The Thrawn trilogy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Thrawn trilogy, also known as The Three Book Cycle and The Heir To The Empire trilogy, is a trilogy of novels written by Timothy Zahn that are set in the fictional Star Wars Expanded Universe galaxy about five years after Return of the Jedi. The trilogy proved to be extremely popular among Star Wars fans and the general public when it was released, and secured the author a position as a respected figure in Star Wars literature.
The series introduced many notable characters, such as Mara Jade, Talon Karrde, and Grand Admiral Thrawn, one of the more notable Expanded Universe villains, to Star Wars. Also, the galactic capital world of Coruscant was first popularly named in the trilogy. The series is credited with reinvigorating the popularity of the Star Wars Expanded Universe to a level not seen since the early years of Star Wars. The series is generally regarded by many as the beginning of the new generation of Star Wars novels, as many more novels were written after its success, including the Jedi Academy Trilogy and others. Because the books were written a full decade before the prequel trilogy, some of the information on the Clone Wars and Darth Vader's biography have since been contradicted, with various retcons being supplied in other works.
All three books were later adapted as comic books by Dark Horse Comics. The series was divided into six separate issues per book.
Contents |
[edit] Materials
- Heir to the Empire, 1992 (ISBN 0-553-40471-7)
- Dark Force Rising, 1992 (ISBN 0-553-08574-3)
- The Last Command, 1994 (ISBN 0-553-56492-7)
[edit] Additional materials
Each entry of the series had its own Star Wars RPG sourcebook created for it by West End Games. When the rules for the Star Wars RPG changed, the three volumes were collected into one book for the entire Thrawn trilogy, which served as a second edition to the original three sourcebooks produced.
[edit] Sequel trilogy
Despite the claims of Star Wars creator George Lucas that there will never be a sequel trilogy (Episodes VII, VIII, and IX) to his current series of films, many fans see The Thrawn Trilogy as the book versions of such a trilogy. This is partly because many see the volumes of the Thrawn trilogy as being as well done as the Star Wars films themselves.
[edit] Literary Techniques
An interesting fact about the books in this series is the possible double meaning of each of the titles. Heir to the Empire can refer to either Grand Admiral Thrawn or Dark Jedi Master Joruus C'baoth. Dark Force Rising may refer to the Dark Side of the Force in C'baoth, or to the Katana Fleet: the so-called "Dark Force." The Last Command may imply the end of the reign of Grand Admiral Thrawn, or the last command given to "Emperor's Hand" Mara Jade by the late Palpatine.
| The Star Wars Saga | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Episodes | | Spin-off films | | Television series | | Books | | Comics | | Games |
