Star Wars in other media

Introduction

The Expanded Universe is a collection of fictional background material from the Star Wars universe that is derived from novels, comic books, and media other than the movies. The Expanded Universe is not considered canonical by most fans of the movie series. However the Expanded Universe has a continuity all it's own.

The Beginning

In truth the Expanded Universe is actually older than the Star Wars movies themselves. It Started in 1977 when the Novelization of Star Wars hit book stands before the movie was released in theatres. The novelization was ghost written by Alan Dean Foster. Since Foster was writing the book before the final cuts had been made to it, there were several scenes that he wrote for the book that would not appear in the film thus expanding the Star Wars Universe.

The Early Years

The early years of the Expanded Universe where sporadic and unrefined because there was very little for the authors to go on. In fact the first EU novel to not be an adaptation of the films, which was Splinter of the Minds Eye by Alan Dean Foster, drew inspiration largely from one of the original drafts of Star Wars. Many of the books and comics from the 80's where contradictory and made many analogies to our reality. It wasn't until West End Games started publishing material for the Star Wars roleplaying game the the EU really began to be fleshed out.

A Turning Point

The EU was by in large not very successful in its early years. Many readers where turned of from the apparent lack of consistency of it all. It wasn't until Timothy Zahn wrote Heir to the Empire in the early 90's that it really began to catch on. Heir to the Empire was the first book in Zahn's Thrawn Trilogy and it sparked a revolution in Star Wars literature. After Zahn followed numerous Star Wars novels most being well recieved.