Thrawn trilogy

The Thrawn trilogy, also known as the Heir to the Empire trilogy, is a series of best-selling novels written by Timothy Zahn. The novels are set in the Expanded Universe of the Star Wars galaxy approximately five years after the events depicted in the film Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi.

The series introduced many notable characters, such as Mara Jade, Talon Karrde, and Grand Admiral Thrawn, one of the more notable Expanded Universe villains. Also, the trilogy first publicly revealed the name of the galactic capital world of Coruscant.

Zahn's treatment of Thrawn included the original element of artistic analysis of cultures. Thrawn devised military strategy based in part on the aspects of his enemies' mindset that he derived from their cultures' art, e.g. determining from his study of paintings that a simultaneous englobement with small fighters would induce temporary paralysis in an enemy's command structure.

Summary

As the first book opens, the Rebellion, now known as the New Republic, is still fighting to mop up final Imperial resistance and set up a functional government. Out in the fringes of the galaxy, the most brilliant of all the hand-picked Grand Admirals is gaining strength and preparing to attack the New Republic. After convincing a Dark Jedi to join his side, Grand Admiral Thrawn is confident of his victory.

Books in the series

1. Heir to the Empire, 1991 (ISBN 0-553-40471-7)
2. Dark Force Rising, 1992 (ISBN 0-553-08574-3)
3. The Last Command, 1993 (ISBN 0-553-56492-7)

Reception

All three books were later adapted as comic books by Dark Horse Comics. The series was divided into six separate issues per book, and re-released in 2009 as a single hardcover graphic novel for the trilogy. A soundtrack of the trilogy had been in discussions by Robert Townson, the vice president of Varèse Sarabande Records, but did not go any further than that.^[1] In August 2011, the series was voted into NPR's top 100 science fiction and fantasy books, as voted on by over 60,000 participants.^[2]

Role-playing game versions

Each novel in the trilogy had its own Star Wars RPG sourcebook created for it by West End Games. When the rules for the Star Wars RPG changed the three volumes were collected into one book for the entire Thrawn trilogy which also served as a second edition to the original three source books.

References

1. ^ Vaz, Mark Cotta (2009-04-25). The Secrets of Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire. Star Wars. Del Rey. p. 256. ISBN 0-345-40236-7. "",had earlier discussed with Wilson the possibility of a sound track based on author Timothy Zahn's trilogy of Star Wars novels."" 
2. ^ "Your Picks: Top 100 Science-Fiction, Fantasy Books". http://www.npr.org/2011/08/11/139085843/your-picks-top-100-science-fiction-fantasy-books. Retrieved 2011-08-12.