John Jackson Miller
A Youtini Collection

Star Wars books you should read if you like
John Jackson Miller

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John Jackson Miller
There are facts and there are legends, and you can learn something from all of them.
O

ne of few Star Wars authors who has bridged the chasm between both canon and Legends, prose and comics, is John Jackson Miller. He’s certainly one of the most reputable Star Wars authors, especially with the success of Kenobi, which has had a resurgence in relevance since the announcement of the Disney+ series starring Ewan McGregor in development. He got his start in Star Wars with a Darth Vader one-shot, soon to be followed by his fifty-issue run on Knights of the Old Republic, and went on to write the first book in the new canon—A New Dawn. He certainly has a great love of Star Wars, which is evident in the ethos of his Star Wars writing. When interviewed for The Living Force, he talked about his first time seeing Star Wars in his hometown of Memphis, Tennessee, when his sister tried time and time again to get them into a showing when only two theaters in town were playing the film. He’s more than happy to talk at length about his love for the original run of Marvel Comics, and in fact read Star Wars #1 before seeing the movie! It’s rare that you’ll find a more compellingly kind person and a Star Wars author with as many broad-ranging and significant contributions to the EU.

Few authors are as prolific in writing tie-in media as John Jackson Miller. In addition to his work on Star Wars, he has also written a notable run on Iron Man, as well as writing multiple books about Mass Effect, Battlestar Galactica, and. . . although it feels blasphemous to mention this on a Star Wars website, Miller even writes extensively for Star Trek. He also contributes immensely to genre fandom through maintaining and comichron.com—a site dedicated to comics circulation history and research. His official author website, farawaypress.com, is well worth your time as it features detailed notes on the development of all of his books!

Here’s the list of most of Miller’s contributions in Star Wars, although he has published several other short stories in Star Wars Insider, which are well worth tracking down. One of them even features his breakout character, Grand Admiral Rae Sloane!

This reading guide is
Coming Soon
Our team is hard at work building out this collection. Stay tuned!

Books in this Collection

The Youtini Collections team has hand-selected the books in this collection
Canon
Canon
Adult Novel

Canto Bight

Written by
Jackson Miller, Saladin Ahmed, Rae Carson, and Mira Grant
Artwork by
Part of the publishing program in preparation for The Last Jedi, Canto Bight comprises four novellas focusing on various characters in the casino city to be featured in the film. This book, while not essential for viewing The Last Jedi as opposed to other Saladin Ahmed wrote his first Star Wars story, “Rules of the Game.” It sees Kedpin Shoklop, the unassuming red-skinned cyclops-like Wermal character from the film, on vacation to Cantonica but who quickly ends up in a mess of trouble. Mira Grant’s one and only Star Wars story, “The Wine in Dreams” where mysterious sisters attempt a heist for a priceless bottle of wine for their deep-pocketed master. Up-and-coming Star Wars writer, Rae Carson (Most Wanted, Rise of Skywalker novelization), writes “Hear Nothing, See Nothing, Say Nothing.” The story is about Lexo Sooger, Canto Bight’s finest masseur, who has access to secrets of his prestigious clients. A notorious gangster kidnaps his daughter in demand for the secrets he desires. Finally, renowned writer John Jackson Miller lends his experience to the stable of writers with “The Ride.” He focuses on a professional gambler named Kal who falls on hard times until he meets three frog-like lucky gambling brothers, Dodi, Thodi, and Wodi.

Soon to be seen in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, welcome to the casino city of Canto Bight. A place where exotic aliens, captivating creatures, and other would-be high rollers are willing to risk everything to make their fortunes. Set across one fateful evening, these four original novellas explore the deception and danger of the lavish casino city.

- An honest salesman meets a career criminal as a dream vacation turns into the worst nightmare imaginable in a story by Saladin Ahmed.

- Dreams and schemes collide when a deal over a priceless bottle of wine becomes a struggle for survival as told by Mira Grant.

- Old habits die hard when a servant is forced into the mad struggle for power among Canto Bight's elite in a tale by Rae Carson.

- A deadbeat gambler has one last chance to turn his luck around, all he has to do is survive one wild night as told by John Jackson Miller.

In Canto Bight, one is free to revel in excess, untouched from the problems of a galaxy once again descending into chaos and war. Dreams can become reality, but the stakes have never been higher–for there is a darkness obscured by all the glamour and luxury.

Canon
Canon
Adult Novel

The Rise of the Empire

Written by
James Luceno, John Jackson Miller
Artwork by
This is a very unique compilation of two full-length canon novels, A New Dawn, and Tarkin, plus three short stories exclusive to this oversized collection. All-Star Star Wars writers John Jackson Miller and Jason Fry, along with Melissa Scott—newcomer to the galaxy far, far away—penned the short stories. Scott’s short story, “Mercy Mission,” features Hera Syndulla on a dangerous mission to her homeworld of Ryloth before her introduction in A New Dawn or Rebels. Miller writes “Bottleneck,” shows Tarkin in a test of whits with A New Dawn’s Count Vidian. Finally, Fry’s story, “The Levers of Power,” is about Admiral Rae Sloane as she commands a Star Destroyer at the Battle of the Second Death Star at Endor. Star Wars short stories have become notoriously difficult to track down. Some are available in the backs of certain paperback novels, others are available only in Star Wars Insider Magazine, and some, like these, are collected in a compendium. If you’re a completionist, The Rise of the Empire remains the only way to collect these three short stories.

TARKIN

Under Governor Wilhuff Tarkin’s guidance, an ultimate weapon of unparalleled destruction—the so-called Death Star—moves ever closer to becoming a terrifying reality. Until then, insurgency remains a genuine threat. Guerrilla attacks by an elusive band of freedom fighters must be countered with swift and brutal action—a mission the Emperor entrusts to his most formidable agents: Darth Vader, the fearsome new Sith enforcer, and Tarkin, whose tactical cunning and cold-blooded efficiency will pave the way for the Empire’s supremacy—and its enemies’ extinction.

A NEW DAWN

Ever since the Jedi were marked for death, Kanan Jarrus has devoted himself to staying alive rather than serving the Force. So when he discovers a conflict brewing between Imperial forces and desperate revolutionaries, he’s not about to get caught in the crossfire. Then the brutal death of a friend forces him to choose between bowing down to fear or standing up to fight. But Jarrus won’t be fighting alone. Soon he is joined by Hera Syndulla—a mysterious agent provocateur with motives of her own—in challenging the Empire for the sake of a world and its people.

Legends
Legends
Adult Novel

Knight Errant

Written by
John Jackson Miller
Artwork by

Knight Errant serves as a tie-in novel to the comic series of the same name. This novel depicts the conflict between two brothers and Sith Lords, Odion and Daiman. Set in a Sith-dominated period of the galaxy, a lone Jedi named Kerra Holt seeks to destroy the Dark Lords and end their merciless rule.

A thousand years before Luke Skywalker, a generation before Darth Bane, in a galaxy far, far away…

The Republic is in crisis. The Sith roam unchecked, vying with one another to dominate the galaxy. But one lone Jedi, Kerra Holt, is determined to take down the Dark Lords. Her enemies are strange and many: Lord Daiman, who imagines himself the creator of the universe; Lord Odion, who intends to be its destroyer; the curious siblings Quillan and Dromika; the enigmatic Arkadia. So many warring Sith weaving a patchwork of brutality—with only Kerra Holt to defend the innocents caught underfoot.

Sensing a sinister pattern in the chaos, Kerra embarks on a journey that will take her into fierce battles against even fiercer enemies. With one against so many, her only chance of success lies with forging alliances among those who serve her enemies—including a mysterious Sith spy and a clever mercenary general. But will they be her adversaries or her salvation?

Legends
Legends
Graphic Novel

Knight Errant Volume 1: Aflame

Written by
John Jackson Miller
Artwork by
Federico Dallocchio, Ivan Rodriguez
The Knight Errant comic is the introduction to Kerra Holt, set a thousand years before The Phantom Menace. She rises up against competing Sith warlords.

Kerra Holt is a new kind of Jedi for a new era of Star Wars! More than one thousand years before Luke Skywalker, the galaxy experiences a dark age as an ineffectual Republic abandons entire systems to Sith control. On her first mission, eighteen-year-old Jedi Kerra Holt has joined a band of Jedi volunteers traveling behind enemy lines. She thinks she is prepared for anything, but when the mission goes awry and she is left in Sith space without any support, Kerra realizes just how wrong she was . . . But she can’t abandon the mission or the colony that the Jedi came to help! This Jedi foundling has her work cut out for her: she is alone, unprepared, without resources, and stuck in a battle between two warring Sith brothers, Lord Odion and Lord Daiman!

Legends
Legends
Graphic Novel

Lost Tribe of the Sith: Spiral

Written by
John Jackson Miller
Artwork by
Andrea Mutti
A follow-up to John Jackson Miller’s Lost Tribe of the Sith short stories, Spiral is set about three thousand years before the events of the films. It brings together a Sith outcast-turned-gangster with the princess of a prominent Dark Lord as they have to thwart the threat of an ancient Dark Jedi on the planet Kesh.
An ambitious Sith rebel, Spinner, is about to upset the balance of a lost tribe of Sith. When he is arrested for treason and sent away on a prisoner vessel, thoughts of overcoming his station, destroying the Tribe, and even finding a way to escape into the galaxy lead Spinner to a powerful, long-forgotten weapon. A rival stowaway Sith on that same vessel has her own ideas about the future of the Tribe. They don’t need eradication; they need a new leader—her!
Canon
Canon
Single Issue Comic

Star Wars Adventures Annual 2018

Written by
John Jackson Miller, Cavan Scott
Artwork by
Jon Sommariva, Alain Mauricet, Tom B. Long, Matt Herms, Chris Fenoglio, Jon Sommariva
This issue of IDW’s ongoing Star Wars comic aimed at young readers features two separate stories. One, “Mind Your Manners,” is Kenobi author John Jackson Miller’s only story for IDW to date, where Luke and Leia are on a diplomatic mission but quickly end up on quite the adventure! Cavan Scott wrote the other, “The Lost Eggs of Livorno.” These stories can be found in the fourth volume of the Star Wars Adventures trade paperbacks, Smuggler’s Blues.
With Leia injured, it's up to Luke to undertake a sensitive diplomatic mission with the easily irritated Sarkans! What should be a routine meeting soon turns into an action-packed adventure with the fate of the galaxy on the line!
Legends
Legends
Omnibus

Legends Epic Collection: The Old Republic Vol. 1

Written by
Various Authors
Artwork by
Various
Part of the
Epic Collection
This massive comics collection begins legendary Star Wars writer John Jackson Miller’s seminal run of Knights of the Old Republic. Not to be confused with the video game of the same title, Miller’s comics focus on Jedi-on-the-run Zayne Carrick as he is framed for a massacre of Padawans. In order to survive and find who’s responsible, he is forced into an unconventional alliance with an unscrupulous band of misfits. Set almost four thousand years BBY, the series is set during the Mandalorian Wars, which serves as the catalyst event leading into the KOTOR video game. Knights of the Old Republic ran for fifty issues and was one of Dark Horse’s best selling comics series.
A long, LONG time ago… Discover the state of the Star Wars galaxy in the distant past in this first volume of an Epic Collection series focusing on the ancient Knights of the Old Republic! When young Jedi Zayne Carrick is framed for the murder of his fellow Padawans, he is forced into an unlikely alliance with the Snivvian con artist Marn Hierogryph. Their quest to reveal the horrifying truth, and to obtain justice for the Padawan Massacre, joins them with Jarael and Camper aboard the junk hauler The Last Resort — and their adventures will take them from the research station Flashpoint to the banking planet Telerath! Brace yourself for days of fear… and nights of anger! Collects: Knights of The Old Republic #0-18
Legends
Legends
Adult Novel

Kenobi

Written by
John Jackson Miller
Artwork by

Following Order 66, General Obi Wan Kenobi vanished from the galaxy along with all the other Jedi. Years later, he re-emerged as a crazy old hermit by the name of Ben to play a hand in the fate of the galaxy. However, much more happened in the preceding years than one might expect. Even on a backwater planet like Tatooine, there is conflict, and soon Ben finds himself wrapped up in a decades-long feud between the moisture farmers and their arch nemeses, the Tusken Raiders. Ben must find a way to get to the bottom of an ever-deepening mystery that lies beneath the conflict while also keeping his identity—and his true purpose on Tatooine—a secret.

Kenobi is hands down one of the best books in the Expanded Universe. John Jackson Miller crafted a well-written, easy-to-read piece that not only focuses on one of the most beloved characters in all of Star Wars, but also manages to fill in a crucial gap in the story between movie trilogies. It takes the Western influences in Star Wars and runs with them to create not only an engaging story, but an essential one.

The Republic has fallen.

Sith Lords rule the galaxy.

Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi has lost everything . . .

Everything but hope.

Tatooine—a harsh desert world where farmers toil in the heat of two suns while trying to protect themselves and their loved ones from the marauding Tusken Raiders. A backwater planet on the edge of civilized space. And an unlikely place to find a Jedi Master in hiding, or an orphaned infant boy on whose tiny shoulders rests the future of a galaxy.

Known to locals only as “Ben,” the bearded and robed offworlder is an enigmatic stranger who keeps to himself, shares nothing of his past, and goes to great pains to remain an outsider. But as tensions escalate between the farmers and a tribe of Sand People led by a ruthless war chief, Ben finds himself drawn into the fight, endangering the very mission that brought him to Tatooine.

Ben—Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, hero of the Clone Wars, traitor to the Empire, and protector of the galaxy’s last hope—can no more turn his back on evil than he can reject his Jedi training. And when blood is unjustly spilled, innocent lives threatened, and a ruthless opponent unmasked, Ben has no choice but to call on the wisdom of the Jedi—and the formidable power of the Force—in his never-ending fight for justice.

Legends
Legends
Adult Novel

Lost Tribe of the Sith: The Collected Stories

Written by
John Jackson Miller
Artwork by

The Lost Tribe of the Sith was formed in 5000 BBY. The cult had spent thousands of years hiding on the planet Kesh to build up their numbers in preparation for their triumphant return to the known galaxy. Shortly after the Second Galactic Civil War (41 ABY), they were discovered by a Sith Meditation Sphere named Ship who informed the tribe of the Jedi’s rise to power. Determined to keep the Sith legacy strong, the Lost Tribe sets out to eliminate Jedi Grand Master Luke Skywalker.

Five thousand years ago. After a Jedi ambush, the Sith mining ship Omen lies wrecked on a remote, unknown planet. Its commander, Yaru Korsin, battles the bloodshed of a mutinous faction led by his own brother. Marooned and facing death, the Sith crew have no choice but to venture into their desolate surroundings. They face any number of brutal challenges—vicious predators, lethal plagues, tribal people who worship vengeful gods—and like true Sith warriors, counter them with the dark side of the Force.

The struggles are just beginning for the proud, uncompromising Sith, driven as they are to rule at all costs. They will vanquish the primitive natives, and they will find their way back to their true destiny as rulers of the galaxy. But as their legacy grows over thousands of years, the Sith ultimately find themselves tested by the most dangerous threat of all: the enemy within.

Canon
Canon
Adult Novel

A New Dawn

Written by
John Jackson Miller
Artwork by

Star Wars Rebels tugged on the heartstrings of countless fans, and this story is where it all began. Taking place before the beloved show, A New Dawn shows us how Kanan and Hera were destined to cross paths and fight together in the Galactic Civil War.

Being the first novel released in the new Canon era of Star Wars books, John Jackson Miller leaves a lasting first impression on what’s to come.

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. . . .

“The war is over. The Separatists have been defeated, and the Jedi rebellion has been foiled. We stand on the threshold of a new beginning.”—Emperor Palpatine

For a thousand generations, the Jedi Knights brought peace and order to the Galactic Republic, aided by their connection to the mystical energy field known as the Force. But they were betrayed—and the entire galaxy has paid the price. It is the Age of the Empire.

Now Emperor Palpatine, once Chancellor of the Republic and secretly a Sith follower of the dark side of the Force, has brought his own peace and order to the galaxy. Peace through brutal repression, and order through increasing control of his subjects’ lives.

But even as the Emperor tightens his iron grip, others have begun to question his means and motives. And still others, whose lives were destroyed by Palpatine’s machinations, lay scattered about the galaxy like unexploded bombs, waiting to go off. . . .

Canon
Canon
Adult Novel

From A Certain Point of View

Written by
Various Authors
Artwork by

A truly unique and heroic feat in Star Wars publishing, From a Certain Point of View is a compilation of forty short stories by more than forty incredible authors to retell the story of A New Hope in celebration of its fortieth anniversary. Not only did Del Rey assemble a massive team consisting of their catalog of regular Star Wars writers such as Chuck Wendig, John Jackson Miller, and Claudia Gray, they managed to rope in many award-winning authors to pen their first stories in a galaxy far, far away. Such authors include Ken Liu, Sabaa Tahir, Zoraida Córdova, and Rae Carson. All of the book’s authors donated their pay to First Book, a nonprofit dedicated to improving literacy.

The stories represent the points of view of many of the notable side characters from A New Hope, such as Wedge Antilles, Greedo, and Grand Moff Tarkin. But they don’t stop there. The book benefits from forty years of expanding the Star Wars universe, and as such many characters not originally in the original film provide perspective in creative ways–Lando Calrissian, Yoda, Breha Organa, and even Qui-Gon Jinn! It is a compilation not only of characters and authors, but also styles and tones. At times heartbreaking, hilarious, and head-scratching. Some stories will connect differently with different readers. It certainly has something for everyone and is a remarkable read.

Forty years. Forty stories.

In honor of the fortieth anniversary of Star Wars: A New Hope, this collection features Star Wars stories by bestselling authors, trendsetting artists, and treasured voices from Star Wars literary history. More than forty authors have lent their unique vision to forty "scenes," each retelling a different moment from the original Star Wars film, but with a twist: Every scene is told from the point of view of a background character. Whether it's the X-wing pilots who helped Luke destroy the Death Star or the stormtroopers who never quite could find the droids they were looking for, Star Wars: From a Certain Point of View places the classic movie in a whole new perspective, and celebrates the influence and legacy of the unparalleled cultural phenomenon, Star Wars.

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