21 Star Wars Books You Should Read

Cover to the 20th anniversary edition of Heir to the Empire by Timothy Zahn. Image via publisher Del Rey

The Star Wars galaxy is bigger than just the movies.

Let’s face it: the world of Star Wars has gotten massive over the years, even if a huge chunk of it isn’t canon anymore. Most of that comes from the books. Seriously, Wikipedia’s list of every single book is so long that it’s still intimidating despite being incredibly well-sorted by in-universe era.

Honestly, it’s tough to know where to begin with so many books to choose from. Hence this list of 20 books (or the series in which they appear) as a sort of beginner’s guide to diving into the extended world of Star Wars.

Because of the Legends’ canon being so bulky, many entries here do come from that universe.

For the purpose of additional clarification, here’s the breakdown. If a book is referred to as being in the Legends canon, it no longer gels with the current timeline thanks to The Force Awakens and the acquisition of Lucasfilm by Disney. Characters and plot points from those books can still appear in canon works, however.

Some of these books, however, came out after the 2014 Legends split, meaning that they are considered canon with the movies, The Clone Wars, and Rebels.

Generally speaking, these books are presented in no particular order. We’re not above saying we have some favorites near the top of the list, though.