How Many Star Wars Books Are There? 400+ (2026 List)

There are roughly 400+ Star Wars adult novels as of 2026 — about 80 in the current Disney canon (published after April 2014) and about 320 in the older Legends continuity (1976–2014). Counting young-adult novels, junior novels, children’s books, and reference works raises the figure past 1,000. Adding comic issues pushes the total past 3,000.

In total, across every format, Star Wars has published well over 2,000 books: ~400 adult novels, ~400 young-adult and junior novels, several hundred children’s and reference books, and hundreds of graphic novel collections. The most-cited figure — 400+ — refers to adult novels only.

Approximately 80 adult canon novels have been published since the April 2014 reboot, including the Aftermath trilogy, the new Thrawn trilogy, Thrawn Ascendancy, Lost Stars, Bloodline, Phasma, Master & Apprentice, the full High Republic line, and recent releases like The Mask of Fear and Reign of the Empire.

There are roughly 320+ adult Legends novels published between 1976 and 2014. That includes the original Thrawn trilogy, the 19-book New Jedi Order, the 9-book Legacy of the Force, the 9-book Fate of the Jedi, the 10-book X-wing series, the Darth Bane trilogy, Darth Plagueis, and the Republic Commando and Old Republic novels.

The original run of Star Wars novels from Del Rey and Ballantine in the 1970s–80s consists of a small handful: the A New Hope novelization (1976), Splinter of the Mind’s Eye (1978), the Han Solo Adventures trilogy by Brian Daley (1979–80), the Lando Calrissian Adventures trilogy by L. Neil Smith (1983), and the Empire and Jedi novelizations. That’s roughly 10 books before the 1991 EU boom.

There are two valid orders. Publication order follows release dates and shows how the universe was built. Chronological order follows in-universe BBY/ABY dates — start with The High Republic (Light of the Jedi, ~232 BBY), then Master & Apprentice (40 BBY), Queen’s Shadow (32 BBY), Catalyst and the Clone Wars novels, then Tarkin and Lords of the Sith, Lost Stars, the Aftermath trilogy, and finally Bloodline and Resistance Reborn.

Use BBY/ABY dating. Canon chronological order: High Republic (232–229 BBY) → Master & Apprentice (40 BBY) → Queen’s Shadow (32 BBY) → Brotherhood and Catalyst (22–21 BBY) → Ahsoka (18 BBY) → Tarkin, Lords of the Sith, Thrawn (14–11 BBY) → A New Hope novelization and Lost Stars (0 BBY) → Aftermath trilogy (4–5 ABY) → Bloodline (28 ABY) → Phasma and Resistance Reborn (34 ABY).

The five best starting points are Lost Stars by Claudia Gray (covers the whole original trilogy from two Imperial cadets’ perspective), Thrawn by Timothy Zahn (self-contained and gripping), Bloodline by Claudia Gray (Leia in politics), Master & Apprentice by Claudia Gray (Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan), and Light of the Jedi by Charles Soule (a clean entry point requiring zero prior reading).

Heir to the Empire by Timothy Zahn (1991, Legends) is the most historically important and is widely regarded as the best. Among current canon, Thrawn (2017) and Lost Stars (2015) top most recommendation lists. Matthew Stover’s Revenge of the Sith novelization is frequently called the best film novelization ever written.

Canon is the continuity Lucasfilm currently treats as official: the films, the Disney+ series, and everything published after April 2014. Legends is the rebranded Expanded Universe published between 1976 and April 2014 — still in print, still widely loved, but no longer part of official continuity. Neither is ‘better’; Legends is broader and wilder, canon is tighter and film-coordinated.

Yes. Legends contains some of the finest Star Wars fiction ever written — the Thrawn trilogy, the X-wing series, Darth Plagueis, the Darth Bane trilogy, Shatterpoint, and I, Jedi. Legends being non-canon affects only continuity, not quality. Many canon novels also quietly re-canonize Legends ideas.

Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker — the A New Hope novelization — was published in November 1976, six months before the film. It was credited to George Lucas but ghostwritten by Alan Dean Foster. Foster also wrote Splinter of the Mind’s Eye (1978), the first original Star Wars novel.

Technically yes for one book: the A New Hope novelization was released in November 1976, roughly six months before the film opened in May 1977. But it was a novelization of the completed screenplay, not source material — Star Wars was never based on a pre-existing book.

No. George Lucas is credited on the A New Hope novelization, but Alan Dean Foster ghostwrote it. Lucas did not write any Star Wars novels himself; he approved story outlines and oversaw continuity through Lucasfilm Licensing. Every Star Wars novel has been written by professional novelists under license.

Dozens of authors. The most prolific and acclaimed include Timothy Zahn (Thrawn), Claudia Gray (Lost Stars, Bloodline, Master & Apprentice), James Luceno (Darth Plagueis, Tarkin, Catalyst), Drew Karpyshyn (Darth Bane trilogy, Revan), Matthew Stover (Shatterpoint, Revenge of the Sith), Charles Soule (Light of the Jedi), Alexander Freed (Alphabet Squadron, Rogue One), Michael A. Stackpole (X-wing), Karen Traviss (Republic Commando), and John Jackson Miller (Kenobi, A New Dawn).

The High Republic has produced over 50 titles across three completed phases, including roughly 12 adult novels, a similar number of young-adult novels, several middle-grade books, and multiple comic series. Adult entries include Light of the Jedi, The Rising Storm, The Fallen Star, Convergence, Cataclysm, and Temptation of the Force.

There are nine Thrawn novels by Timothy Zahn. Legends: Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, The Last Command, plus Outbound Flight and Choices of One. Canon: Thrawn, Thrawn: Alliances, Thrawn: Treason, and the three-book Thrawn Ascendancy trilogy (Chaos Rising, Greater Good, Lesser Evil).

For canon: Thrawn Ascendancy: Chaos Rising → Greater Good → Lesser Evil (his Chiss backstory), then Thrawn → Thrawn: Alliances → Thrawn: Treason, then the Thrawn: Ascendancy sequel material and Star Wars Rebels seasons 3–4. For Legends: Outbound Flight → Heir to the Empire → Dark Force Rising → The Last Command.

Read Drew Karpyshyn’s trilogy in publication order, which is also chronological: Darth Bane: Path of Destruction (2006), Darth Bane: Rule of Two (2007), and Darth Bane: Dynasty of Evil (2009). All three are Legends, set roughly 1,000 years before the films, and explain the origin of the Sith Rule of Two.

No. James Luceno’s Darth Plagueis (2012) is Legends. It remains one of the most acclaimed Star Wars novels ever written and much of its characterization of Palpatine is consistent with canon, but the book itself was moved to Legends in the 2014 reboot.

Marvel’s Star Wars comics published since 2015 are full canon, including Star Wars, Darth Vader, Doctor Aphra, and the High Republic comics. Dark Horse comics published between 1991 and 2014 — Dark Empire, Republic, Legacy, Knights of the Old Republic — are Legends.

Star Wars has published well over 3,000 individual comic issues since 1977 across Marvel, Dark Horse, IDW, and Marvel again. As collected graphic novel volumes, the count is in the high hundreds.

Darth Plagueis by James Luceno, the Darth Bane trilogy by Drew Karpyshyn, Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter by Michael Reaves, and Revan by Drew Karpyshyn are the strongest Legends Sith novels. In canon, Shadow of the Sith by Adam Christopher and Lords of the Sith by Paul S. Kemp are the best entry points. For naming your own Sith character, use our Sith Name Generator.

Star Wars audiobooks are unusually strong because they include John Williams’ score and authentic sound effects. The standouts are Thrawn (Marc Thompson), Dooku: Jedi Lost (a full-cast audio drama), Doctor Aphra (full-cast), Heir to the Empire, and the Aftermath trilogy. Marc Thompson narrates a large share of the catalogue and is the definitive Star Wars narrator.

Yes — hundreds. The main lines are Star Wars Jedi Academy (graphic novels for ages 8–12), the Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures middle-grade line, DK’s Star Wars visual dictionaries and readers, Little Golden Books, and the World of Reading early-reader series.

Del Rey and Disney-Lucasfilm Press publish 15–25 new Star Wars titles per year. The 2026 slate continues the Reign of the Empire trilogy, further High Republic follow-ups, and new Mando-era and sequel-era novels. Because dates shift frequently, check StarWars.com’s publishing announcements for the current schedule.

The Old Republic era has roughly 12 novels, all Legends: the Knights of the Old Republic tie-in Revan, Deceived, Fatal Alliance, Annihilation, the Lost Tribe of the Sith collections, and the Old Republic-adjacent Darth Bane trilogy. Read them in this order: Revan → Deceived → Fatal Alliance → Annihilation.

The New Jedi Order is a 19-book Legends series published between 1999 and 2003, covering the Yuuzhan Vong invasion of the galaxy from 25 to 29 ABY. It is the longest single Star Wars book series ever published and famously kills off major legacy characters. Start with Vector Prime by R.A. Salvatore.

This guide lists every major series and the count for each era. For an exhaustive title-by-title index including short stories and reference books, Wookieepedia maintains complete canon and Legends novel categories, and StarWars.com lists all currently in-print titles.

No. The vast majority of Star Wars novels are written as standalones or self-contained trilogies. Only multi-book series like The New Jedi Order, Legacy of the Force, and the Aftermath trilogy require internal order. Pick an era or character you love and start there.