appearance in Rebels does give us hope he’ll show up at one point or another in one of the films, one day.
Star Wars: Lords of the Sith (By Paul S. Kemp)
A book that expands on the relationship between Darth Vader (Anakin Skywalker) and Emperor Palpatine while they try to quell an insurgency on Ryloth, a planet of Twi’lek. Awesome as an action piece and also in giving us more insight and the dynamic duo of the dark side of the force.
Star Wars: Dark Disciple (By Christie Golden)
Dark Disciple is a book based on an 8-episode story arc from the Clone Wars tv show that never made the air. It tells the story of a Jedi who teams up with a nightsister as they attempt to execute Count Dooku.