The Thrawn Trilogy

Recently I’ve been revisiting a portion of the Star Wars “expanded universe.” The first of the Star Wars novels that I was aware of was the Thrawn trilogy by Timothy Zahn and his books continue to be my favorites. It’s been a few years since I last read any of them so it was fun to go back and spend a little time with the characters.

The Thrawn trilogy, which consists of Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, and The Last Command, takes place four years after Return of the Jedi. Everyone’s favorite Rebels are working hard at setting up the New Republic while the Empire is rallying under a new leader to make a renewed push against them. Han and Leia are married and expecting twins. Luke is trying to figure out how to be a Jedi Master and teach his sister and her children to use the Force.

The overarching story of the trilogy is of the resurgence of the Empire under the leadership of Grand Admiral Thrawn. Thrawn is a humanoid alien who was secretly promoted to the position of Grand Admiral by Emperor Palpatine. He is a tactical genius with a gift for predicting his opponent’s actions. He enlists the help of Joruus C'baoth, an insane clone of a Jedi Master in his war, promising to deliver Luke and Leia to be C’baoth’s apprentices.

Leia, Luke, and Han are working hard to build a new government with the rest of the former leaders of the Rebel Alliance. Over the course of the books they find new allies in General Bel Iblis, a former member of the Rebel Alliance who split off to fight his own war; Talon Karrde, a smuggler chief, who is reluctant to commit to one side or another; and the Noghri, a race of warriors, who have been tricked into aiding the Imperial cause.

I’ve always been impressed with Zahn’s ability to keep the characters real. So many of the other writers in the expanded universe tend to reduce them all to caricatures, but in Zahn’s hands they feel more like real people. He’s also created some of my favorite characters, Grand Admiral Thrawn, Talon Karrde, and, of course, Mara Jade.

Mara is a former Imperial agent, who was known as the Emperor’s Hand. Because she was Force sensitive she was able to learn rudimentary Jedi skill that allowed her to act as the Emperor’s personal secret agent. After Palpatine’s death she lost everything that she had ever known and places the blame on Luke’s shoulder’s, swearing to kill him. Her relationship with Luke is nuanced and very well written. Zahn manages to create a perfect foil for Luke in Mara and I’ll have much more to say about their relationship when I write about the Hand of Thawn.

I first read Heir to the Empire when I was 12 and I’m glad to say that I still enjoy it and the other installments in the trilogy as much as I did back then. That probably says more about me than it does about the books, but I’d like to think that it is a strong argument for the quality of Zahn’s work.