What is the first star wars book in the trilogy?

i want to start reading star wars and i'm confused about which book is the first and what order to read them in. please help me out.What is the first star wars book in the trilogy?
Well I guess the first thing to ask is if you've seen the movies. If you have then you don't really need to read the novelizations of the books except for Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith. This book is almost ';required reading'; if you want to understand all the stuff that is happening that can't be shown in the movie. The novels for ep I %26amp; ep II are fairly decent ... the novels for ep IV, V, %26amp; VI are horrible and for the most part always have been especially the ones for ep IV %26amp; ep VI ... the novel for ep V isn't bad but it is very outdated. So if you've seen the movies you're set ... if you haven't you can read the novelizations but realize that the ones for ep IV - ep VI are very outdated.





Whenever I get asked what books to start with my answer is always the same ... The Thrawn Trilogy. The titles to the books are: ';Heir To The Empire';; ';Dark Force Rising';; %26amp; ';The Last Command';. These books are set 5 years after the events of ep VI and they are way beyond great. The are also what brought Star Wars back from the dead. They are written by Timothy Zahn, he has written other books in the Star Wars EU (Expanded Universe) and there is not a bad one in the bunch. Zahn is the best writer in the Star Wars EU bar none. After that I always give the X-Wing series as what to read after the Thrawn trilogy. The ';major'; characters don't have a very big role in the X-Wing books and we get to meet all kinds of new characters and villians. After you read these books you will know just about everything that you need to know to make the other books ';fit'; in the time line. After that you're on your own, so to speak. The answer given by ';swdarklighter'; is very good although I would disagree with the reason she gave for ep IV being made first but that a ';rant'; for another day ... lol ...





The link given by ';Kaseysface'; is ok but no where near complete.





To ';Diana P';





Couldn't resist picking on you a little bit ... Star Wars came out in 77 not 78 ...





May The Force Be With You ...What is the first star wars book in the trilogy?
Do you mean the books that correspond to the 6 movies? Start with ';Phantom Menace.'; Then you'll be reading them in chronological order according to the story line.





What happened was, ';Star Wars'; the movie came out in 1978 (around then, anyway). Then came ';The Empire Strikes Back'; and ';Return of the Jedi.'; Those 3 movies are the *original* trilogy.





But they decided to do prequels. So the fourth SW movie made is the FIRST in the STORY. And what was originally called simply ';Star Wars'; became ';Star Wars FOUR: A New Hope.'; The first one made, but the 4th according to the timeline.





I hope that's not too confusing! Anyway, just start with ';Phantom Menace'; and you'll be fine. Enjoy!





EDIT: Looks like Xalia knows the SW books, including those not directly related to the movies. There are many dozens of them.
Darth Bane: Path of Destruction.
If you are already familiar with the movies, then you probably won't need to read the novelizations of Star Wars: A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back or Return of the Jedi (Episodes 4, 5 and 6). These books were written after the movies came out and include everything that was seen on the screen. There are some small tidbits that have been added, but for the most part, they are just the movie.





The novelizations of The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith (Episodes 1, 2 and 3) contain some additional stuff that wasn't seen in the movies and these were written as companions to the movies as they were released.





(Background - Lucas wrote 9 parts to the Star Wars saga, but didn't start with part 1 largely because he didn't have the technology to make it the way he wanted it and he couldn't get the backing. He was able to get the backing and created a lot of the technology to make Episode 4 - which is the first movie created, but the fourth in the chronology of the series. The movies were released in this order 4 - 5 - 6 - 1 - 2 - 3.)





Now, as far as the books go, there are over 100 books to choose from. This applies to the adult titles - there is a whole separate world of Young Adult and Children's stories as well. If you pick up any of the most recently published titles (Legacy of the Force) and look in the first few pages, you will see a complete timeline for all the books that have been published, starting with 1000 years before the events of Episode 4 up to 40 or so years after.





There are basically two types of books - those featuring the main characters and those featuring new or peripheral characters from the movies.





I will start with the main character series and novels. These continue the story between the movies and after the movies and contain many good books and/or series. Of these books, I recommend the following (listed in order as they appear in the timeline):


Rogue Planet


Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader


The Han Solo Trilogy - The Paradise Snare, The Hutt Gambit, Rebel Dawn (a must read if you are a Han Solo fan)


The Courtship of Princess Leia


Tatooine Ghost


The Thrawn Trilogy - Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, The Last Command (these are among the best books written in the series and should definitely be included)


The Jedi Academy Trilogy - Jedi Search, Dark Apprentice, Champions of the Force


The Hand of Thrawn Duology - Specter of the Past, Vision of the Future


The New Jedi Order - 17 books in this series. More dramatic than the movies and the events are much more tragic and life-altering to the characters.





These books in large part, fill out and complete the story of the lives of Han Solo, Princess Leia, Luke, Chewie, the droids and plenty well loved and great new characters.





I haven't really been able to get into the character novels that take place between The Phantom Menace and A New Hope, but you may want to check some of those out as well.





However, I have greatly enjoyed the novels that include new and/or peripheral characters to the movies and recommend that you also include these titles in your reading list:


Path of Destruction: Darth Bane and Rule of Two (a must read if you are interested in Sith mythology/history)


Republic Commando series - Hard Contact, Triple Zero, True Colors (about clone troopers and two young Jedi generals leading them, if you are a Jango Fett/Boba Fett fan, these will probably interest you)


X-Wing series - 9 book series (see inside books for series order) (Wedge rebuilds Rogue Squadron with new characters and take on new missions)


I, Jedi - another of the best books in the Star Wars universe (about the training and apprenticeship of Corran Horn)





Hopefully all this information doesn't scare you off from reading these books. For the most part, the books are very well written and keep you occupied for a very long time.





Also, you don't necessarily need to read all the books in timeline order, however, you should read any books in a series in the series order. You can start with books/series about your favorite characters and fill in with other books or series when you are ready.





Good luck and enjoy.