Quote (DefinitelyNotKimmy @ 18 Mar 2018 02:32)
Is there a chronological order in which you should read the novels or is each it's own individual story?
I've been reading them in chronological order from oldest universe date to the most recent but it doesn't flow like a giant timeline of events. It's more isolated stories within the same universe and they have overlapping timelines. Every story is its own individual story. Some are standalone and others will reference events or mention events. Rarely have I encountered a place in the novels that require you to have aforementioned knowledge. Major events will be referenced often mind you; like the Ruusan Reformation.
Another style of reference are in the Thrawn novels. In Heir to an Empire series they reference the mission Outbound Flight and a particular individual by the name of Jorus C'baoth who led the mission. Now you really don't need to know too much back story to follow the novel but it would clue you in to a few events.
tl;dr version is no. It doesn't matter what order since the oldest written books are all about after ROTJ.
There are some incredible events and stories within the universe such as The Rakatan Infinite Empirie where the galaxy war ruled for thousands of years by a force wielding race. Or when Darth Bane uses the Thought Bomb. Another badass story is when Luke meets Mara Jade and how they meet. Abeloth is probably the most badass creature in all the EU. She's literally a god that Luke has to fight. The Yuuzhan Vong is a race of aliens from outside the galaxy. I'll let that sink in. Yes. They come from outside the galaxy and nearly conquer the entire galaxy. Then there's the time Darth Sidius wouldn't stay dead and kept jumping clone bodies. At one point in the EU Darth Naga Sadow, a very powerful Sith sorcerer/magician, made two stars go supernova while simultaneously trying to escape republic forces and destroy their fleet.
Star Wars has so many books and comics with epic events. Like the only way they ever managed to kill Chewbacca was by dropping a moon on the planet he was standing on. It literally took a planet to kill Chewy.
My favorite series are Red Harvest and Death Troopers. They involve Sith alchemy and zombies.
