In this definitive novel, listeners will follow Thrawn's rise to power - uncovering the events that created one of the most iconic villains in Star Wars history.

Listening Length

16 hours and 56 minutes
Author

Timothy Zahn
Narrator

Marc Thompson
Audible release date

11 April 2017
Language

English
Publisher

Random House Audio
ASIN

B06Y658PG3
Version

Unabridged
Program Type

Audiobook
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Product details

Listening Length	16 hours and 56 minutes
Author	Timothy Zahn
Narrator	Marc Thompson
Whispersync for Voice	Ready
Audible.com.au Release Date	11 April 2017
Publisher	Random House Audio
Program Type	Audiobook
Version	Unabridged
Language	English
ASIN	B06Y658PG3
Best Sellers Rank	1,082 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) 38 in Space Opera Science Fiction (Audible Books & Originals) 38 in Fantasy Action & Adventure 46 in Adventure Science Fiction

Customer reviews

5 star		81%
4 star		14%
3 star		4%
2 star		1%
1 star		1%

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Top reviews from Australia

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Brian the Brisbane Lion

Great read, go do it!

Reviewed in Australia on 23 August 2018

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Disney/Lucas Arts made a wise decision to bring Timothy Zahn onboard and write the "cannon" story of Admiral Thrawn. This character originally was in the post Return of the Jedi era of books that started out good, then went quickly downhill. But of this era, Thrawn was clearly the stand out character, so it was good to see him become "official".

This book is a typical Zahn book, with plenty of smarts, and a good pace to keep you turning those pages without getting bored. A great read!

One person found this helpful

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jason lyell

Amazing!!!!

Reviewed in Australia on 12 May 2017

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It is my favorite out of all of the star wars novels i have read since disney bought Lucas arts. Thrawn as a character combines the military strategy of men such as Napoleon Bonaparte & alexander the great with a tremendous intelect to rival that of Sherlock Holmes. It is a worthy successor to the original thrawn trilogy that Timothy Zahn wrote. Must read for all Star Wars fans everywhere. Thank you Timothy Zahn, bring on more Thrawn!

One person found this helpful

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Ethan L.

Best the new Canon has to offer!

Reviewed in Australia on 9 June 2017

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A truly great novel, one that makes you think about things in a lot broader perspective than simple direct cause and direct effect. The development of Thrawn and Eli's dynamic during the course of the novel was exceptionally enjoyable, though some of the side characters had slightly less impact and at times felt as though we were only learning about their stories to serve as a scaffold to support the main plotline. Definitely enjoyed this portrayal of Thrawn more than the somewhat cartoonish villainy we saw in the Star Wars Rebels TV series. A definite must read.

2 people found this helpful

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A.J. Trevors

YAS Thrawn

Reviewed in Australia on 8 February 2020

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One of the best Star Wars novels in existence! can’t wait to read the second novel. Timothy Zahn has outdone himself

One person found this helpful

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David scott

Great read

Reviewed in Australia on 1 January 2021

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Thoroughly captivated with the characters and storyline was a pleasure to learn more of the great admiral Thrawn and Eli his aide

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Daz

Great Star Wars book

Reviewed in Australia on 22 October 2018

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Another great read from Timothy Zann. Admiral Thrawn is a great read and anyone interested in Star Wars will love it.

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Campbell Simpson

A new back story for an old Star Wars character

Reviewed in Australia on 8 June 2017

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Thrawn has always been one of the most fascinating Expanded Universe (nee Legends) Star Wars characters. This new origins story is much-needed insight and world building. Better, it's fun and intriguing and a well written.

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Josh Aldwell

A great Character study for a long time fan favorite.

Reviewed in Australia on 15 April 2017

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A well written engaging story which gives us some great new characters as well as expanding on established Characters. A great read for Star Wars fans especially fans of the Empire.

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Mr. J. R. E. Venables

Let's hope Vanto gets a book too!! ***Slight Spoliers***

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 23 May 2017

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Just finished reading Thrawn today, and all my fears have been allayed. Back in the day, I read every SW book I could get my hands on. Thrawn and the Heir to the Empire trilogy were the first books I read of them, and by far the best.

That Disney chose to allow the best antagonist from SW Legends come back to life in Rebels, let alone in a new book, shows that they don't turn everything that they touch into dogmess (as I largely believe with most other IP's that they get their hands on.)

The book is loosely set over a period leading up to Rogue One/A New Hope, and expertly threads the rapid rise of Thrawn through the Imperial Navy's ranks, ably assisted by his - at first somewhat reluctant - Aide-de-Camp Eli Vanto, into the events that we know are to transpire through the film's plots.

For those that know the Heir to the Empire trilogy, there are a couple of great twists towards the end that really helped to frame why Thrawn really does what he does.

All I can say is that I really hope Tim Zahn revisits this storyline, perhaps with a follow up tale from Vanto's perspective after the events of this book.

Even if you know/knew nothing about Thrawn, you owe it to yourself to read about (imho) the Galactic Empire's greatest strategist.

More please Mr. Zahn!!

23 people found this helpful

A. J. Hawkins

Reasonably Interesting

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 28 March 2022

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I must admit, I'm not really a fan of Thrawn as a character: he's just a poor Sherlock copy, apparently able to deduce things with very little explanation, and often characters are made to look stupid in his presence to make him appear more intelligent. It's a lazy way to write a character, especially the whole "aha, but I was several steps ahead of you the whole time!" shtick. But I digress.
This book tells the tale of the rise of Thrawn through the ranks of the Empire. The most interesting aspect of the story is that since it's canon, it can take in the larger universe, and very much acts as a precursor to Thrawn's appearance in the Rebels animated series, even telling the story of the rise of Governor Pryce.
The story is a bit scattershot, but is mostly entertaining. A weird omission is that of Rukh, but hopefully that will be addressed in another book down the line.
Probably the most interesting character in the novel is Eli Vanto, who is partnered with Thrawn throughout the story, and who is much better written. We actually get to read about his feelings and thoughts, while Thrawn is never revealed to the reader in such a fashion. Odd, for a book bearing his name as its title.

One person found this helpful

Richard Beenham

Plodding and dull

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 7 July 2019

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It's taken me a while to finish this book, simply because there's nothing about it that's had me rushing to pick it up and find out what happens next. It's not particularly compelling or exciting, there are no shock twists or narrative turns, it just plods on.

The basic problem throughout the book is that Thrawn is an infallible tactical genius, he is never wrong, he never misjudges anything, and as much as the reader (through the eyes of Thrawn's aide, Eli Vanto, the Dr Watson to Thrawn's Sherlock Holmes) is tempted to think that this time he may have got it wrong, there is always the inevitable Holmes explaining to an amazed Watson section where Thrawn explains how he figured it all out right from the beginning, lifted directly from any given Holmes story. There are even a good few "By Jove, Holmes! You've cracked it!" responses from Vanto for good measure.

There is no 'learning' moment, no operation gone disastrously wrong that has Thrawn learning a valuable lesson from his mistake - no character development at all. It's just Thrawn's rapid rise through the ranks occasionally obstructed by institutionalised racism in the Imperial Navy. He's fully functioning straight out of the box.

The narrative device of Thrawn's journal entries topping each chapter is a bit turgid - essentially it's "the theme of this chapter, dear reader, is (insert as appropriate)" - a tad condescending to the reader as it's better to figure that out for ourselves. Similarly, the constant observations of people's idiosyncrasies by Thrawn in italics is a bit annoying. It beats us over the head with endless reminders that Thrawn notices everything and misses nothing.

Thrawn's use of a species' art as an observational tool is absolutely spot-on, though. This is a skill I possess myself and have employed on many occasions. I can walk in to any pub - literally any pub - and by looking at the art on its walls - The Laughing Cavalier, Barmaid at the Folies Bergere, Dogs Playing Snooker, for example - deduce that when I approach the bar, a member of staff will ask me what I want and give it to me. Whether it's a pint of lager, a cask ale, a cider or a soft drink, maybe even a packet of crisps, simply from observing the artwork I can conclude that these and more items will be available to me upon request. To give Timothy Zahn his due, its replication in the book is uncannily accurate.

Alongside Thrawn's rise, we see the parallel path of an ambitious young woman eyeing a political career. It's pretty clear from the outset that what we're seeing is one person progressing through skill and merit, while the other progresses through connivance and game-playing, with the two of them set to come into direct conflict with one another further down the line. I think we all know who will come out on top.

So, if you're a Thrawn fan, yay - there's lots of Thrawn being Thrawn doing Thrawny things. If you prefer a little character development or a couple of surprise revelations, you won't find them here. Do I have the fortitude to push through the next two volumes in the hope that things improve? Probably not.

5 people found this helpful

Alaran

The rise of Thrawn

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 4 February 2018

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A great achievement from the vast output of the extended universe was the addition of some marvellous original characters to the Star Wars mythos that had not come from the films. However, the loss of the extended universe’s canonicity in the light of the Disney takeover unfortunately rendered the bulk of these characters effectively non-existent. One of the most remarkable and popular of these was undoubtedly Grand Admiral Thrawn who first appeared in ‘Heir to the Empire’, the novel that effectively kicked off the publication of original Star Wars novels for over twenty years. Being such a strong creation has allowed for Thrawn to enter into the new canon via his continual role in the ‘Rebels’ television series.

As this novel is written by the author who created Thrawn in the first place it is somewhat intriguing to see how he approaches Thrawn’s transition to the new canon. By setting the book early in Thrawn’s career Zahn manages to perfectly tread the line of fitting his creation into the new canon without actively contradicting or conflicting with anything he had previously wrote concerning the character or his activities. This includes the little in-joke of him not being Pantoran.

It is not an origin story as such but more the explanation of how Thrawn comes to Imperial attention and manoeuvres his ascent up the ranks and becomes a trusted ally to the Emperor not far behind the status of Vader and Tarkin. Much of this is seen from the perspective of Eli Vanto, the ensign who becomes Thrawn’s aid. By adopting this approach the author keeps Thrawn slightly aloof and unknowable, maintaining the ‘alieness’ that makes him unique amongst Imperial officers.

Although entitled ‘Thrawn’ this novel is also devoted to the rise of Arihnda Pryce, who as Governor of Lothal works so closely with Thrawn in ‘Rebels’. It is interesting to note that, perhaps, the major difference between the two characters is that although Thrawn is undoubtedly ruthless he doesn’t seem to change his outlooks, morals or behaviour to any great deal during the course of the novel’s events and his ingratiation into the Empire. Meanwhile, Pryce seems to start of as a reasonably decent person who slides into corruption and villainy. Thrawn’s actions are born out of his devotion to both the Empire and the Chiss but Pyrce’s are essentially orientated around benefitting herself.

After his brief appearance in ‘A New Hope’ Yularen continues to be expanded upon and plays a substantial role in this story, the novel also charting the growing alliance of interests between him and Thrawn. Although Thrawn interacts some with Palpatine he is kept sperate from Vader despite the years this book covers. Ostensibly this is because this relationship looks like it will be a focus of this novel’s upcoming sequel, ‘Thrawn: Alliances’.

A worthwhile revisit of the character by the author.

10 people found this helpful

S.R Barnes

I'm completely Bias and dont care a jot!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 22 December 2020

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📖 Review 📖

💥💥💥💥/5

Thrawn - Timothy Zahn

Okay so I'm going to fully admit that this review is completely Bias.

When it comes to Thrawn I am weak!

How do I start with this???

Well let's just say most of everything that's come out of the starwars new cannon is absolutely bull crap. You can hate me for that if you want, but it's TRUE!

The last three films absolutely crapped all over a beautifully crafted mythology around that universe. They removed our possibility of ever meeting characters that were just bad arse. (Seriously look up Luke's wife!)

Then there is this.

Thrawn is just an amazing character. Hes so unique, which is impressive, because he is unique in a universe where everyone needs to be distinctively different.

He's Dark Side lore but manages throughout to stay within his particular shades of grey.

He's smart. Unlike alot of characters within the universe who have to rely upon force powers to get a job done. Thrawn uses his mind.

Thrawns new cannon is beautiful. Probably because hes being handled by Timothy Zahn who was his creator in the now legends series.

Now when you pair him up with Eli Vanto who was a refreshing character within the empire and a nemesis like Nightswan...

I cant even find words.

I could actually waffle on for hours. Perhaps you can tell I'm a fan girl?

So yes I admit again this is a completely Bias review. You'll never convince me to give thrawn anything less than 4*

(The reader for the audiobook was stunning too. The accent he adopted for thrawn was beautiful)

@adventuresinmyhand
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#reviewingbooks #thrawn #timothyzahn #starwars #starwarsnewcanon #darkside

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