If you’d told me three years ago that we would see Grand Admiral Thrawn not only brought back into canon as a major villain for two seasons of Star Wars Rebels but that we would also have two novels with his name in the title written by Timothy Zahn, I would’ve said that you were crazy and yet here we are. Thrawn: Alliances is out today. Look around, look around, how lucky we are to be alive right now!
Thrawn: Alliances takes place in the aftermath of Star Wars Rebels Season 3 with everyone’s favorite grand admiral fresh off a defeat involving a giant deus ex Bendu. Darth Vader is less than impressed but that doesn’t matter to Palpatine who sends them to the Outer Rim planet of Batuu to investigate a disturbance in the Force. Funnily enough though… they’ve both been there before. It’s where Anakin Skywalker also met Thrawn while he was looking for Padmé who’s gone missing. It sure would be convenient if they were somehow connected…
If last’s year’s Thrawn was Peak Zahn, Thrawn: Alliances can be better described as being more akin to his Legends novels Allegiance and Choices of One. This story is told on a far smaller scale, albeit in two different time frames, and that is most definitely to the book’s advantage. Sprawling narratives that take place over a decade certainly have their place but sometimes you just want a story about just one contained adventure. (Okay, two adventures technically but you get the point.) Zahn intertwines the two stories, slowly delving further into each mystery and revealing the connections between them even as Thrawn and Vader/Anakin figure out how to work with each other and whether or not they can trust each other.
Alliances gives us five different point of view characters (six if you count Vader and Anakin as two different people). In addition to the Skywalker Disaster, we get Thrawn, Padmé, Commodore Faro, and Commander Kimmund, giving us a far more well-rounded view of the stories. The previous Thrawn book only sporadically put us in the titular character’s mind so it was fantastic to get far more of that here. His analytical way of thinking is a perfect fit for the character and helps make up for the tragic lack of Eli Vanto. On the other hand, getting to see the difference and the similarities between how Anakin and Vader think within the same book in somewhat similar situations is downright fascinating even if the Double Vision bits did get irritating at times. What more than made up for it was realizing that Vader thinks about Anakin as a different person who he calls “The Jedi”. Vader’s psyche can be a fascinating one and it’s always great to see authors dive into that concept further.
Aside from story scope, the biggest difference between this book and the previous one is that Thrawn doesn’t really have anyone to show off to (Pellaeon in Legends and Eli in Thrawn). Commodore Karyn Faro fills that role occasionally but never to the extent that Eli did. Instead, he just has Anakin/Vader who is far less impressed. Mostly, he (especially Vader) just seems frustrated with this alien who has the potential to be a rival. It’s very different and helps the character feel fresher and not just another standard Thrawn story.
And then there’s Padmé. Please give me more Padmé. I was very pleasantly surprised to learn that she would be a part of this book and really loved how her story was handled. Yes, Anakin ends up going to Batuu to “rescue” her but she’s never the damsel in distress and is always working on a plan to get herself out of trouble. I’d also like to thank Zahn for somehow making me want a Naboo Handmaidens series even more than I already did. I didn’t think that was possible so well done.
Thrawn: Alliances will likely appeal to a broad range of fans from those who love The Clone Wars to those who prefer Rebels to the Legends fans. Zahn’s one of the hallmark Star Wars authors for a very good reason and he reminds us why here. Alliances is an even better book than the first one and I most definitely recommend it.
Thank you to Del Rey for providing an early copy of the book for review purposes.
