Post by jammer81386 on Jan 13, 2019 6:51:24 GMT
For those who are not familiar, Grand Admiral Thrawn was a popular character from the old expanded universe. He was first introduced in the early 1990s by author Timothy Zahn in his trilogy of Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, and The Last Command. Because of his popularity he was the first character from the old continuity to move over to the current canon with Zahn returning as author.
In short, the novel was very enjoyable. I actually liked it a bit better than Outbound Flight which was Thrawn's "origin story" in Legends continuity. Unlike most Star Wars media, this book is less of an action-adventure story and more of a political thriller. In fact, there really isn't an action scene until halfway through the book. But that in no way means that the book is boring, the political maneuvering and character interaction are very engaging. The two new character Eli Vanto and Arihnda Pryce do leave a notable impression. Zahn does a good job defining their character traits through their dialogue and actions. Vanto is intelligent but often out of his element and Pryce is always tetering the line between an anti-hero and villain. Both of their stories are intriguing.
However, the main attraction of the story is of course Thrawn. As expected he is the highlight of story. His logical reasoning and tactical sensibilities are as enjoyable as they have always been. Again Zahn does a good job in illustrating both making rather complex concepts easy to comprehend.
There are a few shortcoming. The biggest of which is that the final battle is rather anti-climatic. Without going into too much detail, Thrawn's strategy goes too much according to plan. A few unexpected occurrences would have forced Thrawn to adapt his plan and improvise, which would have been interesting to see. Also the antagonist of the story, called "nightswan", could have used a little more "screen time". His character is well defined, but him having a few more "shining moments" would have made him more a threat.
But that certainly shouldn't dissuade you from picking up the book if you are interested. I was an excellent novel and is well worth the read.
In short, the novel was very enjoyable. I actually liked it a bit better than Outbound Flight which was Thrawn's "origin story" in Legends continuity. Unlike most Star Wars media, this book is less of an action-adventure story and more of a political thriller. In fact, there really isn't an action scene until halfway through the book. But that in no way means that the book is boring, the political maneuvering and character interaction are very engaging. The two new character Eli Vanto and Arihnda Pryce do leave a notable impression. Zahn does a good job defining their character traits through their dialogue and actions. Vanto is intelligent but often out of his element and Pryce is always tetering the line between an anti-hero and villain. Both of their stories are intriguing.
However, the main attraction of the story is of course Thrawn. As expected he is the highlight of story. His logical reasoning and tactical sensibilities are as enjoyable as they have always been. Again Zahn does a good job in illustrating both making rather complex concepts easy to comprehend.
There are a few shortcoming. The biggest of which is that the final battle is rather anti-climatic. Without going into too much detail, Thrawn's strategy goes too much according to plan. A few unexpected occurrences would have forced Thrawn to adapt his plan and improvise, which would have been interesting to see. Also the antagonist of the story, called "nightswan", could have used a little more "screen time". His character is well defined, but him having a few more "shining moments" would have made him more a threat.
But that certainly shouldn't dissuade you from picking up the book if you are interested. I was an excellent novel and is well worth the read.
