Tag Archives: thrawn

Review: Thrawn Ascendancy: Greater Good

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Thrawn and Zahn are back! Again! Out today, Thrawn Ascendancy: Greater Good by Timothy Zahn continues to delve into both the Chiss society and Thrawn himself prior to his eventual Imperial service. We’re firmly in uncharted territory now which means there are surprises a plenty between these two covers for both old school Thrawn fans and new ones. But just what sort of trouble has Thrawn and his complete and utter lack of political awareness gotten into this time?

Now a Senior Captain in the Chiss Expansionary Defense Fleet, Thrawn is doing relatively well for himself especially since he’s fresh off a collaborative victory. The Springhawk heads to the Rapacc system only to find themselves drawn into a refugee situation that’s far more complicated than it seems at first glance. Meanwhile, an Agbui named Haplif has convinced a naïve young Chiss on his gap year to help his group get use of a small stretch of land… and his reasons for doing so don’t seem entirely above board.   Continue reading →

Review: Thrawn Ascendancy: Chaos Rising

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When a character like Thrawn has been around for almost thirty year and been a well-loved part of both the Legends and new canon universes, you’d think you might know just about everything there is to know about him. Timothy Zahn hears your speculation, smiles, and then kindly tells you that you are wrong in the form of a novel. The first in a brand new Thrawn-centric trilogy, Thrawn Ascendancy: Chaos Rising reminds us that while we know Thrawn fairly well in his capacity as an officer in the Galactic Empire, we really know nothing about the person he was back in the Chiss Ascendancy. And oh boy are we going to learn.

While the Clone Wars are raging in another part the galaxy, the Chaos has its own problems or, more specifically, the Chiss Ascendancy has its own problems. After an unknown enemy attacks them, Supreme General Ba’kif assigns Senior Captain Thrawn to investigate the matter as captain of the Springhawk. It’s an assignment that can easily go poorly… and bring forth more trouble than any of them could have anticipated for both Thrawn personally and the Ascendancy as a whole. (Unless someone studies their art. Obviously.) Continue reading →

Review: Thrawn: Treason

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“It’s treason then…”

Well. Sort of.

Thrawn: Treason by Timothy Zahn is the latest installment in what we’ve all been doing a disservice in calling the new Thrawn Trilogy instead of Thrawn series. (And to be clear, I’m just as guilty of this as anyone else.) At Celebration Chicago, Zahn said the Thrawn books were not originally conceived as a trilogy. We got more books about Thrawn because they were continuously so well received. The point I’m trying to make here is don’t go into Treason expecting any sort of grand closure. This is just another week in these characters’ lives. And that’s ultimately somewhat frustrating but also okay. Continue reading →

Review: Thrawn: Alliances

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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… Continue reading →

Go/No-Go: Thrawn: Alliances

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nasa-mission-control-3Welcome back to Go/No-Go, Tosche Station’s regular feature where we offer our spoiler-free opinion as to whether or not you should spend your hard-earned money on a book, film, or other entertainment. Today on the launch pad: Star Wars: Thrawn: Alliances. In the highly anticipated sequel to last year’s Thrawn, we get a Thrawn/Vader team up and a Clone Wars era adventure but how did we actually like the book? To mission control for the verdict!

Bria: I didn’t dislike Thrawn but Thrawn: Alliances was a hell of a lot more fun for me. The smaller scale story absolutely works to its benefit and also PADMÉ! There was lots of Padmé in this book! (I know what I’m about.) Also… it’s basically a Vader and Thrawn road trip which is everything I ever wanted but didn’t know until now. (Also I am now inclined to defend Karyn Faro with my life. Can she go hang out with SLOANE?) Zahn does an excellent job of telling both the Clone Wars era and the current timeline story, weaving them together and slowly showing us how they’re connected. This feels like one of those books that will appeal to a broad range of Star Wars fans and for different reasons. It may not be my favorite Star Wars book ever but it was definitely hard as hell to put down. Thrawn: Alliances gets a GO from me.

Nanci: Like Bria, I enjoyed Thrawn but Thrawn: Alliances hit way more buttons for me. I’ll say this right off the bat – it is my favorite Del Rey book of the new canon. That’s high praise from me, especially for a book that partly takes place during the prequel era (not my jam), but Zahn proves once again why he’s the master of writing Star Wars books. The two plot lines (Thrawn, Anakin, and Padmé in the Clone Wars era, and Thrawn and Vader in the Rebels era) weave together expertly, with revelations from one pushing the other forward and adding to the tension. Zahn’s characterization is superb, especially his take on Padmé, a character I’ve had a hard time relating to in the past. The other crew members on the Chimaera add a lot of flavor to the story; my personal favorite is Commodore Faro, and I would love to see more from her in the future. (Can I add that I love how Canon Rukh continues to annoy people as much as his Legends counterpart did?)

The real stars of this book, though, are Thrawn and Anakin/Vader. I love how Anakin and Vader are written so differently (as they should be) while Thrawn remains consistent through both timelines. The scenes with Thrawn and Vader on the Chimaera are where Zahn really shines. The tension between the two men is palpable, as well as the grudging respect. These are two extremely competent men and it is so satisfying to see them forced to work together (although sadly in the service of a fascist dictatorship). Two common Legends criticisms regarding Zahn’s writing had to do with his treatment of Vader and writing Thrawn as too omnipotent or “whitewashed.” While I didn’t share these views, I can safely say that Zahn’s portrayals of both characters are superb and it would be hard pressed for anyone to make the same criticisms here.

Thrawn: Alliances gets the highest of GOs from me. I can’t wait to read Zahn’s next contribution to the Star Wars saga.

Chris: Just to be a broken record, I, too, liked Thrawn but didn’t love it. Alliances, on the other hand, might just be my new favorite Star Wars book. Readers (or listeners to the Book Wars Pod) know that Anakin/Vader is my all-time favorite Star Wars character, so the deck was stacked for me going in, but the parallel plots – between “present” and past – worked together seamlessly, and I could just feel the similarities and differences between the Chosen One’s personas in a way I’ve always wanted to see in the canon. Thrawn, on the other hand, shows us an entirely new side of himself: he’s vulnerable – dare I say, almost human. Watching two titans of the Empire work together and sharpen each other’s skills in the process was a joy to read, as was Zahn’s portrayal of Padmé, who is portrayed not simply as Anakin’s damsel in distress but as a star in her own right, as she should be. Go, go, GO to read Thrawn: Alliances immediately – and start petitioning LFL for more Zahn books.

Flight Director’s Ruling: Thrawn: Alliances is a GO for launch!

Review: Thrawn #1-6

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I’m going to start this review with complete honesty: Timothy Zahn’s Thrawn was fun and I enjoyed it, but it wasn’t my favorite book. I liked learning more about Thrawn and loved Eli Vanto, but the plot felt convoluted at times, and like too much was being shoved in for the sake of building out Thrawn’s entire Imperial past ahead of his appearances on Star Wars Rebels. So, when Lucasfilm and Marvel announced Jody Houser’s comic adaptation of the novel, I wondered how such an intricate plot would transfer to such a different medium.

Which brings me to the point of my review: if you were excited about this adaptation, you’ll probably love it – it’s exactly what you’d expect. Seeing Thrawn in all his imposing, blue glory at the helm of the ISD Chimaera is always a treat, and his dialogue actually transfers quite well to the comic format (I couldn’t not hear Lars Mikkelsen’s voice in my head as I read it). Bonus points to Houser and artist Luke Ross for making Vanto notably not white, as we got a sense of his isolation in the novel due to his Wild Space origins that’s heightened by adding the racial component to others’ disdain here. Continue reading →

Holonet Blast #29

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It was a very New York Comic Con week of news, with the bulk of interesting information coming from the Big Apple.

The Forces of Destiny multimedia line will be getting a comic treatment from IDW. A great list of female writers and artists are attached to work on the series.

2Thrawn2Furious? Thrawn 2: Electric Bluegaloo? Well in any case, Timothy Zahn has submitted the first draft for a sequel to Thrawn. There was also a fantastic Lucasfilm publishing panel containing this announcement, which was recapped here at the official site.

Oh, then of course there’s this.

Get hype, y’all.

Review: Thrawn (audiobook)

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If you’ve listened to the Thrawncast, you know that I’m a big fan both of the character Thrawn and of Timothy Zahn’s writing in general. It was like Christmas when it was announced that not only would Thrawn be coming to Rebels, but that Timothy Zahn would be returning to the world of Star Wars literature to write a new novel featuring everyone’s favorite Chiss.

It’s a year later now, and, here at Tosche Station, at least, we’ve all been pretty happy with Thrawn’s portrayal on-screen in Rebels. How, then, does Timothy Zahn’s new novel Thrawn hold up? Is the magic still there? Is Zahn’s re-introduction of Thrawn to the Star Wars canon awkward, or hindered by trying to fit him into existing continuity? And how does the audiobook — narrated by Mark Thompson, the same performer who recorded the first unabridged audiobooks of the original Thrawn trilogy — represent Zahn’s characters and story? Continue reading →

If You Liked Thrawn, You Should Read…

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While I’m a big fan of the new canon, I also love (some of) the books and characters that are part of the Legends timeline. When the Legends reboot was announced, I was sad not because those stories were coming to an end, but because I’d miss the characters I’d grown to know and love. That was why I was so excited when it was announced at Celebration London that Grand Admiral Thrawn would be the new villain in Season Three of Star Wars Rebels. Not only that, but Timothy Zahn would be writing a book about Thrawn’s rise to power in the Empire.

Thrawn‘s release date has come and gone, as well as the ThrawnCast podcast, in which we revisited the Thrawn Trilogy. Although Thrawn dies at the end of that trilogy (spoilers!), his influence and appearances in Legends do not end with The Last Command. If you’re interested in reading more about Thrawn, but aren’t sure where to start, I present a roadmap to Thrawn’s appearances in Legends. (This also serves as a roadmap to other Zahn books and stories, because pretty much everything he wrote had Thrawn’s fingerprints on it!)

Continue reading →

Review: Thrawn

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It’s likely that no book in the new canon thus far has been as highly anticipated as Thrawn. The announcement at Celebration London last year rocked both the ExCel Center and the Star Wars fandom watching around the world. Not only was Grand Admiral Thrawn making his return to canon but he’d also be starring in a book written by his creator, Timothy Zahn. In short… a beloved character written once more by a beloved author. What could go wrong? Continue reading →