Star Wars: The Thrawn Trilogy III: The Last Command SPOILERS!

As an apology for lack of book reviews, I send this out today: 1st January 2014, American Pacific Time

On May 1993, Timothy Zahn finished the final book of the best-selling Star Wars saga: The Last Command. This time, Thrawn and the Empire press the advantage, but can Luke and company stop insane Jedi Master C'baoth and Thrawn before the New Republic is doomed? Synopsis: The embattled Republic reels from the attacks of Grand Admiral Thrawn, who has marshaled the remnants of the Imperial forces and driven the Rebels back with an abominable technology recovered from the Emperor's secret fortress: clone soldiers. As Thrawn mounts his final siege, Han and Chewbacca struggle to form a coalition of smugglers for a last-ditch attack against the Empire, while Leia holds the Alliance together and prepares for the birth of her Jedi twins. Overwhelmed by the ships and clones at Thrawn's command, the Republic has one last hope--sending a small force, led by Luke Skywalker, into the very stronghold that houses Thrawn's terrible cloning machines. There a final danger awats, as the Dark Jedi C'baoth directs the battle against the Rebels and builds his strength to finish what he had already started: the destruction of Luke Skywalker.

The novel opens with Thrawn's fleet, under the Force-precise timing of C'baoth, launches attacks on dozens of worlds, but this plan goes wrong when C'baoth recalls forces to capture and pursue Leia. Thrawn is angered by this; C'baoth uses the Force to force Captain Gilad Pellaeon to prepare the Mount Tantiss facility for his arrival. Luke finds Talon Karrde and informs him that Mara is recovering well and asks for help in the fight against Thrawn; Talon again states that he intends to remain neutral. Mara recovers and is placed in house arrest in the Imperial Palace, but when Imperials attack Coruscant, Mara breaks out and prevents Leia's newly born children--Jacen and Jaina--from being taken captive. Thrawn has thrown asteroids into the orbit of Coruscant, preventing anyone from leaving or entering the planet. However, Ghent figures out that most of the asteroids are holograms and the Republic is able to remove the correct ones without further incident. General Garm bel Iblis leads the attack against Thrawn and the entire outcome rests on the shipyards of Bilbringi. Meanwhile, Talon gathers all the head smugglers and attempts to form an alliance, but set backs occur that are blamed on Talon. Nigel Ferris, eventually and by accident, reveals that he was working for Thrawn and the smugglers join together to help the fledgling New Republic fight Thrawn. Luke, Han, Chewie, Leia, and Mara--with a company of Noghri commandos--infiltrate the planet Wayland and sneak into Mount Tantiss. Delta Source, the illusive informant of Thrawn's, is uncovered by Ghent and is revealed to be a set of trees that record everything its holocams pick up. During the Battle of Bilbringi, Thrawn starts to overpower the New Republic, but the Smuggler's Alliance comes in and helps stave off the impending assault. Lando, Han, and Chewie destroy the Spaarti cloning tanks while the others fight C'baoth. Thrawn's bodyguard, Rukh, kills Thrawn for crimes against the Noghro people and flees. Pellaeon orders a full retreat. During the duel with C'baoth, Luke and Leia are separated from Mara as she battles Luuke, a clone of Luke. She defeats him and kills C'baoth, then they all escape on board the Millennium Falcon as Mount Tantiss explodes. Back on Coruscant, Luke and Mara talk about the future.

All in all, a decent novel that finished the much-beloved EU trilogy by Timothy Zahn. Also, sorry for the late post. Thought I'd programmed this to submit earlier, but you tend to forget things during the busy holiday season. I will hyperlink later. 

Book Review: Star Wars: The Thrawn Trilogy Volume II: Dark Force Rising SPOILERS!

In June 1992, Timothy Zahn published the bestselling sequel to the New York Times Bestselling Star Wars: Heir to the Empire. The novel fully explores the Star Wars galaxy, adding many new species, people, and technology. Synopsis: The number-one New York Times bestselling Heir to the Empire was the publishing event of the year, the first novel to continue the adventures of Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, and Han Solo, beyond the events of the most popular trilogy in movie history. Now comes Dark Force Rising, the second volume of a three-book cycle authorized by Lucasfilm Ltd. and written by Hugo Award-winning author Timothy Zahn. Five years after the events of Return of the Jedi, the fragile Republic that was born with the defeat of Darth Vader, the Emperor, and the infamous Death Star stands threatened from within and without. The dying Empire's most cunning and ruthless warlord—Grand Admiral Thrawn—has taken command of the remnants of the Imperial fleet and launched a massive campaign aimed at the Republic's destruction. With the aid of unimaginable weapons long hidden away by the Emperor on a backwater planet, Thrawn plans to turn the tide of the battle, overwhelm the New Republic, and impose his iron rule throughout the galaxy. Meanwhile, dissension and personal ambition threaten to tear the Republic apart. As Princess Leia—pregnant with Jedi twins—risks her life to bring a proud and lethal alien race into alliance with the Republic, Han and Lando Calrissian race against time to find proof of treason inside the highest Republic Council—only to discover instead a ghostly fleet of warships that could bring doom to their friends and victory to their enemies. But most dangerous of all is a new Dark Jedi, risen from the ashes of a shrouded past, consumed by bitterness…and thoroughly, utterly insane. Now he schemes to use his awesome mastery of the Force to summon young Skywalker, allay his misgivings, cunningly enthrall him, and ultimately corrupt him to the Dark Side. A tale of brilliant spectacle, startling revelations, and tumultuous action, Dark Force Rising moves with the speed of light across a dazzling epic landscape of galactic proportions, from world to world, from adventure to adventure, as Good and Evil clash across the vastness of space "a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...."


Because of how the Battle of Sluis Van went, Grand Admiral Thrawn and Captain Gilad Pellaeon search the planet Myrkr for smuggler Talon Karrde. Karrde, at the edge of the system, flees with his crew, including Mara Jade--a former Emperor's Hand. On Sluis Van, Han Solo and Lando Calrissian, and Luke Skywalker try to find evidence of the mysterious Delta Source at the planet New Cov. At New Cov, it is believed that one of Senator Borsk Fey'lya's advisers is a traitor to the New Republic for Thrawn, and is thus a primary suspect for Delta Source. But before Han, Lando and Luke can find any real evidence to whether or not Fey'lya's adviser is a traitor, the three of them soon find out that Thrawn's forces have arrived on the planet. They manage to escape, and Han and Lando are saved by a third party, which takes them to an unknown location where they meet the legendary General Garm bel Iblis, one of the initial members of the Alliance to Restore the Republic. Bel Iblis disagrees to help the New Republic defeat Thrawn on account of personal problems with Chief of State Mon Mothma.

Luke heads to Jomark and meets the insane Dark Jedi Joruus C'baoth--a clone of Jedi Master Jorus C'baoth--who beings to complete Luke's training. Luke notices that C'baoth's version of what a Jedi should be--C'baoth believes that all living beings are meant to serve Jedi and that the Jedi can impose their will on the people--differs vastly from what Obi-Wan and Yoda taught him. Meanwhile, Karrde gets captured by Thrawn and Mara, despite her longing to kill Luke, goes to Jomark to get Luke to help her rescue Karrde. C'baoth is furious that Luke is leaving and tries to attack. Thanks to an ysalamiri that she brought with her, Mara and Luke defeat C'baoth and they infiltrate Chimaera to rescue Karrde. Despite encountering armed stormtroopers, they manage to escape. Leia Solo, meanwhile, keeps her promise to Khabarakh and she, Khabarakh, Chewbacca, and C-3PO head to Honoghr. Once there, Leia manages to get the entire Noghri race to side with the New Republic against Thrawn by exposing the fact that it was the Empire that devastated Honoghr, not the Alliance. (In the actual timeline and chronology of events, it was General Grievous who did this atrocity during the Clone Wars.)

After a race against time, the New Republic finds out via Karrde that he exposed the secret of the legendary Katana fleet to Thrawn under torture. This fleet can supposedly grant Thrawn total infallible military power that will ultimately cripple the New Republic. Borsk and Leia take a New Republic task force whose crew members are loyal to Fey'la to the location of the Katana Fleet. Once they get there, they find Luke, Karrde, Lando, and Han trying to stave off Thrwan's forces form taking the last ten ships. Wedge Antilles leads Rogue Squadron to lend them a hand while the heroes secure the rest of the ships. Karrde tricks Fey'lya into admitting that he only agreed to come out here for political reasons and that "honor is outdated." The crew hears this and locks Fey'lya up; Mara brings in Karrde's forces and, after a battle, manage to destroy a couple of the ships Thrawn was taking, but ultimately, Thrawn ends up with the majority of the Katana fleet. Mara is rendered unconscious during the fight and the heroes take her to Coruscant where Karrde leaves her in the care of Leia; his best slicer, Zakarisz Ghent stays behind too.

All in all, a wonderful novel crafted by Timothy Zahn in the glory days of the Bantam Spectra decade. Timothy Zahn brought a sense of wonder and excitement back to Star Wars. Great pacing, wonderful characters, thrilling action scenes, this novel is must read for all fans of Star Wars.

Book Reivew: Star Wars: Heir to the Empire SPOILERS!

In light of the fact that I haven't posted any new book reviews in two weeks, I'm glad to say "I'm back."

In June 1991, Timothy Zahn wrote the first part of the epic Thrawn Trilogy. Bantam Spectra published the novel with LFL's authorization. Zahn kicked off the Expanded Universe in a way that affected both the movies and the EU for decades. Luke and friends face off against their most deadly adversary for the fate of the New Republic. Synopsis: Here is the science fiction publishing event of the year: the exciting continuation of the legendary Star Wars saga. Picking up where the movie trilogy left off, Heir to the Empire reveals the tumultuous events that take place after the most popular series in motion-picture history—masterfully told by Hugo Award-winning author Timothy Zahn. In spring 1977 a film called Star Wars was released—and a cultural phenomenon was born. Its epic story, about a young man named Luke Skywalker, whose destiny was to save the galaxy from conquest, caught the imaginations of millions and broke all box-office records. Today Star Wars and its sequels, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, are acknowledged as the most popular series in movie history, and rank among the top ten films of all time. The three Star Wars films form a spectacular saga of bold imaginations and high adventure. But the stories of its characters did not end there. Now for the first time, Lucasfilm Ltd., producer of the Star Wars movies, has authorized the continuation of this beloved story. In an astounding three-book cycle, Timothy Zahn continues the tale of Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo, and the other characters made world famous by Star Wars, as he brilliantly expands upon George Lucas's stunning vision, "a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away." Heir to the Empire begins five years after the end of Return of the Jedi: the Rebel Alliance has destroyed the Death Star, defeated Darth Vader and the Emperor, and driven the remnants of the old Imperial Starfleet back into barely a quarter of the territory that they once controlled. Leia and Han are married and have shouldered heavy burdens in the government of the new Republic. And Luke Skywalker is the first in a hoped-for new line of Jedi Knights. But thousands of light years away, where a few skirmishes are still taking place, the last of the Emperor's warlords has taken command of the remains of the Imperial fleet. He has made two vital discoveries that could destroy the fragile new Republic—built with such cost to the Rebel Alliance. The tale that emerges is a towering epic of action, invention, mystery, and spectacle on a galactic scale—in short, a story that is worthy of the name Star Wars.

The novel opens with Captain Gilad Pellaeon, on the bridge of the Chimaera, as a New Republic task force shows up. Pellaeon alerts Grand Admiral Thrawn, who promptly points out that an Elomin is in charge of the task force; Thrawn tells the crew to perform a Marg Sabl to which the Elomin in charge falls against. On Coruscant--this is the book that introduced Coruscant as the galactic capital of the galaxy and which George Lucas picked up to use--Luke Skywalker receives a farewell from Obi-Wan Kenobi's Force ghost, stating that Luke is the first of the new Jedi Order; Leia worries about Luke. Meanwhile, Han Solo and Chewbacca attempt to lure Dravis to the New Republic because the NR needs to get trading reinstalled. Dravis turns him down and alerts Han that Han's back-up--Wedge Antilles--was lousy at hiding; Judder Page informs Han that no one yet wants to kill him, but Wedge is worried about the missing Elomin task force. On Myrkr, smuggler Talon Karrde and his second in command, Mara Jade, welcome a shuttle from Chimeara and help them harvest a couple of ysalimir off their native trees. Thrawn and Pellaeon go to a backwater world called Wayland and convince--by using the ysalimiri--the Dark Jedi Joruus C'baoth to join them in restoring Palpatine's New Order and giving C'baoth Luke and Leia, and Leia's unborn twins: Jacen and Jaina; Thrawn reveals to Pellaeon that C'baoth isn't the original Jorus--Thrawn intercepted Outbound Flight decades ago and destroyed it--and that the one they have aboard is a clone. By order from Mon Mothma, Admiral Ackbar, and Borsk Fey'lya of the New Republic Provisional Council, Han, Chewie, Leia, Luke and the droids go to Bimmisaari to ask the Bimms to join; once there, a Noghri team attempts to capture Leia and Luke--it fails. The Provisional Council admonishes Han for abruptly leaving Bimmisaari.

After a three-pronged attack by Thrawn in the Sluis sector, Han and Leia, with Chewie, are dispatched to find out what caused it. Luke checks out the Dark Jedi Bpfasshi incident that occurred on Dagobah during the Clone Wars; Luke discovers a Jedi beacon in the cave near Yoda's home. Despite having Rogue Squadron with them, Han and Leia are again attacked; Han tells Ackbar that they'd be better off with Page's Katarn Commandos. They leave to find Lando to help them find out who the assassins are. Luke arrives at Nkllon with Han and Leia; Thrawn attacks, C'baoth tries to persuade Luke to find him, and 51 mole miners are stolen. Lando agrees to travel with Han and C-3PO while Chewie takes Leia to Kashyyyk and Luke goes to find C'baoth. Thrawn deduces that Leia and Chewie went to Kashyyyk and sends a third Noghri team after them. After narrowly escaping Chimaera's gunners, Luke is captured by Talon and Mara. Talon learns through Luke that the Empire is after the New Republic's Jedi and potential Jedi; he lets Luke stay until Talon's man on Bpfassh is able to learn more. Han and Lando check out Abregado-rae and are brought to Karrde on Myrkr; Han offers the New Republic's proposal, but Talon rejects it. Thrawn shows up unexpectedly. Han and Lando hide aboard a camouflaged Millennium Falcon; while Luke steals a ship--Mara chases and shoots him down. On Kashyyyk, Leia is again attacked, but this time, the Wookiees capture one of the Noghri--Khabarakh--and, via sniffing her hand, concludes that she's Darth Vader's daughter and throws himself on her mercy.

Mara and Luke are trapped in the Myrkr forest and take days to get back to near civilization, by which time Thrawn's stormtroopers capture Luke and Mara and R2-D2. Han, with Lando and some of Talon's men, free Mara and Luke from the Imperials. Talon decides to pull off Myrkr. Luke confides to Han that Mara wants to kill him and Hand tells Luke that there's another Grand Admiral still loose; Han flies the Falcon to Sluis Van to get Luke's X-Wing repaired and get Lando patched up. Thrawn tells Pellaeon to set course for Sluis Van. Thrawn attacks the shipyards and Luke, Han, Chewie, Lando, Wedge, and Rogue Squadron engage in battle. Thrawn uses the mole miners to steal ships. Lando, finally remembering about the codes, has them mine faster; the electrical wires on all the ships shorts the mole miners out. Thrawn withdraws, stating to Pellaeon that he's merely been slowed down by the New Republic. Han is planning to return to Coruscant because Leia informs him that Fey'lya had Ackbar arrested for treason. Luke and Lando stay behind to help with the repairs.

All in all, a great novel with wonderful characterizations, great action, believable villains, and tons of new planets and characters. Zahn brought Star Wars to life in novel format. So much potential in the old Bantam era books. Too bad so much is ignored by the current publisher, Del Rey and it's band of awful writers: Troy Denning, Christie Golden, Drew Karpyshyn, etc.

Book Review: Star Wars: The Clone Wars: No Prisoners SPOILERS!

Karen Traviss's second and last novel in the Clone Wars TV series spin-off novels, it holds some of the best work by Karen, if being a bit on the slim side. Published in May 2009, five months before she was fired from writing any more Star Wars novels, it was perhaps one of her best. Synopsis: The Clone Wars rage on. As insurgent Separatists fight furiously to wrest control of the galaxy from the Republic, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine cunningly manipulates both sides for his own sinister purposes. Torrent Company’s Captain Rex agrees to temporarily relieve Anakin Skywalker of Ahsoka, his ubiquitous—and insatiably curious—Padawan, by bringing her along on a routine three-day shakedown cruise aboard Captain Gilad Pellaeon’s newly refitted assault ship. But the training run becomes an active—and dangerous—rescue mission when Republic undercover agent Hallena Devis goes missing in the middle of a Separatist invasion. Dispatched to a distant world to aid a local dictator facing a revolution, Hallena finds herself surrounded by angry freedom fighters and questioning the Republic’s methods–and motives. Summoned to rescue the missing operative who is also his secret love, Pellaeon—sworn to protect the Republic over all—is torn between duty and desire. And Ahsoka, sent in with Rex and six untested clone troopers to extract Hallena, encounters a new and different Jedi philosophy, which shakes the foundation of her upbringing to the core. As danger and intrigue intensify, the loyalties and convictions of all involved will be tested....

The novel opens with a first person point of view of Captain Gilad Pellaeon as he prepares for Clone Captain Rex of the 501st Legion and Padawan Ahsoka Tano, who is on leave from Anakin Skywalker. On the planet JanFathal, Republic Intelligence agent Hallena Devis is assigned to help the fascist government keep its people from from siding with the Separatists. Pellaeon's taking his ship, the Acclamator-class assault ship Leveler out on a shakedown run in the Fath sector when Rex and Ahsoka arrive. Pelleaon tells Ahsoka to change into proper Republic uniform, since a teenager dressing like a slut is wrong in Pellaeon's eyes. In Athar, the capital of JanFathal, Hallena is given a job of sweeping and meets Merish Hath and Shil Kaval, the leaders of the pro-Separatist group, and is invited to join in their rebellion. On Coruscant, Anakin and Padme enjoy a couple of days with each other. On Leveler, Pelleaon and Rex are alerted to CIS forces jumping into the Fath system. On the planet, Merish and Shil announce that the revolution has arrived. In the cargo vessel Wookiee Gunner, Jedi Master Djinn Altis, Callista Ming, and Geith Eris and a few other members of Altis' Jedi sect, debating Yoda's "old school" philosophy.

The revolution of JanFathal has started and Republic Intelligence wants an update but Hallena's unable to respond and gets knocked unconscious by a passing hovertruck as the Separatists invade. On Coruscant, Anakin gets a call from Rex about the situation and Anakin feels uneasy. He departs Coruscant for the Fath system. Shil and Merish find out about Hallena being an operative and hold her hostage but she transmits an emergency message to any nearby ships, warning of the invasion. Altis, aboard Wookiee Gunner, shows up and docks with Leveler. Altis passes the message along and RepInt says that it's Hallena Devis on JanFathal. Pellaeon believes himself to be too close to this and asks Rex to handle the rescue operation and in the meantime, they're going to wait for Intel to catch up to them. Pellaeon gives Altis a pen he borrowed from Hallena so Altis can get a clear sense of her. Rex, Ahsoka, Callista and the 501st Torrent Company descend to JanFathal, Altis homing in on her life force. Callista and Ahsoka protect Torrent Company's flank while they charge into the regent's palace to rescue Hallena. During a philosophical talk, Ahsoka becomes upset when she learns that Altis' Jedi haven't fallen to the dark side nor have any of the other major Force groups: The Witches of Dathomir (not the Nightsisters and Nightbrothers), the Baran Do, the Jal Shey, the Zeison Sha, and dozens of others. Altis distracts Merish and Shil while Rex rolls in a stun grenade and extract Hallena.

Vere dies and the others try to pack it in to get off and manage to ex-filtrate JanFathal. Anakin arrives and escorts the shuttle to Leveler but a Separatist vessel give Leveler chase. Anakin breaks off and goes to stall the Seps while Leveler tries to get away. Before the shuttle gets close to Leveler, it jumps away. Sergeant Coric powers the shuttle down as it won't do Anakin any good in a fight. Anakin makes the choice to land back on JanFathal. Meanwhile, Pellaeon is swearing up a storm about how the nacomputers just fritzed out. Anakin and the others make a plan to steal a CR-20 troop carrier from the Seps and escape in case Leveler and Pellaeon can't make it back to the Fath system in time. Leveler jumps back in time to get the CR-20 docked before plotting a jump to Kemla but the Separatists are still on their tail. Callista falls deep into the Force and uses her skills with electronics to disable the Separatist ships while the Leveler gets away.  Hallena walks away from the Republic and joins Altis while Altis and Anakin talk about hypothetical and philosophical stuff. In the end, Altis and his Jedi are on Yarille, helping out the locals recovering from a battle.

All in all, a decent, fast paced novel from Karen Traviss that adds the necessary depth to the TV show. And it did so in a way that most anti-Traviss Star Wars fans didn't feel preached at. I'd recommend this for any fan of Star Wars.