I too am surprised I have not come across this thread sooner. I've been very slow to catch up on the forums in general, especially with the workload I've had as of late.
So, where to start...
Been a Star Wars fan as long as I can remember. Didn't watch any of the originals in the theater (was just a tad too young), but I did see the Special Edition versions, and of course the Prequels. As much as I don’t care for the Prequel Trilogy as I’ve gotten older, it was still a pretty awesome feeling to go see Episode I on the opening night. I actually ended up watching it 4 times in the first week. Even if they’re not the best, for what it is, they’re still Star Wars, so I do enjoy the Prequels on some level or another.
Naturally, at some point I started to delve into the novels. I read a few here and there that I picked up from various libraries, and after learning about how many novels there were, I decided to start making purchases. Here’s a picture of my current bookshelf:
Can’t remember how long I’ve had that collection, but it’s been a little while. I ended EBay-ing a few lots (surprisingly, between the lots I purchased I only received duplicates of only 3 books). I decided to read what I had acquired in chronological order. I actually still have yet to make it all the way through them (I’m not as hardcore a reader as some folks, and tend to get distracted with other things…).
My favorites so far have been the Han Solo trilogy and the Black Fleet Crisis trilogy. I’ve enjoyed practically everything I’ve read so far except for the Bounty Hunter trilogy. I really don’t know what it was about that one, but I found that series very difficult to read. The story was fine, but I felt like the actual writing was just not very good, and if I recall correctly I felt like the author kept going back and referencing and explaining events that had happened in the past, almost to the point where one could’ve read the last book without having read the first two, and still pick up what’s going on.
I was a bit upset about The Force Unleashed novelization. I was excited for the video game, and in that excitement bought the novel, as it was out before the game itself. Big mistake. I finished the novel before the game came out, and as I’m playing the game, I quickly found out that I knew what was happening. It really ruined the game for me. I mean, what was the point in playing through if I knew what was gonna happen? Guess that’s my own fault there, should’ve expected it to be as it was. That said, the novel itself was fine, a very simple read.
Anyone remember Star Wars: Clone Wars? Not the current CGI series, the older series from 2003. That was a badass little series. Just a bunch of action with some story to it, moreso in the second season, especially how it the events of that season lead into the third movie. Thought that was neat. Newer series? I gave it a chance, but I couldn’t get into it.
As for the future… I’m on the fence regarding the next series of movies. There seem to be a few ups and downs, but I suppose that I have to admit that I am overall more excited than not. I too am speculating that the new series will focus on Han and Leia’s offspring. I guess one of my concerns is if/how anything the movie brings up will ‘interfere’ with any current novella that’s out there. I’ve not read anything that involves Han and Leia’s children in their later years, but I have to imagine that there’s going to be some sort of conflicting stories and events and such. I could be wrong though. The fact of the matter is, there is a lot that they can do. It could be awesome. It could be lame. It could be so-so. I think my main hope is that Disney doesn’t try and introduce some new niche-type characters for marketing purposes (no more Jar-Jars, thx). Guess we shall see!
That’s all I’m going to wall-of-text for now.
Thanks to this link I know to stay away from the Jedi prince saga, well done, man, well done. 
