Reviews

Thrawn by Timothy Zahn

ingo_lembcke's review against another edition

5.0

Chapter-Start-Musings remind me of [b:The Art of War|10534|The Art of War|Sun Tzu|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1453417993l/10534._SY75_.jpg|3200649] (which I consider greatly overhyped).

Great book for Star Wars fans. Will certainly read the sequels, the second [b:Thrawn: Alliances|36385830|Thrawn Alliances (Star Wars Thrawn, #2)|Timothy Zahn|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1511385584l/36385830._SY75_.jpg|58053416] bought after it was under my usual price barrier (flexible, but most times Eur 10, which is currently nearly exact Us$ 11). The third book is on my daily watchlist.
Although most of the action is viewed from the POV of the empire, knowing all movies and/or some of the other books helps.
Very well integrated in the Star Wars Universe. And the characters are just to die for, complex, well written, and they learn constantly and grow during the path they take in the book.

Recommend it, Space-Opera at its best, although for non-Star-Wars-fans it will be not as good. Reasonably fast read, with an interesting ending, which is not really a cliff-hanger, but rather a twist (or really two!), which will make the sequel and the path the main characters take rather interesting.

mickb's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

juli_f's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

nyx_knight's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

jsaunders0027's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

caitief's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

cadnad's review against another edition

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

This is the best of the "Thrawn Trilogy". Thrawn's climb up the imperial ranks was perfectly paced. Though there weren't many of his signature 200IQ battle plans, his intelligence is still clear. This is especially clear when filtered through the eyes of Eli Vanto. Seeing the contrast between how Eli and Pyrce view Thrawn worked well for this novel. 

This is more of a stand-alone novel than it is a prequel to Rebels. Because of this, I would recommend this to any Star Wars fans, but I don't think it works well as an introduction to this universe.

cove61's review against another edition

fast-paced

4.0

katmiranda's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

I read this as part of my challenge to consume all Star Wars media in almost chronological order. So, for this one, I read it in between Star Wars Rebels Seasons 2 & 3. Although I am a huge Star Wars fan, I hadn't read the Legends or the original run of Timothy Zahn's Thrawn trilogy, so I decided to read the newer more canon ones by him. I didn't know what to expect, but I loved that it was a good mix of Star Wars politicking, adventure and mystery. I knew that Ahrinda Pryce, a character I knew from Rebels, was going to be here, and I thoroughly enjoyed her own story in her rise to power, and how she often ends up bumping paths with Thrawn. Eli Vantho was a really interesting and new character to me, and I liked that even though he served as a somewhat audience surrogate in order to understand Thrawn better, he was a fully developed character in itself. I found his journey throughout the book interesting, and interestingly enough, as the chapters went on, I began to understand the potential that Thrawn saw in him. Thrawn is such an interesting character, and this book really allowed me to understand him better, with regards to his own origins, the way he thinks, and how he rose the ranks due to his own unique skills which are quite unlike the normal Imperial Admiral. I also really loved how he sees patterns in ways that most don't and uses it (alongside a lot of patience) to uncover big plot points in the history of Star Wars such as Project Stardust aka the Death Star, and the group of insurgents he was going after. 
As a bonus, when I saw Thrawn again in Season 3 and Governer Pryce talked to him about a particular battle, there was a little thrill in knowing that I had JUST READ about that battle right before I watched the season.  

natnatboom's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0