Dark Force Rising: Star Wars Legends (The Thrawn Trilogy)

by Timothy Zahn

Genres: Star Wars, Science Fiction, Fiction

466 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 28, 2011

About the author

Timothy Zahn attended Michigan State University, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in physics in 1973. He then moved to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and achieved an M.S. degree in physics in 1975. While he was pursuing a doctorate in physics, his adviser became ill and died. Zahn never completed the doctorate. In 1975 he had begun writing science fiction as a hobby, and he became a professional writer. He and his wife Anna live in Bandon, Oregon. They have a son, Corwin Zahn.

Reviews

[Matthew Whiteman · Rating 5 out of 5]

It took a few chapters for the story to pick up again, but once it did I was hooked. I'm really excited to see how the Trilogy concludes!

[the pickwick club · Rating 4 out of 5]

pellaeon when he guesses what thrawn’s plans are: https://media1.tenor.com/m/-41DWQxEzP...

[Cannon Qorson · Rating 1 out of 5]

One star feels harsh but it took me around three years to finish. I kept forgetting about it. The plots fine, definitely better then the first one. Its slower and longer then it needs to be though. Thrawn is awesome but he isn't the main character. Mara is fine. My main issue with these books is Zahn's writing style. Very bland and overly analytical.

Heres some examples:

"One of the first minor truths about interstellar flight that any observant traveler learned was that a planet seen from space almost never looked anything at all like the official maps of it. Scatterings of cloud cover, shadows from mountain ranges, contour-altering effects of large vegetation tracts, and lighting tricks in general, all combined to disguise and distort the nice clean computer scrubbed lines drawn by cartographers. It was an effect that had probably caused a lot of bad moments for neophyte navigators, as well as supplying the ammunition for innumerable practical jokes played on those same neophytes by their more experienced shipmates.
It was therefore something of a surprise to find that, on this particular day and coming in from this particular angle, the major continent of the planet Jomark did indeed look almost exactly like a precisely detailed map. Of course, in all fairness, it was a pretty small continent to begin with."

"Lando nodded. 'I don't know if I mentioned it, but after they apologized for getting the magnetic coupling off-center over our hatch I went back and took a look.'
'You didn't mention it, but I did the same thing.' Han said sourly. 'Looked kind of deliberate, didn't it?'
'That's what I thought, too,' Lando said. 'Like maybe they wanted an excuse to keep us cooped up down here and not wandering around their ship.'
'Could be lots of good and innocent reasons for that,' Han reminded him.
'And lots of not-so-innocent ones,' Lando countered. 'You sure you don't have any idea who this commander of theirs might be?'
'Not even a guess. Probably be finding out real soon though.'"

"'I think we're somewhere above the aft hangar bays,' Mara said. 'Those service techs got off just forward of the central crew section, and we hadn't gone very far down yet.'
'Above the hangar bays,' Karrde repeated thoughtfully. 'Near the vehicle deep storage area, in other words?'
Mara frowned at him. 'Are you suggesting we grab a ship from up there?'
'Why not?' Karrde countered. 'They'll probably be expecting us to go directly to one of the hangar bays. They might not be watching for us to come in via vehicle lift from deep storage.'
'And if they are, it'll leave us trapped like clipped mynocks when the stormtroopers come to get us,' Mara retorted."

This works when its Thrawn pov, but its weird for everyone else and gets annoying over 400 s0mething pages.
One of the reviews on the original editions back cover says: "Zahn has perfectly captured the pace and flavor of the Star Wars movies. This is space opera at its best." Like wow, really?
Also these books don't feel stand alone, they're definitely parts of a whole, so I don't think they'd adapt that well.
This story has been okay but I don't get how so many people think this is one of the best pieces of Star Wars media ever. I don't think the crazy hype is proportional to the quality. I really don't get what I'm missing.
I dunno if I'll pick up the third one. I'm this far in so I guess I might as well. Wookiepedia spoiled the ending though...

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes the middle of a trilogy struggles to meet the novelty of the first and satisfying culmination of the last. But Dark Force Rising might be better than Heir to the Empire that kicked off the original Thrawn trilogy. To me that's because it's cooking. After spending the first book introducing our characters and conflicts, this one has more energy as the dominoes begin to fall. It keeps the structure of shifting perspective, which I like.

The name of the book refers to a long lost fleet of powerful spaceships. The remnants of the Empire, led by the brilliant Grand Admiral Thrawn, knows that accessing such a fleet would give it the boost it needs to fully re-emerge as a power to be reckoned with. For that reason, the New Republic knows it must not let it fall into their hands. It's a race. Meanwhile, Luke and Mara briefly come under the thrall of the mad Jedi C'Boath, more so Luke, who is reluctantly saved by Mara - for now. The other big development is Leia using her status as the daughter of Darth Vader to attempt and sway the Noghri away from their loyalty to the Empire.

One character that I enjoy how Zahn writes is Lando. He's not especially prominent compared to the core of Luke, Leia, and Han, but he is usually in the mix and often quite adept at sussing out situations. He and Han have a good chemistry as they bounce around trying to figure out the status of the Dark Force. I look forward to the conclusion of this, and it remains clear why this series launched a whole wave of Star Wars novels in the 90s.

[Zachary Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thrown my new favorite villain.

The new big bad working for the empire may have had a set back
from the last book, but is constantly moving the gears to rule the galaxy. Just as good as the first novel and I plan to move to the next after the review.

[Alwyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

very good follow up, I didn't love the Leia and chewie plotline but loved mara and Luke's . landos and Hans was also pretty solid and the overall premise was very good ( maybe better then the first in terms if direction).

excited for the third.

8.5/10

[John Wright · Rating 4 out of 5]

A worthy follow-up to the original trilogy with high-stakes excitement and your favorite characters together again.

[David Mcmullen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read to follow along with “A More Civilized Age” podcast

[Tim McRae · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why was this not the Sequel I will never know. Not that there is anything wrong with the three that they did make... But they really squandered a massive win here.

[Chris Lezu · Rating 4 out of 5]

So much better than disneys movies and books.

[Mei Li · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’d like to take a brief moment to appreciate the impeccable Luke Skywalker characterization in this book. Everyone say thank you

[Samuel Hamilton · Rating 4 out of 5]

8/10

[Rhett Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

[4.9] ⭐️