Reviews

I definitely read this out of order, but I was desperate to learn more about Thrawn. He is curious, crafty, cold, and genuinely one of the coolest SW characters I have had the pleasure of reading about. This was a thrilling tale of his rise to Grand Admiral, and I am excited to see where he goes in the rest of his career with the Empire. Definitely one of my favorite SW books to date.

beachybookstack's review against another edition

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4.0

Journey to Grand Admiral basically. The slow reveal of the Death Star project was subtle enough early in the book but becomes really obvious despite not being discussed until the last chapter. I find that Thrawn is interesting and his preference for limiting civilian casualties is... admirable. Meanwhile, Arihnda Pryce just slow falls down the path of power to being a POS politician. Eli is probably the most moral main character as he learns the ropes of imperial tactics. Having him sent off to the Ascendancy was nice of Thrawn lol I'm curious to see if that goes anywhere in the next book.

The full audiobook production was great, music and effects. The narrator, Marc Thompson, gave each character their own personality.

"The malice fades but never entirely disappears" is the perfect description of the Emperor. The stream of Thrawn's internal observations are odd but you get used to them as his thoughts reveal whether he trusts other people or not.