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Heir to the Empire (Star Wars: The Thrawn Trilogy, #1)

Timothy Zahn

Why we're reading this: #88 on NPR's Top 100 SF/F novels of all time (2011 poll) http://www.npr.org/2011/08/11/1390858...

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[close] #88 on NPR's Top 100 SF/F novels of all time (2011 poll) http://www.npr.org/2011/08/11/1390858...

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Sep 11, 2014 Athena Shardbearer rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy, space, may-the-force-be-with-you

Heir to the Empire Thread

Thrawn...that is all.
...more

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Jan 07, 2020 Richard Guion rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Marc Thompson does a stellar job on this audiobook! He does dozens of voices, I think his Han Solo is a dead on impression of Harrison Ford. I read this when first published, this audiobook version is the way to experience this story because of Thompson’s vocal performance, the John Williams music, and the sound effects. I had read the Thrawn novel earlier, the one published in 2017. Another reviewer said that the Thrawn in that novel is a much different character than the one here in Heir and I ...more

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Feb 16, 2013 Aleix Dorca rated it liked it

Shelves: science-fiction, space-opera, military

3 stars because it gets *somewhat* better towards the end... (Nostalgia biased my decision too, only a bit though).

This is the second time I've read this book. The first time was when it came out in the early nineties. I was 16 then and this book came as something rather big and original, it was even advertised on my local TV news, go figure. I read it then, as I was saying, knowing somehow that it would not live up to the movies (that is the original trilogy, of course, no Jar Jar yet then). Al 3 stars because it gets *somewhat* better towards the end... (Nostalgia biased my decision too, only a bit though).

This is the second time I've read this book. The first time was when it came out in the early nineties. I was 16 then and this book came as something rather big and original, it was even advertised on my local TV news, go figure. I read it then, as I was saying, knowing somehow that it would not live up to the movies (that is the original trilogy, of course, no Jar Jar yet then). Also, I didn't want it to be better than the movies, so I guess my mind was already set up for disaster. Anyway, I wasn't completely wrong. The book did not amaze me then and I simply forgot all about it until recently when I run out of material to read and thought about the incredible number of Star Wars books that were available in my local bookshop. Awed by the huge number of available books I let Google tell me which one to read. It seemed that the best trilogy was this one. So I thought: "Why not? Let's give a try.". Then I saw the book cover and thought "Hey, this reminds me of something...". And so it was that I found myself rereading the first book of the Thrawn trilogy thinking that maybe the first time I had failed to understand it.

I had not.

This book does not live up to the original trilogy at all. It's really simple, the plot is very very very simple. Even 'The Phantom Menace' had a more complicated story. Everything happens without any tension at all between characters. The novel can be read only by jumping through the spoken parts. The dialogue is all that matters. There are only a couple of interesting descriptions, the rest is totally avoidable simply because it adds nothing to the story.

Thrawn is a genius, no doubt... NOT! He can guess all the Republic plans as if he had planned them himself. And then in the end, the all mighty twist... C'mon! Don't you think that would be the first thing they'd change? The Empire can't be that stupid. Or can they? Anyhow the ending battle adds a bit to the boring rest of the book. Also, Mara, is that really your reason for being upset? Oh my! And the Ysalamiri? Really? Bah!

Anyhow, I'm going to read the other two *only* to see how it all ends and, also, because I already bought them.

Oh, by the way... the characters can only remember things that happened more than 5 years ago... The Battle of Endor this, the Battle of Endor that... What's with that!? What happened between Return of the Jedi and this book? Nobody seems to know, well, apart that Han finally knocked up Leia, and then again, he also waited five years! Maybe the rest is explained in another book. Right now I'm not tempted to find out. ...more

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