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A review by giouxsie
Outbound Flight by Timothy Zahn
5.0
I was aiming for this to be a 'May the 4th' read as I continue diving into Timothy Zahn's saga of Star Wars but I started early and absolutely consumed the book in just a touch over 3 days! Somehow, Zahn's topped his original trilogy for another 5 star read!
I've said it before and I'll say it again but I just absolutely love how Zahn writes Naval battles and how he creates such a layered villain like Thrawn, who always does sincerely feel like the smartest person in the room (and without being flat or having that 'theyre smart because theyve read the script' problem)! The climatic battle is genuinely just one of my favourite battle sequences I've written, rivalling Joe Abercrombie or John Gwynne's abilities to write battle (though admittedly a different kind).
I started off thinking the Jedi plot was the weakest but I grew to like the contrast of the political investigation Vs the main military thriller plot. And I love how psycho Jorus C'boath was, showing it wasn't the cloning that made him mad, he was always an evil sociopath, even when he was acting as a so-called 'guardian of peace' (genuinely the plot with the children being uncovered gave me such a viscerally sick feeling in my stomach!). I also liked that, aside from a small role for Obi Wan and Anakin (feeling a little like a 'tie into the recent films/show' mandate), this focuses mostly on Zahn's original characters, either created for this book or from his previous entries in the universe.
Next up, time for the sequel (that came out before, for annoying movie related reasons), Survivor's Quest!!
I've said it before and I'll say it again but I just absolutely love how Zahn writes Naval battles and how he creates such a layered villain like Thrawn, who always does sincerely feel like the smartest person in the room (and without being flat or having that 'theyre smart because theyve read the script' problem)! The climatic battle is genuinely just one of my favourite battle sequences I've written, rivalling Joe Abercrombie or John Gwynne's abilities to write battle (though admittedly a different kind).
I started off thinking the Jedi plot was the weakest but I grew to like the contrast of the political investigation Vs the main military thriller plot. And I love how psycho Jorus C'boath was, showing it wasn't the cloning that made him mad, he was always an evil sociopath, even when he was acting as a so-called 'guardian of peace' (genuinely the plot with the children being uncovered gave me such a viscerally sick feeling in my stomach!). I also liked that, aside from a small role for Obi Wan and Anakin (feeling a little like a 'tie into the recent films/show' mandate), this focuses mostly on Zahn's original characters, either created for this book or from his previous entries in the universe.
Next up, time for the sequel (that came out before, for annoying movie related reasons), Survivor's Quest!!