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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.