The Old versus New Expanded Universe

I am just tired from the hate posts and hate discussions around the internet, therefore I wanted to spark a discussion in this community with a class and kind behaviour.

People tend to compare new and old, good and bad and there are discussions and battles over the old versus new EU after Disney bought Star Wars. Please, vote in a poll and feel free to write down your opinions on why do you like one or the other, or both!

I will write mine:
The Old EU (George Lucas era) - that is the one I grew up with. I was huge into Star Wars and when I got Thrawn Trilogy for Christmas (It was around 1997 when I was in second grade), with my dad telling me that it is basically new episodes, I lost it! The stories were cool and I loved the new planets, Thrawn and Imperial remnants did make a sense, Mara Jade was actually cool and beliavable and I liked her link to the old trilogy. I liked the EU back then, for what it was. I was Star Wars hungry and as the movies were finished and Prequels coming in, the EU told you the adventures of your favorite heroes after the movies. Looking back, older, I think the old EU is overrated. There were great stories, but with more and more and more, it was a convoluted mess and people complain about there being planet killers in the ST and yeah, the threats could've been more inventive, you had like dozens in EU. And that was the problem. All authors wanted their stories to be SW Episode-like epic, so you had different variations on what was aleady done and for 1 great story, there was 30 not worth reading. Lot of contradictions, Luke being this Jedi uber-hero/godlike. I really hate the Yuuzhan Vong and that whole arc.

Worth mentions: Thrawn Trilogy, Outbound Flight, The Clone Wars comics (that was basically the Clone Wars TV show but in Comic format with lot of the ideas and story beats getting adapted in the canon show)

The New EU (Disney Era) - At first, I was shocked by the news but undestood that you have the old die, to built the movies around the Yuuzhan Vong and ton of weird stories and not being limited. What we got in the end was basically Jaina and Jacen Solo story with Dark Empire in Episode 9 (and I think that one of the reasons I liked the Episode IX was because I loved Dark Empire as a kid and it was in my headcannon with Thrawn trilogy). What I like about the new EU is that everything is canon and thus relevant to the lore. The downside of this is, that lot of the stories are not that epic or they are but it doesn't fit the movies. I love the Darth Vader, Aphra, Poe Dameron comic book series, but I didn't like the main Star Wars run... besides the horrible uncanny valley art with the characters having weird mimic that didn't reflect the situations, the story felt sometimes forced and sometimes too much (looking on you Sho Torun stuff), it simply didn't fit the aesthetics of the films visually or storywise, but there were some good stories like the Rebel sun prison or the Screaming Citadel. I have just read it because I love the lore and everything is cannon, but it was a waste of time and next time, just watching Episodes 4 and 5 will do.
The new books are weak overall... It is either interesting side story that you read for more info or it is intertwinned with the events in the movie. I didn't like the praised Lost Stars, because I didn't liked the characters and living trough the movie events again didn't impress me that much - but there were some interesting things, like recoinassance in x-wings or adjusting the gravity when flying near Death Star. I liked the first Thrawn tough

Overall, I like the new EU more, because it complements the movies and doesn't go sideways and crazy to make itself interesting like the old EU and Marvel Star Wars went that way, but Doctor Aphra does unconventional things and shows that it can be done and it is great and fun! The trick is probably in using completely new characters and not shoehorning the ones you know pretty well into weird situations.

 

I have labeled it as such, because Star Wars was mainly in George Lucas' hands. He called the shots for the main media (Movies, The Clone Wars) and sometimes video games (The infamous visit to the creators of Darth Maul game and making them angry for liking the design of Darth Talon and telling them that she will be great couple with Maul). It was definitely GL era before he sold it to Disney, as he was the sole owner of the franchise. I know his connection to the EU was virtually non-existant creatively, but we know from Clone Wars and Prequels that he borrowed heavily from it - the most jarring example being Aylaa Secura, Coruscant, Korriban/Moraband or the scrapped concept of Yuzhan Vong appearing in the Clone Wars right before the Disney acquisition or the Aurebesh alphabet taken from West End Games.