With a fan base that spans generations, Timothy Zahn’s first novel in the original Thrawn trilogy, Heir to the Empire, lives up to the hype and fervent praise.
This Dad Reads and Tatooine Times have partnered up to present my review of Timothy Zahn’s Star Wars classic Heir to the Empire. Arguably the novel that kicked off the Star Wars Expanded Universe, Heir to the Empire is a political, action-packed, and character-driven galactic thrill ride.
First published by Bantam Spectra in 1991, Heir to the Empire is credited with reinvigorating the Star Wars franchise by offering fans of the original trilogy a chance to catch up with beloved characters while introducing new ones. In a time before the prequel and sequel trilogies, fans clamored for anything Star Wars related, and Zahn’s book struck a chord—and its impact is still felt today. The Essential Legends paperback edition was released by Del Rey in June 2021 in celebration of 50 years of Lucasfilm. Offering old and new fans alike the opportunity to experience Zahn’s classic tale, this updated edition features beautiful cover art by Tracie Ching.
At the center of this tale is Grand Admiral Thrawn, a villain who has grown in popularity over the years and has made appearances in novels, comic books and animated series (with his live action debut on the horizon). Aside from his blue skin and fiery red eyes, this Chiss villain was and remains a truly unique character. His analytical mind and penchant for studying art shows that the brain of evil can be just as deadly as their brawn. Thrawn is a cold and calculating character who’s demeanor and tone of voice basically jump off the page. It’s no surprise that he has continued to remain a popular character in the Star Wars universe.
Set five years after the Battle of Endor, Heir to the Empire’s plot focuses on how the heroes of the original trilogy are now dealing with their place in the New Republic, still a relatively new institution. Leia and Han are married and expecting twins and Luke is the first of a hoped-for new group of Jedi Knights. Alongside other familiar faces (Lando Calrissian, Chewbacca) are new characters smuggler Talon Karrde and Force-user Mara Jade. The former a self-serving information broker who walks the line between service to the Empire and the New Republic—the latter on a hate-fueled mission to kill Luke Skywalker. Also in the mix is an insane Dark Jedi clone Joruus C’Baoth who’s been protecting the Emperor’s storehouses on Mount Tantiss (recently seen in The Bad Batch finale) but meets his match in Thrawn and gets Leia’s unborn twins in his sights for his next recruits. The plot stays at lightspeed as heroes and villains vy for domination of the galaxy.
In true Timothy Zahn form, space battles are detailed and thrilling, especially when Thrawn is involved. Thrawn’s tactical strategies continually boggle the minds of his subordinates but as is typically the case, they usually work in the Empire’s favor. Having been familiar with Thrawn as a character from Zahn’s canon works, it’s somewhat surprising that his first introduction to the galaxy wasn’t steeped more in his background. When Heir to the Empire was first published I can imagine that Star Wars fans (and Lucasfilm publishing) were eager to get fan favorites Han, Luke and Leia back to the forefront so it’s somewhat understandable that we don’t get a thorough history on Thrawn. On the flipside, keeping the origins of this exciting new character somewhat mysterious left the door open for more Thrawn in other works (and have continued to for 30 years).
Heir to the Empire has stood the test of time and cemented itself as essential Star Wars reading. Although it has lost its canon status, that’s of little importance due to Zahn’s strong writing and characterizations. Anyone who’s enjoyed Thrawn from newer canon works should definitely add this book to their reading list if nothing else to get a fuller picture of where this character started. It’s also really fun to ask “what if?” in regards to the events that continued to take place post Return of the Jedi.
If you’ve never blasted off to the world of Star Wars novels, Heir to the Empire is the perfect place to start, so head to your local bookstore and get yourself a copy.
I give it 🧢 🧢 🧢 🧢 🧢 /5 – highly recommend!
This Dad Reads 