I saw an ad for the upcoming House of the Dragon and I was thinking how there was a time when I would've been pumped for GOT related content but that was before one of the best shows ever crashed and burned. I also decided not to give them another dime till GRRM finishes the books (if he ever does). Luckily I read them all between seasons 5 and 6 so I feel really bad for people who read the first one back in the 90s. It is funny but to this day I won't start a fantasy series if it isn't complete. I remember when I read Wheel of Time it felt so good to read a completed series.
Do you blame GRRM or D&D more for how the show ended? I know the Night King isn't in the books like the show (but I bet the books will have a better resolution to the dead). I also have to wonder if wokeness had anything to do with the decline of the show. Arya is one of my favorite characters and I know they claim they had planned for her to kill the night king all along but I can't help but think if the show had been made 5 to 10 years prior that Jon Snow would have had a more substantial role. I get GRRM likes to subvert tropes (in a good way unlike hollywood) but I think at the very least he should've fought the Night King, or him and Arya together, although they seem to not like the idea of men and women working together.
I also wonder if the reaction to Sansa getting raped had anything to do with the direction of the show. To this day I don't understand all these screeching feminists who get so worked up over a fictional rape but can't seem to find any sympathy for victims of ACTUAL sex trafficking. The Song of Ice and Fire is a brutal world. Plenty of men get tortured and attacked but I will never understand why men can be killed left and right but if someone says a cross word to a woman then the screeching harpies show up on social media.
No, I haven't read any EU books, only watched Clone Wars series. I'm interested in reading some of the best novels, but not sure where to find a list or order to read them in.
There is a website for Star Wars EU. They have a list but I’d start with the Heir to the Empire Trilogy. Takes place like 5 years after ROTJ. Much better version of Luke and Han doesn’t abandon his family.
I'll second the recommendation of the Thrawn trilogy, starting with Heir to the Empire. It's just good Star Wars, with a unique, well-constructed villain.
I'm also a fan of Rebel Dream and Rebel Dawn from the New Jedi Order series. They're not really standalone books - they're about one rearguard in a larger conflict - but I'd read them even if you don't care for the rest of that series.
The trilogy the others are talking about consists of
Heir to the Empire
Dark Force Rising
The Last Command
The author is Timothy Zahn.
This is the real sequel trilogy in my mind. Always has been.