Book Review: Thrawn Ascendancy: Lesser Evil (Ascendancy Trilogy Volume III)

 

This is the third book in what is now the third overall (and second in official Star Wars canon) Thrawn Trilogy. This book concludes the events of the attack on the Chiss Ascendancy (the group of worlds in the unknown regions controlled by the Chiss and their ruling families) with the intent of starting a civil war between the ruling families. Probably more important to Star Wars fans is that it details the lead-up to how Thrawn ultimately became a member of the Empire after being exiled from the Ascendancy (which was hinted at in the first canon trilogy).  In this book, we find out that there is more to that story, and we get a hint of where Thrawn's actual loyalties lie. The book ends just after the events of the Revenge of the Sith and the fall of the Republic and the corresponding rise of the Empire.

I think the book was a good end to the storyline and is definitely better than the second book in the trilogy (Greater Good). Although this one does suffer from a couple of long stretches in which Thrawn is totally absent so if you are not really invested in the ancillary characters, the book may drag a bit. That said, there are some good action sequences, one of which is the final battle at the end of the book, that really displays Thrawn's ability at battle strategy, which is mostly what made the character so popular in the original Thrawn trilogy of novels that were written in the 1990s. While I still think that trilogy was the best one, this book is definitely worth reading for fans of the character to get his entire backstory.

Book Review: Thrawn Ascendancy: Greater Good (Ascendancy Trilogy Volume II)

 

This is the second in the backstory trilogy of the character of Thrawn in the new Star Wars canon material. Specifically, during the time when he was an officer in the Chiss Ascendancy before he joined the Empire. This is set a short time after the events of the first novel, Chaos Rising, and in the Star Wars timeline occurs between Episodes II and II, during the Clone Wars. The basic plot of the book is that the Chiss Ascendancy (which consists of multiple planets in the Unknown Regions) is being attacked by enemies who seek to divide the nine ruling families and start a civil war within the Chiss Ascendancy. Thrawn's ship is one of two that are mopping up the remnants of the Nikardun military (from the first book) only to uncover the larger plot. 

There is definitely less action in this book than in the first and a lot more political maneuvering. Thrawn is also not in the book as much, and the memories chapters really have nothing to do with him, focusing on some of the ancillary characters. There is another big battle at the end in which Thrawn uses his enhanced strategic and observation skills, which is what most people who are reading the books are likely to be interested in. So, while I do not think the book is bad, it is not as good as the first and definitely feels like the middle part of the story. 

Book Review: Star Wars: Thrawn Ascendency - Chaos Rising

 

Chaos Rising is the first book in a new trilogy of novels (called the Ascendency Trilogy) based on the character of Thrawn, who is probably the most popular character outside of the legacy characters like Luke, Han, and Leia with people who have been reading the Star Wars novels for years. Thrawn was introduced back in the 1990s in a now non-canon or Legends trilogy of novels (widely called the Thrawn Trilogy) written by the same author Timothy Zahn. After Disney's takeover of Lucasfilm, the character of Thrawn was brought into the canon through a new trilogy of books and in the animated series, Rebels.

This book is set at the time of The Clone Wars but the story is mostly constrained to the unknown regions beyond the Outer Rim, where the Chiss Ascendancy rules on the Chiss homeworld. This book jumps in time between the present, in which Thrawn is a commander of a Chiss ship, and his time as a cadet, and establishes his role as a tactical and strategical genius (when it comes to battle and war tactics). He is investigating a threat to the Ascendancy by a race called the Nikardun. The novel basically serves as a backstory and origin story for Thrawn as well as the Chiss as a race. One of the interesting aspects of the story is that the Chiss travel through hyperspace (what they call the Chaos) using child navigators who are force sensitive (what the Chiss call the Third Sight) to get their ships safely through hyperspace. Much like Jedi younglings, the navigators, called sky-walkers, are taken from their families when they are young and act as navigators being raised by caretakers, until they are teenagers when they lose the Third Sight, at which point they are adopted into one of the ruling families of The Ascendency. 

The book has a good blend of action and suspense along with building the characters who will be the main characters in the trilogy. The author does a good job portraying Thrawn as a version of who he becomes when he is a Grand Admiral in the Empire, with traits that he shows later on, but not yet the fully developed character. We also get to see the lead-up to Thrawn's meeting with Anakin Skywalker in the story that was told in the second novel of the first canon Thrawn Trilogy, Thrawn: Alliances in which Thrawn helps Anakin find Padme when she is abducted. Basically, we get to see what Thrawn was doing when Anakin's ship showed up as he was looking for Padme.

Overall, the book tells a good story and does a good job of fleshing out Thrawn's backstory and establishing the new characters. While I am still partial to the original, Legends, Thrawn trilogy, I think this is the first of the new Thrawn novels that really showed that version of the character. It is definitely one of the must-read canon novels.

Book Review: Star Wars - Thrawn

 

The character of Thrawn has been a favorite of die-hard Star Wars fans from his introduction in the now Legends novels known as the Thrawn Trilogy (Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, and The Last Command), also written by Timothy Zahn. Those novels were what many of us hoped would be made into a sequel movie trilogy, but as the actors got older (as it was set only a few years after Return of the Jedi) that became impossible. When Lucasfilm bought out Disney, it was unclear whether Thrawn would ever be included in the new material. Thankfully, he was. This novel serves as a partial origin story for Thrawn (or Mitth'raw'nuruodo), detailing his rise through the Imperial ranks from a cadet to eventually becoming a Grand Admiral.

Throughout the novel, we get an idea of Thrawn's brilliance as a tactician and master of strategy. However, that is not as much on display in this book as it was in the Thrawn Trilogy. However, that was set at a time when his skills were more refined and developed and this book is really about character development, so that does not bug me as much. The book does include minor appearances by Emperor Palpatine, Darth Vader, and Tarkin, but mostly the book is about Thrawn and his translator (Eli Vanto) participating in various missions as they rise in rank. The book ends shortly before the point where Thrawn was introduced in the animated series Rebels.

Overall the book has a good mix of the political intrigue that the novels set during the early years of the Empire have and action, whether it is Thrawn chasing down smugglers or dealing with Wookie raids. The book is clearly just setting up the character in the new canon for additional appearances (which would come through additional novels, the appearance in the Rebels series, and a very widely speculated live-action appearance in the new Ahsoka series. While I do not think it is as good as the Thrawn Trilogy from the 1990s, it does tell a very good story and sets up the "new" version of the character well. If you are someone who only reads some of the novels, I would definitely put this in the must-read category.