Dark Force Rising

This second installment of the Thrawn Trilogy is just as good, if not better, than the first one. Timothy Zahn stays faithful to the original characters while also allowing them to grow in believable ways. Never once did I feel that the characters were acting out of sync the personalities that we know and love and Zahn's new additions to the pack are becoming even more developed and interesting.

Admiral Thrawn is still one of the coolest villains. He's a genius and is able to give the Republic a run for their money. While Thrawn could have become a rather boring villain by constantly out-smarting everyone and never misjudging the opposing forces, Zahn is sure to show that Thrawn is not an unstoppable force. There are various times in the show more book where Thrawn makes mistakes that are sometimes rather detrimental to his original plans, forcing him to regroup and restrategize. Interestingly enough, I actually kind of admire the guy despite that fact that he is evil and works for the Empire. It's hard not be awed by this guy's forethought and long term planning. I wish I could plan things as far in advance as he does!

Mara Jade is also one of those interesting characters where you aren't really sure where you stand with her. You really want to like her since she would be a huge asset to the Republic and you get really annoyed that she hates Luke with such a fiery passion but at the same time, you don't really blame for being angry. By the end, you just kind of hope that she gets over her anger and decides to side with the good guys.

I think that Zahn does a good job of balancing the action with politics. Both are highly important for the story, but going too much in the political direction could be really boring and going overboard with the action can be tiring. Overall, I think there is a good mix of both which makes the book engaging on multiple levels all the way through.

This book was really hard for me to put down. It was an exciting read that managed to develop highly interesting characters amidst all of the action taking place, which is a difficult thing to do. Very well-balanced and makes you want more by the end. And with that, on to the third one! show less

3.5 stars

It's funny. When I started this series, I thought that the titular heir to the Empire was supposed to be Grand Admiral Thrawn when, in fact, it's the windbag-pretending-to-be-a-Jedi Joruus C'baoth. In my defense, C'baoth's storyline tends to take a backseat to all the other storylines that run through the first two books of this series. So it didn't click in my head until this book drew to its conclusion.

Zahn's characters continue to be better developed than the familiar characters from the Star Wars original/middle trilogy of films. They still seem off to me. I think that they're stuck in Return of the Jedi mode. Luke tries to treat C'baoth like Vader. Leia thinks that she can broker diplomacy with the Noghri like she did with show more the Ewoks. Han and Lando aren't the rogues that they used to be, but they think they still are. Chewie is still Chewie though. And they all get away with it because, well, they do. I guess I'm expecting too much. It's been 40 years for me, but these books are only a couple years removed from the battle of Endor.

As I said, Zahn's original characters are better. Mara Jade struggles with her hate/he's ok relationship with Luke. Captain Pellaeon dutifully serves Grand Admiral Thrawn, who is always a step ahead of everyone else. It comes close to straining credulity at times, but I let it slide. Talon Karrde remains the likeable smuggler. Fey'lya demonstrates that Bothans are really frenemies, and former Senator Bel Iblis reveals some history about the early days of the Rebellion that would make for a great addition to Andor.

As for the storylines, after the surviving special ops Noghri, Khabarakh, informs Leia that he knows she's Vader's daughter, she agrees to accompany him to the Noghri homeworld in hopes of clearing things up and putting these attempted kidnappings to bed. I admit that while this started off like a fool's errand, Zahn built up Noghri society rather well.

Han and Lando try to uncover proof that Admiral Ackbar was set up and find a lost fleet of ships that could turn the tide of the war. I wasn't sure that they were doing anything more than stumbling around from one planet to another, but they eventually got there.

Luke seeks out the rumors of a Jedi Master in hopes of continuing his education, but as this storyline involved C'baoth it was pretty much a nothing burger. Luke eventually leaves to rescue someone and things pick up from there.

So despite my complaining, I am enjoying this series. It's good popcorn fare or a beach read. show less

Much like The Empire Strikes Back, this book draws upon its predecessor and takes the storytelling to new heights. Also like The Empire Strikes Back, this story sends our heroes off on separate missions to come together again at the finale.

Luke Skywalker seeks out Jedi Master Joruus C'baoth for training, not realizing he is mad. Leia Organa Solo travels with Chewbacca to the planet of the Noghri in hopes of using diplomacy to bring them to the side of the New Republic. Han Solo and Lando Calrissian try to solve the mystery of a spy within the New Republic's inner echelons and a possible coup by an ambitious Bothan. And Mara Jade, who has sworn to kill Luke, now seeks him out for help.

Grand Admiral Thrawn, who was a major point-of-view show more character in Heir to the Empire, plays a smaller role here, but his presence lurks behind all that is happening. Marc Thompson does a great job reading the book and the production includes music and sound effects for full immersion in the Star Wars galaxy. show less

This, the second book of the Thrawn trilogy, is just as strong as the first, if not stronger. We get to see Thrawn make his move against the New Republic and the Skywalker family. In the first book, there were already a series of kidnap attempts, leading Leia to go into hiding on the Wookiee homeworld of Kashyyyk. Zahn's descriptions of alien worlds is one of my favorite things about these books. Finding out more about the Noghri and their fanatical devotion to the Empire was absolutely fascinating, especially once you learn exactly what happened and is currently happening behind the scenes on their homeworld of Honoghr. Of course, the big story of this volume is the Dark Force, a series of ships lost back during the Clone Wars that show more have now been located due to a few lucky accidents. Both Thrawn and the New Republic forces want control of these Dreadnoughts and the race is on.

Thrawn continues to show his devastating tactical genius as he sets all the pieces in motion for his first major offensive against the New Republic in his bid to reclaim and rebuild the Empire, of course he might have trouble resting control from the mad Jedi C'baoth, now convinced that he and he alone can stand where Emperor Palpatine once did.

This is such a fantastic follow-up, and surpasses the first just like "Empire" surpassed "A New Hope." This series continues to be the best Star Wars stories after the original trilogy. show less

You know, upon re-reading this, it wasn't as great as I remembered when I was in my 'teen/20's.

Don't get me wrong, this is a great Star Wars book {well, with competition like [b:Dark Nest Trilogy (Star Wars)|359773|Dark Nest Trilogy (Star Wars) (omnibus)|Troy Denning|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1174082070s/359773.jpg|349890], that doesn't mean QUITE so much}. It is also classic Zahn. I've come to realize that Zahn doesn't do action real well. That is not his strongpoint. Ideas, character interaction and cool ideas are however.

And these aren't NEW anymore. When these came out, Episode 1 hadn't come out. The Clone Wars cartoon didn't exist. There weren't 200 already written Star Wars books. So this fed the Beast Within. show more Now? No matter how good a meal is, it ALWAYS tastes better when you are hungry. I'm filled up. The last 20'ish years have seen me glutted, on the good and the bad.

I think that is a good thing because it means that Zahn laid down a foundation that has held up the EU even through some seriously stinky novels {[b:Darksaber|513210|Darksaber (Star Wars)|Kevin J. Anderson|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1326718683s/513210.jpg|1178996], oh my goodness, make me puke RIGHT NOW!}.

/edit
Something is up with the tags here at GR. I've had several books in the past month with completely wrong tags. Just found I'd put my sexually explicit" tag on this book; have corrected that.
If this keeps up, I might end up abandoning tags altogether..." show less

The second volume of Timothy Zahn’s Thrawn trilogy picks up the story immediately after the events at the end of the first volume, Heir to the Empire, with the New Republic reeling from the blows inflicted on it by the Empire’s last remaining Grand Admiral. With the ships of the Sluis Van shipyards heavily damaged from the Empire’s attempt to steal them and Admiral Ackbar stripped of his command in the face of accusations of corruption, Luke, Leia, and Han react to the growing threat facing them. As Han and Luke try to unravel the effort to frame Ackbar, Leia and Chewbacca travel to Endor to meet with one of her attempted kidnappers in the hope of shifting their allegiance. Meanwhile the smuggler Talon Karrde hopes to leverage his show more way out of the bounty Thrawn has placed on him by offering a valuable secret: the location of the legendary “Dark Force,” a fleet of derelict warships that could tip the balance in the war between the Empire and the New Republic.

In following up his first volume Zahn takes his story of the post-Original Trilogy movies in two key directions. The first is the introduction of the Dark Force fleet, a MacGuffin that serves as a logical goal for the novel’s main characters given some of the goals and motivations the author introduces in the first book. Yet the race for the Dark Force fleet is just one part of a novel that explores further the elements Zahn introduced in Heir to the Empire. Story lines such as Joruus C’baoth’s ongoing efforts to corrupt Luke and Mara Jade’s quest to kill the Jedi Knight play out over the course of the book, providing development without resolution. It makes for an effective middle entry in the trilogy, with enough developments and resolutions to satisfy the reader while propelling them towards the final volume of the series. show less

I really just feel like I'm watching the movies that I missed as a kid when I listen to these on audio. They feel really "Star War-sy" in every way. My only complaint is that there seems to be a pattern of Thrawn ALWAYS totally anticipating what the Rebels are going to do next and then putting them in a bad situation which they then slip out of through some creative problem solving. But still great stuff.