Are Media Tie-In Novels Canon?

Media Tie-In novels are books that take placed in an already established universe. Typically, a movie, television show, or video game franchise. That franchise will have authors write novels using that I.P.'s characters, setting, and story. Often times they will explore side characters, or add more depth to a beloved character, they might even add more context or understanding to the I.P. itself. But a question that many ask is: Is it canon?

Canon or "Canonical' timeline is the official story timeline. A great example of what is vs is not canon is to look at the Star Wars novels. There are two sets of 'canon' timelines. Legend Canon & Disney Canon. When Disney purchased the franchise, they decided to completely reset the expanded universe timeline. So, they announced that all Star Wars books - now called Legend Star Wars books - are no longer considered to be a part of the official timeline. Disney then started publishing Star Wars novels that are 100% canon.

Keeping up with ensuring there are no continuity issues is a lot of work and I need to give Disney credit - they have an incredible team that makes sure everything makes sense, fits correctly, and stays accurate to the timeline without having any continuity issues. Even with the Expanded Universe novels, there were some continuity issues as there was not a team fact checking everything. It's also important to point out that George Lucas considered the novels to be second tier canon. Meaning the movies were official canon, and if another one came out that contradicted a book then the movie was the correct timeline.

I classify media tie in novels in 3 ways; canon, second tier canon, offshoots. Often times media tie in novels fit into 'second tier canon' better than actual canon because if a show is still coming out, they likely have not written the entire storyline out and therefore anything written in a novel may be effectively wrong at a future date. A prime example of this is the Stranger Things franchise. The novels are essentially canon, however when season 5 came out it rendered Suspicious Minds by Gwenda Bond inaccurate in some ways. This is why those novels would be considered second tier canon instead of canon. Why are they not offshoots? This is due to the fact that the Duffer Brothers greenlit the novels and also said when the first one came out that they were canon. (I will note that I can no longer first that quote. Though there is also not a quote of them saying the books are not canon)

When it comes to Stranger Things & Canon though, that will have to be an entirely different post. There are a LOT of media tie in novels. Doctor Who alone has over 250 books, Star Wars has well over 150 in the Legend & Disney canon. They can be complicated to keep track of, let alone figuring out which is perfectly canon. Below I will list the three ways I classify canon and a few examples of each.

True Canon

This is recognized as canon and there is a team making sure the stories always add up and there are no continuity issues. There is also crossover between the two at times.

Examples: Firefly, Star Wars, Doctor Who

Second Tier Canon

This is canon, however, if someone in the show/movie comes out that contradicts a book, the show/movie supersedes.

Examples: Stranger Things, Star Trek (only some), Star Wars Expanded Universe (Pre-Disney)

Offshoot Canon

These are books that take place in the I.P but aren't really canon

Examples: Star Trek (most), Star Wars Expanded Universe (Post-Disney)