The Thrawn Trilogy

So I was in the mood for some Sci-Fi, and Robby said that Timothy Zahn's Star Wars books were some of the best out there, so I figured I'd give them a shot. I chose to read Zahn's first series, which is known as The Thrawn Trilogy after the central antagonist. The specific books are Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, and The Last Command. I wasn't disappointed. They were fun to read, and gave me a pleasant glimpse into the wonderfully imaginative world of Star Wars. What's best, these books were written in the early nineties, before George Lucas had come along and ruined everything! I'm pretty sure they were written for eighth graders, but I had fun reading them all the same.

The series takes place five years after the events of Return of the Jedi and shows the fledgling New Republic taking shape and trying to survive. At the same time the Galactic Empire is in decline, until Grand Admiral Thrawn shows up. Thrawn is a really hardcore guy who is equal parts Sherlock Holmes and Robert E. Lee. He's a brilliant military strategist who studies the art of his enemies in an attempt to understand their psychology and thus predict they actions in battle. Even though he's the antagonist I couldn't help but be impressed by Thrawn's abilities. Aside from Thrawn himself there are only a few new characters worth mentioning. With Han Solo now a straight-edged republic citizen we need a new smuggler, so we get Talon Kaarde. He's our classic semi-brilliant smuggler with a heart of gold, and he serves as a nice foil for Thrawn. He's very loyal, very intelligent, and does what he thinks is right. He's on nobody's side but his own, but he's a cool guy and I really liked his character. Then we've got Mara Jade, who I was familiar with before even reading the books. She's a major part of the Star Wars expanded universe, so anyone with serious nerd cred should have at least heard the name. She works for Kaarde, and she has a major beef with Luke Skywalker and wants to kill him. That's all you need to know for now.

The plot of the three books is simple: Save the republic, stop Thrawn, stay alive. I really enjoyed the formula for the first two books, but by the third it was getting a bit old. I still liked the third book, but I thought it felt a bit labored in comparison to the others. One other complaint I had was that these books leaned too heavily on the films for source material. It seems that every character had to say one of their famous lines every now and then, particularly Han Solo. I got really tired of Zahn aping material from the films in order to breed familiarity. He's a pretty capable writer and obviously has a good grasp of the characters, so I think it's a tragic demonstration of a lack of self-confidence that he felt the need to borrow so much material. 

Is this series great literature? No. But it certainly is enjoyable. If you're a fan of Star Wars and need to get a fix while waiting for the highly anticipated J.J. Abrams/Disney films to come along give these a read. Each book is fairly short, and they progress rapidly. Plus there's plenty of satisfying Jedi stuff and cool lightsaber action. 

Score:7.5/10

Read this book if: You're a Star Wars fan who needs a break from serious literature.

Don't read this book if: You find Star Wars juvenile, or consider yourself above reading books written for teenagers (which is silly, since all the best books are written for teenagers). Also if you're so doggedly committed to the Star Wars film canon that you cannot permit any reinterpretations of the characters.