Hello everyone! I hope everything is going well for you all. It is hard to not get disheartened by circumstances beyond one’s control. As I like to tell people: accept what you can’t change and change what you can’t accept. (I didn’t come up with that, but I do stick by it). Anyways, I am coming at with yet another book set in the Star Wars universe. If you are not interested, I completely understand. I just find myself having fun with these particular books. I was not always into Star Wars and wasn’t even terribly interested until relatively recently. Once you get into the world of it all, it is easy to see what makes it so fun. While the previous novels I have read have focused on the Light Side and Jedis, this is the first one I have read that deals with the Empire and Dark Side. Without much further ado, let’s talk about Thrawn.

During his exile to a remote planet. Thrawn is able to capture the attention of the Imperial forces stationed there through an impressive display of his ingenious tactical abilities. This captures the attention of Emperor Palpatine, who grants Thrawn a place in the Imperial military. Thrawn, though, is a non-human and must gain the necessary victories to cement his position. With the help of his most trusted aide Eli Vanto, Thrawn quickly rises through the ranks of the Empire through his various victories. He still, however, lacks political knowledge and forms a tentative alliance with Arihnda Pryce. Thrawn’s high ranking status is at risk when an insurgent group with a powerful leader threaten’s the Empire’s power. Thrawn must stop this rebellion or risk all of his carefully curated plans for his future ascendancy being destroyed.

Before I begin my review, here is a little bit of Star Wars insight for you. The character of Thrawn has been featured in the animated series “Star Wars: Rebels” and is set to make a live action debut sometime in the future. If the name sounds familiar, it is because I did read Timothy Zahn’s Thrawn trilogy, where Thrawn is the main antagonist. Feel free to read those reviews if you are interested. Now, as for my review: this was certainly unique amongst the other pieces of Star Wars media of consumed. While we (obviously) aren’t supposed to root for the Empire/Dark Side, Timothy Zahn presents one of the most intriguing figures in the Empire. I almost hate to admit this but I found myself genuinely wanting Thrawn and his crew to succeed and almost completely forgot he is one of the “bad guys.” Zahn does a great job creating a believability within the fantastical world of Star Wars. This is also a well – paced read with plenty of high stakes. It still had everything I look for in a good Star Wars story; it just so happen to take place on the Dark Side. So if you are interested in exploring a completely different side of the Star Wars universe, this is definitely the book you should check out.