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February 2021 Legends Group Read: Heir to the Empire by Timothy Zahn
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We picked Heir to the Empire.
The second place - Rogue Squadron - will be nominated for the March Group Read. The voting will start today.
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Read at your own pace. Post your thoughts in this thread. If you're ahead of the schedule bellow, USE SPOILER TAGS FOR MAJOR PLOT POINTS AND TWISTS. Have fun!
Week 1: Feb 1st - Feb 7th: CHAPTERS 1-9
Week 2: Feb 8th - Feb 14th: CHAPTERS 10-17
Week 3: Feb 15th - Feb 21st: CHAPTERS 18-24
Week 4: Feb 22th - Feb 28th: CHAPTERS 25-32
For discussion within schedule you don't need to use spoiler tags.
How to use spoiler tags
<*spoiler>your spoilery text<*/spoiler> - without asterisk *
Mod
I think this is a great pick and I'm excited to delve into Heir to the Empire in a couple of weeks.
Damn, I won't be able to read the four X-Wing books I need for my reread to be at the appropriate point in the timeline for an Heir to the Empire reread. But I will gladly join the conversation and revive this thread later when I'm reading it.
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Can't wait! This is going to be fun!
I should read the original trilogy first- I'll try to crush it out so I can be able to start and finish Heir to the Empire in February :)So excited!!!
Yay! I was planning on reading this in March or April for the Chiss/ Thrawn Read-a-thon, if we are still doing that, but will read it in February and read the other 2 in March and April.
Mod
We're still doing the Read-a-thon. We'll start two months before the next Thrawn book is published at the end of April.
Yay! I'll just read either book 2 or 3 for that one.
Can't wait. I have this one in paperback and will now get a chance to read it.
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I have a paperback copy I bought from Tim Zahn himself at a Dragon Con panel. He signed it "for Dan Q, best wishes" and dated it 9/4/09. Guess it's about time I read this puppy!
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Same.
Hey everyone, I am so hyped for this one!I am new here, so can someone explain to me how this monthly reading works?
Thanks!
Mod
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Read at your own pace. Post your thoughts in this thread. If you're ahead of the schedule bellow, USE SPOILER TAGS FOR MAJOR PLOT POINTS AND TWISTS. Have fun!
Week 1: Feb 1st - Feb 7th: CHAPTERS 1-9
Week 2: Feb 8th - Feb 14th: CHAPTERS 10-17
Week 3: Feb 15th - Feb 21st: CHAPTERS 18-24
Week 4: Feb 22th - Feb 28th: CHAPTERS 25-32
For discussion within schedule you don't need to use spoiler tags.
How to use spoiler tags
<*spoiler>your spoilery text<*/spoiler> - without asterisk *
Mod
Which one do you prefer - the classical Tom Jung 1991 cover art
or the new 2016 Rich Kelly art?
The original cover art. The characters look better, and it reminds me of the original posters for the Star Wars trilogy.
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I'd probably love a hybrid of both - movie poster style and less clutter.
My main issue with the new cover is how unattractive Thrawn's face looks. The entire art style just looks clunky and unfinished to me.
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Oh, now I'm torn. Because his voice actor is really good at villains too, but Michael Fassbender is great as well.
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In Chapter 4 there is a reference to the Outbound Flight project from before the Clone Wars era. There is a book by Timothy Zahn Outbound Flight. I guess some of the answers are there. And I hope that the rest will be answered in this book.
Let's just say cloning force sensitive folk like Jedi rarely if ever goes well. Answers to some of your questions are found in the rest of this trilogy, with Outbound Flight being the backstories of various characters.
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I like the slight inconsistencies in the pre-prequel trilogy books.
Thrawn refers to Darth Vader as a "Dark Jedi". The era directly preceding Clone Wars is called The Old Republic. And there's more.
There are also some things in the books that Lucas liked so much he used them later in the prequels and TCW show, like Coruscant.
Although the idea of a city planet as the Republic capital can be traced to ROTJ. Have you seen the Ralph McQuarrie concept art for Had Abaddon/Coruscant?
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I'm trying to remember if I've seen those particular pieces of concept art by Ralph Mcquarrie.
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link to Ralph McQuarrie's Star Wars Gallery blog post with his concept art for "Coruscant/Mustufar/Had Abaddon": http://rmqgallery.blogspot.com/2015/0...
the bottom picture is the Imperial Palace on Had Abaddon/Coruscant (Luke and Leia's new home in Heir to the Empire)
for bigger pictures - a fan collected some of the McQuarrie Coruscant concept art in his blogpost: Coruscant as envisioned by Ralph McQuarrie
Those are amazing!
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And the given excuse that it's closer and more convenient is just weak. Remember Padmé's flat in the seeing distance of the Jedi Temple?
I agree with Luke that it was not a great idea.
yeah. Until recently I didn't realize that the Imperial Palace wasn't the Jedi Temple. I'd always imagined that the two were the same thing, so the new government moving in was simply retaking what Palpatine had desecrated.
Momentary military history buff nerd moment: This opening battle and first use of a Marg Sabl is basically Admiral Yi Sun-sin's The Crane's Wing battle formation and tactics adjusted for combat in outer space rather than in the water. Even how Thrawn lures in the ships with his scouting vessels is text book Admiral Yi. So far nothing in the 20th anniversary edition annotations indicate Zahn had any knowledge of Admiral Yi Sun-sin's naval tactics for fighting against far larger naval forces.
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So far I've found Zahn naming several generals as inspiration for Thrawn's military genius:
"Thrawn isn't based on any historical person in particular, but is more of a composite of the best and brightest military geniuses that have ever lived, including Hannibal, Alexander, Robert E. Lee, Erwin Rommel, and others."¨ [from Timothy Zahn's letter to a fan]
In other interviews he mentions Sun Tzu and Carl von Clausewitz.
As far as I'm concerned it only means that Admiral Yi Sun-sin is one of the "others" mentioned in the letter above.
I hope he's included. He was the first to utilize iron clad ships in combat.
Zuzana wrote: "I'm intrigued by the idea of a cloned Jedi Master. Why would the Jedi do that? Were there more than one? Were they made on Kamino? Did they have accelerated aging like the clone troopers? Who did t..."I thought it was interesting that Thrawn knew he was a clone because of the extra "u" in Joruus? I didn't understand why that was so meaningful.
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"
I think and that is just my opinion that it was Zahn's equivalent of Asimov's "R." in front of robots' names in his Robot and Foundation series. Was it - doubling of vowels to indicate that the person is a clone - used by other authors later on?
What surprised me was that Joruus C'baoth was originally supposed to be a mad clone of Obi-Wan Kenobi. Thankfully, Lucasfilm shot down that idea.
Imagine a mad Obi-Waan obsessed with training a new generation of (Dark) Jedi. Crazy!
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Wouldn't it cause a lot of political problems?
Han and Luke are no longer part of the New Republic military. How exactly did they got their seats on the Council? I find it hard to believe that they were elected in democratic elections. It's been 5 years since Battle of Endor - it's fishy to have military leaders of the rebellion (Generals Akbar, Mon Mothma & Leia) and their family members (Han and Luke) as the government.
Books 2 and 3 get into some of that.
Zuzana wrote: "You shouldn’t always judge a book by it’s cover, but that doesn’t mean the cover isn’t important.Which one do you prefer - the classical Tom Jung 1991 cover art
or the new 2016 Rich Kelly art?
"
The Original cover
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e.g. Timothy Zahn wanted to name the book either Wild Card or Warlord's Gambit.
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I nominated Book 2 Dark Force Rising for our April Group Read. Let's hope it wins.
BTW Nominations are open. Anybody interested in our Group Reads can nominate a book here.
So far we have three nominations:
Zuzana wrote: I think and that is just my opinion that it was Zahn's equivalent of Asimov's "R." in front of robots' names in his Robot and Foundation series. Was it - doubling of vowels to indicate that the person is a clone - used by other authors later on?That's an interesting connection with Asimov! I will be on the lookout for any other clones to see if Zahn using it again.
Star Wars Legends Fan Group
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)
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February 2021 Legends Group Read
Heir to the Empire by Timothy Zahn (Star Wars: The Thrawn Trilogy #1)
The Group read starts on February 1st.
- Book 1 of The Thrawn Trilogy
- First published in May 1991
- Set in the era of the New Republic - 9 ABY (after Battle of Yavin)
It is a time of renewal, five years after the destruction of the Death Star and the defeat of Darth Vader and the Empire.
But with the war seemingly won, strains are beginning to show in the Rebel Alliance. New challenges to galactic peace have arisen. And Luke Skywalker hears a voice from his past. A voice with a warning. Beware the dark side….
The Rebel Alliance has destroyed the Death Star, defeated Darth Vader and the Emperor, and driven the remnants of the old Imperial Starfleet back into barely a quarter of the territory that they once controlled. Leia and Han are married, are expecting Jedi twins, and have shouldered heavy burdens in the government of the new Republic. And Luke Skywalker is the first in a hoped-for new line of Jedi Knights.
But thousands of light years away, where a few skirmishes are still taking place, the last of the Emperor's warlords has taken command of the remains of the Imperial fleet. He has made two vital discoveries that could destroy the fragile new Republic—built with such cost to the Rebel Alliance. The tale that emerges is a towering epic of action, invention, mystery, and spectacle on a galactic scale—in short, a story that is worthy of the name Star Wars.
Why is Heir to the Empire considered to be one of the best SW Legends books?
"The EU reached new heights in 1991 with the release of Timothy Zahn’s Heir to the Empire, kicking off the Thrawn trilogy and introducing beloved characters such as Mara Jade, the Solo twins, and Grand Admiral Thrawn himself.
Zahn’s run has been credited with reinvigorating the EU and ushering in the “old school” era of Star Wars stories.
Thrawn proved so influential to the Star Wars universe that he returned to Canon with his premiere in Star Wars: Rebels and is now featured in the new Canon Thrawn trilogy by Zahn.
To this day, many still consider the original Thrawn series a crowning achievement of Star Wars storytelling, and we will be eternally grateful for its role in formalizing the entire Expanded Universe."
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