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A review by spacemanchris
Thrawn by Timothy Zahn
5.0
Even when false, legends can be most informative.
This is the first Disney-canon Star Wars novel I've read. I was a big fan of the Expanded Universe and disappointed (though not surprised) at its end. It wasn't so much out of anger (well, a little) but because I'd invested so many years of my life into this universe and for it to just... end without warning was enough to convince me not to bother with these new hard canon novels...with the caveat that I would make an exception for novels written by those heavily involved in the creation of the Expanded Universe in the first place.
To say Timothy Zahn is one of those authors is a huge understatement. His "Thrawn Trilogy" helped kickstart the EU and kept Star Wars alive in the dark times between the original trilogy and the prequels. And a big part of why these novels are so beloved is because of a blue skinned, red eyed Imperial admiral who goes by the difficult to pronounce name of Mitth'raw'nuruodo.
When Thrawn was announced as appearing in the animated Clone Wars series I was excited but apprehensive. Excited because one of the best characters (or an approximation) of the EU was becoming canon. And I was nervous because the only writer ever to do him justice was Zahn.
So Zahn and Thrawn together again for the first time was too good to pass up. It's a shame that it's not the Thrawn I fell in love with because of the many differences in canon, but I attempted to put that to the back of my mind. And to Zahn's credit he seems to have written this in a very particular way so that it can just as easily slot into the defunct Expanded Universe as well as the new canon. There are hints to the events of Outbound Flight, characters like Captain Parck, ships like the Chimaera put a smile on my face.
As Thrawn is such a mysteriously alien character (even for Star Wars), Zahn will usually write from the point of view of those around him. In the past that's been Captain Pellaeon and Jorj Car'das, here it's Eli Vanto a very normal supply cadet who happens to have a vague familiarity with the Chiss.
I really liked Vanto, I can relate to his frustration of being stuck in a career he didn't necessarily want or plan for. At times he feels like he's just a pawn or a pet, being manipulated by those around him, so it's interesting to see the evolution of his relationship with Thrawn. Vanto secretly sacrifices his own career prospects to protect Thrawn, a man he doesn't really know that well or trust that much. It says a lot about Vanto's honor that he's willing to do this and it's always nice to see the less overtly evil characters associated with the Empire. Early on it's clear that Thrawn sees something in Vanto that he himself is unaware of and that's why he's building him up as a protege of sorts.
The other major character is Arihnda Pryce who begins the story by being betrayed and outmaneuvered, which gives her a resolve to ensure that never happens again. I really liked Pryce, another strong female character from Zahn. Her evolution was an interesting one as she effectively ends the story as a 'bad guy', but in such a way that you understand why she's arrived at this place. I suspect she appears in 'Rebels', so I'm curious to know whether she's as fleshed out there as she is here. It took me awhile to peice together how Pryce was going to fit into the story as she had an indenepdant plotline that only seemed to occasionally intersect with Thrawn's. I thought I'd figured it out halfway through but the story took a different turn.
Something new is seeing things from Thrawn's point of view. We get to experience how he reads the body language and inflections of those he's interacting with, as well as what appear to be journal entries at the start of each chapter. He still seems very aloof but towards the end he has several very pointed conversations about why exactly he agreed to join the Empire and whether he agrees with it in a fundamental level. He openly comments that evil needs to be obliterated which got me wondering since Palpatine is very clearly evil. Thankfully this is addressed satisfactorily later on.
In fact I went through a bit of an epiphany reading this. I went in thinking this isn't my Thrawn. It can't be because he's in this new timeline, but once he explained what he meant by evil and why he sided with the Empire I was like "Oh shit, this is my Thrawn."
There's always a risk of lessening a mysterious character when you delve into their past and show their motivations. Originally Thrawn was just a terrifyingly effective Admiral who had a real chance at destroying the New Republic, but as Zahn expands upon the character we learn more and more about him. We see him less of a villain and more of a conflicted man trying to do the best in the situation he's in. There's a moment where Thrawn implies there was a time where he might have joined the Rebellion, or at least helped bring the Empire down. There's a part of me who'd very much like to see that very of the character.
It feels appropriate that my first 'new canon' Star Wars novel was written by Timothy Zahn, considering his importance to the Expanded Universe. If he returns for more Star Wars I'll be there, whether it's Thrawn or not. But right now this is going to be my last Star Wars book for awhile. If it's the only one I ever read, I think I've made the right choice.
What is remembered says a great deal about those doing the remembering..
This is the first Disney-canon Star Wars novel I've read. I was a big fan of the Expanded Universe and disappointed (though not surprised) at its end. It wasn't so much out of anger (well, a little) but because I'd invested so many years of my life into this universe and for it to just... end without warning was enough to convince me not to bother with these new hard canon novels...with the caveat that I would make an exception for novels written by those heavily involved in the creation of the Expanded Universe in the first place.
To say Timothy Zahn is one of those authors is a huge understatement. His "Thrawn Trilogy" helped kickstart the EU and kept Star Wars alive in the dark times between the original trilogy and the prequels. And a big part of why these novels are so beloved is because of a blue skinned, red eyed Imperial admiral who goes by the difficult to pronounce name of Mitth'raw'nuruodo.
When Thrawn was announced as appearing in the animated Clone Wars series I was excited but apprehensive. Excited because one of the best characters (or an approximation) of the EU was becoming canon. And I was nervous because the only writer ever to do him justice was Zahn.
So Zahn and Thrawn together again for the first time was too good to pass up. It's a shame that it's not the Thrawn I fell in love with because of the many differences in canon, but I attempted to put that to the back of my mind. And to Zahn's credit he seems to have written this in a very particular way so that it can just as easily slot into the defunct Expanded Universe as well as the new canon. There are hints to the events of Outbound Flight, characters like Captain Parck, ships like the Chimaera put a smile on my face.
As Thrawn is such a mysteriously alien character (even for Star Wars), Zahn will usually write from the point of view of those around him. In the past that's been Captain Pellaeon and Jorj Car'das, here it's Eli Vanto a very normal supply cadet who happens to have a vague familiarity with the Chiss.
I really liked Vanto, I can relate to his frustration of being stuck in a career he didn't necessarily want or plan for. At times he feels like he's just a pawn or a pet, being manipulated by those around him, so it's interesting to see the evolution of his relationship with Thrawn. Vanto secretly sacrifices his own career prospects to protect Thrawn, a man he doesn't really know that well or trust that much. It says a lot about Vanto's honor that he's willing to do this and it's always nice to see the less overtly evil characters associated with the Empire. Early on it's clear that Thrawn sees something in Vanto that he himself is unaware of and that's why he's building him up as a protege of sorts.
The other major character is Arihnda Pryce who begins the story by being betrayed and outmaneuvered, which gives her a resolve to ensure that never happens again. I really liked Pryce, another strong female character from Zahn. Her evolution was an interesting one as she effectively ends the story as a 'bad guy', but in such a way that you understand why she's arrived at this place. I suspect she appears in 'Rebels', so I'm curious to know whether she's as fleshed out there as she is here. It took me awhile to peice together how Pryce was going to fit into the story as she had an indenepdant plotline that only seemed to occasionally intersect with Thrawn's. I thought I'd figured it out halfway through but the story took a different turn.
Something new is seeing things from Thrawn's point of view. We get to experience how he reads the body language and inflections of those he's interacting with, as well as what appear to be journal entries at the start of each chapter. He still seems very aloof but towards the end he has several very pointed conversations about why exactly he agreed to join the Empire and whether he agrees with it in a fundamental level. He openly comments that evil needs to be obliterated which got me wondering since Palpatine is very clearly evil. Thankfully this is addressed satisfactorily later on.
In fact I went through a bit of an epiphany reading this. I went in thinking this isn't my Thrawn. It can't be because he's in this new timeline, but once he explained what he meant by evil and why he sided with the Empire I was like "Oh shit, this is my Thrawn."
There's always a risk of lessening a mysterious character when you delve into their past and show their motivations. Originally Thrawn was just a terrifyingly effective Admiral who had a real chance at destroying the New Republic, but as Zahn expands upon the character we learn more and more about him. We see him less of a villain and more of a conflicted man trying to do the best in the situation he's in. There's a moment where Thrawn implies there was a time where he might have joined the Rebellion, or at least helped bring the Empire down. There's a part of me who'd very much like to see that very of the character.
It feels appropriate that my first 'new canon' Star Wars novel was written by Timothy Zahn, considering his importance to the Expanded Universe. If he returns for more Star Wars I'll be there, whether it's Thrawn or not. But right now this is going to be my last Star Wars book for awhile. If it's the only one I ever read, I think I've made the right choice.
What is remembered says a great deal about those doing the remembering..