SDCC Thrawn Alliances Book

[thorskywalker]

I was wondering has anyone been able to put their hands on the book yet? I just wonder, does the story include the Rebels Animated Series characters? and is the book any good?

 

[starfighter58]

I just started it so I don’t know about the rebels characters. It’s captured my interest so far, and all the non spoiler reviews I’ve watched/read have had nothing but great things to say about the novel.

 

[thorskywalker]

Thanks I am curious... Trying to get my hands on the SDCC copy but they are pretty expensive on ebay

I just started it so I don’t know about the rebels characters. It’s captured my interest so far, and all the non spoiler reviews I’ve watched/read have had nothing but great things to say about the novel.

 

[Masterfett]

I'm curious as to why Anakin is on the cover?

 

[starfighter58]

I'm curious as to why Anakin is on the cover?

Part of the novel is about Thrawn and Anakin during the clone wars.

 

[thorskywalker]

so.. has anyone finished reading it? Any thoughts?

 

[Kooshmeister]

  Spoiler:  

It had a lot of good elements, like the abducted Force-sensitive Chiss children, and the humanizing of the Stormtroopers, but the framework of the story felt a lot like a rehash of James Luceno's Tarkin; Palpatine pairs Vader with a high-ranking Imperial officer who Anakin knew during the Clone Wars to ensure they learn to work together, although Thrawn never becomes as close to Vader as Tarkin does; it's pretty much stated outright Vader intends to keep the Chiss grand admiral at arm's length because he knows he's Anakin and that subject makes Vader uncomfortable. Tarkin, by contrast, also knows, or at least suspects, but keeps his mouth shut about it.

The 505st Legion is canon again. Kinda. Now it's called the First Legion, and is led by a guy named Commander Kimmund, who is its fourth commanding officer, owing to Vader's tendency to execute his underlings for failure - including Stormtroopers, this book implies - and although Kimmund survives Alliances unscathed, I don't hold out much hope for his future, considering the presence of Commander Praji in ANH. Unfortunate, considering I rather liked Kimmund and his interactions with Rukh. I also loved the battle sequence where we see how Vader's men are in awe of him as well as in fear of him; Kimmund gets a shiver up his spine every time he sees Vader enter combat.

Another interesting new character is Thrawn's second in command Commodore Faro, who alternates between considering the Force a load of bunk and finding that the palpable fear of Vader is rubbing off on her the more time she spends in his presence. At one point, she observes him simply standing there staring out the window and snidely wonders if he's fallen asleep under his helmet... but then mentally checks herself, having heard rumors that the Dark Lord can read minds. So it's neat seeing how Vader can affect someone who doesn't believe in the Force so strongly the more time he spends around them.

Vult Skerris has a fun cameo.

The book does clash a bit with Rebels, insofar as Thrawn's use of Stormtroopers goes. This book is pretty clear that neither he nor anyone else aboard the Chimaera likes them very much, considering their presence an intrusion into Navy matters. And yet in Rebels, Thrawn uses nothing but Stormtroopers when he isn't also inexplicably using Death Troopers. Speaking of which, this book reveals Thrawn is a vocal critic of the Death Star project... and yet he uses Death Troopers in Rebels, troopers explicitly assigned to members of the Tarkin Initiative i.e. the Death Star project. One wonders if he was using the Stormtroopers and Death Troopers in Rebels under protest - or simply because he realized their use despite disliking them and what they represented.

 

[thorskywalker]

Thank you very much, this was very helpful..

So; overall, if you are to rate the 'quality/strength of literature' in other words the craftmanship of Zahn, how would you rate this book compared to the Thrawn Trilogy and the 2016 Thrawn book?

  Spoiler:  

It had a lot of good elements, like the abducted Force-sensitive Chiss children, and the humanizing of the Stormtroopers, but the framework of the story felt a lot like a rehash of James Luceno's Tarkin; Palpatine pairs Vader with a high-ranking Imperial officer who Anakin knew during the Clone Wars to ensure they learn to work together, although Thrawn never becomes as close to Vader as Tarkin does; it's pretty much stated outright Vader intends to keep the Chiss grand admiral at arm's length because he knows he's Anakin and that subject makes Vader uncomfortable. Tarkin, by contrast, also knows, or at least suspects, but keeps his mouth shut about it.

The 505st Legion is canon again. Kinda. Now it's called the First Legion, and is led by a guy named Commander Kimmund, who is its fourth commanding officer, owing to Vader's tendency to execute his underlings for failure - including Stormtroopers, this book implies - and although Kimmund survives Alliances unscathed, I don't hold out much hope for his future, considering the presence of Commander Praji in ANH. Unfortunate, considering I rather liked Kimmund and his interactions with Rukh. I also loved the battle sequence where we see how Vader's men are in awe of him as well as in fear of him; Kimmund gets a shiver up his spine every time he sees Vader enter combat.

Another interesting new character is Thrawn's second in command Commodore Faro, who alternates between considering the Force a load of bunk and finding that the palpable fear of Vader is rubbing off on her the more time she spends in his presence. At one point, she observes him simply standing there staring out the window and snidely wonders if he's fallen asleep under his helmet... but then mentally checks herself, having heard rumors that the Dark Lord can read minds. So it's neat seeing how Vader can affect someone who doesn't believe in the Force so strongly the more time he spends around them.

Vult Skerris has a fun cameo.

The book does clash a bit with Rebels, insofar as Thrawn's use of Stormtroopers goes. This book is pretty clear that neither he nor anyone else aboard the Chimaera likes them very much, considering their presence an intrusion into Navy matters. And yet in Rebels, Thrawn uses nothing but Stormtroopers when he isn't also inexplicably using Death Troopers. Speaking of which, this book reveals Thrawn is a vocal critic of the Death Star project... and yet he uses Death Troopers in Rebels, troopers explicitly assigned to members of the Tarkin Initiative i.e. the Death Star project. One wonders if he was using the Stormtroopers and Death Troopers in Rebels under protest - or simply because he realized their use despite disliking them and what they represented.

 

[Kooshmeister]

I've never read the Thrawn Trilogy. But I did read Thrawn, and I thought this book was decent in comparison. Not great, but pretty good.

 

[thorskywalker]

oh man!!!!! You have not read the Thrawn Trilogy? That is -in my humble opinion- the BEST piece of Literature EVER written in the context of Star Wars. Nothing can ever come close to it.. You should really start immediately!

I've never read the Thrawn Trilogy. But I did read Thrawn, and I thought this book was decent in comparison. Not great, but pretty good.

 

[Kooshmeister]

oh man!!!!! You have not read the Thrawn Trilogy? That is -in my humble opinion- the BEST piece of Literature EVER written in the context of Star Wars. Nothing can ever come close to it.. You should really start immediately!

So I've heard.

 

[bobafett14]

oh man!!!!! You have not read the Thrawn Trilogy? That is -in my humble opinion- the BEST piece of Literature EVER written in the context of Star Wars. Nothing can ever come close to it.. You should really start immediately!

Yeah, I agree pretty good stuff here. Good characters, good story, good plot, etc.

 

[MrPickles]

Thrawn 2 is next up on my Audible listen list after partaking in a non-fiction, palette cleanser. (The Templers, by Dan Jones)

In the last month recently finished the following two Star Wars audiobooks (For the record, I've listened to most of them):

Ashoka: Decent for its' relatively narrow story scope and somewhat lightweight material. Treads a very familiar trope of outsider who comes in to help the downtrodden, but Rebel cartoon fans will like how it sets up the Bail Organa--Fulcrum connection. The best bonus is that you get Ashley doing the voice & that's nearly worth 1 extra star in itself. Enjoyed this one more than Rebel Rising, which it shares obvious similarities to. Rating this one 3.5/5 stars.

Last Shot: Disappointing, given the characters and the timeline. Overall this was strangely simultaneously both confusing and boring. It has you jumping around 3-4(!) different timelines making it a pain the behind to keep track of the "storyline" while doing anything else but paying 100% attention. If you want a summation, this is basically a Dr. Who episode involving the Daleks. All that was missing were droids yelling, "Exterminate! Exterminate!" Not-quite saving grace award goes to Marc Thompson whose voice impersonation is golden as both Han & Lando. IMO, he's recently overtaken Johnathan Davis as best SW narrator, excited to have him back for Thrawn 2. "Yesssss, perhapsss." (Listeners of first Thrawn book will get that.) The other 2 narrators on Last Shot are nothing special and seem to be there merely to check Disney Diversity Boxes. Overall: 2.5/5 stars.

 

[thorskywalker]

Thank you very much for the review.. For some reason I kind of lost my apetite since Disney took over anyway.. I couldn't decide whether to read or not only because it was written by Zahn, who happens to be my hero of all time when it comes to SW Literature.

Thrawn 2 is next up on my Audible listen list after partaking in a non-fiction, palette cleanser. (The Templers, by Dan Jones)

In the last month recently finished the following two Star Wars audiobooks (For the record, I've listened to most of them):

Ashoka: Decent for its' relatively narrow story scope and somewhat lightweight material. Treads a very familiar trope of outsider who comes in to help the downtrodden, but Rebel cartoon fans will like how it sets up the Bail Organa--Fulcrum connection. The best bonus is that you get Ashley doing the voice & that's nearly worth 1 extra star in itself. Enjoyed this one more than Rebel Rising, which it shares obvious similarities to. Rating this one 3.5/5 stars.

Last Shot: Disappointing, given the characters and the timeline. Overall this was strangely simultaneously both confusing and boring. It has you jumping around 3-4(!) different timelines making it a pain the behind to keep track of the "storyline" while doing anything else but paying 100% attention. If you want a summation, this is basically a Dr. Who episode involving the Daleks. All that was missing were droids yelling, "Exterminate! Exterminate!" Not-quite saving grace award goes to Marc Thompson whose voice impersonation is golden as both Han & Lando. IMO, he's recently overtaken Johnathan Davis as best SW narrator, excited to have him back for Thrawn 2. "Yesssss, perhapsss." (Listeners of first Thrawn book will get that.) The other 2 narrators on Last Shot are nothing special and seem to be there merely to check Disney Diversity Boxes. Overall: 2.5/5 stars.

 

[MrPickles]

Thrawn 2 (Audio) Mini-spoiler-free Review: "Now THIS is Podrac..."...ur....no, but it is a good audiobook. Like 'Last Shot', it jumps around (2 main) different timelines; (Well, technically there's a 3rd one for a little while until the Padme timeline merges) Clone Wars era (post Ashoka walk-out) with Anakin/younger Thrawn, and then maybe 15 years later with Vader/Grand Moff Thrawn sometime just after the events of Rebels Season 3.

What's not to like?! You got all the good elements here: Author Zahn, Vader, Thrawn, Emperor cameo, Mysterious Outer-rim threat, Force-stuff, several game-changing new technologies, Thrawn strategic prowess and Vader kickin' A-. It's a solid dual-story with potentially long-lasting galactic consequences & narrator Marc Thompson once again does a stand-up job. And....maybe coolest of all, you have the introduction of the planet Batuu that's gonna be the new Disneyland(world) park location, Black Spire Outpost! Dontcha wanna know the backstory of this backwater location before you go see it in-person?! Of course you do.

I really don't even want to talk about the Storyline stuff in the book yet. Just don't feel I can w/out spoilers yet. So, let's give it a couple more months first. I will say this though.... I don't know what the future holds, but there's some stuff in this book that I think could hold the key to some VERY important elements that could happen post-Episode IX. We're talkin' on the level of Legend's Yuuzhan Vong type of set-up here. And that's all I'll say. Review: 4.5/5 Stars If you don't wanna read/listen to this SW book, then this type of stuff clearly isn't your tea.