Star Wars Adult Canon Novels Ranked! (All 40 Included!)

[@strangementalitypaperYT]

I know I've said it before, but I'm going to say it again. Thank you so much for making these media tie in videos. Now that I have several Star Wars books in my classroom library, I have a lot of boys that are a lot less gripey during reading time.

[@FindingTheForce]

Love the positive energy bud!You remind me of someone. 🤔😉

[@Revan-sk4qx]

Now you have to rank all 150+ Legends books! 😆 This was a fun ranking. I’ve not read a ton of canon since I’m generally more into Legends, but some of your comments made me way more interested in several of these. Here’s my ranking for what I’ve read thus far: The Rising Storm The Fallen Star Shadow of the Sith Master and Apprentice Light of the Jedi Lords of the Sith Tarkin

[@fimy3268]

Is this on acending or decending order?

[@Revan-sk4qx]

@@fimy3268 It goes from favorite at the top to least favorite at the bottom

[@pavlemilatic3900]

@@Revan-sk4qx I own Tarkin book, I have it here with me on the bookshelf. haven't started it yet so would you recommend me reading Star Wars books starting with this one as first?

[@Revan-sk4qx]

@@pavlemilatic3900 I think Tarkin is a fine starting point in the sense that you don’t really need to read anything else to understand it, it’s pretty much standalone. But I do think it’s significantly weaker than many of the other Star Wars books I’ve read, but you may enjoy it more. Just wasn’t quite for me

[@pavlemilatic3900]

@@Revan-sk4qx aight cool. thanks for the reply

[@JohanHerrenberg]

This is monumental. Will have to make some time for this... Reading Catalyst, and loving it! Watched it. Many thanks. I'll read every one of them in due course. Loved Bloodline, Brotherhood, Dooku - Jedi Lost... Your enthusiasm and authenticity are wonderful.

[@hokiesfanful]

Over halfway through Shadow of the Sith so far and definitely agree with your take on it. I LOVE how Luke is written and it's cool to see some old characters in there like General Pryde and Lor San Tekka. It's making me understand the sequels a bit better, too.

[@Tannerlund45]

Had a lot of fun watching your rankings! Alphabet squadron is some of my favorite work in the new canon! But that is the beauty, there is stuff for all of us to enjoy! Keep up the great videos!

[@MarceloGonzalez-on9jw]

As someone who also took the time to read/listen to every Star Wars novel that has come out, I respect your list if for no other reason than it is one of the most all-over-the-place rankings I've seen for anything and you're not a slave to other people's opinions.

[@steakmediumrare]

Your enthusiasm alone made me watch the whole clip!

[@justheathers]

Really enjoyed your ranking of all these books! Thank you so much for the time & effort that went into compiling the rankings! I'm just starting out on my Star Wars novel reading journey and I've saved this video for reference!

[@gavinmason192]

I started watching your content several months ago, and I find your videos just delightful to watch. I would not have considered myself a fiction reader at all prior to; however, I now see the merit and have forayed into Star Wars novels! Thanks!

[@Spiderweb444]

Loved this list, i have read 7 star wars canon novels atm and really just enjoying them and most of them i just started with your top 10 list.

[@prestonhawley3340]

You are my favorite book reviewer! Great video

[@jonathankoan]

Aw, thanks! Glad people like my reviews and rankings!

[@TBWSHooey]

I don't read very often, and Light of the Jedi was so enthralling I read it in a day. Absolutely incredible

[@davidwheeler2787]

Great ranking! I’m a little behind on my canon novels, but working to get caught up. I did read the Alphabet Squadron series and really liked it. In fact, I think Victory’s Price is one of my favorite novels. I guess that proves “to each their own”. I enjoy your Star Wars content. Keep it up!😀

[@khaluurihusky8761]

I know this was a long video but for me it could've been even longer! It was interesting hearing your opinions on each book individually. I've read about 70 % of these canon books so it was fun comparing our insights. I was really glad to hear praise for a book that is underappreciated: A New Dawn - in my top 5 for sure as well! Loved the characters, the plot, the atmosphere. It remained in a small setting but made it feel really alive and made me care for what's going to happen. Also for a prequel book it did a great job of holding my interest despite knowing what happens to Hera and Kanan. I don't know why people don't like it... Also I don't think Claudia Gray can write a bad SW book! Love all of them and I agree with your top pick: Master & Apprentice is her masterwork! Might be my favorite canon book as well. I'm now in the middle of reading Shadow of the Sith and I have high hopes. It has a gigantuous task of knitting together the loosely parsed sequel trilogy and all its holes... Brotherhood might be next, it has received good reviews. Next I shall watch the canon YA books ranking video! Thanks for the content! 😊

[@JosephMichael23]

I started checking out (non-movie) canon novels now (the ones with a focus on the games and shows rather than the movies). SO, basically, I am willing to read The High Republic, Republic, and Imperial Era, but nothing beyond that.

[@tylerzaslove3233]

Hey Jonathan! I love all of your star wars videos. I have been cranking through almost 40 of them in the past year so far and most of them have been because of your videos! With all of the new books that have come out in the last year or two, It would be awesome to see an updated version of this video! Especially with all of the High Republic stuff that has been coming out. Maybe even do another high republic ranking that includes adult, YA, and JR books too. Thanks again for all the time and effort you put into these videos, on top of having a full time day job. You rock!

[@tajinbuu2855]

great video, very informative ! I do have a lot of catch up to do, currently reading republic commando hard contact, a test of courage and heir to the empire, a lot of fun ! And yes light of the jedi was really an amazing novel, the last act was epic.

[@SWOLE-CLANKER]

Dark disciple was my first star wars book and the audiobook at that. I absolutely fell in love with them.

[@TylerSampson51]

Thrawn Alliance was strange for me. I really did not like it when I read it, I felt he didn't capture what made Thrawn special very well. But for some reason, the story has stuck with me far stronger than other books including Treason (which I loved while reading). I read it three years ago and I can remember almost everything about the book, and look back on it fondly.

[@andrewperlmutter8148]

Hey man you’ve really helped me collect my thoughts and structure my reading order for Canon! I purchased Master and Apprentice Brotherhood Shadow of the Sith Bloodlines Lost Stars Light of the Jedi Once i finish that batch i will come back to this list and pick the next 3 or 4 that sound like they fit what i want. Thank you so much. You have a wonderful channel and i get so excited every time you post a new star wars related video! Thanks man!

[@jonathankoan]

I hope you enjoy them.

[@antjwilliams87]

This was a fun ranking. Love your work, man. Maybe a top 40 equivalent in legends… I don’t expect you to rank EVERY legends book 😂

[@moptopgames956]

Yes! I've been waiting for this for a LONG time wahoo!

[@anodecw2136]

Just finished master and apprentice then Ahsoka, soon as qui gon said that quote it was one of my favorite SW quotes. Currently I keep reading prequel era books because it’s all I’ve read and I’m afraid that since I like the later skywalker saga and not the prequels that new stuff won’t be as good, but hearing what you say about some of the new ones has me a little more optimistic towards them

[@CatholicIrish]

Awesome video. Makes me want to check out some of these novels. Thank you

[@palpatinesboi9549]

It's interesting to see how much opinions vary. All of your "bad" and "okay" category are some of my favourites, besides Doctor Aphra (which I haven't read yet) and Heir to the Jedi. I also didn't really like Aftermath, Treason or Master & Apprentice.

[@palpatinesboi9549]

My main issue with Master & Apprentice is that the build-up is solid, but the climax is the most underwhelmed a Star Wars book's climax has ever made me. I loved Rael Averross, though, and Claudia Gray is a very good author

[@carolynmcmaster7280]

Hello, Jonathan! I read your long commentary on the Legends novels and now I have some wonderful books that I've read, am currently reading, or are on my to-read list awaiting reading. What you look for in a novel is very similar to what I look for. Now that I've watched your Star Wars Adult Canon Novels Ranked video. I have *more* books that I'm looking forward to reading! Who was it that reputedly said, "Of the writing of books, there is no end?" Solomon perhaps? You're far from my only source of good recs, but your videos are very, *very* worth watching!

[@jonathankoan]

Thank you so much, that’s very kind. I hope you enjoy the books you got!

[@evangriffin9112]

Finally!!! Love it!

[@Edog1337]

Thanks for vid. Im an old legends hand, just bought most of canon and looking to get caught up

[@Southey39]

new to star wars novels so this is helpful, thanks

[@SteveHolm89]

Great list. Haven't read close to all of these so would be hard to agree or disagree on most. Surprised to see Fallen Star so low, even tho I agree with your points. Also is Revenge of the Sith by Matt Stover not officially considered Canon? Would def be in my top5.

[@jonathankoan]

The novelization came out prior to 2014, and so while the movie is canon, the novelization isn’t. That being said, so many canon authors have referenced it that it’s close to being canon.

[@TotusTuus85]

Great video, thanks!

[@tempi016]

Great vid. Appreciations

[@virgogaming6488]

I enjoyed The Last Jedi novelization, its densely paced like the film and fleshed it out more. Phasma and Shadow of the Sith I'm interested in checking out.

[@lisadw499]

Thanks for this video. I'm going to back thru and see which books I'm missing and fill in the gaps.

[@ImActuallyBri]

I really enjoy your rankings and opinions on these Star Wars novels! I know in a different video you mentioned you haven’t read the ROTS novelization by Matthew Stover in a while, but I recently finished it and was wondering where you’d rank it! Personally, I thought it was great. It added a lot of depth to the characters that the movie just didn’t get a chance to show, and it explored meaningful aspects of character relationships which I loved!!

[@jonathankoan]

Among the Legends era books, it’s somewhere in the middle. It adds a ton, so it’s high for a novelization, but Stover’s style hasn’t really worked for me. That being said it’s my favorite Matthew Stover book that I’ve read.

[@ImActuallyBri]

Interesting! I personally enjoyed his style overall (though I did get a little bored with some parts). Just wanted to mention that you are the reason I got into the starwars novels, so thank you!

[@jonathankoan]

@@ImActuallyBri oh, thank you, that’s so nice to hear!

[@njsmoker83]

Great reviews

[@bland-g154]

Today, I got my very first star wars novels! Aftermath by Chuck Wendig and Tarkin by James Luceno. I think I'll start with Aftermath, I'm really intrigued.

[@jonathankoan]

It’s very controversial, but I enjoyed the first one very much.

[@TheJFGB93]

I also remember reading the _Force Awakens_ novelization back in 2015. I felt like ADF was held back by LucasFilm from expanding on the content, like he did with other novelizations, either because they didn't like them or because he didn't have enough material to draw from. I liked _Thrawn Treason_ and _Tarkin_ better than you did. I think Zahn captured Clone Wars era Anakin well (meaning a bit annoying, but fundamentally decent), and I didn't feel that Luceno was dragging in that book (though it's been, what, seven years? since I read it). I never gave the _Aftermath_ trilogy a chance after getting bored with the first one, but now I don't remember why that happened. I didn't have a problem with the first person perspective. Man, I should really read the rest of the Ascendancy trilogy. I read the first one and have forgotten to get the rest (life stuff). It would be fun to get them as my first hardcover Star Wars novels (I love hardcovers). I really agree with your top 10, though (at least the ones I've read). The only one that didn't get me was _Master and Apprentice_, though I perhaps shoud read it in physical (I think digital and audiobook didn't help me when I read it).

[@dorgeousmac9478]

Great video, helped me figure out what to read next. A New Dawn, should be great before the new Ahsoka show,

[@jonathankoan]

I hope you enjoy it!

[@bboyg1]

You are awesome. Thank you for thr video. First video, got me to sub

[@unlikelyally5325]

Great video! I haven’t read them all but overall of the ones I have, we have more similarities than differences. Biggest discrepancy: We could swap Light of the Jedi and Thrawn Alliances 😅 I’m going to give Light of the Jedi another go this year. I was SO excited for it, but I had so much trouble getting into it. And because of that I haven’t read any other High Republic. But I know I may be weird in both of these regards lol Also the thumbnail/screenshot whatever with all 40 books is so funny and delightful 😁 Congrats, great job!

[@michaelmartinez3893]

Just recently found your channel. Love your reviews. Appreciate these ranking videos. I just wish you'd said Hello There instead of just hello at the beginning 😆

[@mikeT1100]

Alphabet Squadron at the bottom broke my heart. They're my favorite

[@jonathankoan]

I’m glad they have an audience, because every book should be someone’s favorite, this series just wasn’t mine.

[@mikeT1100]

@@jonathankoan Understandable! I just found your channel, working through your catalog of Star Wars videos! Cheers!

[@sir_castik]

I would love for Claudia Gray to write a novel on Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon’s mission protecting Duchess Satine. I need young infatuated Kenobi

[@unalives]

Hi jonathan , I was hoping to see if u knew a Star Wars story that I had been searching for a while. Can't remember if its a novel or from a comic so its sort of shot in the dark. But the general gist of the story is it takes place during the galactic war from the point of view of a protagonist who joins the Empire after his family is killled by Rebels, he climbs the ranks and becomes an accomplished soldier and the story ends with him being killed by a little girl on a planet invaded by the empire, the big irony being that the girl is now radicalized to join the rebels similar to how he was radicalized to join the Empire. Ring any bells? All good in any case :)

[@jonathankoan]

Unfortunately, I do not recall that story. I’m not as well read in the comics, so if it’s from that I’m not sure where.

[@unalives]

@@jonathankoan Figured it was a long shot but in any case thanks!

[@Spelunky-e2f]

Ayy facelift

[@RayOfTruth]

I was surprised at how low Aphra is, but I realized a lot of my enjoyment came from the audio drama production. I imagine just reading the script is a bit more dry, especially with much of the dialog being taken from the comics.

[@jonathankoan]

It really felt like it didn’t add much, it felt like a waste of money, considering it was a hard cover, and I read it in like two hours.

[@ThatSaintsRowFan]

Please consider doing a Legends iteration!

[@BoilingKoolaid]

I'm trying to listen to the adult books from The High Republic on Audible. I drive a lot for work so it's not really conducive for comic reading and I don't care about the kid or young adult novels. I just want the main stories and later, if I want more, I can check out the filler. Like watching the main movies and then going back to see Clone Wars or Rebels. I just can't really tell from the titles what the main story novels are.

[@jonathankoan]

The Adult ones are definitely the best. Glad you’re reading them!

[@rodhamm8484]

I'm hoping there will be mass market paperbacks of the High Republic adult novels printed before I get those. Just got Phasma in the mail today. I'm on the fence about getting the Alphabet squadron books, are they sort of like the x-wing series or something different? Nice video, looking forward to more, as well as Star Trek videos, which I don't read (yet), but still enjoy watching.

[@jonathankoan]

The High Republic is/will come out next in Trade Paperback, but not Mass Market. They are only producing them in Trade Paperback now. The Alphabet Squadron is close to the X-wing series in that it follows pilots, but it doesn’t have as much space battles, and it’s so depressing as a series.

[@palpatinesboi9549]

Wow, putting the AS trilogy at the bottom is crazy to me. Those are some of my all-time favourite Star Wars novels. You said that you considered you bottom five to be the "bad" category, but it seems like you just didn't like them because of the somber tones. They're still amazingly well-written books, though. I don't really see what you mean about Victory's Price having a melancholy ending. All five heroes lived and got to have relatively happy endings. I left it feeling fulfilled and hopeful.

[@jonathankoan]

The characters have some happy endings kind of, but it wasn’t where I wanted them to end up, nor where I think they should have ended up. But I know that there is a large contingent that loves the Alphabet Squadron trilogy, so I’m probably in the minority here.

[@connordirks]

Is that the Ted Dekker Circle series I see behind your right elbow?? Man I wish more people knew about that incredible set of books

[@jonathankoan]

I do have I believe 2 videos on my channel about it. One as a general series discussion, one as a discussion of how I would adapt the books.

[@jakester1115]

We have the same top 2 lol. Light of the Jedi and Master and Apprentice are phenomenal 🙌

[@bryontunks-eu4vx]

If not Read. Tatooine Ghost I have read it I love it most of it about Anakin Skywalker and his mom.

[@LetsGoBlues314]

I know they are no longer cannon but for me they always will be, so I’m curious where you would rank the Episode 1-6 novelizations on this list?

[@jonathankoan]

Probably not terribly high, maybe around the middle. They’re fine but I generally don’t love the novelizations, Rogue One being an exception.

[@LetsGoBlues314]

@@jonathankoan I largely agree, rogue one is awesome especially paired with catalyst. They are all fine. I really like the ROTS novel, to me it just makes the movie right there with ESB. The OT novels are all bland, best one is ROTJ, but all are lower than the prequels. I really enjoy the phantom menace novel, AOTC not as much. I also love the more episode 4 novelization in 2015, the princess, the scoundrel and the farm boy.

[@dannyjohnston92]

Almost every Canon book that I have read showed up in the bottom half of your list! No wonder I have been so unimpressed with the canon. I'll have to give the canon another chance.

[@jonathankoan]

There are some really great books…and some not so great books in the canon. Same with Legends. I honestly feel they have a similar batting average. But I’m always happy to have more books of any kind for Star Wars.

[@dannyjohnston92]

@@jonathankoan I too am certainly happy to have new Star Wars. I have the second Thrawn Ascendancy book and am looking forward to continuing that series.

[@bullrun2772]

I actually love battlefront twilight company

[@michaelrichards669]

I like the Review... Just wish you would show the title cover on the screen or put close to camera... bouncing in around in your hand while I am trying to view it was... uggggh Lol but great review. I just do not know many of the covers.

[@jonathankoan]

I do mention the titles as well as show the cover for a moment, but I’ll work on holding it still a little while longer. I have videos talking about a lot of them, and have some reading suggestion videos coming out soon for newer readers. I hope you are able to get into the books!

[@michaelrichards669]

@@jonathankoan Thank You.. my brother has read 10 or more... i have only read a couple of the older paperback ones. I enjoyed the review and wrote down a few(where i would like to start)

[@RatGirlAnna]

oh wow could not agree less with the alphabet squadron trilogy (loved it so much) and the thrawn ascendancy trilogy (lesser evil is the only canon book i havent read) lol

[@jonathankoan]

That’s totally fine, glad there is love for those books. I always say I hope every book gets lots of love, even if I don’t like it.

[@TimStark]

Great video, it's a shame the best of luke canon only makes it to "good" tier.

[@Couick27]

I kept wondering where ronin was gonna place on the list after seeing it in the background 😅

[@jonathankoan]

@@Couick27 Ronin isn’t in the canon, so it didn’t get included. It’s in its own unique space of being neither Canon nor legends.

[@Couick27]

@@jonathankoan where would you rate it among the other stand alone star wars stories?

[@jonathankoan]

@@Couick27 I would put it at the absolute bottom of the pile…I really didn’t like it. If it was in the canon or Legends it would have been the bottom in those as well.

[@davidgodrei2047]

Hello great job im glad i found this channel :D I dont recall you reviewing Force Collector what is your opinion about it? :)

[@jonathankoan]

Force Collector was really entertaining at the time, but unfortunately hasn’t stuck with me as much as the other YA books. (Reason I haven’t reviewed it is I read it before the channel started).

[@BluesHues]

What’s your ranking for the Queen Trilogy?

[@jonathankoan]

I did a ranking of the YA books in another video, and it’s towards the bottom of the list.

[@bridge2space]

So what’s better; the Princess and the Scoundrel or the Courtship of Princess Leia?

[@jonathankoan]

Princess and the Scoundrel. It fits the characters better for me. That being said, the worldbuilding in Courtship of Princess Leia is pretty good, especially what it adds to the EU as a whole.

[@briancoppola7317]

What do you think of lost stars by Claudia Grat

[@jonathankoan]

It’s a fine book, but not my favorite, nor my favorite by Claudia Gray.

[@JoeJack418]

Great video thanks. Do you have a video where you talk about your feelings regarding canon vs non canon books? Does a book being canon or non canon change the way you think about it?

[@jonathankoan]

I have videos talking about the pros and cons of canon and the pros and cons of Legends, where I basically go into those ideas.

[@dinamovera]

What about The Battle of Jedha?

[@jonathankoan]

@@dinamovera That book came out after I did this ranking. I really enjoyed it, so it’s probably in the 15-20 range.

[@u.r.awesome2500]

Is ‘Ahsoka’ not considered part of the adult novel canon?

[@jonathankoan]

It is not. It is a YA novel from the Disney-Lucasfilm Press, whereas the Adult novels are all published by Del-Rey/Random House Worlds.

[@Kevsspot]

Wow I was the 1000th like. Why not do a top legends list???

[@jonathankoan]

I do plan to do another top legends list later this year, and I do have some other Legends ranked videos on the channel.

[@pandaemonaeonaeon]

Amazing review! Any follow-up book of jedi lost,dooku,focusing on dooku?

[@jonathankoan]

Not yet! The author has been pretty busy lately. But I’m sure they’ll do something else eventually.

[@SilverSoulxd]

Bro the video is nice and all but 360p? Really? We are in 2023, please... minimum 720p

[@jonathankoan]

I just used whatever the camera uploaded. 🤷‍♂️ And I’m just using my phone at the moment, not anything professional.

[@SilverSoulxd]

@@jonathankoan I saw some of your recent videos and quality is nice (1080p), I'm just sad this one about star wars is so poor quality, can't appreciate much of the covers :( but yeah, I understand. Have a nice day sir.

[@erroniusgaming]

Lords of the Sith in audiobook form is.....amazing

[@cloverraven]

About to finish Master and Apprentice. And I want more qui gon obi wan. I can’t find Jedi apprentice Series on your channel. Have you read them?

[@jonathankoan]

I read some of them when I was in elementary school. I’m working on collecting them again so that I can read them all.

[@BrianMerkey]

Ur missing the boat on the Alphabet Squadron trilogy. Oh well, to each his own 🤓

[@kierancancilla2271]

If you were recommending any of the movie novelizations to someone who has not seen the film, would you recommend they watch the film before or after reading the novelization?

[@jonathankoan]

Whenever a novelization is based on a movie, I say watch the movie first and the novelization after to get more insight and cool things to notice.

[@dembemutombo5323]

Lost Stars? Leia: Princess of Alderaan? Did I miss something?

[@dembemutombo5323]

Also the Padme trilogy?

[@jonathankoan]

Those are YA Novels. This is the ranking of all of the Adult Novels, all of the books published by Del Rey. I do have a ranking of the YA Canon novels in another video.

[@bullrun2772]

What you think of lost stars

[@jonathankoan]

An excellently written novel…just not a favorite of mine.

[@vestel777]

Quick question for You. How many Star Wars Graphic Novels are available to purchase??? I’ve been wanting Ashoka, Thrawn, and Vader. But My question is : Which Graphic Novel would be a good starting point for someone who’s only read the Novel from the late 70’s called Splinter of the Mind's Eye.

[@jonathankoan]

Interesting question. Are you referring to graphic novels as in comics? If you are, there’s a ton of comics available to purchase, a huge amount. And there are some “graphic novels” which rather than be released monthly or released as a full omnibus. Thrawn did get a 4 or 5 issue series that they bundled together in a trade paperback format. That is entirely based on the novel by Zahn from 2017. I am unaware of a specific Asoka graphic novel, did you know that the prose novel by EK Johnston has lots of fun. I unfortunately am not that well-versed in the Star Wars comics, as I am a prose person. I Fred maybe a dozen of the six issue bind-ups. Sorry I can’t be of more help.

[@Bumps1427]

We need a reading order!

[@jonathankoan]

Easiest answer is release order. Or start out with your era/character/style preferences and go from there. It’s way too complicated otherwise.

[@jeremycamp0206]

I’m always the one with the weird rankings. I like Alphabet Squadron. At first I didn’t like the first book but I gave it a reread and I appreciated it more The aftermath trilogy is my least favorite series and books so far. I just didn’t like Wendig’s writing style and I probably bought too much into the hype that it would give us some clues into the movies and it didn’t. Brilliant marketing but a big letdown to me. I think my favorite trilogy was the first Thrawn trilogy. Outside of alliances I thought it was brilliant. Lords of the Sith might be my favorite read so far. Shadows of the Sith I felt like was the best book that tied into the movies we had watched to that point. I’ve enjoyed the first two High Republic novels but the 3rd was a big step down for me. I feel like I missed something by not reading the YA and comics and it felt like I had jumped into the middle of a story without reading the beginning. Thanks for the video

[@zacharygambler9306]

Where does red blade rank??

[@jonathankoan]

@@zacharygambler9306 somewhere between 10 and 15. A really excellent book.

[@zacharygambler9306]

@@jonathankoan just picked it up I’m psyched to read it!!

[@thegreypath1777]

OK Jonathan, but what if I want to read them in chronological order?

[@jonathankoan]

That gets a little tricky, as some books jump around in the timeline. However, if you want to read just the adult books in chronological order, you can follow the timeline in the books themselves. If you find a recent release, it’ll have all the previous books in the timeline. This won’t include the YA books, which are from a different publisher, so maybe check Wookieepedia if you want to do both YA and Adult books in chronological order.

[@9Lando945]

Pretty sure Troy Denning’s Star By Star is the longest SW novel ever written

[@jonathankoan]

The longest EU book is Vision of the Future, and the longest canon book is Lesser Evil, both by Timothy Zahn, and I believe Star By Star is #3 and close to The New Rebellion and I, Jedi in length.

[@9Lando945]

@@jonathankoan looking at my first edition hard cover copies of Star By Star, Vision of the Future and Thrawn Ascendancy Lesser Evil as I type this. Star By Star is 606 pages, Vision of the Future is 520, Thrawn Ascendancy Lesser Evil is 549 (with the epilogue page)

[@jonathankoan]

@@9Lando945 They don't calculate longest book by page count, but rather by word count, as the words per page often varies per book based on font type and design. The editor at Del Rey/Random House Worlds (Tom) stated in a tweet that Visions of the Future is 219K words, and that Star By Star is at 202.5,K and that Lesser Evil is about 170K. So I had Star by Star and Lesser Evil reversed (my apologies), but Visions is still the longest by about 16.5K words (though Lesser Evil is still the longest canon novel).

[@ridensroom6957]

I still prefer the EU bit of disney canon, my faves would be Catalyst and Tarkin.

[@jasewhitehead]

where is Lost Stars?

[@jonathankoan]

That’s not an adult novel published by Del Rey/Random House World, so I didn’t include it in my list adult book list. I have a YA Ranking list of canon novels, and it and the other YA books are on there.

[@jasewhitehead]

@@jonathankoan thanks! Love the page

[@montyhedstrom1356]

I am really shocked you rank chuck wendig's stuff as high as you do. The aftermath trilogy is not just the worst star wars stuff i have read...it's amongst the worst writing i have encountered.

[@montyhedstrom1356]

Despite my complaint, your ranking was very useful in planning out other canon books to read. Lots of good reading suggestions 👍

[@jonathankoan]

Thank you for watching! It is probably my most controversial opinion. It just worked for me, and was super entertaining. Obviously not my favorite books, but entertaining for me nonetheless. But I don’t expect others to enjoy them.

[@SheevPalpatine-q6z]

This isn't ALL of the Star Wars canon books though.. I am confused. Like the RoTS novelization? Is that not considered "adult"? Its obviously canon

[@jonathankoan]

While well produced, the original six novelizations don't fall under the canon category since they were published before the 2014 switch. They contain some legends specific information, so they currently inhabit the Legends/EU line. The books published after the 2014 switch (A New Dawn and afterwards) are what fall into the Canon line. I didn't include the YA Books like Lost Stars and the Padme books since those aren't from the adult line from Del Rey/Random House Worlds. I might make a novelization ranking list which could include them all.

[@meleeludens]

im surprised A New Dawn was so high! i personally really disliked everything about it except Hera and Kanan’s scenes together

[@jonathankoan]

It doesn’t work for everyone, but it really clicked for me. I’m a big fan of John Jackson Miller, particularly his writing style and themes. I also really enjoyed Count Vidian and Rae Sloane, who I thought were excellent villains. And I like the idea of building a team for something with characters with different skills, and yet this rag-tag team includes a drunk,a conspiracy theorist,an old woman, and Hera.

[@meleeludens]

@@jonathankoan i get that! i may revisit sometime with an open mind :) i totally agree there should be a novel with them meeting Sabine and Zeb! especially with Ahsoka coming out rn

[@skollybob]

no lost stars?

[@jonathankoan]

Lost Stars is a YA book, so it wouldn’t be on the Adult book ranking list. It’s on the ranking video with Leia Princess of Alderaan, Ahsoka, Queens Shadow, and the other YA books.

[@ErikBricks]

Love your Videos, but this time the Quality of the Video is awful. (The Sound is good.) Most of the other Video have a ok quality. But still a very good Video. I started watching you and your don't Disappoint me.

[@jonathankoan]

Since I just use my phone for recording, the quality of the video tends to be not that great. I bought a cheaper camera to try out, but it’s really onerous and not even great quality, so I’ve stuck with the phone. But I might get a better camera in the future.

[@Kasey_Barkle]

Stuck around the whole time

[@vicnedel02]

It's so sad that Tales of the Jedi torpedoed your number 1.

[@jonathankoan]

Really? How so?

[@vicnedel02]

@@jonathankoan In Master and Apprentice there are a few scenes of dialogue between the Jedi in which it is mentioned a couple of times that Dooku has left the Jedi order. If you recall one is about Yoda asking Qui-gon to speak to Averross to see if he can find out more about "why Dooku left the order" and Qui-Gon and Averross have a brief conversation about it. So chronologically the novel makes it out to sound like Dooku left before the events of Phantom Menace and it is explored how some characters feel about it. In the Tales of the Jedi Cartoon that just came out, Dooku is with the jedi order right up until Qui-Gon's death at the hands of Darth Maul. So he leaves the order because he believes that: If the council wasn't so blind about the sith, they would have supported Qui-Gon and listened to him when he warned them about Maul instead of dismissing him by insisting the sith were extinct. The way cannon works currently (to my understanding) is that "if something happens off-screen, it didn't happen." This inconsistency makes the novel not fit quite so well into the cannon timeline because of this.

[@jonathankoan]

@@vicnedel02 I can see how that would be bothersome. I think they can spackle it that to say he is still technically a Jedi, but he’s not taking assignments or is on a short sabbatical for some reason. They can say he doesn’t officially leave until later. The authors get pretty good at this. I just felt that the story and the characters were so well done in master and apprentice that it doesn’t matter the canonicity of it to me. It was such a good read that it’s worth reading even if it gets overruled by something else.

[@vicnedel02]

@@jonathankoan I completely agree. It's a good book. I just finished listening to the audio version yesterday and enjoyed it a lot. I'm thinking of listening to Bloodlines or Padawan next. Also on the same topic, today I re-watched that episode of Tales of the Jedi where Dooku does the unthinkable and it is not explicitly said whether he's a member of the order but both Qui-Gon and master Yaddle call him "master" in the cartoon. And while Qui-gon may be excused because of the two's relationship, Yaddle referring to him as such seems to me that implies that he still has that status. But I suppose since its not explicitly addressed, it could be as you say. I just wish there was more clarity. The series also changed some aspects of the Ahsoka story which makes it differ from her book which to my knowledge was cannon, but apparently I was wrong. Like I said there's a lack of clarity for what's cannon or not. Same with the various cartoons and comics. They all seem to be taking place in alternative universes almost.

[@2754iceman]

you lost me at 39

[@jonathankoan]

Yeah, the Alphabet Squadron books just didn’t work for me personally, but I’m happy if you liked them.

[@nathanwilder422]

Can't say I agree with your placement.. actually really surprised... Where's bane? Darth plagus? Revan? I mean high republic? Awful. Dark decipol might be the only book I agreed with where it was at . Geez man

[@jonathankoan]

Well, the Bane Books, Plagueis and Revan are all part of the Legends/EU timeline, so those wouldn’t be in this video. And Ive certainly enjoyed several of the High republic adult novels, but the YA haven’t been as good and I rank lower, but since this is only the Adult Canon novels I didn’t include the YA books. But I did love Dark Disciple.

[@Lame-Over]

the nerdiest nerd doesn't exi.....

[@jonathankoan]

Right?

[@Lame-Over]

@@jonathankoan my mom said i can't be friends with you

[@fimy3268]

:D

[@gunman7213]

Kenobi sucked they tried to make obj wan gay not sure why you would say that is the best one

[@jonathankoan]

Are you referring to Padawan by Kiersten White? That’s a young adult canon book from 2022 that had some references to LGBT issues, but Kenobi by John Jackson Miller is one of the legends books from 2013 and is fantastic and has nothing to do with that. If anything, in that one Obi-Wan has a straight romance kind of.

[@TylerSampson51]

If you mean Padawan, you missed the mark on it. It wsn't coming from a gay or bisexual view, but seemed to me like from the perspective of someone asexual (like Jedi are expected to be) trying to understand what makes someone attractive to people.

[@metro25production]

It's funny when people call "Disney fanfic sw" canon

[@jonathankoan]

Well, Disney does own the rights to the franchise, so they are using the term canon. But whether it’s canon or legends/EU, or not part of either continuity, the Star Wars books are usually very enjoyable reads, so I like talking about them.

[@metro25production]

@@jonathankoan Disney may own the rights, but it's still science fiction made by one dude with great imagination. His 6 original movies are the real canon. In more than a decade we got only one good thing from disney, those Darth Vader comics. Compare this to the EU, which had 30 years of lore and world building. growing up on star wars in the late 90's, and the beginning of 2000's was the shit. Nowadays kids don't care about Luke Skywalker, they don't even invest in this as we did. So this so called "canon" is pretty much non existing. New Star Wars is pure garbage, It's bad, un-original in a way like "Oh, lets steal some ideas and characters from the EU, make new backgrounds, change some stuff and you go, we made some new Star Waaaaarrrrssss based of the old one" Also, did you haven't seen The Wokelyte lately? It's seems Disney themselves don't care much about that "canon" 🤣

[@stevennowachek2657]

This guy's list is crap but canon compared to Legends is crap

[@jonathankoan]

I’m sorry our tastes don’t align, but I hope you’re able to at least enjoy my discussions of Star Wars prose literature.