Thrawn by Timothy Zahn

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “The origin story of one of the greatest Star Wars villains . . . a book that fans have wanted for decades.”—The Verge One of the most cunning and ruthless warriors in the history of the Galactic Empire, Grand Admiral Thrawn is also one of the most captivating villains in the Star Wars universe. Since his introduction in bestselling author Timothy Zahn’s classic Heir to the Empire, Grand Admiral Thrawn has earned an iconic status equal only to the most notorious of Sith lords, Darth Vader. But Thrawn’s origins and the story of his rise in the Imperial ranks have remained mysterious. Now, in Star Wars: Thrawn, Zahn chronicles the fateful events that launched the blue-skinned, red-eyed master of military strategy and lethal warfare into the highest realms of power—and infamy. After Thrawn is rescued from exile by Imperial soldiers, his deadly ingenuity and keen tactical abilities swiftly capture the attention of Emperor Palpatine. And just as quickly, Thrawn proves to be as indispensable to the Empire as he is ambitious; as devoted as its most loyal servant, Darth Vader; and a brilliant warrior never to be underestimated. On missions to rout smugglers, snare spies, and defeat pirates, he triumphs time and again—even as his renegade methods infuriate superiors while inspiring ever greater admiration from the Empire. As one promotion follows another in his rapid ascension to greater power, he schools his trusted aide, Ensign Eli Vanto, in the arts of combat and leadership, and the secrets of claiming victory. But even though Thrawn dominates the battlefield, he has much to learn in the arena of politics where ruthless administrator Arihnda Pryce holds the power to be a potent ally or a brutal enemy. All these lessons will be put to the ultimate test when Thrawn rises to admiral and must pit all the knowledge, instincts, and battle forces at his command against an insurgent uprising that threatens not only innocent lives but also the Empire’s grip on the galaxy—and his own carefully laid plans for future ascendancy.

Executive Summary: After a slow start, I really enjoyed this book a lot. But I spent the whole book rooting for a member of the Empire, and I feel dirty for it.

Audiobook: Marc Thompson is so good, that I really don't want to listen to a Star Wars book he doesn't narrate. You get the usual Star Wars audiobook treatment here: Music, Sound effects and a narrator who can do all the voices, making this feel more like a radio drama than a novel at times. Generally I find music in audiobooks distracting, but the Star Wars books always do it right, and make any book narrated by Mr. Thompson a must listen for me.

Full Review
I always loved the Star Wars movies as a kid, but I was never a big enough fan to jump into the Expanded Universe (Legends) books until I was much older. Shortly after I did, Disney bought Lucas and it made all of that stuff non-canon. The one series I did read, was the one that everyone seemed to recommend the most: The Thrawn trilogy.

I enjoyed that trilogy, especially in audio. Often dubbed the third trilogy, it was a pretty good attempt to tell a bit story after the end of Return of the Jedi. I enjoyed those books, but I didn't love them. The main antagonist however, was fantastic. Thrawn made for a very different character than the emperor and Vadar. I also found Mara Jade another excellent character. Timothy Zahn's contribution to Star Wars was substantial. It was a shame to see those characters suddenly be relegated to “Legends”. I understand why they did it though.

Fast forward a few years, and when I saw the announcement that Thrawn was being added back into the canon again, first on the excellent Star Wars Rebels show, and later with a new book written by Timothy Zahn and I was really excited.

I don't remember a whole lot about the original Thrawn series beyond the characteristics of Thrawn himself. Most of the other characters and plot details are hazy at best. What is fresh however is his appearance on Rebels. This book serves as a backstory of sorts. How Grand Admiral Thrawn came to be such a highly ranked member of the Imperial Fleet.

You get a lot more insight into his thinking. At times I found that a bit tedious, especially the parts where he was observing people's facial movements in order to evaluate what they were thinking. However as the book went on that seemed to be a bit less frequent, or maybe I just finally got used to it.

The character is so well done, that I found myself rooting for him to outmaneuver everyone he went up against, and forgot that he was working for the Empire. He's certainly not the villain in this book that he was in the original trilogy, or that he's portrayed on the Rebels show. It probably helps that none of the usual heroes are present to oppose him. Much of his issue stems from the empire itself. I enjoyed getting this kind of view of the character.

The secondary characters were quite good as well. Not quite to the standards of the original series, but memorable nonetheless. Eli Vanto is definitely a new favorite, and I hope we get more stories about him in addition to Thrawn. Marinda Price was another interesting character, who despite being a secondary character, got quite a lot of character development.

Originally I was wondering what her story had to do with the plot, and I found the early parts of her sections slow. Eventually though her story got more interesting, and its relevance was revealed.

Overall, I thought this was a really enjoyable addition, and I hope that it's only the start, because while we got a lot of interesting backstory on Thrawn, I found myself with a lot more questions than answers. I especially want to see where this fits in with the final season of the Rebels show.

Wonderfully written for Star Wars fans

This book is brilliantly well written and offers up lots of Star Wars lore. There are a LOT of strategical moments and it is written for those that love to think whilst they read. Would recommend being ready to concentrate!