The Road to Episode Infinity: Thrawn Book Review

I have read many, many Star Wars books in my day, but Timothy Zahn’s 2017 novel “Thrawn”, is probably the best I’ve encountered. Before examining why the book is so good, let’s get some background.

Grand Admiral Thrawn was first created by Timothy Zahn for the 1991 book “Heir to the Empire”. Zahn’s trilogy of books, known as “The Thrawn Trilogy”, were the first books of the old expanded universe. It was the first time that a book would take place after the events of Return of the Jedi. Timothy Zahn’s trilogy became the gold standard of what a good Star Wars novel should look like. Zahn even was allowed to invent the name and description of the Imperial capital world, Coruscant, which would later become important in Lucas’ prequel films. Yet the element of this trilogy that is most remembered is the character of Thrawn.

Star Wars fans know Thrawn as a military genius. Thrawn studies the art and culture of societies in order to understand their military tactics. He is a rare example (maybe the only example) of a non-human serving in the high command of the Galactic Empire.

He is also the only character from the old expanded universe that Disney has reinstated into its new universe. Thrawn was reintroduced into Star Wars through the television show “Rebels” and Timothy Zahn’s 2017 book “Thrawn” tells us the backstory of the character for the first time.

So just how did a blue-skinned, red-eyed Chiss climb through the ranks of the Galactic Empire? Timothy Zahn first introduces us to Mitth'raw'nuruodo (Thrawn) on a backwater Wild Space world where he is living alone and stranded. Thrawn is causing trouble for the Imperials in the region and is using primitive tactics to take out stormtroopers. When Thrawn is finally captured by the Imperials, they see him as somewhat of a mystery. The Chiss are from the Unkown Region and most the Galaxy either knows nothing of them or think they are a myth. Thrawn is taken to Coruscant and presented to Emperor Palpatine as a gift. Here Thrawn offers his services to the Imperial Navy.

The secondary character of this novel is Eli Vanto. Eli is also from wild space (which is sort of like being from backwater Alabama). Eli is good with numbers and simply wants to be an accountant on a starship or Imperial base someday. Eli is assigned the role of translator for Thrawn, because Thrawn speaks Sy Bisti, a language used in the Unknown Regions that even protocol droids aren’t programmed to understand. Eli is not happy about his role, but tries his best to keep Thrawn out of trouble in the Imperial Academy. There is a lot of prejudice against both Thrawn and Eli because they are from backwater worlds and because Thrawn is non-human.

The real crux of this novel is the relationship that forms between Thrawn and Eli Vanto. The character Thrawn wouldn’t normally be relatable or accessible to most of us, but as Eli Vanto begins to understand and befriend Thrawn, so too does the reader. Working through this novel, a reader may even stop seeing the Empire as the bad guys and start viewing them with more nuance. The Empire is a semi-corrupt government that uses its power to police the Galaxy and hoard wealth for the elite, but so is America. The Imperial Navy is simply trying to keep order in a lawless galaxy, and they are succeeding in ways that the Republic never could. And, like America, The Empire is filled with good people as well as bad people. Trying to figure out who Thrawn is, how he operates, and whether he is ultimately a hero or an anti-hero is part of the fun of this novel. By the end of the book, one might find that both Eli Vanto and Thrawn could very well become their new favorite Star Wars characters.

In the original Zahn trilogy (the one from the early nineties) Thrawn did not survive the third book. It is pretty amazing that Disney was able to revive the character and bring back Zahn to pen another Thrawn novel, 25 years later. Thrawn will, no doubt, play an important role in Rebels season 4, and what ultimately happens to the character in this brave-new-canon is still very much in the air. I, for one, will be watching closely.

Zahn has written 11 Star Wars novels.

"Thrawn" is his first entry into the new Disney canon.