Harry Situation Reviews: Star Wars: Thrawn
To defeat an enemy, you must know them. Not simply their battle tactics, but their history, philosophy, art.
Acclaimed Star Wars novelist Timothy Zahn brings his beloved creation back to the Star Wars Universe with Star Wars: Thrawn, the story that expands and canonizes the fan favorite villain Mitth’raw’nuruodo, otherwise better known as Grand Admiral Thrawn. Have I mentioned how much I’m a fan of Grand Admiral Thrawn before?
For those still unfamiliar (even though I don’t know how since I talked on and on about it) Grand Admiral Thrawn was a badass in his own right. He was a very intelligent and crafty villain in the Star Wars Universe that help mend the Galactic Empire together after the death of the Emperor in Return of the Jedi. He wasn’t the type of villain who’d get angry after some incompetent soldier screwing up, but he was more calm and collective. Additionally what made him stand out from other villains was his great appreciation for artwork, believing that you could an entire culture and their weakness based on their art.
The Thrawn Trilogy, at the time, was essentially the official sequel series to the original film saga. When Disney had to restructure the Star Wars universe to make things canon enough for the Sequel Trilogy to make sense, a lot of great characters and stories were rehashed as non-canon, being dubbed Legends. If you’re a big Star Wars fan like me who followed some of these stories, you would consider this to be an insult to all the hard work that put into them that helped shape what we know about the Star Wars Universe. So yeah, having one of the greatest characters in the Expanded Universe now labeled as part of glorified fanfiction really pissed me off at the time.
But thanks to Dave Filoni and crew, Thrawn is now canon, making his debut in the third season of Star Wars: Rebels; and his story has been expanded with another exciting novel featuring the Chiss admiral.
I really enjoyed reading this novel. It has the classic Timothy Zahn writing some fans are familiar with while offering new insights about the classic character for new readers. Being the original creator of the character he really emphasize how intelligent Thrawn truly is. He’s able to deduce the location of a transmitter that is controlling a squadron of Vulture droids, he’s able to learn everything about someone based on their tactics, and he’s able to interpret who is a turncoat in the Galactic Empire.
What makes it even better is that we the readers are seeing this through the eyes of a new character, Ensign Eli Vanto. Vanto sees Thrawn as a good friend but its also interesting to note that he seems to be very uneasy around the Chiss officer. He wants to do something else for the Empire but he, unfortunately, finds himself constantly by Thrawn’s side as Thrawn rises through the ranks. He is in awe of Thrawn with is brilliant strategies and deduction skills, but he’s also unsettled how Thrawn is able to put their careers on the line in order to get results.
One thing I found very interesting was end I was first reading it, there are moments that switch to italicize font and they would give descriptions unrelated to the paragraphs. Basically the font is describing the facial movements, the tones in the voices, and even the stances the characters are in. It took me a moment to realize that these italicize fonts were in Thrawn’s point of view and he’s making note of every character’s action and reactions, emphasizing his ability to study every individual in order to give a proper response. That is basically Thrawn!
The novel also serves as an origin story for another character that was originally introduced in Season 3 of Rebels, Lothal’s governor, Governor Arihnda Pryce. The novel shows how she started from the bottom of the Outer Rims worlds and worked her way up and made sketchy agreements in order to rise to power. I really enjoyed reading that about her.
I can’t say much else about the novel because I want you to read it for yourself if you’re curious about the famed Star Wars character. If you want a negative I guess the novel doesn’t offer a lot of action as you would find in other Star Wars tales; but I kinda expected that since it’s more about analyzing an enemy’s movements, which is what Thrawn is all about. And I guess there are a couple moments that felt a little slow, but other than that, nothing. It’s a great read. Go read it now!
Positives: Negatives:
-Thrawn is boss! -Slow at times
-Thrawn’s story -Little action
-Vanto’s story
-Pryce’s story
-Great writing
-Great character development
-Great addition to Star Wars Canon
Final Grade: A
So those were my thoughts on the new Timothy Zahn novel. Have you read it yet? What are your thoughts? Do you think Thrawn is awesome too? Please be kind, leave a like and comment, and check back for more reviews on Prose!
Best Quote:
Grand Admiral Thrawn: “There are things in the universe that are simply and purely evil. A warrior does not seek to understand them, or to compromise with them. He seeks only to obliterate them.”
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