Mandalorians
A Youtini Collection

Star Wars books you should read if you like
Mandalorians

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Mandalorians
Armor does not make a Mandalorian. The armor is simply a manifestation of an impenetrable, unassailable heart.
M

andalorians get the job done and look great while doing it. They have been developed in significant, sometimes overlapping, often totally different ways across Legends publishing, video games such as Knights of the Old Republic and Republic Commando, and in canon on the small screen—across Clone Wars, Rebels, and now the Mandalorian. If you want the inside scoop on the vast background on Mandalorian culture and the discrepancies and departures across the Canon/Legends divide, this is the reading guide for you, and you won’t be disappointed.

To get a full picture on Mandalorians, you’ll certainly need to take a step into a larger world. While this list is all Legends for now, you can take this list alongside Clone Wars and Rebels to get the fuller picture of how Lucas, Filoni, and Favoreau have gone a different direction. The Canon Mandos, as of the Clone Wars, are warriors of old now living in a reformed pacifistic society, while others rebel in secret. This militant group, Death Watch, and Clan Vizsla, overlap from Jango Fett: Open Seasons, which functions as Jango’s Legends origin story. Karen Traviss has certainly been the architect of Mandalorian culture in Legends continuity, seen in The Republic Commando series and much later in the timeline in her Legacy of the Force entries, and her work is beloved by many.

Traviss’s Mandalorians are as fully-formed of a culture as you’ll find in the Expanded Universe. Her superb world-building encompasses all aspects of what it means to be Mandalorian. She develops the Mando’a language, the Dha Werda Verda dance (reminiscent of the Maori Haka), the concept of loyalty and honor to Mandalorian warrior ideals as more important than biological bloodlines, and even spirituality and the afterlife. She wrestles with the Mandalorians’ history as morally-ambiguous mercenaries and how that competes with their code of honor. We even see the rivalry between Mandos and Jedi, from the Clone Wars to the Legacy of the Force series.

We look forward to expanding this list when tie-in material is published alongside The Mandalorian, but in the meantime, shoot straight and run hard!

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
Legends
Legends
Graphic Novel

Tales of the Jedi: The Sith War

Written by
Kevin Anderson
Artwork by
Dario Carrasco Jr.
Former enemies Ulic Qel-Droma and Exar Kun have now united to usher in a new Golden Age of the Sith. In order to do so, they take control of a fierce army of Mandalorians! This volume is part of Dark Horse’s deep dive into the ancient history of the Jedi and the Sith (published several years before the Prequels!) and is best read after Tales of the Jedi: Knights of the Old Republic, The Freedon Nadd Uprising, and Dark Lords of the Sith. These issues can be found in Star Wars Omnibus: Tales of the Jedi, Volume 2.

To become a Jedi, it is not the Force one must learn to control but oneself. Ulic Qel-Droma has spent a lifetime learning to control the Force. But now, having tasted power, Qel-Droma cannot fight the dark hunger inside him...

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
Graphic Novel

Jango Fett: Open Seasons

Written by
Haden Blackman
Artwork by
Ramón F. Bachs
How did Jango Fett come to wear the Mandalorian armor? How did he wind up in business with Count Dooku? This story from The Force Unleashed’s Hayden Blackman from 2002 features Clone Wars staples such as Concord Dawn, Death Watch, and clan Visla and is in many ways a Jango Fett origin story.

He was born a poor farm boy on a forgotten planet in the galaxy's Outer Rim. Taken under the wing of a wise mentor after the violent death of his family, he would rise up to lead a band of fighters struggling for survival against a dark force that threatens to wipe them out completely. His name would become known throughout the systems, and his legacy would change the galaxy forever. But his name isn't Skywalker… it's Jango Fett! The Sith have begun the final maneuvering in their quest to take over the galaxy and are looking for the perfect specimen to take part in their secret experiments. Lord Tyranus may've just found a prime candidate in Jango. Recounting Jango's story from his early days on the Fett farm, through the annihilation of the once proud Mandalorian warriors, to his transformation into the galaxy's most feared bounty hunter. Open Seasons offers an in-depth look at the most exciting new character from Attack of the Clones, and details the beginning of the infamous Fett legacy—one that would come back to plague the Rebellion a generation later.

Canon
Canon
Graphic Novel

Darth Maul: Son of Dathomir (Trade Paperback)

Written by
Jeremy Barlow
Artwork by
Juan Frigeri
This is the only canon comic series from Dark Horse. It was published very close to the Legends/Canon cutoff in 2014 and is an adaptation from unreleased episodes of the Clone Wars. Maul is caught in a power play between Sidious, Mother Talzin, Count Dooku, and the Death Watch of the Mandalorians. Maul forms the Shadow Collective, an army of Mandalorians, criminals from gangs such as Black Sun, and the Nightbrothers, to take down the Sith Lords.

Getting cut in half by Obi-Wan Kenobi and being rejected by his former Sith master Darth Sidious isn't going to defeat Darth Maul. In fact, it only makes him mad enough to take on the galaxy--with an army of Mandalorians!

After forming the Shadow Collective--a criminal organization composed of the Hutts, Black Sun, the Mandalorians, and the fearsome Nightbrothers--Maul wages war against Darth Sidious and his generals, Count Dooku and General Grievous! 

Adapted from unproduced screenplays for Season 6 of The Clone Wars television show, this is the final chapter planned for Darth Maul's saga!

Legends
Legends
Adult Novel

Order 66: A Republic Commando Novel

Written by
Karen Traviss
Artwork by

The job of the clone troopers is simple: destroy the enemy at all costs. But as the war wages on and its atrocities add up, some clones start question their purpose and plan to lay down their arms altogether. Suddenly, a seemingly simple command from Chancellor Palpatine ruins those plans and also leaves them wondering exactly who the enemy is that they’re supposed to destroy.

Karen Traviss—who has proved more than capable of placing the reader inside the helmet of a trooper—is once again successful with this novel. The pain and suspense of the Order 66 scene in Revenge of the Sith is somehow stretched the entire length of the novel. Readers who have followed the Republic Commandos series can’t miss this part of the story!

After the fierce combat of Hard Contact, Triple Zero, and True Colors comes the spectacular culmination of New York Times bestselling author Karen Traviss’s gripping Republic Commando series. As a battle-scarred era nears its end, a shattering power play is about to stun the entire galaxy . . . and set in motion events that will alter destinies and resound throughout history.

Even as the Clone Wars are about to reach an explosive climax, no one knows if victory will favor the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) or the Separatists. But no matter who wins, the stakes are highest for elite Special Ops clones like the Republic Commandos in Omega and Delta squads–and the notorious renegade Advance Recon Commando troopers known as Null ARCs.

With Republic forces stretched to the max and casualties mounting, the last thing these beleaguered warriors need to hear is that Chancellor Palpatine is keeping vast armies of secret clone troops in reserve. Sergeant Skirata, a mentor to the clone commandos, has no intention of standing idly by while Palpatine sends them into battle like lambs to the slaughter. Skirata begins to plan the clones’ escape from the GAR, but his heroic effort will be in vain unless he can reverse the clones’ accelerated aging process.

Caught in the treacherous dealings of their leaders, and locked in the battles of their lives, the disillusioned Null ARCs and Commandos nonetheless fight with everything they’ve got, determined to wrest victory from the Seps and save the galaxy.

But even the deadliest weapons may not be powerful enough to defeat the real menace. And nothing will stop the apocalyptic horror unleashed when Palpatine utters the chilling words The time has come. Execute Order 66. Translation: The Jedi have tried to stage a coup, and all must be shot on sight.

With their faith in the Republic and their loyalty to their Jedi allies put to the ultimate test, how will the men of Omega and Delta squads react to the most infamous command in galactic history? All the breathtaking action, suspense, and intrigue of Karen Traviss’s Republic Commando series comes alive in Star Wars: Order 66.

Legends
Legends
Adult Novel

Imperial Commando: 501st

Written by
Karen Traviss
Artwork by

Order 66 may have unified the galaxy under the Empire’s control, but it split members of the clone army. Just weeks after the order was carried out, former brothers-in-arms now find themselves on opposite sides. Will they ultimately choose to serve their Emperor or their ex-comrades, the Jedi? And just how far are they willing to go in the process?

While the Jedi may have gotten the worst of it, Karen Traviss manages to brilliantly portray the struggle of the clones following Order 66. This book serves as a fitting end to her run with the Republic Commandos.

The Clone Wars are over, but for those with reason to run from the new galactic Empire, the battle to survive has only just begun. . . .

The Jedi have been decimated in the Great Purge, and the Republic has fallen. Now the former Republic Commandos–the galaxy’s finest special forces troops, cloned from Jango Fett–find themselves on opposing sides and in very different armor. Some have deserted and fled to Mandalore with the mercenaries, renegade clone troopers, and rogue Jedi who make up Kal Skirata’s ragtag resistance to Imperial occupation. Others–including men from Delta and Omega squads–now serve as Imperial Commandos, a black ops unit within Vader’s own 501st Legion, tasked to hunt down fugitive Jedi and clone deserters. For Darman, grieving for his Jedi wife and separated from his son, it’s an agonizing test of loyalty. But he’s not the only one who’ll be forced to test the ties of brotherhood. On Mandalore, clone deserters and the planet’s own natives, who have no love for the Jedi, will have their most cherished beliefs challenged. In the savage new galactic order, old feuds may have to be set aside to unite against a far bigger threat, and nobody can take old loyalties for granted.

Legends
Legends
Adult Novel

Republic Commando: Hard Contact

Written by
Karen Traviss
Artwork by

A tie-in novel to the Republic Commandos video game, Hard Contact is the first in a five book series. This novel introduces a squad of clone troopers as they take on a precarious mission to destroy a nanovirus production facility on the Separatist-controlled planet of Qiilura. When the clones find themselves split up behind enemy lines, their chances of success seem slim. If they’re to be successful and make it out alive, each trooper will have to rely on his clone brothers to have his back.

Karen Traviss’ Republic Commando series is one of the most celebrated and dearly loved Legends series out there. Hard Contact, its first installment, is responsible for laying the foundation for fans’ staunch dedication.

As the Clone Wars rage, victory or defeat lies in the hands of elite squads that take on the toughest assignments in the galaxy–stone-cold soldiers who go where no one else would, to do what no one else could...

On a mission to sabotage a chemical weapon research facility on a Separatist-held planet, four clone troopers operate under the very noses of their enemies. The commandos are outnumbered and outgunned, deep behind enemy lines with no backup–and working with strangers instead of trusted teammates. Matters don’t improve when Darman, the squad’s demolitions expert, gets separated from the others during planetfall. Even Darman’s apparent good luck in meeting an inexperienced Padawan vanishes once Etain admits to her woeful inexperience.

For the separated clone commandos and stranded Jedi, a long, dangerous journey lies ahead, through hostile territory brimming with Trandoshan slavers, Separatists, and suspicious natives. A single misstep could mean discovery...and death. It’s a virtual suicide mission for anyone–anyone except Republic Commandos.

Legends
Legends
Adult Novel

Republic Commando: Triple Zero

Written by
Karen Traviss
Artwork by
The second installment in the Republic Commando series brings Omega Squad together with Delta Squad—units with plenty of rivalry between them—in order to stop an internal terror threat on Coruscant. It also develops the Mandalorian mercenary-turned commando instructor Kal Skirata as a main character. It takes the foundation laid in Hard Contact and adds more complexity, character development, and clones into the mix for an excellent Clone Wars novel.

Following the eruption of the bloody Clone Wars at the battle of Geonosis, both sides remain deadlocked in a stalemate that can be broken only by elite warrior teams like Omega Squad, clone commandos with terrifying combat skills and a lethal arsenal. . . .

For Omega Squad, deployed deep behind enemy lines, it’s the same old special ops grind: sabotage, espionage, ambush, and assassination. But when Omega Squad is rushed to Coruscant, the war’s most dangerous new hotspot, the commandos discover they’re not the only ones penetrating the heart of the enemy.

A surge in Separatist attacks has been traced to a network of Sep terror cells in the Republic’s capital, masterminded by a mole in Command Headquarters. To identify and destroy a Separatist spy and terror network in a city full of civilians will require special talents and skills. Not even the leadership of Jedi generals, along with the assistance of Delta squad and a certain notorious ARC trooper, can even the odds against the Republic Commandos. And while success may not bring victory in the Clone Wars, failure means certain defeat.

Legends
Legends
Short Story

Boba Fett: A Practical Man

Written by
Karen Traviss
Artwork by
Set just prior to the Yuuzhan Vong war, this short story fills in the gaps that lead Boba Fett to lead the Mandalorians against the Vong. Although Mandalorians historically have not been on the same side with the Jedi, this war brings them together. This short story fits into Karen Traviss’s Legends-continuity development of the Mandalorian society and culture.

On the surface, it seems like just another routine contract for Boba Fett and his Mandalorian commandos, but the mystery client who hires them to start a small war is more dangerous than any of them can possibly imagine. When the Yuuzhan Vong invasion force sweeps into the galaxy, the Mandalorians find they’re on the wrong side–fighting for an alien culture that will bring about the end of their own.

Now Fett has to choose between his honor and the survival of his people. Since he’ s a practical man, he’s determined help the resistance beat the Yuuzhan Vong—even if it means working with a Jedi agent. Trouble is, no one trusts a man with Fett’ s reputation. So convincing the New Republic that they’re fighting on the same side is a tall order. Denounced as traitors, Fett’s Mandalorians need to stay one step ahead of their Yuuzhan Vong paymasters–and the Republic who sees them as collaborators with the most destructive enemy the galaxy has ever faced. . . .

Legends
Legends
Adult Novel

Republic Commando: True Colors

Written by
Karen Traviss
Artwork by
This is the third installment in Karen Traviss’s Republic Commando series, focusing on the Omega and Delta Companies of special ops clone commandos, their Mandalorian father-figures Kal Skirata and Walon Vau, and Jedi generals Etain Tur-Mukan and Bardan Jusik. This story develops the themes of family and loyalty as the clones investigate Palpatine’s plot and track down the cruel Kaminoan cloner Ko Sai. Will the commandos' loyalty ultimately lie with the Republic for which they fight, or the Mandalorians with whom they identify culturally?

As the savage Clone Wars rage unchecked, the Republic’s deadliest warriors face the grim truth that the Separatists aren’t their only enemy–or even their worst.

In the Grand Army’s desperate fight to crush the Separatists, the secret special ops missions of its elite clone warriors have never been more critical . . . or more dangerous. A growing menace threatens Republic victory, and the members of Omega Squad make a shocking discovery that shakes their very loyalty.

As the lines continue to blur between friend and enemy, citizens–from civilians and sergeants to Jedi and generals–find themselves up against a new foe: the doubt in their own hearts and minds. The truth is a fragile, shifting illusion–and only the approaching inferno will reveal both sides in their true colors.

Legends
Legends
Adult Novel

Hard Merchandise

Written by
K.W. Jeter
Artwork by
Boba Fett is the most notorius bounty hunter in the galaxy. In it for the payout, he’s out for himself and himself alone. This tends to make a lot of enemies from the envious in the bounty hunter ranks. Caught in a web of loyalties and scheming, Fett seeks to stay one step ahead of Bossk and his cronies as well as the well-laid plans of Prince Xizor. Meanwhile, what is the truth behind the missing memories of Fett’s companion, Neelah? The Imperial starship factories on Kuat are at stake, as well as Fett’s life itself–again!

Boba Fett fears only one enemy--the one he cannot see....

Feared and admired, respected and despised, Boba Fett enjoys a dubious reputation as the galaxy's most successful bounty hunter. Yet even a man like Boba Fett can have one too many enemies....

When Boba Fett stumbles across evidence implicating Prince Xizor in the murder of Luke Skywalker's aunt and uncle, Fett makes himself an enemy even he fears: the unknown mastermind behind a monstrous deception, who will kill to hide his tracks. Fett also finds himself in possession of an amnesiac young woman named Neelah, who may be the key to the mystery--or a decoy leading Fett into a murderous ambush. Fett's last hope is to run through the list of Xizor's hidden enemies. And since Xizor's hidden enemies are almost as legion as Fett's, the chance of survival is slim--even for someone as skilled and relentless as Boba Fett.

Legends
Legends
Adult Novel

The Old Republic: Revan

Written by
Drew Karpyshyn
Artwork by

Being a Jedi turned Sith and finding redemption, Revan has become one of the most powerful Force users by practicing balance between the light and dark sides. Learning how he broke free of the dark side but continuing to draw on its power of his own will puts powerful Force use into perspective.

This novel takes place after the Knights of the Old Republic video game, starting with Revan and Bastilla contemplating their future together. But a threat to the galaxy begins to reveal itself, forcing Revan to leave his wife and unborn child behind to make sure the world is a safe place for his family in the years to come. On the way he encounters Scourge, a Sith strong in the dark side of the Force who intends to break his willpower.

A storm is coming, and there is no escape.

Revan: hero, traitor, conqueror, villain, savior. A Jedi who left Coruscant to defeat Mandalorians — and returned a disciple of the dark side, bent on destroying the Republic. The Jedi Council gave Revan his life back, but the price of redemption was high. His memories have been erased. All that’s left are nightmares—and deep, abiding fear.

What exactly happened beyond the Outer Rim? Revan can’t quite remember, yet can’t entirely forget. Somehow he stumbled across a terrible secret that threatens the very existence of the Republic. With no idea what it is, or how to stop it, Revan may very well fail, for he’s never faced a more powerful and diabolic enemy. But only death can stop him from trying.

Legends
Legends
Adult Novel

Bloodlines

Written by
Karen Traviss
Artwork by
In this solid entry in the Legacy of the Force series, a number of storylines intertwine, revolving around the Solo family. Jacen continues down the dark path he began down in this book’s predecessor, Betrayal, under the influence of a dark side Force user from Luke’s past, Lumiya. Meanwhile, Han and Leia seek to intervene in the pending Civil War that threatens the Galactic Alliance by returning to Han’s homeward of Corellia. Upon returning, they find out that Han’s estranged cousin, Thrackan, has a bounty out for Han! Another major plot point in this book is concerning an aging Boba Fett, whose past has caught up with him and who might have to team up with an old nemesis in order to get a job done. For both Fett and the Solos, they will have to reckon with the idea of legacy. This book relies heavily upon numerous elements of the Legends universe, including the New Jedi Order, the Corellian trilogy, the Mandalorian culture fleshed out in Karen Traviss’s Republic Commando series, and even the old Marvel comics!

A new era of exciting adventures and shocking revelations continues to unfold, as the legendary Star Wars saga sweeps forward into astonishing new territory.

Civil war looms as the fledgling Galactic Alliance confronts a growing number of rebellious worlds-and the approaching war is tearing the Skywalker and Solo families apart. Han and Leia return to Han's homeworld, Corellia, the heart of the resistance. Their children, Jacen and Jaina, are soldiers in the Galactic Alliance's campaign to crush the insurgents.

Jacen, now a complete master of the Force, has his own plans to bring order to the galaxy. Guided by his Sith mentor, Lumiya, and with Luke's young son Ben at his side, Jacen embarks on the same path that his grandfather Darth Vader once did. And while Han and Leia watch their only son become a stranger, a secret assassin entangles the couple with a dreaded name from Han's past: Boba Fett. In the new galactic order, friends and enemies are no longer what they seem.…

Legends
Legends
Adult Novel

Slave Ship

Written by
K.W. Jeter
Artwork by
Boba Fett lives. His enemies would be less than thrilled to find this out. So he fakes his death by abandoning Slave I and stealing Bossk’s ship, The Hound’s Tooth. Bossk leads the opposing faction of the bounty hunter’s guild against Fett in a survival-of-the-fittest race to capture the incredibly lucrative bounty on a high-ranking traitorous stormtrooper. All the while, Prince Xizor manipulates the factions from the shadows…

He's both feared and admired, respected and despised. Boba Fett is the galaxy's most successful bounty hunter. Now he finds himself the hunted in the oldest game of all: survival of the fittest.

The once powerful Bounty Hunter's Guild has been shattered into warring factions. Now the posting of an enormous bounty on a renegade Imperial stormtrooper is about to start a frenzy of murderous greed.

Hoping to fuel rumors of his death, Boba Fett abandons his ship, Slave I, and sets out to claim the prize. Yet his every move leads him closer to a trap set by the cunning Prince Xizor. Fett will die before becoming Xizor's pawn in the Emperor's war against the Rebels. And he may have to. For in order to gain his freedom he must outwit a sentient weapon that feeds on human spirits. Then he must escape a galaxy of deadly enemies who want to make the rumors of his death a reality.

Legends
Legends
Adult Novel

The Mandalorian Armor

Written by
K.W. Jeter
Artwork by
In a sprawlingly complex and thrilling tale of betrayal and blurred lines of loyalty, the Bounty Hunter Wars trilogy is the deep dive into the characters of the bounty hunters The Empire Strikes Back left us hungry for. Simultaneously taking place prior to Episode V and post-Return of the Jedi, Boba Fett is the pivotal player in the dissolution of the infamous guild of bounty hunters. Shadows of the Empire’s villain and head of the Black Sun organization, Prince Xizor, hires spider-like guild leader Kud’ar Mub’at to cull the guild and leave only the best surviving. The fallout of the clan’s destruction has long-term consequences, as various clan members position for power after Fett falls into the Sarlaac pit. But Legends Fett lives to fight another day. He uncovers a conspacy involving the Rebel Alliance, the Kuat shipyards, and even the Skywalkers themselves…

He's the most feared and successful bounty hunter in the galaxy. He is Boba Fett, and even the most hardened criminals tremble at his name. Now he faces the deadliest challenge of his infamous career--an all-out war against his most dangerous enemies.

As the Rebellion gathers force, Prince Xizor proposes a cunning plan to the Emperor and Darth Vader: smash the power of the Bounty Hunters Guild by turning its members against each other. Only the strongest and most ruthless will survive, and they can be used against the Rebellion. It's a job for the fiercely independent Boba Fett, who jumps at the chance to destroy his rivals. But Fett soon realizes the game is rigged, as he finds himself the target of murderous factions, criminal conspiracies, and the evil at the Empire's dark heart. Boba Fett has always finished first. And in this game, anything less is death.

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