After reading new Star Wars books in detail, I realized some connections between the First Order as well as the Old Expanded Universe and the New. The First Order’s rise to power reminds me of the rise of the Separatists of the Clone Wars and the resurrected Sith Empire in The Old Republic. In the book, Bloodline, it was revealed that some senators of the Galactic Senate planned to secede from the New Republic and join the First Order. This was similar to how the Separatists were formed before the Clone Wars. After the Old Empire was defeated at the Battle of Jakku, the remaining Imperials fled into the uncharted Unknown Regions of the galaxy, where it slowly rebuilt its strength and started an invasion of the larger galaxy. This is similar to how the resurrected Sith Empire was created in the aftermath of the Great Hyperspace War in the Old Expanded Universe. I am loving how Disney is drawing inspiration from all of these past storylines to create the First Order. I look forward to finding out what other references they will use in the future.
Grady P Brown - Author 
Pretty cool, though I’m still curious why they call themselves “The First Order”. What does it mean? First Order of Business?
They are called the First Order because to rebuild the Empire was the first order Emperor Palpatine gave the surviving Imperials through his sentinel droids.
Ok that makes sense