Star Wars Thrawn Review

Thrawn is one of those interesting characters from the expanded Star Wars Universe, that Lucasfilm decided was simply too great to leave in the past. The character was brought into the Star Wars Rebels show and this book gives us a little backstory of how Thrawn joined the Empire and his actions that led him to become Grand Admiral.

The story primarily seems to tell the story of the rise of Thrawn via his aside, Eli, which allows us readers to have aspects explained to us that makes sense. There are many battles within the story and I felt that I was invested in the characters as it went on, wanting to see where it was going and how Thrawn’s techniques were very smart.

I’ll be totally upfront and say I didn’t have any idea who Thrawn was before reading this book, I knew he was in Rebels and was part of many books, so this was my first introduction to the character and he wasn’t what I expected.

There are a few aspects to this book that I wasn’t as pleased about, first up the sub story of Arihnda Bryce making her way through becoming powerful, which just felt unnecessary. I reached the end of the book and just felt, it served no purpose and felt like filler.

Another issue I had was the lack of interaction with the Emperor until the last chapter, we are told of countless meetings but never find out what they actually said, which would have been more interesting than all the stories with Bryce. I’d have also liked to have learned more about Thrawn and his race, especially the interaction with Anakin Skywalker during the Clone Wars. I do however like how this book continues to bridge that gap between the original and prequel trilogies, plus tie into the building of the Death Star.

Thrawn continues to be an interesting character, we learn a lot about his time with the Empire and it certainly didn’t feel like he was positioned as a brutal murder or power hungry villain, since he would try to have the minimum amount of life lost. Plus he was positioned as almost an underdog going through the ranks. So this wasn’t expected, but it makes him more interesting since he isn’t one dimensional.

Overall, Thrawn, was an enjoyable read, the relationship between Thrawn and Eli, are one of the key aspects to the story and how his battles are presented, shows the story from the other side of the battle, how those who joined the Empire do so because they feel they are doing the right thing and protecting people. It might not be one of my all time favourite Star Wars books, but it was enjoyable and worth checking out, especially if your interested in learning more about Thrawn, like I was.