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4.18 AVERAGE
4.18 AVERAGE
adventurous
funny
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
This appears to be my gateway back into the Star Wars mythology (though the Darth Vader comics from Marvel helped, too). I've read a couple of the new novels but experienced varying degrees of disappointment in them. This did not only meet expectations, but exceeded them by a considerable margin.
It has convinced me to catch up on the "Rebels" TV series and give more of the novels a chance. I'd given up after the last one I tried.
This is Sherlock Holmes in the Star Wars universe. This is one of my favorite "Legends" characters re-imagined by his creator for the new canon without a disappointing retread. This is a fun story told in an almost serialized fashion but collected in a single novel. The structure lends itself the the reading equivalent of binge watching. Each chapter is a story within itself all adding up to a greater narrative. And that's how shows on Netflix work these days. They have great single episodes telling their own story that combine to a (hopefully) memorable season arc.
It has convinced me to catch up on the "Rebels" TV series and give more of the novels a chance. I'd given up after the last one I tried.
This is Sherlock Holmes in the Star Wars universe. This is one of my favorite "Legends" characters re-imagined by his creator for the new canon without a disappointing retread. This is a fun story told in an almost serialized fashion but collected in a single novel. The structure lends itself the the reading equivalent of binge watching. Each chapter is a story within itself all adding up to a greater narrative. And that's how shows on Netflix work these days. They have great single episodes telling their own story that combine to a (hopefully) memorable season arc.
Brilliant. An extremely complex and nuanced character brought to life on the page. Really interested to see how the rest of the series is.
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
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:
No
kickass, this kicks so much ass.
rarely does a book make me audibly go "fuck yea", but this one does. thrawn is so cool and i love eli vanto. we need more eli vanto in star wars.
this has everything i love in star wars; political intrigue, amazing one-liners, a healthy cast of memorable characters, awesome action, the works!! the writing isn't the most sophisticated, but it's easy and glides off the page. sometimes the descriptions are rather lacking, and i'd imagine someone less familiar with the star wars universe than i would struggle to understand some aspects of the book.
star wars extended media is a shitshow sometimes, the legacy novels prove that it's really easy for the cannon beyond the movies and some of the tv shows to suck complete ass. this trilogy, especially this entry is a clear exception. disney did right by yoinking thrawn, one of the few good aspects of the legacy cannon, having timothy zahn continue to write it, and somehow make it even better.
fuck yea, this kicks so much ass.
rarely does a book make me audibly go "fuck yea", but this one does. thrawn is so cool and i love eli vanto. we need more eli vanto in star wars.
this has everything i love in star wars; political intrigue, amazing one-liners, a healthy cast of memorable characters, awesome action, the works!! the writing isn't the most sophisticated, but it's easy and glides off the page. sometimes the descriptions are rather lacking, and i'd imagine someone less familiar with the star wars universe than i would struggle to understand some aspects of the book.
star wars extended media is a shitshow sometimes, the legacy novels prove that it's really easy for the cannon beyond the movies and some of the tv shows to suck complete ass. this trilogy, especially this entry is a clear exception. disney did right by yoinking thrawn, one of the few good aspects of the legacy cannon, having timothy zahn continue to write it, and somehow make it even better.
fuck yea, this kicks so much ass.
Thrawn is a complex and powerful character that works so well for a book about the ‘enemy’ of the Star Wars universe. Big fan of how the story takes place over a few years, it allows us to pack so much sorry and content into a certain amount of pages without wasting any time. Wasn’t really a fan of the Ariyhnda stuff but I see why it’s part of the narrative. Good stuff
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The entire time I was reading this book, I forgot how much I absolutely hated Thrawn in Rebels. That's really saying something.
I came to Thrawn a bit backwards, because I hadn't read the old expanded universe novels (before Disney took over Lucasfilm and tossed basically all of it), but I did know that Admiral Thrawn had been so popular that they basically had to bring him on to their version of the canonverse. I loved Rebels fiercely, and while Governor Pryce was annoyingly neurotic, Thrawn was so deliciously wicked, so obnoxiously clever, that I couldn't find any reason to even respect his intellect.
Enter this book. It doesn't go into Thrawn's early life like Phasma sort of does, and that's fine. I don't need to meet his parents and see his homeworld - I just needed to see how he became the master tactician, and that's exactly what Thrawn does. I felt myself growing to understand his reasoning as Eli Vanto, his aide de camp, did. It was an absolute relief to hear Thrawn's thoughts as to why a culture's art was so important to him, and brilliantly explained so much of his actions in Rebels without being a club over the head.
It was also interesting to see how Thrawn's life intertwined with Pryce's before Rebels began, and to see her evolution into the sunken-eyed fanatic we all know and hate. Mostly, though, I'm here for Thrawn. There were enough twists and turns to keep even the ending from being too predictable, which is always nice and not always a given with Star Wars books.
My only complaints? Too much wincing and ground out dialog. You know what I mean if you've read it.
I came to Thrawn a bit backwards, because I hadn't read the old expanded universe novels (before Disney took over Lucasfilm and tossed basically all of it), but I did know that Admiral Thrawn had been so popular that they basically had to bring him on to their version of the canonverse. I loved Rebels fiercely, and while Governor Pryce was annoyingly neurotic, Thrawn was so deliciously wicked, so obnoxiously clever, that I couldn't find any reason to even respect his intellect.
Enter this book. It doesn't go into Thrawn's early life like Phasma sort of does, and that's fine. I don't need to meet his parents and see his homeworld - I just needed to see how he became the master tactician, and that's exactly what Thrawn does. I felt myself growing to understand his reasoning as Eli Vanto, his aide de camp, did. It was an absolute relief to hear Thrawn's thoughts as to why a culture's art was so important to him, and brilliantly explained so much of his actions in Rebels without being a club over the head.
It was also interesting to see how Thrawn's life intertwined with Pryce's before Rebels began, and to see her evolution into the sunken-eyed fanatic we all know and hate. Mostly, though, I'm here for Thrawn. There were enough twists and turns to keep even the ending from being too predictable, which is always nice and not always a given with Star Wars books.
My only complaints? Too much wincing and ground out dialog. You know what I mean if you've read it.
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-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:
Complicated
I’m on a huge Star Wars hype at the moment, and as someone on a bit of a reading mission, I decided to finally dive into the books. Almost ten years ago now, Star Wars reset its book continuity into two strands: Legends and Canon.
If there was a target market for that reset, it’s probably me. The old extended universe always felt a bit daunting, but I’ve picked up a few deals recently and now own more Star Wars books than I care to admit.
One of the characters to survive the reset is Thrawn, now formally part of canon. Timothy Zahn’s writing is genuinely engaging, and Thrawn makes for a really strong sci-fi read. In many ways, it feels like low sci-fi — the focus is on tactics, political manoeuvring, and the inner workings of the Empire. There’s a strong sense of how individuals and planets respond to growing authoritarianism, and what kind of person actually thrives in that system.
Thrawn himself is written like an anti-hero, almost a Sherlock Holmes figure placed within the Star Wars universe. It’s a fascinating take, and Zahn pulls it off well. The side characters add texture and give new perspectives that help ground the story. Without the usual high-sci-fi heroics and Jedi mysticism, the book feels more grounded, which I really enjoyed.
A great sci-fi book in its own right, and a perfect follow-up if, like me, you loved Andor and want to dig deeper into this side of the galaxy.