swbookclub | Heir to the Empire

colls posting in

This month's book was Heir to the Empire by Timothy Zahn

1. How has the dynamic between Luke, Leia, and Han changed since the original trilogy?

2. How does Thrawn compare to the other antagonists in Star Wars?

3. What impact do other new characters like Talon Karrde & Mara Jade make on the story? How is their internal conflict similar or dissimilar from characters we already know?

Next month will be a themed month - Non-Jedi protagonist

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

colls

1. I think Zahn keeps the characterizations very true to the original trilogy. Although I will admit that this version of Luke, Leia, and Han have been in my brain since the 90's so I might not be the best judge.

2. He's more diabolical because he's so logical and presice. Palpatine literally cackled like a gleeful madman, whereas Thrawn is just... calculating.

3. I sometimes forget how much Mara Jade really hated Luke when we met her. And Karrde's conflicts are more that he's trying to thread a needle - both between the Empire and the New Republic but also between being a smuggler and having a conscience.

From:

brokenmnemonic

One of the parallels I like between Thrawn and Karrde is that neither of them runs their organisations through fear. Palpatine was clearly capable of long-term planning and very skilled at politics, but I don't think he had the detachment that Thrawn has. Palpatine in the comics very much comes across as someone who's always two or three steps ahead of Vader and everyone else, but he also had that cackling I-am-the-centre-of-the-galaxy feel to him. I think he'd argue that Thrawn is limited because he doesn't understand the significance of the Force and it's importance, but I think that Thrawn's approach in this novel makes a lot of sense; he doesn't worry about the Force and Force users, he just devises a way to make it redundant, remove it from the battlefield, and is willing to cut his losses.

From:

colls

Yes, Thrawn approaches the Force like he does any other obstacle. He doesn't have a religious connection, so he's more pragmatic about it. Whereas Palpatine and most Jedi all seem to be in awe of it and honestly very emotional about it.
Outside of that, Thrawn also seems to lack compassion about anything. So it's a chilling package.

From:

starlady

Apparently in the annotated edition Zahn compares Thrawn to Sherlock Holmes, which definitely explains why I like Thrawn so much. Thinking back to what we knew of Palpatine solely from RotJ, he cackles, but he also seems to have larger plots. Thrawn is all larger plots and no emotion, though it's interesting that Rebels played up him not understanding the Force when he certainly seems to be able to deal with Force-users well enough here.

I don't think I quite grokked that Karrde is meant to be a more successful, more jaded version of the "smuggler with a heart of gold" the first ten or 15 years of reading this book, but he definitely is.

From:

colls

I'm reading the annotated version now and there were some interesting tidbits in the margins - the Sherlock part did seem very logical, once said I can't unsee it now.

I wonder if in Rebels Thrawn wasn't so much as not understanding of it to not believing it had as much merit? Dismissing it in part because it lacked cohesive art - or something like that (I just made that last part up as an example of why he'd behave the way he did). It's entirely possible that it was simply required for the plot and Zahn was consulted but I don't think he was overly involved.

I didn't catch on to that take on Karrde before this reading either.

From:

brokenmnemonic

1. I like that the characters felt like those from the original trilogy, although Leia definitely felt... tired. I don't get the feeling any of them are enjoying their victory all that much, with the exception of Lando, who's evidently still got a nose for business. One of the things that struck me is how small the core cast felt, compared to the way some of the other novels we've read have sprawled with characters. I think that helped give me the feeling while I was ready that the story was tightly-woven, which I liked a lot.

2. I think Thrawn makes an excellent villain, because he's much less of a moustache-twirling evil for evil's sake protagonist. He's a much scarier kind of villain, because he's focussed, and clever, and keeps his eye on the strategic game. I think that unlike a lot of the senior Imperial figures we've seen, he doesn't allow personal grudges to distract him, and that makes him very dangerous. I'm wondering how short a leash the Emperor kept him on before ROTJ...

3. I found Karrde to be a really interesting character. I've not read much involving Mara Jade post-this novel, although I'm aware of what happens to her in the longer term, but I liked her relationship with Karrde, and the way Karrde was in some ways a mirror to Thrawn. Karrde is also working towards longer-term goals, and is motivated by the survival of his group and their business. I like that he was clear that he didn't hold any particular animus towards either the Republic or the Empire - or towards Han, for that matter - and that he was clearly trying to negotiate/navigate a path that was in the best interests of his group. I also liked that he didn't hesitate to make decisions like shutting the facility down and pull everyone out when he knew that Thrawn had worked out what was going on, and that staying there would be untenable. Again, it's nice to have a character who's competent and nuanced. I think his curiosity about Mara Jade makes a lot of sense, but I also like that he's not devoting a lot of effort to trying to dig secrets out of her, and I think that's one of the reasons she's stayed with him for as long as she has.

From:

colls

That's a great point about how Thrawn doesn't allow personal grudges to distract him - so many villains seem to do this.

This could be me being cynical, but Karrde giving Mara Jade space to be herself and keep her secrets feels like a side effect of the author trying to make her mysterious, but I'll take it.