In a bookshop, quite near by...... (Timothy Zahn in general)

Member Name: Andrew1911

Product:	Timothy Zahn in general
Date:	21/08/01 (31 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great plot, Great villain, It's Star Wars!

Disadvantages: Are you kidding?

The Nineties saw one of the greatest tragedies of the last 20 years take place. Bombs, floods, earthquakes - none could compare to the tragedy that was……….The Phantom Menace.

Deary, deary me.

What a pile of poo it was. For almost 20 years we wait for a sequel / prequel of any sort and we’re givem Star Wars I – The Marketing Bonanza. Sh*t plot, sh*t actor choices – and don’t get me going on Jar Jar f***** Binks.

“Mesa ruin a feelm ?” Oh yes.

But all is not lost in the galaxy far, far away. There’s a set of books out there that are more than a substitute for the travesty of the prequels – something much better a sequel. Three books, telling the story of what happened 5 years AFTER The Return of the Jedi.

The books, written by Timothy Zahn not only feature all the characters from the original trilogy but introduce a fantastic villain, new allies and above all, an intricate plot that if made into a fil would satisfy the most rabid Wookiee-speaking Star Trek fan.

The Empire Trilogy starts 5 years after the defeat of the Empire at Endor. The Alliance has beaten the Empire back to a fraction of its former strength and is seemingly poised to finish them off once and for all. However, all is not what it seems as a previously unknown military genius has taken command of the remants of the Empire’s fleet and has devised a strategy to bring the Alliance down and restore the Empire.

This new villain, Grand Admiral Thrawn, is a superb strategist; predicting his opponent’s likely responses to his tactics by analysing the artwork that that particular species has created. Not only that, but he has recruited an insane Dark Jedi to defeat the Skywalker familiy – but who has an agenda all of his own.

Standing in the way of Thrawn’s plans are our hero’s Luke and Leia, her husband Han Solo and all the other charact
ers. In addition we meet a whole host of other characters, including the cunning head of a smuggling company, Talon Kardde and his second in command Mara Jade, who seems to have a particular grudge against a certain Jedi….

These books as I’m sure you can tell, spin a very detailed and engrossing saga set in the Star Wars universe. In fact, these books were the first officially approved to continue the story that concluded in RoTJ and have formed the basis for all the other books and graphic novels that came after. Timothy Zahn has done a fantastic job at weaving a story that not only continues, but improves the Star Wars universe. In a book, you can set a far greater scope of story-telling than you can ever hope to do on film and in these three books he does a marvellous job of describing the otherworldly places and races that we never got to see in the films. From the Wookie homeworld to floor of the New Republic Senate, the level of detail that is mentioned in these books is huge and immersive. There are also enough firefights and starships battles to keep the book moving along at an action-packed rate, and are written very entertainingly.

The new characters are equally as impressive. He captures all the character’s mannerisms and behavious; the characters of Han Solo and Leia especially are very well (she is pregnant with Jedi twins!) writte. The two stand-out character for me though are the Grand Admiral and the smuggler Talon Karrde. Thrawn is portrayed as a tactical genius – cool, calm and brilliant. If you got the right actor to play him, he could be up there to rival Darth Vader as the baddy to love. His difference in attitude to Vader is played upon very well in the books, with his staff initially just waiting to be throttled a la Vader, only to be given a ticking off and told to do better next time! Not an evil character for a change, just someone who believes in the Empire.

Talon Karrde is his ‘
good’ counterpoint. A smuggler whose first love is information, he rapidly gets pulled into the struggle very much against his best efforts and whose activites become vital to the success of the Alliance. He’s a very different character to the Solo type of smuggler and yet still has the same desire to keep out of the conflict and make a profit.

The three books are very well written and will not disappoint. Zhan even wrote two further books set even further ahead, building upon the events set out in books that came after his initial trilogy. These are based much more upon events set out in other books but are still very readable – in fact, I’d recommend you do so just to find out how two character’s relationship that starts in his first three books pans out…….however, the Empire trilogy is a fantastic stand-alone read. Highly recommended.

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