Welcome to the first post of the Thrawn Trilogy retrospective! First, let’s gloss over the history. Heir to the Empire was published in 1991 by Bantam Spectra, and was the first novel in the post-Return of the Jedi era of the Expanded Universe. Many people didn’t think the series would perform very well, but instead it sold out at nearly every bookstore and went through multiple printings. Bantam decided to continue publishing Star Wars novels, and here we are in 2014, with a sequel trilogy in production and the Expanded Universe spawned by the Thrawn Trilogy having been deemed non-canon. People thought Star Wars was dead when Heir was released; it’s debatable whether the prequel trilogy and sequel trilogy would’ve ever happened if this insurgence hadn’t occurred.
Onto the book! Heir to the Empire starts with a Star Destroyer, as do all Timothy Zahn’s novels set in the Rebellion and New Republic era. It’s a fitting start, as the Original Trilogy also started with the Imperials; and because the series later became known as the “Thrawn” trilogy, after the principal antagonist Grand Admiral Thrawn. We’re first introduced to Captain Pellaeon of the Star Destroyer Chimaera, and learn that he was present at the Battle of Endor and was responsible for the Imperial Fleet’s retreat. Somehow he met up with Thrawn not long before the series begins, and now they are starting their campaign against the Rebellion in earnest.