Thrawn Trilogy - Timothy Zahn

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#1

today, frakkintalos made me remember the Thrawn Trilogy (Heir to the Empire/Dark Force Rising/The Last Command) in this thread:

http://forum.galacticwatercooler.com/showthread.php?t=997

I first read the novels in German in fourth grade, like 1994, and boy, did I love them, I think they’re much much closer to the original trilogy (Episodes IV-VI) than I-III.

I re-read them in English last summer, they still gripped me.

I loved Mara Jade, I sometimes imagined I could be her boyfriend :o

I loved Thrawn, such a great villain.

Let me know what you think about these books, I think they should have been turned into movies instead of filming the rather dim-witted I-III.

#2

I liked the Thrawn trilogy, but some of it just felt wrong. I know the novels came out before this Moticlorean stuff showed up, but I had to take my suspension of disbelief a little higher than I tend to deal with the Ysalmari (I think that’s right). C’boath (sp?) also was a bit over the top.

Mara Jade was an awesome character.

As much as Zahn is a good writer, This series didn’t feel very star-warsy to me. Then again, I’m a purist when it comes to star wars. I had re-written the Final Vader scene from Ep III so well that upon seeing the “Noooooo”, I actually laughed out loud.

It’s been a long time since I read them though. Maybe I should give them another go?

#3

Well, I thought it was all Star Wars stood for in the third place: great, epic adventure in space.

I loved the idea of the Katana fleet, how well all the characters were intertwined with each other, I loved that Lando played an important role, C’baoth was indeed a bit over the top, but only at the end, Mara Jade was a hot chick, I could feel her hotness on the pages :slight_smile:

#4

Mara was indeed hot. Always kinda thought that Thrawn could have been played by Anthony Hopkins…that woulda been sweeeeeet

Tho, I do like the Legacy of the Force series out now, better than anything - with eth New Jedi Order Yuuzan Yong war as a close second.

#5

These are some of my favorite books as well, and I agree that they match up better with the original trilogy then Ep. I-III.

I know the novels came out before this Moticlorean stuff showed up, but I had to take my suspension of disbelief a little higher than I tend to deal with the Ysalmari (I think that’s right). C’boath (sp?) also was a bit over the top.

If memory serves, the Ysalamiri were creatures that lived on the same planet as the Vornskr, which were animals the hunted using The Force. The Ysalamiri evolved a natural defense to this by creating a small pocket where The Force did not exist. Now, granted that does lead a little more into the sci-fi angle of the story, however the midichlorians thing seems to be way more damaging to the whole “mythical” aspect for The Force. Just my 2 cents.
C’Baoth was way over the top, thankfully, he wasn’t the main villain of the story.

GalaxyRanger, if you haven’t read the “Hand of Thrawn” duology, you definitely should, they’re pretty much a sequel to these, and its also by Timothy Zahn.

#6

hm, I already have a long reading list, but I might check out these two in a couple of months. If you, or anybody else, is interested in Zahn’s other works, I can recommend a hugo-award winning novella of his called “Cascade Point.”

#7

i totally support this, the thrawn trilogy are my favorite star wars novels, and they’re pretty high up there for me in general sci-fi too. Hand of Thrawn duology was great as well, and i just read outbound flight recently(another one by timothy), Thrawn is such a cool character =)

#8

I read the Thrawn Trilogy and I remember enjoying it. Like the 1st one best, and the 2nd and 3rd less and lesser in that order. Thrawn was a great villian and Mara Jade a great character. But C’Baoth? I can’t for life of me remember his character, except for the name…Give me a hint. Somebody help me out, or else I’m gonna wake up the middle of the night tonight searching my attic for my Thrawn books.

#9

C’baoth was the insane Jedi Clone, who Thrawn found guarding the emperors superweapon storage facility. Later he becomes obsessed with capturing Leia’s children. Hope that helps.

I read all of Timothy Zahn’s Star Wars books, I would definitely recommend Outbound Flight, Allegiance, and Survivors Quest in that order.

#10

Well, I tried some other Star Wars books, just a few, though, and didn’t care much for them, the Thrawn trilogy really stood out for me.

Let’s see… I read The Truce at Bakura, The Adventures of Han Solo, The Adventures of Lando Calrissian, one novel from the X-Wing series and one I can’t remember… ah, part of a duology about Han, Leia, the children or something.

#11

I read up to dark force rising I wanted to finish the trilogy but then the seventh harry potter book came out and I kinda forgot about it. Check out the Darth Bane novel, it’s pretty good star wars book

#12

I read and thoroughly enjoyed them. So much so, I continued to read the books that followed, right up to the just before the book where what they did to Chewie happend. (tryign to be vague so I don’t ruin it for anyone) I just couldn’t bring myself to read it when I heard what happened.

Zahn created a totally immersible world for me. I thought out of all the Star Wars books I read, he was the closest to the feel of the movies. The pacing was extraordniary & the characters development was very satisfying. I felt you got to really know them in ways we hadn’t before.

I also think Kevin J Anderson was the worst thing that happend to the Star Wars 'verse. By the third book in his first trilogy, I was almost rooting for Luke to die because he was so damn annoying.

#13

exactly! I wished a million times they had turned these books into a movie trilogy instead of the dreadful prequels!

I also think Kevin J Anderson was the worst thing that happend to the Star Wars 'verse. By the third book in his first trilogy, I was almost rooting for Luke to die because he was so damn annoying.

Hm, I read one of his Rogue Squadron novels, X-Wing something and it was okay. Someone was building yet another Death Star/superlaser …

#14

Wow, I haven’t thought about these books in a long time. I read them in hardcover when they originally came out and remember really enjoying them. Thrawn is such a brilliant character…understanding a culture through its arts. Awesome.

#15

I remember staying home sick with the flu and borrowed a copy to read while passing time. I wish they made this series into movies - for me, it’s the closest to the look and feel of the movies thus far.

I loved Thrawn, such a great villain.
I think they should have been turned into movies instead of filming the rather dim-witted I-III.

When they were filming Episode 3, my brother, sister and I were hoping just to see a walkthrough of Thrawn. Even just a very quick cameo at the background at the last part where they revealed new viewing deck at Vader’s new ship. Vader after all, talked to a young Grand Moff, right? Alas, it wasn’t meant to be :frowning:

#16

I just finished The Last Command. I think that the trilogy was pretty good. But the ending left me entirely cold. C’baoth was totally meh and I couldn’t wait for the agonizingly long fight to end. Also Thrawn’s death was so unfitting for such a great character and his last words “But… it was so artistically done.” were like WTF, it didn’t fit him at all IMHO. ( I know he looked at other species’ art and learned about them from it, but he is portrayed like a crazy nut who doesn’t care about his own death)

I liked most of the characters, especially Talon Karrde, Thrawn and Mara Jade. It would have also been nice if Mara had finally fought off the Emperor’s influance, instead of completing his final command like that…

All in all it was good, the space battles and tactics really stood out.

#17

A week or so ago, I went up to my dusty attic and rifled through an old box of books. And found my very dog-eared old copy of Heir to Empire. And I’ve started re-reading it. I’m at the part were Leia is doing her lightsaber training —using the little flying ball (as Obi Wan taught Luke).
Great stuff. Thrawn is such different bad guy then Darth Vader and the Emperor —and he’s an example that not all Imperial Fleet leaders were idiots.

#18

Now that I’ve finished Invincible I’ll get on reading this soonish.

#19

So I finished up the trilogy a few weeks ago, and I forgot to post about it! Silly me.

Anyways… I thought it was interesting, I especially enjoyed the further development of the Noghri, I felt that Mara Jade was underused, that Han was kind of a tool, and that Thrawn deserved a more magnificent death.

All and all it was enjoyable, but it doesn’t make me want to pick up the rest of the SW novels.

#20

I think this was a bit before Mara Jade was a fully realized character. I thought of this as a prelude to more interesting adventures.