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4.13 AVERAGE
4.13 AVERAGE
A typical Thrawn masterpiece from Mr. Zahn. This story delves more into his past and Chiss culture than any before.
adventurous
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
As someone who grew up on the classic Thrawn trilogy, then the newer Thrawn trilogy, I'm no stranger to the Grand Admiral. But this look into the origin of his tactics, the Chiss people, and the expanse of the Star Wars universe is a delight. I look forward to the other two books of this trilogy.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I liked this origin story better than the other Thrawn book I read a while back. Not sure how I feel about their navigators being called "sky-walkers". Maybe the coincidence will end up having a reason later on?
Interesting that the Republic thinks of the region of space the Chiss inhabit as the Outer Rim*, while the Chiss think of the rest of the galaxy as Lesser Space. I'm having some difficulty grasping the scope of the various systems that are within the Chaos that requires special navigation. It seems like the Chaos must be much smaller than the wider galaxy we're more familiar with, particularly since there were not nearly as many races mentioned in this book.
ETA: My mistake. They're beyond the Outer Rim in the Unknown Regions.
Interesting that the Republic thinks of the region of space the Chiss inhabit as the Outer Rim*, while the Chiss think of the rest of the galaxy as Lesser Space. I'm having some difficulty grasping the scope of the various systems that are within the Chaos that requires special navigation. It seems like the Chaos must be much smaller than the wider galaxy we're more familiar with, particularly since there were not nearly as many races mentioned in this book.
ETA: My mistake. They're beyond the Outer Rim in the Unknown Regions.
A really good story that not only tells the origin of Thrawn, but also takes a deeper look into Chiss culture.
man i love thrawn and timothy zahn and ar’alani and ch’eri and thalias an-
i'm still not sure if the chiss ascendancy were more evil than the empire
I love the flashbacks. Except for one instance, it wasn't a flashback but a hint of that first encounter.
Full review coming but the less you know the better. Feel like Timothy Zahn had this story in his head for decades.
The beginning is really good, but lacks any meaningful character development or world building, but my main problem with the book is that it doesn't feel like Star Wars at all. With some odd limitations of normal space travel, this novel doesn't break into the "normal" Star Wars universe, apart from some name calling, and stays in a limited part of the galaxy. In this part of the galaxy there are several races, all of which seem to be extremely nationalistic and xenophobic, which is in contrast to other Star Wars media. Only one particular "alien" race lives on a planet, and you cannot even visit such a planet as another alien without being observed. At one point in the novel, Thrawn visits an empty city. This city is supposedly a dummy and only serves as a decoy. Only high military authorities know this secret, except for the millions of people who live in the real underground city? That makes no sense at all.