there were a few good consitant writers but up until the PT and Lucasfilm more closely monitoring plots and trying to make them better, a lot of it did suck. There were so many stand alone books that were just boring. You knew no one would die. And I got really tired of the constant diplomatic crap. "waugh! he parked in my executive hanger, I'm gonna start a war". And the remnant post Thrawn was barely a threat. now the NJO has some friggin' drama and I personally really like it. I don't know if its anywhere close to what Lucas would do, but it certainly makes sense within the characters and who they are. But I'm sure other people hate them. I like a lot of the prequel era books. They are basically logically written to lead into or out of a movie plot in pretty much the only logical way. And they're pretty well written. But somebody said earlier that the Films and EU don't need to go together because the EU has so much freedom. I totally agree. I like seeing other peoples takes. Even if I don't agree with it. I just got the new issue of Empire from Darkhorse yesterday and it was a descent story about what happened to Vader immediately after Yavin. So far, Empire (to me) has been very well done as far as having a film feel that fits Lucas' tones and themes and sense of adventure. And as much as I liked this story about Vader, it did seem oddly out of place and didn't really look or feel like anything in the films. And again, that comes down to opinion. So I totally agree that they don't have to go together to be fun. We have the X-Wing series for people into the space battles and ships, NJO and the PT Jedi based novels for the force lovers (like me 🙂) and the comics to chronicle battle for the clone wars and rebellion that don't need to be canon since you know that if it wasn't exactly as it is in these comics, it was probably pretty close so they're fun. They deal with things that don't need to be seen on film, but are still fun ideas to expand on.
what I mean is that just because something like little golden book😖TAR WARS: Wicket Takes his first Dump may not contradict the movies, it doesn't mean it should be canon. there are some things that piss people like me off just because of what they are, contradictions aside. especially droids and ewoks and those two disney movies and the holiday special. and some of the EU characters too. I mean, this is the whole reason Lucas books came up with the infinities. If someone wants to write about luke and leia getting married and having 4 fingered hemophiliac kids, now they can!!! maybe sell some advance copies in the bible belt. sometimes yuo just gotta keep the force in the family. (now just imagine me shouting that rant with Jason Lee's voice and all will be as it should be)
i believe that the big trilogies that everyone likes should become cannon, like the thrawn trilogy, but some books i cant even consider EU, cyrstal in the minds eye should be(i mean this to the whole world) burnt and the auther totured till be asked for forgiveness for writing a peice of shit.
back on subject courtship of P. Leia and Truce at Bakura are some that shuold be cannon too, their good.
NJO should be given another decade to sink in, some people dont like it but i love it.
This one seems like kind of a no-brainer. Naturally, if a work contradicts itself it shouldn't be admitted into any official grouping. And as for Star Wars specifically, to contradict the movies is futile. There are obvious complaints that can be leveled against the movies, and perfectly good reasons for an author to try to work around those weaknesses. However, much of the enjoyment Star Wars fans get from the EU is the fact that in most cases, the books or comics or games acknowledge each other. In the Star Wars EU, there is no denying that the setting is unified and irrevocably connected. When I read a new EU book, I know there must be hundreds of other adventures happening in other parts of the galaxy, without even reading a single word to reference them. I think the EU should be admitted as official canon, with a few conditions. Firstly, I've never been impressed with the deliberately youth-oriented material. Star Wars should obviously be available to any age group. The movies are universal in their appeal, so I don't think it's necessary to pander to any one group. Admitting Star Wars fiction developed specifically for young children into canon is only slightly more sensible than admitting Star Wars pornography, or a recipe book. Another condition, is that fans must accept it as well. There is little point in admitting a possibly setting- or character-changing piece of fiction that no one actually enjoys into canon. An excellent example of EU material that doesn't violate aspects of the setting that fans enjoy are the NJO books (of which I've read the first four) and much of the prequel era fiction. These only sparsely use characters from the movies, and thus run less of a risk of misrepresenting them.
On the subject of Chewie's death in Vector Prime: I can see how it would upset people, but I think it was important that Chewie die in order to powerfully display the fact that the Yuuzhan Vong are not messing around. They are a serious enemy and it is clear that they *will* make significant gains, from the very first novel. And also, I'm tired of reading:
Chewbacca growled excitedly and flailed his furry arms.
"Yeah, I know buddy, that was a close one," Han responded.
The alternative (translating Wookie) is even worse. I think Chewie dies honorably and his death benefits the entire setting.
There are EU books that should be accepted as canon based solely on their fan support. The X-Wing books, I found to be poorly written and repetitive. I expected much much more from Stackpole. But the X-Wing books are some of the most popular EU books. They have been integrated completely enough into later novels to warrant being part of official canon. Shadows of the Empire, which I found to be predictable and without substance, are beloved by more fans than most of the other EU books. I think this is partly because of the multimedia ad campaign for it, but regardless, fans like it enough to make it canon.
Overall, I think the EU has proven its longevity, fan support, and quality, and has a place in the official canon.