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8 Star Wars Books That Every Force Awakens Fan Must Read

Most casual Star Wars fans don't think of the series' books as being an essential part of the story. These novels, they assume, are essentially glorified fan-fiction rushed onto store shelves in order to cash in on the success of the movies. Besides, even if a person hypothetically wanted to become immersed in this expanded universe, where would they start? Over 200 Star Wars books have been published throughout the past several decades. Talk about impenetrable, huh?

6) Shattered Empire

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Star Wars Shattered Empire

If Aftermath fails to answer some of your questions about the post-Return of the Jedi world, you’ll want to check out Marvel’s comic Shattered Empire. Written by Greg Rucka and illustrated by Marco Checchetto, the four-part series reveals that after the Battle of Endor, Palpatine issued posthumous orders to attack dozens of planets, including his own home world of Naboo.

Both Aftermath and Shattered Empire arguably diminish the impact of Return of the Jedi’s triumphant ending, considering more fighting occurs literally moments later, but then again, did we really think the entire Empire would just give up following the death of Darth Vader?

Shattered Empire will also satisfy those who were frustrated by Aftermath’s relative lack of original trilogy characters. Though our leads are Poe Dameron’s parents, Shara Bey and Kes Dameron, Luke, Han, Leia, Chewbacca, C3PO and Lando Calrissian all have prominent roles in the story. We even witness Leia journeying to Naboo and having a vision of Darth Maul, a trippy blend of the original trilogy and the prequel trilogy.

Seeing Poe’s parents in action is interesting, but Shattered Empire is mainly relevant to Force Awakens fans in that it provides some much-needed backstory about the Empire’s final years. Trust us, blowing up the second Death Star was not the end.