Thrawn trilogy
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The Thrawn trilogy, also known as the Heir to the Empire trilogy, is a trilogy of novels set in the Star Wars universe, written by Timothy Zahn between 1991 and 1993. The first book marked the end of the notable drought of new Star Wars material during a four-year period from the tenth anniversary of the original 1977 film's release to the release of Heir to the Empire in 1991.[1]
Set approximately five years after the events depicted in
The Thrawn Trilogy sold a combined total of 15 million copies,
Books
Heir to the Empire (1991)
In Heir to the Empire (1991), master tactician
Dark Force Rising (1992)
In Dark Force Rising (1992), it is revealed that before the
The Last Command (1993)
In The Last Command (1993), set about a month after the previous book, Thrawn uses the Katana fleet, crewed with clones, to mount a successful offensive against the New Republic. Seizing one planet after the other, Thrawn soon immobilizes the galactic capital world,
Development
The idea for a post-film trilogy was conceived by Lou Aronica, an editor at Bantam Books who proposed a series as "ambitious as the films were".[12] Lucas was initially skeptical of the proposal, but acquiesced; Bantam Spectra then brought Timothy Zahn on board to write the trilogy.[12]
Zahn was given freedom to develop the direction the story should go in, with minimal pushback from
When conceiving of the antagonist for the series, Zahn desired a villain who was less brutal than Darth Vader or Emperor Palpatine.[12] Instead, Zahn sought inspiration from military commanders throughout history and envisaged an adversary who could outsmart the protagonists.[12] In creating the character of Thrawn, Timothy Zahn said:
I think it’s because he was so different from any other villain we’d seen in Star Wars to that time. Most Imperials seemed to follow the “hit it with a rock” school of thought regarding opposition. Thrawn, in contrast, used strategy and careful planning and usually managed to be two or three steps ahead of the New Republic. Readers like their villains to be a challenge to the heroes because that forces the heroes to bring their best game to the field. The more clever the opponent, and the more difficult the fight, the more satisfying the victory.[14]
The original, working title for Heir to the Empire was "Wild Card", which was rejected by Lucasfilm because they believed it was too similar to Bantam's Wild Cards series. The alternate name "The Emperor's Hand" was also rejected.[13][15] Warlord's Gambit was also a potential title, but ultimately Heir to the Empire was chosen, which according to Zahn was suggested by Aronica.[15][16]
Adaptations
Each novel in the trilogy had its own Star Wars role-playing game sourcebook created for it by West End Games. When the rules for the Star Wars RPG changed the three volumes were collected into one book for the entire Thrawn trilogy which also served as a second edition to the original three sourcebooks. According to Zahn, the writing of the trilogy was coordinated with preexisting West End Games materials (at the behest of Lucasfilm). Also, "They filled in a bunch of gaps I hadn't got around to filling in."[21]
Reception
Heir to the Empire reached #1 on the
Some reviews have been more critical, with prolific fansite author Jonathan Hicks saying that the Force is trivialised and that there were too many references to the original movies, in a 2000 review republished by starwars.com.[20]
The trilogy allowed Lucasfilm to expand its non-film media into the mainstream, as opposed to the more niche comic book and role-playing game markets it was previously focusing on.[25] The success of the series prompted Lucasfilm to immediately commission more books to continue the Star Wars story.[12]
Legacy
The Thrawn trilogy is widely credited with revitalizing the Star Wars franchise,
Zahn would go on to write a pair of sequel books, in the
Although Lucas did not consider the Expanded Universe to be
References
- ^ "Star Wars in the UK: The Dark Times, 1987—1991". StarWars.com. April 15, 2013. Retrieved May 30, 2022.
- OCLC 36960986.
- ^ a b Myers, Lindsay Rae (20 February 2014). "The Man Who Saved Star Wars: An Interview With Pensacon Guest Timothy Zahn". WUWF 88.1. WUWF. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
- ^ a b "The New York Times Best Seller List" (PDF). Hawes.com. June 30, 1991. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "'Star Wars' writer reveals original vision for the sequels and his thoughts on 'The Last Jedi'". Yahoo!. 30 July 2018. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
- ^ a b Liptak, Andrew (2017-04-15). "Another expanded universe character is coming to Star Wars Rebels, voiced by Warwick Davis". The Verge. Retrieved 2022-12-01.
- ^ StarWars.com. Retrieved March 17, 2017.
- ^ StarWars.com. Archived from the originalon June 4, 2011.
- Tor.com. Archived from the originalon June 16, 2015. Retrieved August 26, 2015.
- ^ "Fiction Book Review: Star Wars: The Thrawn Trilogy: Dark Force Rising". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved July 21, 2016.
- Tor.com. Retrieved August 26, 2015.
- ^ a b c d e f "30 years ago, Timothy Zahn resurrected Star Wars". Transfer Orbit. 4 May 2021. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
- ^ a b c "An interview with Timothy Zahn, author of Heir to the Empire". Zoklet. Archived from the original on 2010-05-21. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
- ^ "Timothy Zahn on Grand Admiral Thrawn: 'He's like an old friend who I understand completely'". The Verge. 27 April 2017. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
- ^ a b "An interview with Timothy Zahn, author of Heir to the Empire". Zoklet.net. 1991. Archived from the original on May 21, 2010. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
- ISBN 978-0345528292.
- ^ Gonzales, Dave (December 22, 2016). "The Greatest 'Star Wars' Spinoff Movie Was Everything but a Movie". Thrillist. Retrieved March 24, 2019.
- ISBN 978-0-345-40236-3.
- ^ a b Baron, Mike (2015) [2009]. Star Wars: The Thrawn Trilogy. New York: Marvel Comics. p. 5.
- ^ a b "Critical Opinion: Heir To The Empire Reviews". starwars.com. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
- ^ ISBN 978-0978465230.
- StarWars.com. April 4, 2014. Archivedfrom the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved December 14, 2015.
- ^ "Your Picks: Top 100 Science-Fiction, Fantasy Books". NPR. August 11, 2011. Retrieved August 12, 2011.
- ^ "How Timothy Zahn's Heir to the Empire Turned Star Wars into Science Fiction". tor.com. 28 February 2013. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
- ^ a b "How the Thrawn Trilogy Changed Star Wars Forever". CBR. 21 March 2021. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
- ^ Bacon, Tom (January 23, 2017). "Thrawn, The Next Star Wars Novel, Promises To Transform The Franchise". Moviepilot. Archived from the original on 2017-03-12. Retrieved March 4, 2017.
- ^ "Timothy Zahn: Outbound Flight Arrival". StarWars.com. January 31, 2006. Archived from the original on February 4, 2006. Retrieved July 21, 2016.
- ^ Breznican, Anthony (November 2, 2012). "Star Wars sequel author Timothy Zahn weighs in on new movie plans". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved July 21, 2016.
- ^ "Star Wars: The Hand of Thrawn Duology – Legends Series". Penguin Random House. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
- ^ a b c "The Thrawn legacy: From page to screen, the greatest addition to 'Star Wars' mythology". The Daily Star. 25 May 2021. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
- ^ "Star Wars: The Ascendancy Trilogy Series". Penguin Random House. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
Notes
- Shadows of the Empiresoundtrack.
External links
- Star Wars: The Thrawn Trilogy on Wookieepedia, a Star Wars wiki