Ratings197
Average rating4.2
some neckbeard barnes and noble employee told me in 2005 to read Thrawn, and I distinctly recalling thinking: “I'm not reading a star wars book you fucking nerd shut the fuck up”. I'd like to publicly apologise to that neckbeard, this book was more star wars than star wars, I was arrogant in my youth.
Pretty good book! It's definitely a great change of pace to talk about things from the Imperial point of view and I think that generally makes a good story - discussing both the protagonists and antagonists.
Apparently I've forgotten to add this book to my shelf after a year, which sums it up pretty much.
Didn't really care for the characters or the story, although thrawn himself is pretty bad ass. I liked it at the moment, but now a year latter don't remember much of the key plot points. So it wasn't so good as I thought.
3.5 rounded to 4. Strong start to an ambitious new trilogy and excellent introduction to (would be) Grand Admiral Thrawn.
A thrilling canon introduction to Thrawn with the added perk of an origin story for Rebels character, Governor Price.
Vanto's character worked excellent as a surrogate for the reading, slowly (and eventually) rising in the ranks as he studies Thrawn and his methods and teachings just as I slowly began to understand Thrawn's methods and motivations. The reveal of his true reason for joining the Empire intrigued me. I hope the threats that terrifies the Chiss Ascendency gets explores properly.
You would have to be a fan of not only Star Wars, but specifically of the Heir To The Empire trilogy, to enjoy this. But for those of us that did enjoy that series, this is an interesting look at Thrawn's origin story, and how he rose through the ranks of the Imperial Navy in the early days of the Empire.
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!
I'm always impressed by authors who can write genius characters well. I hadn't read anything by Timothy Zahn before this, but it's clear he has Thrawn's personality down pat. I'm enjoying how blurry the lines of Good vs. Evil are when it comes to Thrawn and his actions. His military decisions usually benefit humanity and minimize casualties, but it's unclear whether that's intentional or just the most prudent action for the time and place. I suspect these decisions will increase in complexity as he continues to rise the ranks in the Imperial Navy.
At times, it felt like there was a certain inevitability and repetitiveness to his advancement up the command chain, but that provided a nice juxtaposition to the stagnation of Ensign Eli Vanto's career. I was less enthralled by the secondary storyline, but things came together nicely in the end and I'm excited to continue on with this series.
See this review and others at The Speculative Shelf.
Solid story, characters, and enjoyed the tie-ins with other Star Wars stories. Didn't like how Thrawn's interior monologue was handled, clumsy.
When Heir to the Empire came out, I was truly wondering who this Thrawn character was, and how dare they say that if he were the one guarding the Death Star, The Emperor would have ruled forever........what and My Lord Vader was just a footnote, so I started reading the first book, just so I can heap all my disgust on this, this Admiral Thrawn, if not for this emotion called love, My Lord Vader, would still be alive and the fates might have given him a different ending............hence the end of the Empire of Emperor Palpatine!!!!
I was honestly surprised that I am particularly starting to root for this blue colored non human, the things he accomplish thru sheer deduction and studying the movements of his opponents.......Masterful!!!! And so my hate for this Admiral, slowly turned to wonder then to hope that he can wrest back the control of the galaxy to the Empire, through the whole series, I was hoping and hoping but ultimately that hope burned.........again The Empire, My Lord Vader.....................defeated again!!!!!!
Years went by................when I learned of this book that will supposedly, tell us how Thrawn became one of the most distinguished Admiral of the Empire, I naturally got a copy, and after finishing it...........so this was how Thrawn began and he met My Lord Vader when he was that foolish jedi Anakin Skywalker!!!!! A truly worthy individual then and an eye opening read........
Great! The Star Wars universe needs the movie on Thrawn to be complete. The story is great. It gives you a different perspective of the empire and most of all shows off amazing characters with lots of layers and the story never gets boring. Recommended reading if you like science fiction!
I gotta say, I have a soft spot for this character and this series.
I grew up reading a lot of science fiction and the Star Wars Expanded Universe was an integral part to that. Yeah, they weren't big, lofty and difficult tomes, but they were fun. Those books did more to flesh out and make the Star Wars universe feel real than any of the movies or official books ever have.
So getting to dip back into Thrawn? Awesome, just awesome. Zahn is a master of pacing these books, building compelling characters and making sure that you, the reader, enjoy yourself.
One again, Timothy Zahn knows how to spin a yarn that keeps me on the edge of my seat and hungry for more. Everyone's favorite Grand Admiral is back, and he's cooler than ever. I can't wait to see what happens next, or how this ties into the new Star Wars universe.
I honestly never really got the hype over Heir To The Empire, which was the series that introduced the character of Thrawn to the Star Wars EU back in the 90s. I feel like people remember it more fondly than it actually is, or appreciate it for what it did to the expanded universe back in the day.
Grand Admiral Thrawn remains a fantastic character though, so I was glad to really get to know him in the Star Wars Rebels series, and now in this book (which serves as a prequel to that series).
Technically, we get Thrawn's origin story in this, but also Governor Pryce's story, which I eventually also found incredibly interesting. The book itself had a really strong start, wandered a bit towards the middle, and then really picked up again by the end. Excellently written, and probably my favorite Empire-focused novel so far. I hope Timothy Zahn ends up tackling a few other novels and characters outside of Thrawn, because I'd definitely be interested in seeing that.
A fantastic tale on the rise of Grand Admiral Thrawn, the Sun Tzu of Star Wars. In some ways, this book felt abbreviated,. like Zahn had more material that fleshed Thrawn out even more, but had been edited. In retrospect, that kept the story from becoming too long.
What I like about this book and the character Thrawn particularly, is that it brings some depth to the black and white universe of Star Wars. Whether intended by the author or not, it shows how people with good intentions can find themselves going down a dark path.
My hands are warm, I hold my mouse tight, my eyes squint at the Goodreads form.
Argh. I wanted to love this book. I love Thrawn and Zahn and still think the original Thrawn series is the best Star Wars prose we've had to date. While there is nothing wrong with this book, Zahn remains an able writer, there just isn't any real development of titular character. It's a weird sort of origin story in that Thrawn does not change over the course of the book. Sure, his human apprentice goes full circle, but I really couldn't care at all about that. We don't really get to know Thrawn as anything more or less than what we already got in the previous EU or Rebels. Ironically, the most well-developed character in the book is Governor Price!
This is not a bad book, but it's also not a particularly impressive one either. Thrawn is a novel that seems more like a necessary work to establish the credentials of the Grand Admiral in the new canon, rather than a truly engrossing take on the character. Why Zahn could not be unshackled to do both is what puzzles me.
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.
Timothy Zahn has again given the Star Wars universe another fantastic story. Thrawn is one of the most fascinating characters I have read. While he may be a “bad guy” Thrawn's motivations are easily understood, and to a point, acceptable. Now we finally have the story of Thrawn's early years with the Imperial Navy, from his home in exile to his promotion to Grand Admiral, and the wait was worth it.