Book Review - Thrawn

Like most geeks, I'm a Star Wars fanatic.  Back in 1991, a host of new books set in the Star Wars Universe came out.  The first set was by Timothy Zahn, and he remains, in my opinion, the only author who can write Star Wars worth a shit.  In Heir To The Empire, he introduced us to Grand Admiral Thrawn, the new villain.  Thrawn was different than any we've ever encountered - he was a military genius who studied his opponents' art in order to find psychological blind spots he could target.  Yes, he was brutal and calculating, but he was also brilliant, insightful, and knew how to get the most from his Soldiers.  Many military folks have said that Thrawn would've been the ideal commander to serve under.

As with any popular character, the audience has demanded more and more glimpses of him, and Zahn has obliged with books like Outbound Flight, Specter Of The Past, and a few more that touch at Thrawn around the edges.  However, his latest work, Thrawn, is a much deeper dive into the character and his rise to power in the Galactic Empire than any previously attempted.  I grabbed the book with glee and tore into the story, finishing the novel in roughly a week.

And I must say...I was a little disappointed.

No, not with Zahn's writing style.  Zahn still has a terrific grasp of storytelling and can bring the reader into the tale.  My disappointment came with the treatment of the main character himself.

Grand Admiral Thrawn, or Mitth'raw'nuruodo as he is known in his own language, was great in previous works for several reasons, not the least of which was the touch of mystery Zahn gave him.  He was one of the few characters that we never heard from in his own point of view, so we had to guess at what he was thinking.  Further, he was a villain.  He may have been brilliant and a great commander, but he served the Emperor and the Empire.  He wiped species out of existence and nearly took down the New Republic(formerly known as the Rebel Alliance) with barely any of what the old Empire had at its disposal.  He was a grand threat that conquered in order to rule.

Thrawn, however, changes this a great deal.  Starting with Vector Prime, a large extra-galactic war took place, introducing a race of aliens from beyond the galaxy and being an existential threat to every race.  The Thrawn Books, starting with Outbound Flight, play off of this, as if Thrawn's race, the Chiss, saw the coming invasion, and Thrawn was sent to prepare the galaxy.  Even the evil Emperor's motivations were changed from a pure power play to preparing for this awesome threat.  Thrawn was recast from villain into a hero trying to save his people, and, by extension, the entire galaxy.  So even if a bit ruthless, his intentions become far more pure.

And that, to me, ruins the character.

I want characters to stay true to who they are.  Thrawn can be a much more complex, and thus much more compelling, character by remaining a villain.  Had Zahn shown his rise through more self-serving means, it would've been a more fun book.  None of that would've diminished who Thrawn was.  In fact, it would've reinforced that good guys and bad guys aren't always as simple as they appear.  But by making him a noble soul trying to save everyone from the extra-galactic threat, he became a hero, rendering most of the initial works on him to irrelevance.

The insights into his character and motivations are also a bit disappointing.  He's not terribly complicated, doing little but having more common sense and an ability to extrapolate beyond first order effects of a decision.  I can think of any number of leaders in both the military and civilian sectors that have that quality.  In short, it made him less special.

I give this novel three stars(out of five).  Worth a read because Zahn can still tell a great story, but not worth it if you don't want your perception of the character to change.