Thrawn by Timothy Zahn
Thrawn written by Timothy Zahn
Wow! I can't say enough about how fabulous this book was! At 427 pages it at first seemed daunting, but I ended up not wanting it to end at all. And I cannot wait for the new sequel to come out!!!
The premise of this book was masterful as it focused on the inner workings of the Empire from the perspective of Imperials. You end up rooting for the Empire the entire time which was so cool. And the Rebels are called Insurgents so you see them as bringing disorder and chaos down upon the Empire rather than trying to save people from its tyrannical grip. In fact, you hardly see any tyranny on the part of the Empire and Thrawn is an admirable and, dare I say, loveable character. He despises unnecessary loss of life and truly desires making a difference in the galaxy. We see him take down smuggling rings, stopping pirates, and bringing down Insurgents with a tactical precision that saves rather than costs lives. It is deeply brilliant.
As I have not yet seen Season 3 of Rebels, I went into this not having a preconceived notion of Thrawn, and for that I am grateful. I'm hopefully getting Season 3 for my birthday today and am super excited to see Thrawn in action now having the knowledge of his rich backstory. I really hope Thrawn in Rebels is the same Thrawn in this book from a personality and motivational perspective as this is a man I would gladly follow into battle. I think that adds such depth to the galaxy that a "villain" could be this likeable and charismatic.
The set up of the book involves short snippets from what I believe to be Thrawn's journal at the beginning of every chapter. These snippets provide insight into Thrawn's tactical thinking and are quite powerful in their own right. We also get consistent italicized observations of the people Thrawn is interacting with - body language, vocal cadence, and the like - which was absolutely fascinating. It added layers to the conversations that couldn't have existed otherwise. Even made me wonder if I should pay more attention to the way people hold themselves and speak when I'm interacting with others lol. Quite intriguing.
We are introduced to a new character, Eli Vanto, who acts as Thrawn's aide throughout the story. He gets put into this situation because he knows Sy Bisti, a language Thrawn knows due to his being from the Unknown Regions so close to Wild Space. He speaks Sy Bisti much better than Basic and so must take on a translator, who just so happens to be Vanto, a boy from a planet in Wild Space called Lysatra. Their relationship is one of true mentorship and nearly friendship. It was delightful seeing them grow together as a pair. I really wish Vanto was in Rebels because I loved his character so, but sadly his life takes a different path - one that I find truly exciting and hope is covered in the sequel.
We also get Governor Arihnda Pryce of Lothal's back story which really fleshes out her character. She is one ruthless woman. The way she ends up with the governorship is surprising and page turning - especially with Grand Moff Tarkin being involved.
Most of the book takes place on either Coruscant or out in space but a few new planets were introduced:
The premise of this book was masterful as it focused on the inner workings of the Empire from the perspective of Imperials. You end up rooting for the Empire the entire time which was so cool. And the Rebels are called Insurgents so you see them as bringing disorder and chaos down upon the Empire rather than trying to save people from its tyrannical grip. In fact, you hardly see any tyranny on the part of the Empire and Thrawn is an admirable and, dare I say, loveable character. He despises unnecessary loss of life and truly desires making a difference in the galaxy. We see him take down smuggling rings, stopping pirates, and bringing down Insurgents with a tactical precision that saves rather than costs lives. It is deeply brilliant.
As I have not yet seen Season 3 of Rebels, I went into this not having a preconceived notion of Thrawn, and for that I am grateful. I'm hopefully getting Season 3 for my birthday today and am super excited to see Thrawn in action now having the knowledge of his rich backstory. I really hope Thrawn in Rebels is the same Thrawn in this book from a personality and motivational perspective as this is a man I would gladly follow into battle. I think that adds such depth to the galaxy that a "villain" could be this likeable and charismatic.
The set up of the book involves short snippets from what I believe to be Thrawn's journal at the beginning of every chapter. These snippets provide insight into Thrawn's tactical thinking and are quite powerful in their own right. We also get consistent italicized observations of the people Thrawn is interacting with - body language, vocal cadence, and the like - which was absolutely fascinating. It added layers to the conversations that couldn't have existed otherwise. Even made me wonder if I should pay more attention to the way people hold themselves and speak when I'm interacting with others lol. Quite intriguing.
We are introduced to a new character, Eli Vanto, who acts as Thrawn's aide throughout the story. He gets put into this situation because he knows Sy Bisti, a language Thrawn knows due to his being from the Unknown Regions so close to Wild Space. He speaks Sy Bisti much better than Basic and so must take on a translator, who just so happens to be Vanto, a boy from a planet in Wild Space called Lysatra. Their relationship is one of true mentorship and nearly friendship. It was delightful seeing them grow together as a pair. I really wish Vanto was in Rebels because I loved his character so, but sadly his life takes a different path - one that I find truly exciting and hope is covered in the sequel.
We also get Governor Arihnda Pryce of Lothal's back story which really fleshes out her character. She is one ruthless woman. The way she ends up with the governorship is surprising and page turning - especially with Grand Moff Tarkin being involved.
Most of the book takes place on either Coruscant or out in space but a few new planets were introduced:
- Batonn is an Outer Rim world in an Insurgent stranglehold. The end of the book mainly focuses on dealing with this uprising. And we see how Thrawn comes to earn the title Grand Admiral.
- Cyphar is a Mid Rim world inhabited by the native Cyphari and human settlers. The Cyphari have the fascinating appearance of being like stick insects covered in rows of red fur. Thrawn and the Empire side with these aliens as opposed to the humans and we see a good side of the Empire.
- Botajef is an Outer Rim world inhabited by a very loyal species that tends to follow charismatic leaders without question. The heist that occurs here left me stunned.
I cannot recommend this book enough! I absolutely loved getting to see the good side of the Empire and was beyond captivated with Thrawn as a character. And there are so many twists and surprises throughout that it is extremely difficult to put this book down. I'm looking forward to the sequel with gusto!
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