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Star Wars: Mist Encounter

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Mist Encounter is a short story written by Timothy Zahn and illustrated by Doug Shuler, originally published in Star Wars Adventure Journal 7 by West End Games in August 1995.

29 pages, Unknown Binding

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308 people want to read

About the author

Timothy Zahn

482 books8,436 followers
Timothy Zahn attended Michigan State University, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in physics in 1973. He then moved to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and achieved an M.S. degree in physics in 1975. While he was pursuing a doctorate in physics, his adviser became ill and died. Zahn never completed the doctorate. In 1975 he had begun writing science fiction as a hobby, and he became a professional writer. He and his wife Anna live in Bandon, Oregon. They have a son, Corwin Zahn.

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5 stars
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131 (41%)
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78 (24%)
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
177 reviews1 follower
June 19, 2024
As far as short stories go, this one is great. Fantastic writing that provides great depth. I'm really glad it was used in the newer books written as well
Profile Image for Kryptomite.
166 reviews
August 24, 2024
This short story isn't necessary, but it does fill in a small gap in thrawn's history between the events of outbound flight and prior books. If you're able to read it after Outbound Flight, I don't advise passing it up.
Profile Image for Thomas.
2,083 reviews83 followers
July 29, 2016
This story shows how Thrawn went from high commander of the Chiss army to becoming a commander for the Empire. It's a bit of an aside, really, but it's still a relevant piece of the EU, since Outbound Flight didn't clarify how Thrawn makes that transition. I'm surprised to see how many short stories I've encountered so far that exist just to bridge different stories together, sometimes by doing some kind of retcon.
Profile Image for B.A.G. Studios.
173 reviews
February 6, 2024
I’m certain I read this when I read Outbound Flight, but I’d nearly completely forgotten it. Now that I am finished with the Prequel era of books… well, with a couple exceptions set before all the rest… I decided to revisit this short story so I could most accurately add it to my ranking list.
Mostly I’m just fascinated that this is the only Legends story that has almost verbatim been translated into Canon. There are differences, and I skimmed to double check some of them, but the first two chapters of the Canon Thrawn novel are basically just this short story, with an additional Eli Vanto dropped in (shame that the Legend of Thrawn forgot about poor Eli…).
This is not too long, not too short, plenty investing, and at its worst it still holds great moments for Thrawn. Something I didn’t consider was how this was originally a reveal — Thrawn wasn’t known by his full name yet, apparently. Thats an aspect I can’t appreciate, having always known it was Thrawn hiding in the woods, but that is kind of neat to consider. Back in the day, just chilling with some West End Games material and get jumpscared by Thrawn. I don’t feel like this is any kind of must-read, the characters aren’t fully developed how they could be, and I don’t give a crap about this random smuggler Han/Chewie ripoff… oh what’s that? Majorly important for like ten full books? Seriously? Jeez, okay. Well, regardless, this is basically just a fluffy filler but it’s a fun one. I wish Thrawn was maybe a little more succinct in his explanothon, for pacing’s sake, but it’s a minor complaint.
Profile Image for Helix.
146 reviews46 followers
July 31, 2017
The original, somewhat shorter version of the encounter at the beginning of the Thrawn canon novel. It's a nice read and I love seeing how it differs from that version, and also less boring (admittedly, the beginning of the canon novel bores me to death), but it doesn't have much going on for it other than it just is. Maybe this is because I don't read it after it came out or at least before I read the canon novel, so there's zero excitement factor for me other than Thrawn.
Profile Image for Kacey.
80 reviews9 followers
September 16, 2021
Rating anything with Thrawn in it this low hurts my soul, but this was really just okay. Maybe "Mist Encounter" would have been better if I hadn't read Thrawn somewhat recently, but compared to the way that the events of Mist Encounter were rewoven into the new canon, this original just feels...unfinished.

It's a quick read, and really not too bad, but as a standalone? It doesn't work for me.
Profile Image for Lois Merritt.
406 reviews39 followers
December 28, 2021
So discovered this short story at the end of Outbound Flight is basically the original version of how Thrawn was discovered by the Empire and he joined them - basically the first few chapters of the new canon book titled Thrawn. This one definitely seemed like the same Thrawn and even events he did on the planet to get the empire's attention, with one glaring difference - no Vanto, or even a Vanto like character. So, yeah, like the new version vastly better. :)
Profile Image for Nelson.
77 reviews
May 1, 2022
A great little story with how Thrawn himself joined the Empire. I really enjoyed this little short story. This actually felt like small horror story at first. Stormtroopers getting ambushed in a forest with a lot of mist. They had no idea what was attacking them. Slowly troopers were getting killed. Eventually it was revealed that it was all Thrawn’s doing which was a great twist. The more Thrawn the better! Highly recommended!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Graham Barrett.
1,287 reviews3 followers
April 26, 2023
Read shortly after reading Zahn's 2017 "Thrawn" novel and learning the first few chapters were essentially retelling this and I was curious on how they compared. Besides some annoying discrepancies in the old EU timeline (forgivable considering Zahn wrote this before the Prequels came out) this is just as good as the story told in the current Disney Canon.
Profile Image for Tijani  Kay Aderemi .
37 reviews4 followers
July 14, 2019
A short story about how the great Grand Admiral Thrawn came into the employ of the empire. Skillful, and daring he is.
Profile Image for Jaime K.
Author 1 book44 followers
August 5, 2020
This is a great "interlude" between Thrawn meeting Car'das in "Outbound Flight" and Thrawn being a part of the Empire in the post-OT era.
Profile Image for Alyce Caswell.
Author 17 books20 followers
June 11, 2023
A great short story that reveals how formidable Thrawn can be when he's on his own, without the support of a fleet.
337 reviews1 follower
March 20, 2024
This was at the end of the Outbound Flight ELC and was the introduction to how Thrawn was discovered by the empire. Once he got introduced this instantly became required reading for me
Profile Image for CloneTrooperFanbot.
35 reviews
July 17, 2025
A good story about Thrawn’s first contact with the Empire. I’ve basically already read this since I read Thrawn 2017, but it’s still cool. The inclusion of Booster Terrik was a bit unnecessary
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Michael Towers.
Author 1 book4 followers
August 4, 2016
Not too much to say about this one. A fun and quick read and along with Zahn's 'Jade Solitaire', is one of only two Star Wars short stories I would actually recommend reading.

This story shows how Thrawn went from being in exile to being recruited by the empire and even leaves hints about his eventual "exile" to the Unknown Regions. For fans of Thrawn.
Profile Image for Andrew Lloyd.
188 reviews5 followers
December 26, 2013
Great short story that shows how Thrawn became in the employ of the Empire. Unfortunately, it doesn't explain what directly caused his exile, though you are not surprised if you read Outbound Flight. All in all, a fun, quick read.
Profile Image for Christopher Lutz.
570 reviews
July 13, 2014
A fantastic short story about one of the most interesting Star Wars characters outside of the official canon. A great bridge between Thrawn's appearance in Outbound Flight and his appearances later on in the original trilogy/new republic era novels.
Profile Image for Jamie Anderson.
256 reviews3 followers
October 9, 2015
I mean, this was a 20 page short story, so it might seem a little iffy to count it as a book. But I'm going to so BACK OFF :-D

I enjoyed it. I don't want to spoil anything but let's just say that I really enjoy every appearance of a certain character that made an appearance in this story as well.
67 reviews7 followers
December 17, 2012
A short story of how Admiral Thrawn came to be in the Galactic Empire's Employ. Quick but fantastic read.
Profile Image for Konstantin Samoylov.
269 reviews3 followers
August 1, 2016
One of the most interesting stories outside of the official Star Wars universe. And it introduces one of the most interesting character.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews

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