Zahn

The timeline for those not in the know.

There were Star Wars book published before Heir to the Empire but they were never allowed to continue the story that at the time ended with the rebels blowing up the second Death Star. So events between the movies and a few adventure stories with Han and Lando were out there, but fans finally had a new story to follow with Zahn’s release. And most fans agreed that Zahn did it just right. The introduction of Grand Admiral Thrawn gave fans a new kind of villain; smart and cunning rather than powerful and Death Star obsessed.

I firmly believe that the Star Wars Expanded Universe would have been successful no matter what but with the original Thrawn Trilogy it was never in doubt. Fans like me ate up his moves, hated ourselves for rooting for a man trying to tear down everything the rebels had built, and always hoped for more once the story ended after three books. Continue reading →

Three people are abducted by moth like aliens and drafted into a work crew on a mysterious alien space ship. One, a doctor, is recognized as a talent and moved to medical. Another is a small time thug who immediately starts looking for a way out. And the third is Nicole who learns she is something special, a ‘Sibyl’ who can talk to the ship. After settling in to their new scripted and completely mundane life the trio start breaking the rules a bit and exploring their new surroundings. What they find could put *movie preview voice* ‘all of humanity in danger.’

I have enjoyed a lot of Zahn’s books in the past. He may have been my favorite author in high school; starting with his Star Wars books and then on to most of his back catalog. He is at his best when writing characters who act as chess masters, plotting circles around everyone else in the books. It can get a bit trite and requires giving the characters a bit of plot armor (usually in the form of knowledge hidden from the reader) but I always found it to be entertaining as hell. This is not what we get in Pawn. Continue reading →