See my review for Book One of this series. ( )

Pre09:

Same review for all 3 in the trilogy. The only 'Sanctioned Fan-Fic' worth reading.

Characters: Yes, they are all there. That's why it is good. The Jade chick makes a good compliment for Luke so he isn't snogging his sister. The bad guy is actually bad enough to make up for Vader's absence.
Plot: It's very solid. Star Wars wasn't really about the plot.
Style: Yea, it feels like the movies. A romp through space with fighting and bad odds. It's jolly good. ( )

Maintains the same pace and style as the first. I've no complaints this time about overpowered abilities, etc., but larger inconsistencies with the prequel trilogy have appeared (e.g. Leia's memories of her mother; Vader lost a natural hand as punishment by the Emperor). There's plenty of action and excitement going on with a convincing plot to back it up (despite a reliance on large coincidences, although the movies are no less at fault in this regard), but I've begun to realize this series is largely lacking for character development; I'm not sure how much I'd care about them based on this alone if I didn't already love the movies these books are based on. Guessing ahead, I suspect when I've completed this trilogy I'll feel that it was a fun ride but not especially memorable over the long-term. ( )

Excellent series. These books are so well written that they should be a legal followup to the Star Wars Trilogy. ( )

See my review on Heir to the Empire, the first book in this series. ( )

I’ve always been impressed with Zahn’s ability to keep the characters real. So many of the other writers in the expanded universe tend to reduce them all to caricatures, but in Zahn’s hands they feel more like real people. He’s also created some of my favorite characters, Grand Admiral Thrawn, Talon Karrde, and, of course, Mara Jade.... http://yodamarie.blogspot.com/2008/01... ( )

Thrawn's da man! ( )

Grand Admiral Thrawn attacks the New Republic on many fronts. He forces
our intrepid band of heroes to flee assassins, and Leia takes off with
Chewie, and Han goes looking for help by himself.

The dodgy Mara Jade is also floating around, as is a not so nice Jedi Master.

Whoever controls the 'Dark Force' of ancient ships in the end will have a massive advantage in the battle for the galaxy.

http://notfreesf.blogspot.com/2006/12... ( )

The citizens of the capital planet of the New Republic believe their battles against the remnants of the Empire are going well. But Grand Admiral Thrawn, the most brilliant of the Emperor's minions, is preparing to crush the New Republic with nefarious schemes involving smugglers, political rivals, a well-placed mole and even a Jedi Master. Can evil genius outflank the Force? Distracted by threats to Leia's unborn twins, domestic infighting and other upheavals orchestrated by Thrawn, the heroes of the New Republic summon up all their resources to fend off galactic disaster.