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4.18 AVERAGE
4.18 AVERAGE
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Thrawn is an interesting character, this explains his canon rise in the empire
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Book itself is a 3.5☆ but the audio book is 4☆. It's well narrated and produced to resemble an old fashioned radio program, which is maybe the best way to experience a star wars story.
Tl:dr: it's very good and representative star wars, for better or for worse. If you like star wars, you'll probably enjoy this!
My Likes: I really loved how this takes place over several years. It feels very measured and reasonable how Thrawn, Vanto, and Pryce evolve. It is unafraid of being political, as all good star wars stories must be. And importantly, it centers on why empires cannot last - the prioritization of self-interest, the constant sacrifice of others simply because it is more advantageous for you, and the casual cruelty at its core. Thrawn is also just a fascinating character, especially in his love of culture and how it allows a writer to explore how diverse the star wars galaxy is. I LOVED how much art played into the story. Finally, as a Rebels fan, it's cool to have a prequel for the villains of that show.
My Dislikes: The dialogue is somewhat stilted, as star wars dialogue tends to be. While Thrawn is a genius, that's a hard thing to write and I'm not entirely sure every moment of genius is entirely earned. And while I liked how it critiques the empire, I'm not sure if it does enough to reach the root of why imperial systems are bad. It seemingly lightly agrees with Thrawn that under better leadership, the Empire can be improved; that if it political whims and self interest didn't get in the way, good and honorable commanders would lead the imperial navy and senate. All of which are laughable. To quote Palpatine, it's his empire, one that is founded on human supremacy, dark magic, genocide, slavery, false justice, surveillance, and military conquest and occupation. The critique Thrawn (the character and the book) levy against the empire are not unintended side effects of a broken system, they're the symptoms of a virus working as intended. The book would have landed harder if it took a firmer stance.
Tl:dr: it's very good and representative star wars, for better or for worse. If you like star wars, you'll probably enjoy this!
My Likes: I really loved how this takes place over several years. It feels very measured and reasonable how Thrawn, Vanto, and Pryce evolve. It is unafraid of being political, as all good star wars stories must be. And importantly, it centers on why empires cannot last - the prioritization of self-interest, the constant sacrifice of others simply because it is more advantageous for you, and the casual cruelty at its core. Thrawn is also just a fascinating character, especially in his love of culture and how it allows a writer to explore how diverse the star wars galaxy is. I LOVED how much art played into the story. Finally, as a Rebels fan, it's cool to have a prequel for the villains of that show.
My Dislikes: The dialogue is somewhat stilted, as star wars dialogue tends to be. While Thrawn is a genius, that's a hard thing to write and I'm not entirely sure every moment of genius is entirely earned. And while I liked how it critiques the empire, I'm not sure if it does enough to reach the root of why imperial systems are bad. It seemingly lightly agrees with Thrawn that under better leadership, the Empire can be improved; that if it political whims and self interest didn't get in the way, good and honorable commanders would lead the imperial navy and senate. All of which are laughable. To quote Palpatine, it's his empire, one that is founded on human supremacy, dark magic, genocide, slavery, false justice, surveillance, and military conquest and occupation. The critique Thrawn (the character and the book) levy against the empire are not unintended side effects of a broken system, they're the symptoms of a virus working as intended. The book would have landed harder if it took a firmer stance.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Will complete this trilogy :)
Overall pretty great. The characters of Thrawn and Eli were well done throughout. I've never been a fan of the character of Gov. Price but she was utilized well and here.
2 nitpicky things that stuck out though and dragged everything down.
One is how /everyone/ says "perhaps." At first it was Thrawn's thing and it was cool, but multiple other people started doing it and it irked me after a while.
The other is the timeline shenanigans. The books starts pretty soon after the Emperor took over, when they still have V-Wings, but then they refer to outdated imperial protocol? Maybe, sure. Multiple times throughout the book, too, there are references to old/antique things from the Clone Wars, which ended with the founding of the Empire, and the Empire only lasted like 25ish years.. so they are talking about this ancient, obscure blaster from like 10 whole years ago? Lots of things changed and standardized in the GE, but it's still odd for them to talk like it was multiple generations ago. Especially when Thrawn technically was in the Clone wars himself, as were other characters.
2 nitpicky things that stuck out though and dragged everything down.
One is how /everyone/ says "perhaps." At first it was Thrawn's thing and it was cool, but multiple other people started doing it and it irked me after a while.
The other is the timeline shenanigans. The books starts pretty soon after the Emperor took over, when they still have V-Wings, but then they refer to outdated imperial protocol? Maybe, sure. Multiple times throughout the book, too, there are references to old/antique things from the Clone Wars, which ended with the founding of the Empire, and the Empire only lasted like 25ish years.. so they are talking about this ancient, obscure blaster from like 10 whole years ago? Lots of things changed and standardized in the GE, but it's still odd for them to talk like it was multiple generations ago. Especially when Thrawn technically was in the Clone wars himself, as were other characters.
Just a lil blue guy (very tall and threatening dude) and his emotional support human (translator turned friend) being absolute g’s at battle strategy and making the entire empire look like the absolute silliest of geese.
adventurous
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
challenging
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
What a fantastic addition to the Star Wars universe. The insight into Thrawn’s rise through the Empire, the fantastic character Eli, and all the players we know from Rebels and Clone Wars. So much fun and I couldn’t stop reading.
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:
Complicated
thranto my beloved <3
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes