Thrawn Trilogy, Timothy Zahn
May the Fourth be with you! It's Star Wars day. Let's talk about some of the Star Wars books I've been reading lately.
The Thrawn trilogy is the first series of books published in the Star Wars universe after the release of Return of the Jedi, and long before the prequels became a thing to be anticipated-- in fact, the first book, Heir to the Empire, was released in 1992, so it's almost as old as I am. It takes place five years after Return of the Jedi and follows the new Republic's struggle with the remnants of the Empire, now commanded by Grand Admiral Thrawn and his amazing sidekick Captain Pellaeon. Pellaeon is AMAZING, guys. AMAZING. Even Thrawn thinks so. Anyway. It's obviously been jossed by the new movie, but it's a really engaging story in and of itself.
Beyond the overarching plot, there's also personal development for our Big Three heroes. Luke is starting to spread his wings and settle into his position as the last Jedi Knight and the first of the new order, thinking about taking on some apprentices, thinking about what his place in the Republic is and by extension what the place of the new Jedi order will be, and thinking about what, exactly, it even means to be a Jedi. Leia is the de facto head of the New Republic-- sure, technically it's Mon Mothma but Leia is the one putting out fires, the one people run to. She's also married to Han and pregnant with twins, so she's juggling a shit-ton of work and trying to figure out how to delegate some of this stuff before she explodes. The trouble is, she's not sure if she can trust anyone else to do this work. And Han is struggling with his own place in the Republic-- he resigned his commission, so he no longer has a place in the military, and now he doesn't quite know where he fits in, beyond being Leia's husband and Luke's brother-in-law.
The trilogy also introduces some of the big names of the Extended Universe (now Legends? I think that's what they're calling it?). Grand Admiral Thrawn himself is a great big one, though he's mostly a posthumous character. Captain (later Admiral) (later Grand Admiral) (later Supreme Commander) (kicking and screaming all the way) Pellaeon is another. Thrawn and Pellaeon are very Holmes and Watson, which I love about them. They also humanize the Empire considerably through their characters and actions. In the films, the Empire is an immense monolith. In the Thrawn trilogy and later, it's composed of humans who are genuinely trying to do their best, and often really believe that the Empire is the best way to go about it. They're real people, not faceless stormtroopers, and I really like that about the books.
We also get Talon Karrde, the smuggler with a fondness for puns and accidentally joining the Republic, and his lieutenant Mara Jade, a lady with a mysterious past and a compulsion to kill Luke Skywalker. Which... fair. I mean, even Luke thinks that's fair. Apparently Borsk Fey’lya and Winter first turn up in these books too? I don't know as much about them but they're also pretty cool.
Anyway, apart from all the characters we know and love, the Thrawn trilogy is a genuinely thrilling sci-fi adventure. There's politics, strategy, tactics, interpersonal drama, thrilling escapes, accidental joining of the Republic (Karrde) (you did it, just admit it), Lando turns up to the delight of everyone involved, new planets, awesome aliens, and a great plotline. I think the Thrawn trilogy was a great addition to the Star Wars corpus and I'm so glad Zahn wrote it.
Incidentally, the copy of Heir to the Empire I read was a 20th anniversary ANNOTATED version. The annotations were insightful, greatly increased my enjoyment of the book itself, and most importantly spelled out how to pronounce C'baoth's name. A+ would read again.
This entry is crossposted at http://bookblather.dreamwidth.org/383200.html. Please comment over there if possible.
The Thrawn trilogy is the first series of books published in the Star Wars universe after the release of Return of the Jedi, and long before the prequels became a thing to be anticipated-- in fact, the first book, Heir to the Empire, was released in 1992, so it's almost as old as I am. It takes place five years after Return of the Jedi and follows the new Republic's struggle with the remnants of the Empire, now commanded by Grand Admiral Thrawn and his amazing sidekick Captain Pellaeon. Pellaeon is AMAZING, guys. AMAZING. Even Thrawn thinks so. Anyway. It's obviously been jossed by the new movie, but it's a really engaging story in and of itself.
Beyond the overarching plot, there's also personal development for our Big Three heroes. Luke is starting to spread his wings and settle into his position as the last Jedi Knight and the first of the new order, thinking about taking on some apprentices, thinking about what his place in the Republic is and by extension what the place of the new Jedi order will be, and thinking about what, exactly, it even means to be a Jedi. Leia is the de facto head of the New Republic-- sure, technically it's Mon Mothma but Leia is the one putting out fires, the one people run to. She's also married to Han and pregnant with twins, so she's juggling a shit-ton of work and trying to figure out how to delegate some of this stuff before she explodes. The trouble is, she's not sure if she can trust anyone else to do this work. And Han is struggling with his own place in the Republic-- he resigned his commission, so he no longer has a place in the military, and now he doesn't quite know where he fits in, beyond being Leia's husband and Luke's brother-in-law.
The trilogy also introduces some of the big names of the Extended Universe (now Legends? I think that's what they're calling it?). Grand Admiral Thrawn himself is a great big one, though he's mostly a posthumous character. Captain (later Admiral) (later Grand Admiral) (later Supreme Commander) (kicking and screaming all the way) Pellaeon is another. Thrawn and Pellaeon are very Holmes and Watson, which I love about them. They also humanize the Empire considerably through their characters and actions. In the films, the Empire is an immense monolith. In the Thrawn trilogy and later, it's composed of humans who are genuinely trying to do their best, and often really believe that the Empire is the best way to go about it. They're real people, not faceless stormtroopers, and I really like that about the books.
We also get Talon Karrde, the smuggler with a fondness for puns and accidentally joining the Republic, and his lieutenant Mara Jade, a lady with a mysterious past and a compulsion to kill Luke Skywalker. Which... fair. I mean, even Luke thinks that's fair. Apparently Borsk Fey’lya and Winter first turn up in these books too? I don't know as much about them but they're also pretty cool.
Anyway, apart from all the characters we know and love, the Thrawn trilogy is a genuinely thrilling sci-fi adventure. There's politics, strategy, tactics, interpersonal drama, thrilling escapes, accidental joining of the Republic (Karrde) (you did it, just admit it), Lando turns up to the delight of everyone involved, new planets, awesome aliens, and a great plotline. I think the Thrawn trilogy was a great addition to the Star Wars corpus and I'm so glad Zahn wrote it.
Incidentally, the copy of Heir to the Empire I read was a 20th anniversary ANNOTATED version. The annotations were insightful, greatly increased my enjoyment of the book itself, and most importantly spelled out how to pronounce C'baoth's name. A+ would read again.
This entry is crossposted at http://bookblather.dreamwidth.org/383200.html. Please comment over there if possible.