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February 2021 Legends Group Read: Heir to the Empire by Timothy Zahn
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I'm about half way through already and even though this is probably the 5th time I've read this book, it doesn't get old. Love this book!
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TAMRA, did you discover anything new upon your 5th reading?
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I have it. I love the notes, and enjoy the novella.
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I really liked all the info on Lucas's restrictions on the story, e.g. he didn't want Zahn to define what Sith are or go too deep into the Clone Wars.
Notes that show what he thinks of Thrawn, like how Thrawn wouldn't have used conscription as a way to get soldiers. I wish we'd gotten annotated versions of the rest of this trilogy.
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I love how Thrawn calmly stays in his office drinking a beer while directing that entire first battle and talking about art. Zahn didn't cite a text for the art to tactics idea, however from my understanding of tactics and strategies and from reading articles by military officers, the best tacticians and strategists are the ones who know the most about and respect for the cultures of the officers on the opposing side of a military conflict. This includes studying their art. While none of the officers say it works quite like how Thrawn does it, the idea isn't without some basis in reality.
Zuzana wrote: "TAMRA wrote: "I'm about half way through already and even though this is probably the 5th time I've read this book, it doesn't get old. Love this book!"TAMRA, did you discover anything new upon y..."
Yes! It's been a long time since the last time I read it that some of the events have a different feel to them. Also, since I've read the Thrawn books that have been released for the new canon, they kind of put a different perspective and insight into his character. It's actually kind exciting. Can't wait to see how the rest of the book is.
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Allyssa, Former Moderator/Group Founder
(last edited Feb 10, 2021 04:41PM)
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rated it 4 stars
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I don't remember if it was in the footnotes or in one of his interviews but Zahn admitted that he pulled this idea out of thin air. He said that one of his readers suggested that the idea would make more sense if Thrawn studied myths and legends of different species. Which in theory is fine but in practice would be hindered by nuance being lost in translation.
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"Over the course of the 1980s, Zahn migrated from short fiction to novels, publishing a number of military science fiction stories with titles like The Blackcollar, Cobra, and The Backlash Mission. He began winning awards: His 1982 story “Pawn’s Gambit” earned him a Hugo nomination (and Analog’s reader award for best short story), and his 1983 novella Cascade Point won a Hugo Award.
Mitchell was familiar with Zahn’s work, having worked at Analog as its managing editor prior to joining Bantam Spectra. Lucasfilm liked Zahn’s prior work, and on Mitchell’s suggestion, signed him to a trilogy.
“It went from very cool to aaah!” Zahn explained. “The cool part was a chance to do a Star Wars book. I never would have dreamed such things were possible, let alone that I would be offered it. The panic was, ‘I now have to capture the characters, the tone and feel of Star Wars.’”
He had a couple of requirements: His trilogy had to take place after Return of the Jedi, and he couldn’t bring back characters like Vader or Palpatine. He’d have to come up with a new villain for Luke, Leia, and Han to go up against. “I didn’t want a Vader-type or Emperor-type,” Zahn said. Fans already knew that the franchise’s heroes could handle them. “Once you eliminate them, what’s left?”
To Zahn, Vader and the Emperor both ruled through fear, intimidation, and manipulation. He wondered: What would happen if the leader was someone who led by loyalty? Who would the troops be loyal to? Enter Thrawn."
There's more interesting stuff in the article.
source: Timothy Zahn on 30 years of Star Wars
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I like that prequels and SW EU played into that - with Dooku's hidden xenophobia and most of the nonhuman species tied with the losing side of the Clone Wars.
Zuzana wrote: "Thrawn was the only nonhuman ever granted the rank of Grand Admiral by the Emperor.I like that prequels and SW EU played into that - with Dooku's hidden xenophobia and most of the nonhuman specie..."
I agree. I also think that the fact that he is non-human and he reached the rank of Grand Admiral in a biased Empire adds to the mystique and intrigue of his character.
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Is the Battle Meditation skill rare? I remember first coming across the ability in one of the comicbooks - Oppo Rancisis used it in one of the Clone Wars battles.
Yes, battle meditation is rare. You learn more about it in Outbound Flight.
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I might have to read that book - it touches on so many SW topics I find interesting. I'll need to finish the Thrawn trilogy first though.
Akindle wrote: "Bastila shan also used it."
I'm not much of a gamer. Might need to find a cut-scene film of KOTOR on Youtube. I'm sad that they never thought of having a book version of the game story similar to Force Unleashed. I would definitely read that.
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My friend who plays KOTOR said the comics/graphic novels cover at least some of the material from the games.
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Really, the only thing I heard is that the comicbook was totally different - different characters and different plot. Might need to look into that.
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The next book in the Thrawn prequel trilogy Thrawn Ascendancy: Greater Good will be published by Del Rey on April 27, 2021. You have two months to refresh your knowledge of Thrawn and deepen your understanding of Chiss culture. Why not do it in a fun way? Join our Read-a-thon and connect with other Thrawn loving Star Wars fans. :)
You can check out the challenge here:
Timothy Zahn/Thrawn Read-a-thon
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Akindle, if I find a good video of KOTOR storyline I'ľl share it in the Video Recommendations thread. :)
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"When Episode IV came out, Vader was described as “Dark Lord of the Sith,” but at the time no one knew what that meant. The explanation of Sith was far in the future. Or should that be far in the past? It’s so hard to keep track of these things sometimes.…
With none of Vader’s backstory available at the time, and having just invented the Noghri species for this story, I came up with the idea that Vader might have designed his mask to look like a stylized version of a Noghri face, the better to facilitate his command of the death commando squads. (At the time, of course, I didn’t know that it would be revealed in RotS that Palpatine had provided the mask.)
Originally, I had Rukh and his fellows being Sith, keying off Vader’s title Lord of the Sith. Since at that point the term hadn’t been defined, I figured I was safe. But Lucasfilm was concerned that George would want to use the Sith at some future date (which, as we all know, he did) and told me to pick some other term for them. I fumed about that for a while, but of course I’m very grateful now that they ordered me to make that change."
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SW Legends Rainbow Cake Video (Spoilers for The Thrawn Trilogy) Link is
I fell really behind on this group read. I've read this one several times in the past. I think what struck me the most this time is how seriously Karrde takes the laws of hospitality.
I know I’m really behind but I really enjoyed this book.
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Glad to hear that, Kellie. :)
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Glad to hear you liked it, as well. Have you read any of the Thrawn Ascendancy books?
I asked Timothy Zahn about Admiral Yi and his battle tactics as well as how similar he and Thrawn's key life moments are were intentional when I was at a book signing of his last year. The answer is that all of the similarities I see were unintentional because Timothy Zahn had no prior knowledge of Admiral Yi Sun-sin. I can only conclude that Timothy Zahn would have been master military tactician if he'd ever served in the armed forces.
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Let's just say that it's naval sci-fi in space, with good people of color representation (the leader of one star nation is black, and the MC, Honor Harrington is half Asian).
I tried to read the series but couldn't get into it. I couldn't stand the writing style. I find I prefer Elizabeth Moon's Vatta's War and Vatta's Peace series. She's a US Marine Corps veteran which adds a great deal of realism to her military scifi.
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Rebecca, did you say him that? If so, he must have been pleased. :D
I don't think so. I think I said something about great minds thinking alike. I asked him how he'd come up with the Margh Sabel. He said it was like a puzzle. Given certain parameters there are only certain solutions. He has studied many military figures and various eras of warfare.
I may have fangirled a lot about how similar Thrawn and Yi were.
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Me too! As a fanfic author, I try to reply to each review (if I can, because I can't do replies to guest reviews on one platform). I've great experiences when authors replied to me, and I try to create those for others as well.
Allyssa wrote: "Kellie wrote: "I know I’m really behind but I really enjoyed this book."Glad to hear you liked it, as well. Have you read any of the Thrawn Ascendancy books?"
No I haven't yet.
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Glad to hear you liked it, as well. Have you read any of the Thrawn Ascendancy books?"
No I haven't yet."
I think you might like the trilogy! I loved them!
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Books mentioned in this topic
On Basilisk Station (other topics)Star Wars: Dark Force Rising (other topics)
Star Wars: Heir to the Empire (other topics)
Greater Good (other topics)
Crucible (other topics)
More...
Talon Karrde's pets are called Sturm and Drang. "Sturm und Drang" (Storm and Defiance) was a German pre-romantic literary movement - think Goethe and young Schiller. This one I noticed right away, it made me recall my high school literature lessons.
The other one concerns Karrde's ships.
All of Karrde’s ship names involve puns or some other kind of wordplay-Wild Karrde (wild card), Starry Ice (starry eyes), Etherway (either way), and so on. I totally missed it.