Long ago, when I
was but a wee lad spending my nights in the upstairs front bedroom of
our old family home, I would occasionally pass the time perusing the
built in bookshelf. Seeing as I'd yet to learn how to read, I
generally admired cover art and tried to discern the plot lines of
the many titles then beyond my reach. One of my favorite pieces to
stare at was the cover of Heir to the Empire by Timothy Zahn,
a title I'd later learn was a high water mark for the old Expanded
Star Wars universe. Two elements of that old book cover left me
wondering what happened within those pages, one was some old guy with
light shooting out of his fingers, the other was a blue skinned man,
who I later learned was a fan favorite named Thrawn.
Seeing as I never
indulged in Zahn's previous work, imagine my excitement when it was
announced that along with Thrawn appearing in the Rebels TV
series, Zahn would also write a novel establishing the characters
history within the new continuity. Not having gotten to that series
yet, this was finally my chance to see what makes this character so
special. There was no waiting for a good ebay price on this one, no
sir, I nabbed this up quickly, actually interrupting progress on
another book. Was it worthy of such excitement? Let's find out.
Despite what the
title may lead you to believe, Thrawn is actually a tale of
three individuals. One of is obviously blue boy himself, but equal
time is spent with young Imperial recruit Eli Vanto. Another large
chunk of attention is spent on young bureaucrat Arihnda Pryce. It is
through these personalities that the reader is treated to a very cold
and calculating look at life in service of the empire, and all of the
twisted decisions that come with climbing to a position of power.
It all begins with
a group of imperial officers investigating the camp of an unknown
alien, only to suffer repeated raids by the being in question. At the
forefront of this investigation is cadet Eli Vanto whose knowledge of
fringe space gives him a measure of understanding towards what
they're facing. Eventually the alien is taken into custody and
brought before the Emperor. During this meeting an agreement is made
that Thrawn will serve the Empire and educate the Emperor on the
dangers lurking withing unknown space. In return, the Empire will aid
in the protection of Thrawn's people, the Chiss, from such threats.
From there on it's
off to the academy where Thrawn can learn the finer details of
Imperial military service alongside Cadet Vanto who is kept nearby as
an aid and translator. This relationship is at the heart of the whole
novel as the actual plot is a bit thin. After the pair graduates from
the academy, it's off to a series of different missions to track down
pirates, smugglers, and malcontents. The real meat is witnessing how
Thrawn climbs through the ranks while training Vanto to be an equally
astute strategist. The reasons for this interest in the boy are kept
hidden for quite some time.
Arihnda Pryce's
plotline shares the theme of climbing the ranks, though her's is a
much less steady approach. Early her family owns a mining facility
until corrupt officials steal it away. From then on it's a journey
through the world of civil service and political intrigue to strike
at those who wronged her and make a name for herself. Arihnda's story
is mostly removed from the other two characters, not truly joining up
until late in the proceedings. This struck me as very odd until I
found that she also appears on Rebels. Without prior knowledge
of her on screen prescience, the character came across as being
shoehorned in for a higher page count and world building. Perhaps
once I catch up with that show I'll find a greater appreciation for
her on page antics.
As you can
probably guess by now from my general tone, this is a tough one to
review. On the one hand the prose is strong with a nice flow and
pace. There's some truly interesting developments about unknown space
and the dangers found there, and just reading how Thrawn continues to
outwit everyone can be a real treat. On the downside it's all a bit
haphazard without a strong core narrative to hold it all together.
Not to mention that if these cool developments fail to lead to
anything worthwhile, well then what's the point? For example, the
fate of Eli Vanto sets up a potentially interesting scenario, I won't
spoil it for you, maybe he'll show up in of the movies, aged and
greatly changed from his experiences, if not then it's just a wasted
twist ending.
Perhaps the best
way to sum up the issues with this novel is that it's worth is far
too reliant on other parts of the universe. The ending is cool yet
may lead to nothing, Arihnda's story probably only matters to those
who know her from Rebels. There's supposedly a meeting that
occurred between Thrawn and Aniken Skywalker that happened sometime
in the past, but we either don't get the details, or they were so
uninteresting as to slip my mind.
So yes, Thrawn
was an odd one. I mostly enjoyed my time with it, yet I sort of
resent it for meandering so much and wasting my time when it could
have proved to be more efficient and effective like it's lead
character. In the end it's going to miss the top five in the rankings
by just a slim margin. My advice is that it's a good read for
dedicated Star Wars nuts, just not those who only want to read the
best of the best. Let's update the rankings.
1. Lost Stars by
Claudia Gray
2. New Dawn by
John Jackson Miller
3. Bloodline by
Claudia Gray
4. Ashoka by
E. K. Johnston
5.
Tarkin by James Luceno
6. Thrawn by
Timothy Zahn
7. Battlefont
Twilight Company by Alexander Freed
8. Moving Target
by Cecil Castelluci and Jason Fry
9. Before the
Awakening by Greg Rucka
10. Smuggler's
Run by Greg Rucka
11. Heir to the
Jedi by Kevin Hearne
12. Aftermath by
Chuck Wendig
13.The Weapon of
a Jedi by Jason Fry
If you've noticed
that updates have been a little slower lately, that's about to
change. Currently I'm in the midst of home projects, longer work
weeks, and a new animal addition to the household. Most of the items
should be taken care of by the end of this week. After that I've got
so much to share with you all, whether that be more Star Wars,
Canadian Doritos, or my attempts at model building. See you soon.
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