Lately I have enjoyed escaping into the Star Wars universe during my lunch times at work. In the last few months, I’ve read two trilogies of books in the Star Wars expanded universe. The first is The Thrawn Trilogy, by Timothy Zahn, which chronicles the struggle against the remnants of the empire, five years after Return of the Jedi. This series is probably the most prominent set of Star Wars novels, and I highly recommend it. The second series was The Jedi Academy Trilogy, by Kevin J. Anderson, which tells the story of Luke Skywalker forming a new order of Jedi Knights. Both series were fun and action-packed and a pleasant reunion with the familiar characters from the original Star Wars trilogy of films.