As a Star Wars fan, I know of the 'Thrawn Trilogy' by Timothy Zahn, a set of 3 books that came out in 1991 and have earned the reputation of being some of the best Star Wars novels ever written. Sadly, I never read them and with them being thrown out of the canon universe, I don't see a point to. However, I respect them tremendously and understand their importance to the franchise; without them, we may not have the fanbase we have today. However, with Thrawn's reintroduction to canon via Star Wars Rebels, I wanted to know more about the character and luckily for me, Zahn wrote a canon novel just for Thrawn and after reading it to conclusion, I can say with absolute certainty, Grand Admiral Thrawn is my favorite Star Wars villain to date.
With this being my first ever Star Wars book, I wasn't sure what to expect. Almost instantly, I was brought into a galaxy far far away and was hooked all the way to the end. The novel starts off describing an Imperial vessel investigating a crash site on a remote planet far out in space and the survivor is none other than Thrawn. After sneaking aboard the vessel, he is brought to the Emperor himself and from there, Thrawn's climb up the Imperial ladder begins. As the book goes on, it shows not only the inner workings of the Empire's military procedures, but the racial difference as well. Thrawn being an alien known as Chiss, he is constantly harassed and singled out as a political target for every high ranking official. Thrawn is unperturbed by it and does his job, though not always to code. Through the course of the book, Thrawn uses unorthodox methods and in the process, ruffles the feathers of his superiors, but not before showing the clear results of his handiwork. In this, the novel shows just how smart Thrawn is and how well he can think on his feet, but that's not all. The other aspect the book covers well is Thrawn's thirst for knowledge.
Several times in the novel before the action starts, Thrawn is shown studying his enemies, their art and history to make better decisions in the field and the result is the execution of foolproof plans. The novel shows off the genius that is Thrawn, but not how you expect. Much of Thrawn's tactics are explained in the third person by a secondary character alongside Thrawn, Eli Vanto. Eli, being Thrawn's aid ( at first assigned this by higher ups to insult Thrawn), he learns from Thrawn in almost every way and grows alongside him throughout the length of the novel. Eli goes from a wild space native filled with malcontent for his position in the Empire to being proud to be by Thrawn's side and making a real difference in the galaxy. Moreover, the use of Eli in the story lets us into the mind of Thrawn with such grace and fluidity that you barely notice you are being fed information on how Thrawn's plans work and instead feel the weight of each victory and promotion for both Thrawn and Eli as they progress together in the story. The thing I love more than Thrawn's ability to adapt to situations is his interactions with other characters like Colonel Yularin, and Governor Pryce.
Being from the Unknown Regions of space, he knows little of the inner workings of the Empire. Luckily for him, he meets Colonel Yularin, the head of the Imperial Security Bureau and from there, grows his love and skill for investigation and problem solving. Even more, he meets several times in the novel a political official, Arhnda Pryce, a native to Lothal and side villain in Rebels. The book cuts to her adventures from time to time and shows how the relationship between her and Thrawn grows and how she becomes the leader of her planet. It really shows her smarts just as well as Thrawn and moreover, it shows her morals and range for what is right and wrong and compares it to that of Thrawn. I must say their interactions were what I enjoyed most out of the novel.
Thrawn is a clear threat to the Rebellion and it shows in this novel. From a lonely exile on a distant world to the Grand Admiral of the Imperial Navy, Thrawn shows time and time again in the book- he is the best and if there is something in his way, he will destroy it. By explaining his tactics in such a smart and innovative way, Zahn brings life to Thrawn and for that, I highly recommend reading this book.
The next book on my list is the anticipated Battlefront II: Inferno Squad, the novel by Christie Golden, slated to release in July.
