This is not surprising. If I recall correctly, Disney sent people out to basically read and research all EU material and make the determination from there, what to keep and what not to keep.

I have no issues, because EU was not "George Canon" anyway. George had his own vision of what Star Wars would be (for good or for ill) and then the authors were allowed to do whatever they wanted. There is an understanding, at least on Lucas' and the authors part, that the movies and screen material would always supersede books, comics, novels, etc.

While I have enjoyed several books over the years and own many of them, if Disney wants to take it a different direction, more power to them. It doesn't diminish what has been done, or the books that exist currently.

It is funny, because I was just listening to X2 commentary and Eddie, or Brian, discussed the different time lines of the X-Men universe. Even "Days of Future" past is supposed to deal with discontinuity between First Class and X-Men. So, Star Wars really isn't anything different. There are different ideas and continuities that have been going since "Splinter of a Mind's Eye." Lucas never liked Thrawn or Mara Jade or Luke's marriage, so this isn't really new. It is just now official policy.

And, if anything, go buy old books, play Knights of the Old Republic, and call it good.

Am I suprised or shocked? No. Just disappointed. They could easily have done what the prequels done and kept the broad strokes. They didn't have to use Coruscant as the capital planet.

I don't mean this to be snide but what does this change? Many of the storylines were being wrapped up, or as BDA cited, so convoluted as to lose their meaning. I enjoy things like Thrawn and the like and they will still be there. But, if Lucas had ever done sequels, those books would have been meaningless anyway.

I'm not sure how it affects the old books. They are still there. This means the potential for new books and new material. For me, who has not kept up on all the books and EU, it gives a fresh start to get in to the fandom again.

Just to add quickly, continuity was thrown out once when Lucas did the prequels. I recall a Star Wars Dictionary that highlighted Palpatine's rise to power and the construction of the Death Star, and the prequels obviously squashed those ideas. Like Invid said, if they are starting new, in a way, then there is no need to regard the old material if they have a story already in mind.

I know that fans can get their collective panties in a twist over a studio or artist defining canon in their work, yet fans are welcome to create their own interpretations as well. After all, there are numerous fan edits and the like out there, as well as a general rejection of some parts of the story. So, there really is no reason for fans to accept this new continuity at all.

Star Wars fans are no strangers to this. A few years ago, the Clone Wars cartoon completely rewrote the concept of Mandalore and Mandalorians, which had been explored in great detail in the novels written by Karen Traviss. Allegedly, the disappointment and upset at having her work 'mooted' by a half-hour kids cartoon led her to quit writing for LFL.

I've not read these books so I couldn't say whether the Clone Wars was a better version.

That said, as the articles state, it's not all being thrown out. The big question is what is staying and what is going.