Ah, so sad. The games actually typically have better stories, and overall, seem to rub better with the star wars universe.
I've managed to read the books by Zahn, but when trying to read the other star wars books, most of them really...well, to put it lightly, don't strike me as a style of book I like to read.
However, I do beleive Lucas has said the games are not canon, at least KoToR when asked about it. But he does have kids...
I bet that actually is probably a bigger influence than some might assume...
He does have kids...