main
side
curve
  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

PT Club Jocasta: THRAWN

Discussion in 'Prequel Trilogy' started by cubman987 , Apr 28, 2017.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. cubman987

    cubman987 Friendly Neighborhood Saga/Music/Fun & Games Mod star 7 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Nov 7, 2014
    Okay a little late getting this up. The next book we are reading/discussing in the book club is the new book by Timothy Zahn: THRAWN

    [​IMG]

    And a reminder of the rules:

    Newcomers are always welcome here! All we ask is that they be interested in bucking the dominant trend of the internet by:

    -- Enjoying the PT (or at least refraining from making snarky remarks about it or in any way putting out veiled insults about the tastes of those who do enjoy it here)

    -- Being generally polite, friendly, and considerate of others' feelings

    I know some of us already have this book and/or have read this already so we can start discussing the first few chapters right away. Anyone who needs to get the book go ahead and get it and and join in!
     
  2. cubman987

    cubman987 Friendly Neighborhood Saga/Music/Fun & Games Mod star 7 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Nov 7, 2014
  3. cubman987

    cubman987 Friendly Neighborhood Saga/Music/Fun & Games Mod star 7 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Nov 7, 2014
  4. Jedi Knight Fett

    Jedi Knight Fett Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Feb 18, 2014
    I really liked how they introduced Thrawn to the Empire in a similar way that Zahn did in Legends with the added twist that he knew Anakin Skywalker! I really hope that they expand on that Anakin story at a later time. I also really liked how he was brought straight to the Emperor because of his interesting tactics and unknown species.
     
    Valency Jane and cubman987 like this.
  5. cubman987

    cubman987 Friendly Neighborhood Saga/Music/Fun & Games Mod star 7 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Nov 7, 2014
    Some early discussion points:

    One we will visit throughout the book, does Zahn do a good job keeping Thrawn in the canon-verse similar to the Thrawn of the legends-verse?

    Thoughts on Thrawn and Eli Vanto's relationship early in the book.

    Thoughts early on how those in the Empire treat those not from the core worlds and aliens (like Thrawn and Vanto).
     
  6. cubman987

    cubman987 Friendly Neighborhood Saga/Music/Fun & Games Mod star 7 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Nov 7, 2014
    If you are discussing early parts of the book you don't have to use spoilers, but do use them if you are discussing anything specific that happens later on in the book and especially at the end.
     
  7. Darkslayer

    Darkslayer #1 Sabine Wren Fan star 7

    Registered:
    Mar 26, 2013
    I really like Eli (I am not finished with the book yet).

    All 3 of the book's main characters are great. I like how Thrawn holds Eli as a friend, gives him humanity.

    The Imperial region-ism is eerily similar to real-world race-ism.

    I haven't read any of the Legends Thrawn stories in a long time so I don't feel equipped to answer that question satisfactorily.
     
    Valency Jane and cubman987 like this.
  8. heels1785

    heels1785 Skywalker Saga + JCC Manager / Finally Won A Draft star 10 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Dec 10, 2003
    I'm going to try to start this tonight. Looking forward to hearing everyone's thoughts!
     
    cubman987 likes this.
  9. jakobitis89

    jakobitis89 Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jan 27, 2015
    birthday Wednesday, hoping to get a copy then. will be avoiding the thread/potential spoilers til I catch up a bit but definitely interested in seeing Thrawn's big comeback (yes I know he's already been in Rebels, but c'mon. Zahn writing Thrawn is where it's REALLY at.)
     
    cubman987 likes this.
  10. Amon_Amarth

    Amon_Amarth Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jan 27, 2005
    Starting on this tonight too!

    Until then - they say not to judge the book by its cover, but I really appreciate the close-up cover of Thrawn as it makes a good costume reference for the collar and the updated Rebels versions of the epaullets for the cosplayers. :p
     
    Valency Jane and cubman987 like this.
  11. cubman987

    cubman987 Friendly Neighborhood Saga/Music/Fun & Games Mod star 7 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Nov 7, 2014
    I appreciate how much Zahn attempts to keep Thrawn as the same character that he wrote back in his first trilogy. I saw him at C2E2 last weekend and he talked about how he wrote this book to fit into the old canon as much as possible while still being a great new addition to the current canon - and it's pretty obvious early on and handled very well I think.

    Eli is a great new character in this book, he kind of replaces Pellaeon from the Thrawn trilogy except we get to follow his rise in the Empire along with Thrawn. Their relationship is a great part of this book and I think him starting out as kind of a reluctant companion to Thrawn is a perfect way to help us get insight into Thrawn's brilliance and how good of a teacher he becomes.

    I like that the class and alien discrimination is part of the new canon while still allowing for women and POC being parts of the Empire. It still allows them to be discriminatory without alienating readers or making it hard to cast various people in the films. This book really focuses on the class and alien discrimination and makes for not only an intersting read as Thrawn and Eli make their way in this system, but also helps to make these characters seem less bad compared to the other Imperials.
     
    Valency Jane likes this.
  12. Darkslayer

    Darkslayer #1 Sabine Wren Fan star 7

    Registered:
    Mar 26, 2013
    Finally finished!

    Here are my thoughts:

    - The 3 main characters are all great
    - The book is set up like Lords of the Sith was (it has a main character who is already popular, a minor character from one of the animated shows, and a new character as the main characters)
    - Any material written from the PoV of Thrawn is straight-up awesome (reminded me of Sherlock vision from the BBC TV show if you have seen that)
    - We see almost every major aspect of the Empire, both good and bad
    - Many awesome Imperial cameos
    - Sets up Rebels very well

    - The book is a little too long. I think chopping 50-75 pages out would really help speed up the book
    - I wish the plot had been a bit more ambitious
    - The Thrawn storyline and the Pryce storyline should have connected more smoothly

    Overall, I give this a B+

     
    cubman987 and Nehru_Amidala like this.
  13. Mr. Forest

    Mr. Forest Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Nov 1, 2012
    I give THRAWN a 5/5. I am adding it to my favorite canon books list along with LOST STARS and BLOODLINE. I honestly have nothing negative to say about the book. It's a must buy for any Star Wars fan.

    Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk
     
  14. Darkslayer

    Darkslayer #1 Sabine Wren Fan star 7

    Registered:
    Mar 26, 2013
    You didn't feel like it got drawn out a bit?

    I do agree with you on Bloodline - it's my 2nd favorite book of the new canon.
     
  15. cubman987

    cubman987 Friendly Neighborhood Saga/Music/Fun & Games Mod star 7 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Nov 7, 2014
    Agreed, those are my top 3 as well.

    I didn't think it got drawn out at all.
     
    Mr. Forest likes this.
  16. Darkslayer

    Darkslayer #1 Sabine Wren Fan star 7

    Registered:
    Mar 26, 2013
    Maybe it's just me. It's very possible, I have ADD. But there are some books I can just sink into a not feel too distracted at all.

    That being said, I did really enjoy this book. B+ is still a good grade! :D
     
    Mr. Forest likes this.
  17. Mr. Forest

    Mr. Forest Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Nov 1, 2012
    Not at all, but my experience is based on the audiobook.

    Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk
     
    cubman987 likes this.
  18. Jedi Knight Fett

    Jedi Knight Fett Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Feb 18, 2014
    I read the book in about a week and I thought it was nicely paced and that ending was great
     
    cubman987 likes this.
  19. Darkslayer

    Darkslayer #1 Sabine Wren Fan star 7

    Registered:
    Mar 26, 2013
  20. cubman987

    cubman987 Friendly Neighborhood Saga/Music/Fun & Games Mod star 7 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Nov 7, 2014
    You tell me!

    I'll post some more discussion questions later on, still wanting to give some people a chance to get the book or get through the first few chapters before I do, but anyone is always free to post any discussion points they want to talk about.
     
    Darkslayer likes this.
  21. Darkslayer

    Darkslayer #1 Sabine Wren Fan star 7

    Registered:
    Mar 26, 2013
    I'd like to talk about how the differences between Thrawn and Tarkin. By that I mean that I always considered Thrawn to be a cooler version of Tarkin. Now after reading this book I know that is not the case. I did not expect Thrawn to make every effort to get to the bottom of the

    Death Star project, much less to seem like he was having reservations about it. It made him a much more deep character. I especially liked Eli's perspective on the Empire - he thought the Empire was great because Sidious presented a government that really wasn't much different from the Republic. However, once stuff like slavery and the Death Star were exposed, that (for good reason) scared a lot of good Imperials. I hope we get more of that in the next book (it seems obvious to me Zahn wants to write more - he did kind of leave Eli's story open-ended).

    Also, anyone have any good speculation as to what dangers Thrawn felt threatened the Chiss from beyond the Unknown Regions? That kind of deep space exploration has always fascinated me in real life and SW - I hope we see more of that.

    Perhaps the Chiss have been fighting Snoke?
     
    Valency Jane and cubman987 like this.
  22. cubman987

    cubman987 Friendly Neighborhood Saga/Music/Fun & Games Mod star 7 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Nov 7, 2014
    Yeah I think Tarkin and Thrawn are pretty different really. Thrawn is definitely not the politician that Tarkin is, really in anything I recall, but certainly not in this book.
    I'm not that surprised about Thrawn digging into the Death Star construction and even less so surprised by him not being thrilled with it. That's consistent with his feelings in Heir to the Empire, in that he thought a bigger armada with Star Destroyers and Super Star Destroyers was the way to go. He also isn't one to kill civilians needlessly, and we know Tarkin not only has no problem with that but uses it to rule by fear. I liked that Thrawn and Eli are both opposed to slavery and agree, I'd like to see more of this in the Empire. Zahn has already said he'd love to write more Star Wars so I'd love to see him tackle it.

    I'm not sure if we will ever get anything specific about what the threat is but I think it's a nod to the Yuuzan Vong from Legends.
     
    Darkslayer likes this.
  23. Darkslayer

    Darkslayer #1 Sabine Wren Fan star 7

    Registered:
    Mar 26, 2013
    Ah that would make sense - especially since we know they are canon from TCW!
     
  24. Jedi Knight Fett

    Jedi Knight Fett Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Feb 18, 2014
    I am almost positive it's Snoke. If only Thrawn was alive still to deal with him...
     
    Valency Jane likes this.
  25. Darkslayer

    Darkslayer #1 Sabine Wren Fan star 7

    Registered:
    Mar 26, 2013
    How do we know he's not? [face_idea]
     
    Valency Jane likes this.
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.