Skywalkers and caregivers are an interesting, separate twist - Thalias, the Mitth, and Patriarch Thoorak offer a Thrawn storyline depth that’s simply a wonderful ‘hook’. On to the second in the series, I hope to run across more. Excellent Thrawn read!

Pure Thrawn at his best .

My first foray into the Star Wars expanded universe was not Zahn’s Original Trilogy, but that Trilogy absolutely stole my heart, mind, and imagination as a 12 year old. I read everything Zahn wrote for Star Wars (and a good bit of his other works as well). I haven’t read much of the new generation of SW books since Disney bought the rights. After feeling let down by the recent movies and even the much adored Mandalorian show, when I saw that Zahn was tasked with a new trilogy about Thrawn, well, nostalgia was doing its thing. Two hundred pages in (digitally) ... I can’t bring myself to keep going. This is dull writing. This is bad writing. It’s an endless train of “Zahn-isms” like “indeed, dryly, I presume” and more. The thrill of Thrawn in the Heir to the Empire series was the mystique and subtly and hardness that we as a reader caught in glimpses from the several well-defined and written side characters. Here, he’s somehow politically naive, yet savant-level in tune with literally everything else in the world. We’re somehow too close to him; too much of him is exposed to us; yet I still have no idea who he is. In other words, he lacks any dynamic. Beyond that, the scenes are a chore to get through. I barely understand or care about anyone’s motivations, wants, or desires. Unfortunate, as I really want Star Wars to be as good as my childhood memories of it are.

A beautiful addition to the thrown story.

Amazingly written, I couldn’t put this book down.

Freed from the limitations of operating in the Empire, this prequel to Thrawn’s adventures for Palpatine showcase a new side to the blue-skinned commander. Glimpses of the political structure to the Ascendancy are definitely a highlight, and watching Thrawn outmaneuver almost every obstacle is simply a delight. I couldn’t put the book down!

Really good if you really like Thrawn