Reviews

Alliances by Timothy Zahn

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kritzkrieg's review against another edition

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adventurous tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

harharbinks's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.5

Having the two plotlines intertwined throughout the book was confusing at first. I kept confusing what was happening in each and it was a slow start. However, I really enjoyed the last half of the book and the two plots tied in nicely together.

I understand why people say this is the weakest book of the trilogy. There were still many good parts to this book. In the first book, Thrawn was portrayed as this really smart leader who always knew what to do. When paired up with Vader in this second book, we get to see how their opposite personalities clash and work together. We also get to see what's important to Thrawn and in this case, it is his people.

I liked that they featured Padme in this book, though it frustrates me that she was basically sidelined in Revenge of the Sith because it is so unlike her character.

jreads525's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

tiedyedude's review against another edition

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3.0

I'm almost caught up on the Disney canon Star Wars books. I didn't love the jumps back and forth in time. Like the movies, Anakin was pretty annoying in the flashbacks, and I didn't love the portrayal of Vader, but Thrawn is a very captivating character. A bit of a sophomore slump, I hope the third book is better.

bioniclib's review against another edition

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3.0

I loved the present day Thrawn/Darth team-up.

I didn't really care for the past Thrawn/Anakin team-up. I wasn't a fan of how the jedi double-vision thing worked. It let to a nice gun-on-the-wall moment

Spoiler

when Darth used it to avoid objects in hyperspace, like the Chiss children who are force sensitive do

but it was an awkward construction over the course of the book.

Speaking of the book, I've started Thrawn #3 and that one makes this one an outlier. Thrawn #1 and #3 go together, but #2 here seems to be a tangent. It's a solid, if split into far too many PoVs (Thrawn, Darth, Anakin, Padme, Faro, Kimmund), story but I was expecting this to be part of a trilogy. It's really more of a continuation of a saga.

I did like the re-introduction of Rukh and how Mr. Zahn go to re-intro the cloaking technology into official cannon. I also liked how Padme is a strong character. There was a lot to like about the book but ultimately it missed it's mark with me.