Book Review: Thrawn Alliances

Posted by James on 08/14/18 at 11:35 AM Category: Books

Book Review: Thrawn: Alliances

Thrawn: Alliances cover

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Introduction

Thrawn: Alliances was written by Timothy Zahn and published by Del Rey on July 24th, 2018.

Synopsis (Spoilers follow)

Alternate cover shot

When Padmé disappears while investigating Separatist activity near the Unknown Regions, Anakin encounters and allies with Mitth’raw’nuruodo, a mysterious Chiss officer, to find her. From Batuu, their search leads them to a Separatist factory on Mokivj where the trio discover that Dooku’s minions are mining cortosis in an attempt to manufacture indestructible battle droids. Just when it seems that Thrawn was only helping out in order get access to technology his government did not previously have, he returns to assist our heroes in sabotaging the factory and escaping. Unfortunately, Anakin’s decision to detonate the mine leads to disastrous consequences for the planet.

Years later, Darth Vader and Grand Admiral Thrawn are tasked by the Emperor with investigating a mysterious Force disturbance in that same area of space. Finding themselves once again on the planet Batuu, they encounter the Grysk; a species hitherto unknown to Vader and the Empire. Thrawn describes them as an aggressive and warlike people, shrouded in myth. Throughout their mission, Vader struggles with whether or not Thrawn can be trusted to put the Empire’s concerns over those of his people. It is revealed that the sources of the disturbance are Force-sensitive Chiss children, whose precognitive awareness is the key to the Chiss’s abilities to navigate the treacherous Unknown Regions. Their abduction now gives the Grysk an advantage, and makes them a threat both to Thrawn’s native home and his adopted one. Although Imperial forces prevail in a showdown with the aliens and rescue the Chiss children, Thrawn makes it clear to Vader that they have not heard the last of the Grysk.

Review

Padmé

As you might expect from legendary Star Wars author Timothy Zahn, Thrawn: Alliances is a joy to read. The pacing was near perfect, with tipping points coming in just the right places for both the “past” and “present” stories. Zahn chooses wisely not to alternate the timeline with every chapter, instead you may get 3-4 chapters in the past or present. The past story takes place during the Clone Wars, after Ahsoka’s departure from the Jedi (she is mentioned but does not appear in the book). As our friend Redfive_cp pointed out in a Disqus comment a while back, it plays like a Clone Wars episode; a good one. I had no trouble envisioning it as an arc from the series while I was reading. At times it comes off like a film noir detective story as we follow Padmé on the trail of her now dead friend, as Anakin and Thrawn encounter the shady and dangerous denizens of Batuu’s Black Spire outpost. The present story takes place just after the Battle of Atollon as depicted in Zero Hour, the third season finale of Rebels. As a result, we see Thrawn somewhat on the defensive after his failure to completely crush the Rebels there. This, along with Vader’s persistent questioning of his loyalty is, I think, a strength of the book. As a character, Thrawn, like Vader, can often suffer from the Batman problem (always prepared, too smart/strong to lose); so seeing him really on his toes like this can be a breath of fresh air. Yes, I realize Thrawn was defeated more than once on Rebels, but I felt like some of those depictions were a little unconvincing.

Zahn keeps the book pretty lean and focused; in the Clone Wars story you get Padmé, Anakin and Thrawn; no unnecessary attempts to shoe-horn Obi-Wan, Yoda, Dooku, or even Palpatine into it. This story is about Anakin and Thrawn (with a pretty good amount of Padmé flying solo in it) and that is basically what you get. In the present storyline, we get meaningful supporting appearances from Rukh, Karyn Faro (returning from the previous Thrawn novel), and a new character, Commander Kimmund of Vader’s stormtrooper legion. Speaking of Kimmund, Zahn’s descriptions of combat between Vader’s troops and the Grysk are great, they’re intense but measured. He also has an interesting method for describing Anakin and Vader’s use of the Force when they are fighting. The revelation about the Chiss children was a nice addition to the SW universe. Per Thrawn, the Chiss produce a small number of Force sensitive children. They are almost always female and their sole ability is precognition. Here’s the thing: as they get older and grow into adulthood, their abilities fade away. So, you get a great story element that works well here, but we don’t have to worry about a bunch of “Chiss Jedi” that suddenly get thrown into the mix. I liked that a lot.

In short, Thrawn: Alliances comes highly recommended with a score of 4 Bantha Skulls. It’s not perfect: Anakin has a Weekend At Bernie’s moment that’s a little hokey, and the Grysk receive fairly little character development. I’m fairly confident we will be seeing more of them in future projects. If you haven’t read the previous novel, Thrawn, it is not necessary to enjoy this book. However, I suggest you do because I have a feeling that the follow up to this book will pick up on some threads from that one, in particular the fate of Eli Vanto.