Star Wars: The Thrawn Trilogy

[KB4RN3S]

Got another book question....

 

With the new Star Wars being about 177 days until the The Force Awakens comes out, I am curious if anyone out there has read the Thrawn Trilogy by Timothy Zahn?

 

I was thinking on my drive in this morning if it would be worthwhile to read them before the new movie, or if I should just wait and be pleasantly surprised by what Mr. Abrams is going to bring us.

 

Thoughts, please?

[Gainsdalf the Whey]

Got another book question....

 

With the new Star Wars being about 177 days until the The Force Awakens comes out, I am curious if anyone out there has read the Thrawn Trilogy by Timothy Zahn?

 

I was thinking on my drive in this morning if it would be worthwhile to read them before the new movie, or if I should just wait and be pleasantly surprised by what Mr. Abrams is going to bring us.

 

Thoughts, please?

 

I listened to them in college. They're not bad. They're no rogue squadron, but they're not bad.

 

Thing is, there's about 100 books in the 30 years between episodes 6 & 7 that they can draw from. I think I've read 20-30 of them and Leia and Han's kids are still like 3-7 years old, and I have a feelin the characters in the movies are going to be them in their late teens/early 20s. Thrawn is at the very beginning of that, when I think the first 2 kids are just infants.

 

The other thing is, Disney de-cannonized all the books when they bought the franchise, so they are not beholden to the books for the movie.

 

Has there been leaks that episode 7 is going to be based around the Thrawn storyline?

[KB4RN3S]

I don't know about leaks about it being based on Thrawn.

 

And Unfortunately, for me being more of a Star Wars nerd than Star Trek, I haven't kept up with the series as much. (I haven't even seen any of the SW Rebels)....I know, "Bad nerd".

 

I just didn't know if anyone would recommend the Thrawn series.

[Gainsdalf the Whey]

I see. Thrawn series is solid, but I highly doubt it's going to play into the movie at all.

 

If you want to read some of the expanded universe stuff in general, my favorite two series so far are The "X-Wing" series that follows Rogue Squadron about post episdode 6, and the "Han Solo Trilogy" which is basically Solo's origin story from before episode 4. The later is probably my favorite. I haven't been too thrilled with the Luke Skywalker and jedi based books, but I'm only up to 17 ABY (After Battle of Yavin aka Destruction of the First Death Star, it's the way time is measured in Star Wars). They're supposed to get better once the Solo kids come of age a bit. Some of them are good, some are grinds.

 

My approach so far has been to read the books chronologically by timeline, in the order they happen, not the order they've been released over the years. I'm happy with it, but have quite a ways to go. It's only 7 "adult novels" before I get to the "New Jedi Order" era, but another 20 on top of that if I want to read the "young adult" novels. The "New Jedi Order" Era is where I think the new movies are going to take place, perhaps the first real threat to the order since it's been reestablished by Skywalker.

 

Here's a list of all the books by timeline

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

From the trailers I've seen it doesn't look like the Thrawn trilogy will have anything to do with Ep 7. There was so much expanded universe cannon with the books there was no way to do a new movie that wasn't basically a movie version of one of the books, and while some are better than others, I don't think any of the books warrant that move.  Also, there was probably a financial incentive, using the EU in a movie would have been a quagmire of royalties for characters created by different authors.

 

IMO, I didn't care much for the Thawn trilogy. It wasn't bad, I just didn't find the plot compelling and some of the dialogue seemed forced. Timothy Zahn gave several characters the exact same mannerisms and linguistic style.  Others probably liked the trilogy better. so take my opinion with a grain of salt.  If you read some of Zahn's later works in the EU it seems like he kept trying to make the Admiral Thrawn character more and more brilliant and sympathetic.

[Gainsdalf the Whey]

There was so much expanded universe cannon with the books there was no way to do a new movie that wasn't basically a movie version of one of the books, and while some are better than others, I don't think any of the books warrant that move.  

 

It's basically this and I agree with it. Decannonizing was basically their only choice as the next 100+ years had already been written and everyone would know what was coming in the movies. That's no fun. They're not even using Lucas's plan of grandfather (Vader), son/daughter (luke/Leia), grandchildren (Jacen, Jaina, Anakin, Ben), instead totally going a new direction with the new movies. We basically have no idea what it's going to entail until the new series of cannonical books start coming out in September. There's 5 announced so far, with at least 20 planned. Each of the 5 is the first book in a trilogy.

 

 

Lost Stars- Two new characters in Ciena Ree and Thanus Kyrell who grow up to become a rebel pilot and imperial officer. My guess is this these are the young white chick and black dude we see in some of the trailers and possinbly are new leading characters.

Moving Target- Follows Princess Leia. Takes place between episodes 5 and 6.

Smuggler's Run- Follow Han Solo and Chewbacca. Takes place between episodes 4 and 5.

The Weapon of the Jedi- Follows Luke Skywalker and the droids. Takes place between episodes 4 and 5.

Aftermath- At least 1 previous character we all know, presumably not one of the above, but maybe not since it's later than those. We get the blurb "a lone rebel scout uncovers a secret imperial meeting." I'm guessing it's Lando maybe? Takes palce between episodes 6 and 7.

[Silverbolt]

The Thrawn Trilogy was so well received that it spawned the entire EU of novels. In fact, aside from Marvel's comics in the 70s & 80s, the EU prior to Thrawn consisted of just 1 book - Splinter of the Mind's Eye. For that reason alone, they're worth reading, IMO.
 
As has been said though, there's not much point reading anything published prior to late last year if you're trying to prepare for the new movie.
 
If you're like me though, you won't care and will want to read everything anyway, even if it's non-canon
 
The big thing to bear in mind is that Disney have said that all of the new stuff (Marvel Comics, Rebels, the new novels, etc) are all explicitly canon, in that the new movies won't contradict them, and vice versa. I believe the second Clone Wars series is also considered canon, given the appearance of certain characters in the final episode of Rebels Season 1, and the trailer for Season 2.

[Gainsdalf the Whey]

The Thrawn Trilogy was so well received that it spawned the entire EU of novels. In fact, aside from Marvel's comics in the 70s & 80s, the EU prior to Thrawn consisted of just 1 book - Splinter of the Mind's Eye. For that reason alone, they're worth reading, IMO.

 

Just because it was good enough to spawn a genre, doesn't mean it's the best series from the genre. So many of the other EU series are better. But yeah, I can agree with reading it just because of the historical significance.

 

The big thing to bear in mind is that Disney have said that all of the new stuff (Marvel Comics, Rebels, the new novels, etc) are all explicitly canon, in that the new movies won't contradict them, and vice versa. I believe the second Clone Wars series is also considered canon, given the appearance of certain characters in the final episode of Rebels Season 1, and the trailer for Season 2.

 

Yeah, I'm going to focus on the one prequel book to Rebels and catching up on Rebels over the summer I think. The one refeshing thing about all this decaonizing/recanonizing is that I have less catching up to do and can get in on the ground floor. As long as I can keep up with stuff being released, I can be full geek again instead of feeling ashamed that I hadn't read even a quarter of the books.

[KB4RN3S]

 

Yeah, I'm going to focus on the one prequel book to Rebels and catching up on Rebels over the summer I think. The one refeshing thing about all this decaonizing/recanonizing is that I have less catching up to do and can get in on the ground floor. As long as I can keep up with stuff being released, I can be full geek again instead of feeling ashamed that I hadn't read even a quarter of the books.

 

I agree.  Myy total goal this summer (I am a teacher, so I have more time during the summer) is to totally geek out!

 

My oldest daughter and I are already watching the Avengers (I got her into them with Age of Ultron) in order, beginning with Captain America: First Avenger, including Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

 

I am "reading"(Audio Books) Lord Of The Rings as I commute to and from my summer job each morning.

 

We will be watching the original Star Wars movies, and Rebels.  Then, I will be going through the new books.  Thank you Gainsdalf for the list of the books, btw.

 

So, yes, it is an exciting time to be a geek! 

[Oramac]

Wow.  It seems I'm the only person here who absolutely loved the Thrawn Series (not trilogy, there's 5 of them).

 

IMO, they are easily the best 5 books in the Star Wars EU.  Not that the others are bad by any stretch.  I just happen to love the Thrawn books.  

 

If I had to pick a second place, it would definitely be The New Jedi Order series (23-ish books).  Mainly because I love the idea of a non-Sith and non-Force Sensitive bad guy.  (Yuuzhan Vong)  Not all of the NJO books are good (*cough* Balance Point *cough*), but overall it's a fantastic series as well.  

[Silverbolt]

Just because it was good enough to spawn a genre, doesn't mean it's the best series from the genre. So many of the other EU series are better. But yeah, I can agree with reading it just because of the historical significance.

I never said it was good, I said it was worth reading

 

 

 

 

Yeah, I'm going to focus on the one prequel book to Rebels and catching up on Rebels over the summer I think. The one refeshing thing about all this decaonizing/recanonizing is that I have less catching up to do and can get in on the ground floor. As long as I can keep up with stuff being released, I can be full geek again instead of feeling ashamed that I hadn't read even a quarter of the books.

 

I'm attempting to do the same thing, but so far failing miserably. I also need space for an extra bookshelf to house my existing SW novel collection.

[Silverbolt]

Wow.  It seems I'm the only person here who absolutely loved the Thrawn Series (not trilogy, there's 5 of them).

 

IMO, they are easily the best 5 books in the Star Wars EU.  Not that the others are bad by any stretch.  I just happen to love the Thrawn books.  

 

If I had to pick a second place, it would definitely be The New Jedi Order series (23-ish books).  Mainly because I love the idea of a non-Sith and non-Force Sensitive bad guy.  (Yuuzhan Vong)  Not all of the NJO books are good (*cough* Balance Point *cough*), but overall it's a fantastic series as well.  

 

I loved the Thrawn series, personally, but then I've always loved Mara Jade

 

If we're going to be picky, it's a trilogy and a duology. You can't really call it a 5 book series when the first 3 were written as a trilogy, and the second 2 were written a few years later and set 10 years on. A 5 book story arc, sure, but it's most definitely a trilogy and a duology.

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

I got kind of overwhelmed by the EU's bulk after a while.  There were some I liked, some I didn't, and some I couldn't bring myself to care about. My least favorite of the ones I've read was the Crystal Star.  My favorite was probably Darth Plagueis.  One of my issues with the EU is that they tend to take a concept and run it into the ground. For example, with New Jedi Order, I liked the first one that RA Salvatore did, but three or four books in I was done.  But this is very subjective, because the ones I don't care for happen to be Oromac's Favorites.

[Raze]

I've always wanted to read the EU books. Thanks for the list gainsdalf! Ive only read the darth bane trilogy and all but the last book of legacy of the force dealing with darth caedus.

 

In the end I agree with the de-cannonizing the EU. it was too constrained for future projects and is quite complex and confusing at times not to mention sometimes contradictory. This will happen when you have HUNDREDS of books from dozens of authors.

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

As a fan of both Star Trek and Star Wars, I will say that at least SW tried to keep the EU consistent, there was no attempt at continuity control in the Trek EU (and at times it didn't feel like there was much quality control).

[Artemis]

I found the Thrawn series an enjoyable read, though I seriously doubt that the books will tie in with the new movies.  What little evidence there is suggests Lucasfilm is taking episode 7 a whole new direction. With any luck that the movie will have some surprising twists, something that would have been harder to achieve with the massive EU.

 

 

I agree.  Myy total goal this summer (I am a teacher, so I have more time during the summer) is to totally geek out!

 

My oldest daughter and I are already watching the Avengers (I got her into them with Age of Ultron) in order, beginning with Captain America: First Avenger, including Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

 

I am "reading"(Audio Books) Lord Of The Rings as I commute to and from my summer job each morning.

 

We will be watching the original Star Wars movies, and Rebels.  Then, I will be going through the new books.  Thank you Gainsdalf for the list of the books, btw.

 

So, yes, it is an exciting time to be a geek! 

For the Marvel content there's also Agent Carter which has a solid female lead and is set shortly after Captain America: The First Avenger.

 

On the Star Wars topic, all of those are great, but I have to ask, are you planning on watching the Clone Wars TV show as well?  I really enjoyed the show (Netflix=accidental bingewatching), however six seasons is a lot of content to get through.  If you have the time though, they are a lot of fun and there are even some character tie in's to SW Rebels (especially in the upcoming season 2).

[Harbard]

I loved the Thrawn Trilogy, but I read it when it first came out and have not reread it since, so I don't know if I would trust the literary judgement of teenage me     I think I was more excited about the concept back then than the execution. However, I agree with the earlier sentiments that it's worth the read purely because of it's role in spawning the entire EU.  

[Raincloak]

if you're wondering whether to read a book, the answer is usually "hell yes."

 

I've only read the Thrawn 3, "Splinter of the Mind's Eye," and skimmed through the novelizations of the films.  George Lucas' writing in the first book is hilariously bad, but it's interesting to see how "Star Wars" looked in its earliest form, and compare that to what it has become.  "Mind's Eye" was mediocre (again, mostly interesting for what it isn't).  The later novelizations are better; "Revenge of the Sith" would've been a decent if tragic novel on its own, and did a pretty amazing job of papering over the plot holes in the film.

 

The Thrawn books weren't outstanding literature, but they were not bad (meaning, worth the 12 hours or so it took to read them).  I would give the author credit for inventing a lot of stuff, apparently out of whole cloth, which paved the way for everybody else.  But I'm not such a fan that I would be hugely disappointed to not see that same story on the screen this winter.  In fact, I might re-read those books this summer, just to see if there's any inside jokes or "continuity nods" turning up in the new film.  I'm betting there might be a few.  Yeah, Disney is clear that the new continuity is theirs and theirs alone ... but they know they've got a bunch of adult fans who remember the old ways, and they need a little pampering.

 

I've heard "Clone Wars" is surprisingly grown-up, but I still can't bring myself to watch it.

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

Lucas had a ghost writer on the novelization of ANH, who was just going off the script treatments Lucas gave him so there could be a book before the movie came out. This means it was an earlier version of the script and we all know what a notorious tinkerer Lucas is with his own work.  The biggest difference with that novelization was the Technobabble had been turned up to 11.

[Oramac]

In fact, I might re-read those books this summer, just to see if there's any inside jokes or "continuity nods" turning up in the new film.  I'm betting there might be a few.  Yeah, Disney is clear that the new continuity is theirs and theirs alone ... but they know they've got a bunch of adult fans who remember the old ways, and they need a little pampering.

 

I personally would love it if some two-bit no-name character just in passing mentioned the name "Mitth'raw'nuruodo".  Just once.  As a whisper that you can barely hear.  But it would be enough to canonize the character even if they never actually use him or reference him ever again.  

[chriskra]

Read Thrawn, it was a pretty fun read, but it seemed kinda forced when storylines kept coincidentally coninciding.  I haven't gotten to any other EU stuff, but the ones that have gotten high praise are:

 

- Darth Bane series

- I, Jedi

- Rogue Squadron

[Gainsdalf the Whey]

I, Jedi is solid. Rogue squadron is great.

Read Lost Stars, one of the new books. It was a good, meant as an overview of episodes 4-6 through the eyes of people outside the main events. I liked the characters, looking forward to seeing them in future books.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[SkiBlue]

I, Jedi is solid. 

 

This.

 

Need to continue in the EU series myself. I enjoyed the Thrawn series (only read the first three, plus Inbound Flight). I've been half-way through NJO (New Jedi Order) since grade school. >.< Really want to get into some of the new books that are coming out, though!