If you have some qualms about jumping in to the new “canon” novels now that the “legends” (read: Expanded Universe) series has effectively been shut down, now’s the time to check them out. There’s a free sampler of several of the new upcoming books so that we can tip our toes into the water before we dive in.
Star Wars Books on Facebook had this press release:
We’re thrilled to announce that our FREE Star Wars 2014 sampler is available for download on all e-reader platforms. Includes exclusive previews of the first wave of novels that are part of the official Star Wars film canon, created in collaboration with the newly formed Lucasfilm Story Group:
A NEW DAWN by John Jackson Miller
Set during the legendary “Dark Times” between Episodes III and IV, A New Dawn tells the story of how two of the lead characters from the animated series Star Wars Rebels first came to cross paths.TARKIN by James Luceno
Bestselling Star Wars veteran James Luceno gives Grand Moff Tarkin the Star Wars: Darth Plagueis treatment, bringing a legendary character from A New Hope to full, fascinating life.HEIR TO THE JEDI by Kevin Hearne
The author of The Iron Druid Chronicles tells a thrilling new adventure set between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, and-for the first time ever-written entirely from Luke Skywalker’s first-person point of view.LORDS OF THE SITH by Paul S. Kemp
When the Emperor and his notorious apprentice, Darth Vader, find themselves stranded in the middle of insurgent action on an inhospitable planet, they must rely on each other, the Force, and their awesome martial skills to prevail.Click here to download the Star Wars 2014 sampler for free, and take your first step into a larger world…
Rest assured that I’ll be reading at least a few of the samplers to see if I want to pursue this new “canon” series after the shut down of the Expanded Universe! Let me know if you also read the sampler, and what you think! I have written about my thoughts on the closure of the Expanded Universe elsewhere.
Eclectic Theist 
I loved Star Wars as a kid and I’m ashamed to admit that I was young (immature?) enough to actually think Jar Jar Binks was funny in the first prequel. (Since then I can see how he is out of place.) I’ve had a lot of fun introducing my nephew to Star Wars and we live near Disney World so it’s also been fun when they have their Star Wars weekends and the Hollywood Studios attractions. I tried reading the Hand of Thrawn book a few months ago but probably a little less than 1/4 of the way through I decided I apparently wasn’t *that* big of a Star Wars fan after all and gave up on the book.
I see in another post you mention reading a lot of the books. So I have two questions: (1) Do you think Hand of Thrawn is worth it? (2) Do you think any of the previous books should be read before looking at these new books?
The Thrawn Trilogy is so awesome but I haven’t read it in a really long time. I’m hoping to re-read it soon-ish. It is definitely worth reading as I remember it being among the best of all Star Wars novels. Regarding these new books: you shouldn’t have to read any other books because these essentially reset the whole timeline back to the time of the movies and so they don’t assume any of that history. I haven’t read the sampler yet but I’m hoping to get to it this week.
Thanks. I might give it another shot… Right now I’m working through Dune in my fiction category.
I’m going to re-read Dune and then start reading the next few books because I’ve always wanted to get through the series. I remember loving Dune but I think it was a bit much for me as a teenager to continue farther. I’m almost done with “The Wheel of Time” and I consider that a massive accomplishment both figuratively and literally.
[…] new Star Wars canon books will start coming out in September. Recently, I discussed how a sampler was released (and it remains available free here) to survey four of these upcoming novels. I read through […]