Thoughts on the Hand of Thrawn Duology

Just finished the series tonight, I thought it was a great series especially Vision of the Future, I think this gives you a great opening for NJO and also gives a great end to the Empire era. I especially liked the schemeing that Flim, Disra, and Tierce did and Luke and Mara's journey to the hand of Thrawn. I also liked Rouge squadren's appearence with Corran and all the battles they fought. Zahn did a great job, he covered nearly every character in there own little stories. What'd you guys think of it?

 

One of the best things about the duology was Mara and Luke finally getting together

 

I liked it, but there are alot of people here that seem to... well dislike Zahn heavily.

Apparently theres huge continuity errors, but I seem to be slower than a wamprat, so could someone point them out or the thread with them?

 

i like the storylines very much, as well as the plot and new characters (Flim, Tierce). But IMO Zahn tried indirectly to show he was ruler and supreme of the EU by bashing other characters from other Bantam Books. I forget the specific examples, but Wedge pointed them out to me one day, and i do agree, although i don't particulary care. There was a thread not too long ago that said the exact opposite of what you stated. Some people believe that the HoT should have been where the EU stopped, that the NJO should have never happened.

 

Agreed SSj, we all knew this would happen anyway. Yavarice- people who don't like zahn's work probably don't like how he tells one part of the story, then tells another part, then comes back to the previous one like 40 pages later, it's jumbled, but I like it.

 

I thought it was the second best miniseries in the EU, after The Thrawn Trilogy.

 

HoT are my favorite EU books. They just seemed so fulfilling on multiple levels. The one thing that really bugged me, though, was Mara saying the Emperor in DE wasn't the real one. It did seem like Zahn was trying to show that he had control over everything what happens in the EU.

 

All Mara said was she didn't think that it was the real Empeorer, she wasn't there though, Luke was.

 

I thought that HoT was really good...and then a couple weeks later, didn't think it was as good as my first impressions.

SotP - B

VotF - B

 

i thought it was one of the best SW books out there. It was obvious from day one that Luke and Mara were going to get together though. That whole Callista thing was just filler until the inebidble (sp?) All the tension and arguing, it was only a matter of time.

 

I thought it was dry, pedantic, lacking in wit, style or grace. I found the characterizations lifeless and inept and the overall writing quality lacking in any real emotive value. Very little of either book had any energy- no sense of urgency or action. I learned not to care what happened, felt only frustration at the whole 'Thrawn's back' plot, cringed when I read in utter disbelief that the Hand of Thrawn was literally a giant freaking hand! And thought, 'how original'. And imagine my horror when I read how completely Zahn sucked the life out of Corran Horn, turning him into another drone.

And Mara lecturing Luke on the nature of the Force.

Ha! Hahahahahahahahaha!

Worst Star Wars novels I have ever read? By a huge margin. Not even the original Thrawn trilogy was as terrible as these.

1,080 pages of crapola.

 

Yeah, but how do you really feel?

I was let down by them, frankly. Couldn't even finish VOTF. Love the covers.

~PAd

 

The HoT had to much going on at once and some good parts were short and disappointing, the end of a two decade war was covered in around three pages! Come on, I couldn't be the only person disappointed by this? It was as if Zahn knew that it would be his last post OT book and just tried to do everything he could think of at once.

I'm not saying there weren't good bits, there were.

I didn't like the Star Destroyers amazingly super strength. 1 vs 6 Wings of fighters and it was expected to win! 6 wings! One wing is 12 squads of 12 fighters, 144, so 6 wings is 864 fighters, most would have between 6 - 16 torpedoes or concussion missiles...they would chew the Star Destroyer a new one. Then at the end 3 vs over 100 warships and they were expected to win as well.

People also complain about Luke at the start of the NJO and blame it on del Rey, but it was Zahn who set Luke up to a very, very, ot proactive.

 

Hey, good quote in your sig, Wes ! I wish there was a FS3... But it'd probably render the end of FS2 pointless...

Anyway...

Specter of the Past was rather interesting, although average. Nothing extraordinary in it.

Vision of the Future... Well... Very, very average. It tends to get really boring at times.

And as Kier said, both lack a real sense of urgency.

That's why I fear that his upcoming novel won't be that good, especially given that Thrawn returns. He is overused and overrated.

And note that I still consider TTT as among the best of the EU. But HoT is a major let down next to it.

 

It was as if Zahn knew that it would be his last post OT book and just tried to do everything he could think of at once.

Zahn has a post-NJO book coming out in a couple years in which Luke and Leia will find out about their parents.


There are several things I liked in particular about HoT:

-Zahn writing Han Solo. He's just like in the movies- cocky, troublesome, stubborn, and his dialogue is perfect.

-Luke and Mara forming their Force-bond. That was a good idea. I think it should be used to defend the new Jedi Order having attachments. It's something new, at least to that degree, which gives the Jedi more power in some situations and makes up for the problems of attachment.

-Pellaeon, who was great in the duology. He has always been one of my favorite Imperials. He's very believable because he's a good guy on the wrong side.

-Karrde's journey to find whats-his-name. He explained a lot of interesting things about the information-trading business. Plus, I just like Karrde.

-Rogue Squadron. They were dead on from how Stackpole wrote them. Their banter was very nice.

 

lexu,

Pellaeon, who was great in the duology. He has always been one of my favorite Imperials. He's very believable because he's a good guy on the wrong side.

I will take that one step further. Though Genghis calls him a bootlicker, I don't think so. Of all of Zahn's creations, he along with Karrde are those I least despise, if that makes any sense.

I don't believe he a 'good guy'- he was aiding Thrawn to overthrow the NR after all. However, once he realized that he was a dinosaur and the war was over and had been over for years, finally took steps to put the final nails in the coffin of Galactic Civil War. And while a loyalist who believes in the Imperial way if not the Empire itself. He was not a racist like so many of his contemporaries, nor was entirely a fascist. Like Irwin Rommel, I see him as a patriot on the wrong side. Not a bad guy, but not a blood thirsty butcher like Tarkin or Isard, either.

 

The Hand of Thrawn Duology is one of my favorite (if not my favorite) Star Wars mini-series. When you read it, you just cant put the books down, you really have to know what happens next. I remember my agonizing wait for Visions of the Future after reading Spectre of the Past. Also lose ends are taken care of and the characters are really 'in character' especially Mara, Tallon, Gillead (which should be normal for they are his characters after all) but also Han, Lando. The story elements are just great.

Also on a side note for Corran_Katarn: I think you're right saying that Luke and Mara were meant to end up together. Reread the last chapter of The Last Command and combine it with the ten years wasted comment either Luke or Mara makes in Visions of the Future.

 

lexu : Zahn has a post-NJO book coming out in a couple years in which Luke and Leia will find out about their parents.

You mean, there's a rumor that Zahn is writing a post-NJO book.

Quite frankly, that rumor is new to me.

 

I remember my agonizing wait for Visions of the Future after reading Spectre of the Past.

Heh, yeah I can relate. Of course, I do that with every book. (July 30?! That's more than a month! It might as well be forever! *Pouts*)

lexu : Zahn has a post-NJO book coming out in a couple years in which Luke and Leia will find out about their parents.

You mean, there's a rumor that Zahn is writing a post-NJO book. Quite frankly, that rumor is new to me.

Well, I will admit I am probably pretty gullable when it comes to Star Wars, but from what I heard this was announced at C2. That's hearsay, though, so excuse my presumtion. I'm sure there's a transcript somewhere if it's true, but I'm too lazy to find it.

 

You combined two bits of information. I was at CII. They said...

1. Zahn would be writing new SW novel(s)

2. Luke and Leia would eventually learn more about their parents.

It was seperate questions/answers.

 

I heard Zahn was going to write 2 star wars books right now. more maybe later who knows. but the first one was going to take place between E2 & 3 and the second wasn't said.....

oh and about the topic.... I liked the duology. great lead in to the NJO.

 

I liked Hot. I really did. The original TTT was probably better (classics is classics) but still, I liked it. Zahn's writing style suits me just fine, more so than e.g. Stackpole's

One interesting thing about Zahn's works are his villains - they're clever. It makes for an interesting refreshment from other SW books where villains are just plain stupid (Jedi Academy Trilogy), or they make it to definition of "villainy" by sheer brutality (X-Wing).

 

I have sorta mixed feelings about HoT

Good stuff:

-the three villains. Loved their interaction

-Pellaeon...oh how he's changed from TTT when he's just Captain of the Chimaera. Here, he shows that he's not too bad with tactics and surprises too

-I liked the politics. Better handled than in the PT films, IMHO

-Tactics and stuff. Zahn is truly the Tom Clancy of SW (and hey, I'm a Clancy fan too, so probably that;s why I enjoy Zahn's EU compared to others )

-More Mara is always good

Bad stuff

-romance of Luke and Mara was not handled that well if you ask me. I like them better in TTT

-I really hate the Kaarde and the other woman part...boring really

-Some of the supporting characters aren't that interesting

-The 'Hand of Thrawn' revelation didn't inspire me with awe

-What....no lightsaber duel??? Not even one???

-the Imperial agents on the Bothan homeworld (which I can't spell ) are about as adept as the thieves in 'Home Alone'

-Did I mention I hate the Luke/Mara romance?

Just MHO

 

the Imperial agents on the Bothan homeworld

I think these agents were excellent. And they did bring that shield down

 

I thought they were ok, not the best nor the worst. What I liked most is that they had a sense of closure (Peace, marriage, etc.) while at the same time leaving the door open for further adventures.