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4.36 AVERAGE
4.36 AVERAGE
I'm DNFing this so I can pick it up again next year and it won' t affect my "Average Time to Finish."
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A well written conclusion to the trilogy, but does leave me feeling sorry for Thrawn as he gives everything for his people but is taken for granted. This trilogy as well as the the other trilogy humanize Thrawn and make him even likeable. A stark contrast to his depiction in rebels.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
“i’ll be gone a year at most” …yeah… definitely…
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Zahn is a masterful writer. This back story about Thrawn more than did justice to his character development in the larger Star Wars universe.
I didn't love it quite like the first in the series, but such a great launch into the second trilogy. Brilliantly done.
In general for the series, as others have said, some parts can be slow (mostly because there are a lot of characters and plot threads) and Thrawn isn't the main character for much of the time. This book fixes one of those two issues: The ending of the trilogy is strong, bringing all those characters and plot threads together, and I greatly enjoyed the story of it.
However, I don't think Thrawn had a single POV scene in the whole book, and unlike the other books in the series, where he was at least present in many scenes, in this book, he wasn't even around. The scenes were written more along the lines of "Well, we know Thrawn is off doing something, but we're not with him, so we don't know what."
Ignoring that issue (because I'm not judging the book on Thrawn, but on the storytelling), the ending of the trilogy's story was strong enough to give this book 5 stars. It made me want to reread the earlier trilogy (which takes place chronologically after this one), so story-wise, it was enjoyable.
However, I don't think Thrawn had a single POV scene in the whole book, and unlike the other books in the series, where he was at least present in many scenes, in this book, he wasn't even around. The scenes were written more along the lines of "Well, we know Thrawn is off doing something, but we're not with him, so we don't know what."
Ignoring that issue (because I'm not judging the book on Thrawn, but on the storytelling), the ending of the trilogy's story was strong enough to give this book 5 stars. It made me want to reread the earlier trilogy (which takes place chronologically after this one), so story-wise, it was enjoyable.
“My job is to protect the Ascendancy and the Chiss people, sir,” Thrawn said quietly. “Whatever it costs to achieve that goal, I will pay it.” 4.5 stars
Yep, this book delivered. Lesser Evil was everything I hoped for and more.
In this third and final installment of the Thrawn: Ascendancy trilogy, all of the pieces fall into place. In Lesser Evil, the Chiss Ascendancy is attacked on all fronts by a fearsome enemy and must not only outmaneuver battle tactics and huge warships, but deflect attempts at political manipulation from the inside. This made for a high-stakes, high-tension ride of a story that had me on the edge of my seat.
The majority of why this book worked was the characters. By this point in the trilogy, the reader is familiar with the major players and knows their habits. Because we are invested in the characters and their relationships, the story is much more invigorating. If I didn’t care about Che’ri and Thalias or Samakro’s dynamic with Thrawn, it would have been a very flat novel. I also loved the relationship we see with Thrass and Thrawn in flashbacks. It was heartwarming to see how Thrass’s mentorship shaped Thrawn as a warrior and leader. I am thankful for the work put into the first 2 books that allowed this third one to be easy reading. If you do the work early on, it definitely pays off later.
The battles in this novel were incredible, as always. I sometimes try to picture these novels as a show or a film and come to the conclusion that it would be a compelling visual array, but the characters’ internal dialogue would be lost. So much of these novels is the characters wrestling with internal choices in a split second, and that adds so much to the tension of the novels.
I will say, I was a little annoyed that there were a couple loose ends, or things that misdirected us but didn’t seem to be super effective.
Overall, Lesser Evil was by far my favorite book of the Thrawn: Ascendancy trilogy. The work one must put into the first 2 books is a lot, but the payoff is great. This makes me super excited to read the other Thrawn trilogies and see what other shenanigans the Chiss gets up to in Lesser Space!
Yep, this book delivered. Lesser Evil was everything I hoped for and more.
In this third and final installment of the Thrawn: Ascendancy trilogy, all of the pieces fall into place. In Lesser Evil, the Chiss Ascendancy is attacked on all fronts by a fearsome enemy and must not only outmaneuver battle tactics and huge warships, but deflect attempts at political manipulation from the inside. This made for a high-stakes, high-tension ride of a story that had me on the edge of my seat.
The majority of why this book worked was the characters. By this point in the trilogy, the reader is familiar with the major players and knows their habits. Because we are invested in the characters and their relationships, the story is much more invigorating. If I didn’t care about Che’ri and Thalias or Samakro’s dynamic with Thrawn, it would have been a very flat novel. I also loved the relationship we see with Thrass and Thrawn in flashbacks. It was heartwarming to see how Thrass’s mentorship shaped Thrawn as a warrior and leader. I am thankful for the work put into the first 2 books that allowed this third one to be easy reading. If you do the work early on, it definitely pays off later.
The battles in this novel were incredible, as always. I sometimes try to picture these novels as a show or a film and come to the conclusion that it would be a compelling visual array, but the characters’ internal dialogue would be lost. So much of these novels is the characters wrestling with internal choices in a split second, and that adds so much to the tension of the novels.
I will say, I was a little annoyed that there were a couple loose ends, or things that misdirected us but didn’t seem to be super effective.
Spoiler
For instance, Borika. She was introduced to us and Thalias, but nothing really came of it. I would have liked to see more of her. Also the misdirection of project Starflash? I would have loved to see that come to fruition because it would have been more of a moral dilemma and make the ending more dramatic.Overall, Lesser Evil was by far my favorite book of the Thrawn: Ascendancy trilogy. The work one must put into the first 2 books is a lot, but the payoff is great. This makes me super excited to read the other Thrawn trilogies and see what other shenanigans the Chiss gets up to in Lesser Space!