The Star Wars universe is HUGE, even bigger than you think! Before Disney took over, there were tons of books and stories – what we now call Legends – that added to the Star Wars timeline. This is a huge guide that puts them all in order from oldest to newest!
Before The Movies
The first Star Wars book actually came out before the first movie (1977)! In 1976, a novelization came out and got people super excited about this galaxy far, far away! And there's a lesser known fact: Alan Dean Foster's book Splinter of the Mind's Eye was even meant to be a possible cheap movie if A New Hope didn't work. This story grew even more and grew to its now iconic size as a beloved movie universe. A massive shift took place when Timothy Zahn came out with Heir to the Empire, the first book of his famous Thrawn trilogy, really boosting what became a new and exciting period in 1991!
Disney and Legends
A pretty big change happened in 2012 when Disney bought Lucasfilm! Disney's vision created new canon and basically relaunched everything from 2014 on as "Legends," creating more ways to expand the Star Wars lore for new movies, TV shows, and everything that this franchise had to offer. Loads of new content came from this shift. In fact, even newer stuff in movies and shows takes inspiration from this earlier work!
Dawn of the Jedi
Way before everything, there is the Dawn of the Jedi era. If you thought Star Wars started with Luke Skywalker, think again! It all began in 2012 with books and comics telling the story of the first Jedi. There was this race known as the Rakatan Infinite Empire. For a while these tales were mostly seen in game form like Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, and a series of comics from John Ostrander and Jan Duursema, helped to expand things out to a much wider and exciting universe. This is just another fascinating period. In total there was one book and 15 comics!
Old Republic
This period goes way back, spanning a thousand years. It was the time when the Jedi protected the Old Republic! First mentioned in games like Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Star Wars: The Old Republic (an online game), this became even more fleshed out thanks to novels. While not all were official, fans loved these earlier additions that became a core piece of Star Wars history!
Rise of the Empire
Peace ruled for a thousand years after the Sith were defeated… or so everyone thought. Darth Bane, the last of the Sith, created the “Rule of Two,” keeping the Sith super sneaky and dangerous! A big, epic plan ended in the prequels! With Darth Sidious as Emperor Palpatine. He crushed the Jedi. The fall of Anakin Skywalker and turning into the supervillain Darth Vader was this period's key storyline. Even some Legends books take inspiration from this era!
Rebellion
The Empire almost conquered everything… almost! That's when things got interesting! A hero called Luke Skywalker showed up, destroying the Death Star in one super awesome blow! The battle for galactic freedom began, with Luke Skywalker determined to become a Jedi. His friends showed up with even more heroism during the Galactic Civil War! Lots of great tales filled this space. Even now there are some new and great novels and stories that remind everyone about these early days!
New Republic
Even after the defeat of Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine, the war didn't end immediately. Those in the Empire continued to rebel against the New Republic! This is when things started to get even more complex! The New Republic fought many big villains. Many Legends stories explored what became the most difficult battle that kept fans at the edge of their seat. They went through this epic moment against Ysanne Isard and Grand Admiral Thrawn! The iconic Thrawn series from Timothy Zahn started this part of the universe.
New Jedi Order
Luke Skywalker created new Jedi Knights… but it wasn't smooth sailing! In the New Jedi Order era, the Yuuzhan Vong came along bringing some major danger. A terrifying enemy, they did battle against the New Republic. The fighting took away from the ability for the Jedi Order to grow, splitting the Jedi as Jacen Solo doubted what a Jedi should be.
Legacy
The Yuuzhan Vong war finally ended! There were some powerful people left! What had evolved into the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances was born! Even so the universe didn't stop bringing major difficulties, creating conflict and testing the abilities of some of the strongest characters around! Jacen Solo was turning evil. This really showed up with the character of Darth Caedus. Even with a hard battle, his sister Jaina Solo showed how incredible the spirit and perseverance of these heroes really is, but the relationship between the Galactic Alliance and Jedi Order really got damaged as a result.
Anthologies
Lots of Legends stories came as shorter books. Mostly taking place in the times of the original trilogy. The series Lost Tribe of the Sith went even further, moving thousands of years before everything began. As it became more obvious that the details might clash with later Star Wars stories, there's some uncertainty as to their "official" canon place!
There’s a TON of great Legends material out there! This just scratches the surface, showing how massive this earlier version of Star Wars was! This timeline will help guide you, letting you explore these classic moments and even help inspire you as Star Wars and its stories continue!
