Customer Reviews

Star Wars: The Thrawn Trilogy

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A bit of a history lesson here is necessary for the uninitiated. Odds are that there will be few (uninitiated) here, given that most drawn to this review will have working familiarity with the subject matter, but I'll supply a few details from memory anyhow. Call it posterity. Once the lights in the theatre went out on STAR WARS: EPISODE 6: RETURN OF THE JEDI, serious Star Wars enthusiasts had no idea when (or even if) they'd be treated to another adventure in their most favorite cinematic universe. The original trilogy had come to its close with mild controversy (Ewoks? Really, George? Were they necessary?) with some fanfare -- after seriously amping up the stakes in THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK -- and 1983 seemed to bring an end to the continuing adventures of Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo, and the rest of the gang.

Then, in 1992, science fiction novelist Timothy Zahn's new trilogy of Star Wars tales began, and it reminded Star Wars fans everywhere of the latent potential still lingering like a welcome disturbance in the Force in that galaxy far, far away. Over the course of the next few years, Zahn did as Lucas had done with the original trilogy, amping up the stakes just a little bit at each crazy turn, whetting fandom's appetite for even more visits to these distant worlds ... and the good folks at Dark Horse Comics were all too happy to oblige. Eventually, Dark Horse stumbled onto the brilliant idea to adapt Zahn's books; these novels had, after all, earned a special place in the hearts of most Star Wars fans, so much so that most consider these outings as unofficial Episodes 7, 8, and 9, picking up the events of Luke & company nearly a decade after JEDI ended.

Dark Horse completed three miniseries adaptations -- each with six issues, each miniseries focusing on one of Zahn's novels -- ultimately and inevitably re-releasing each of these three miniseries in trade paperback forms, and now Dark Horse Books has finally put them all together in one grand spanking adventure. At over 400 pages, STAR WARS: THE THRAWN TRILOGY is the ultimate fan package, returning Star Wars fans to the excitement they felt with each passing chapter of Zahn's massive adventure. It's not a light undertaking in the slightest: these comics go to great lengths to capture the details of the books, bringing many new characters, worlds, ships, and situations that, honestly, fit like a glove in Lucas's fantastic universe.

In a nutshell, the New Republic has grown to encompass many worlds, but elements of the Empire -- namely, several surviving ships, bases, and one nasty Grand Admiral Thrawn -- have come across data that indicates the Emperor held a few tricks up his sleeve even in death. A hidden Dark Jedi Master ... ship cloaking technology ... and a mountain fortress complete with cloning cylinders mean that the return of the Empire has always remained a virtually galactic heartbeat away, leaving Adm. Thrawn to hatch his plan to return the forces of evil to reign in the galaxy. Standing in his way? The usual suspects of Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo, Lando Calrissian, and they each have special roles to play, alongside a growing legion of smugglers and Rebel fighter pilots ...

Read closely, and you'll find it hard to believe that the theatres were dark with new cinematic Star Wars adventures for two decades!

Zahn weaves his tale with several new faces and even some new twists on the ol' ones, and he brings an adult, dramatic, treacherous sensibility to bare on every development. THE THRAWN TRILOGY is a massive undertaking -- wouldn't it be great to get three more Star Wars stories up on the silver screen -- and, while it might not be to everyone's liking, it certainly tickled mosts fancies when so little else was happening in this universe. While some of the events feel a bit rushed toward the end of the collection, this is one story worth visiting again and again, not only for nostalgia but also because it's great to have Star Wars making all of us feel like a kid again.

May the Force be with you. Always.

I am a member of the generation that came of age between the two trilogies, the original trilogy and the prequel trilogy. Being that I was 2 years old when Return of the Jedi hit the big screen I never had the pleasure of witnessing the orignal movies in their theatrical glory. In fact, by the time I was even able to comprehend what Star Wars was, Star Wars was already on VHS, and the all toys belonged to my friends' older brothers. Growing up in the late 80s to the early 90s, I had no new movies or toys to spark my interest in Star Wars.

During this time, the forefront of the Star Wars continuity was the Expanded Universe(EU). The EU was all we really had, and if it wasn't for the EU the prequel trilogy, and all of its spinoffs and merchandise, would not exist to this day. If there are two things that really launched the EU and created a new generation of fans at the time, they would have to be the DARK EMPIRE series by Dark Horse Comics, and the Thrawn Trilogy written by Timothy Zahn.

Not long after Dark Horse started making comics, and the Thrawn Trilogy was written, these two juggernauts of EU awesomeness married to give us a comic book series based upon the Thrawn Trilogy. Originally released as single issue comics, available at stores, recently these comics have been compiled to a collection or graphic novel. This was music to my ears,bceause I was never able to track down all the comics when they originally came out.

Enough with the history lesson. This Collection is an excellent buy. For one, it is hardcover and for the price I bought it on Amazon, it was $20 under the suggested retail price. Secondly, it is thick (it has all three stories). You defenitely get the most bang for your buck, when you consider that you are getting all three stories for slightly more than you would have to pay just to buy one.

Some would complain that it is not as in depth as the book, well no crap, it's a comic book. It is not meant to replace the original novels (which I defenitely recommend). This collection is an excellent companion to the Thrawn Trilogy.

The art work in my opinion is pretty awesome. I might be a bit nostalgic but I really liked the artwork during this era of Star Wars comics.

In summary if you are a fan of Star Wars you will love this item, if you are a fan of the EU you will adore it, and if you are a fan of the Thrawn Trilogy you will not be able to live without it. (Maybe a bit too dramatic)

I first read this book 15 years ago, and it hasn't lost its magic. While much of the rest of the Star Wars Expanded Universe has become bogged down with irrelevant characters and unrealistic plot twists, Timothy Zahn's Heir to the Empire Trilogy actually manages to recapture the feeling of the original Star Wars trilogy. The original characters all play great roles and the ploy is well paced. More important, this book introduced several of the Expanded Universe's most beloved characters, from Mara Jade to Grand Admiral Thrawn. The illustrations are a great way to bring this trilogy to live. Overall, this trilogy is required reading for any Star Wars fan (the other books - not so much).

I will try to be as concise as I can about this graphic novel. The book, adapted from Zahn's trilogy of novels, is so good I can't even do justice to it with words. It is sheer brilliance! The book is broken down into each of the three novels from the trilogy, and each one is handled beautifully. The writing- particularly the dialogue- is classic Star Wars all the way! Luke sounds like Luke. Han sounds like Han, etc. And the new characters(there are numerous, but only a handful of real "players") are every bit as true to the feel of what a Star Wars character should be like as the original cast. The addition of Thrawn, Kaarde, C'Baoth and Jade alone give this epic a fresh yet familiar Star Wars world to delve into. The artwork is divided amongst 3 different artists, each with his own unique style. DO NOT WORRY about this, however! The styles may be different, but they don't impede the flow of the story in any way. In fact, I felt just the opposite. I liked the changes between chapters/books. The changes never had you guessing,"Which character is that supposed to be?" or "What planet are they on now?". Everything is seamless. You just get treated to a series of 3 very talented artists who give each chapter a slightly different edge. It's kinda like how "A New Hope" felt a little less dark than "The Empire Strikes Back." And "Empire" gave way to a kind of different emotional makeup of the final installment, "Return of the Jedi." All 3 were exciting and full of fantasy/sci-fi/action/adventure(as well as some drama, romance and comedy thrown in for good measure). Well, the writing, artwork and story/plot throughout this beautiful hardcover is no exception.

I can't say enough about how wonderul this book is! It feels like you're watching Episodes 7,8, and 9 unfold in front of your eyes! And for those of you who are only familiar with the movies, this book is one of the rarer EU stories that requires no previous knowledge of any of the other EU Star Wars books or comics.

In closing, all I can say is that I felt like a kid again as I read this book(being a kid when I first saw the original trilogy). And I know I will reread it over and over again, much as I watch the films over and over. So, if you wanna know what happened to everyone from the original trilogy of movies after the curtain dropped, look no further! Go out and buy this amazing graphic novel. You won't regret it! May the Force be with you!

Right here is episode 7,8,9 and Lucas wants to do Star Wars 3D. I know that we all owe the force to Lucas but I fear that we will not see a good Star Wars Movie until he passes the reigns of control.

This book was gift to my 10 year old grandson for Christmas. The story is timeless and he poured over every page.

This is Part 7, 8, and 9 if there ever could be such things. This is as close as it gets. This is the real deal. If You like/dislike the works of Stackpole, Perry, etc., THIS IS FOR YOU! I could read this 1,000 times over, again and again, and still enjoy it as much as day one. While I admit the actual books/novels are better, comics are excellent (Yes, I still read the comics every Sunday paper). Especially ones with such consistently AWESOME artwork, plus a killer story to boot that is carried over pretty darn good as far as most comic adaptations go. To me, this is like Slayer - Divine Intervention. Sure, it is no Slayer - Reign In Blood, but @%?#*!$ DARN DOES IT RULE! INTENSITY IN TEN CITIES! DOUBLE LIVE AT BOODOKAN! SCHWING! AWDE-AWDE! Enough said.

In 1992, Timothy Zahn revived the Star Wars line big-time with his trilogy of novels showing what happened years after the film saga. The results are now obvious and Dark Horse has finally gotten around to putting together the entire trilogy in one nice volume.

Now it's true that in adapting the books, some stuff had to be edited out. Zahn always had a great line for dialouge and the comic, while an excellent adaptation, is forced to lose some of his nice lines which in some cases give a bit more depth to things. For example, a theme in the trilogy is how it seems Alliance leader Fey'lya seems to be planning a coup but a bit in the books has someone pointing out that he wouldn't know what to do with a military coup, this is simple politics to him. The comic, however, loses that line and a few others.

However, the pull isn't the dialouge here, you can simply read the books. What you get is the visual experience and it is terrific seeing these characters you've only imagined and would enhance the reading more. The battle scenes are well done with epic clashes and the battle between Luke and mad Master C'Boath is a powerful scene.

The best part are the two characters introduced. The first is Grand Admiral Thrawn, a brilliant villian, cool, responsible and an utter genius in battle with a love for art. He's a compelling figure you can't help rooting for even if he is with the Empire. Better is Mara Jade, a former Imperial agent who clashes with Luke several times despite her wanting to change. It's great to see this woman in her debut given how huge a role she'd play.

I still wish Dark Horse would adapt Zahn's two book follow-up (Specter of the Past/Vision of the Future) but this is still one of the best SW tales outside of the film saga. If you've read the books already, the comic is a great way to see it unfold. If you haven't, then the comic is the perfect primer for the more in-depth novels. Either way, it's an experience every fan of the saga can appreciate all the more that captures the magic of the films perfectly.

Never did I expect, after so many years down the road, that Dark Horse finally compiled the entire collection of the Thrawn Trilogy into this remarkable hardcover edition. If I had known then, I wouldn't have wasted my time collecting the individual 6-book issues of each series, and the individual 3 tradepaperback series - I guess all those individual comic issues are worth much more now! However, it still delighted me to, once again, purchase and hold the entire collection in my hands.

The Thrawn Trilogy hardcover edition is a must-have for all die-hard Star Wars fans out there. Ever since Timothy Zahn released his 3 novels 20 years ago, starting with Heir To The Empire, readers have always wonder what ysalamiri or an Interdictor cruiser would look like. Now we know. The comics writers have edited out, but also retained quite a lot of the nuances and verbal speech that the characters use. I guess something will definitely be lost in translation, otherwise this comic adaptation would be more than 800 pages! Timothy Zahn did a remarkable job bringing each and every character back to life, which kick-started the novel/comics franchise of the Star Wars Expanded Universe.

Next up, I'm looking to purchase the Dark Empire complete collection. I'm like all die-hard Star Wars fans out there. The books just can't satisfy the thirst for more action, adventure and stories from this amazing series.

May the Force be with us all!

I'm just gna keep this short and spoiler free.

This comic is a MUST BUY for any star wars fan! I've never ever been a fan of Post-ROTJ stories but this story was incredible. I never read Thrawn before because it seemed like such a daunting task to invest all my time in 3 novels when Post0ROTJ stories have continually let me down. But as soon as i heard about this omnibus I HAD to have it. I have every TPB and Omnibus released by Dark Horse and this book might be my favorite in my collection, at least top 3.

The story was great and didn't rehash old plots. There's a lot of fantastic new characters and great insight into how the New Republic got it's footing. Thrawn is an incredible character and you really understand why he deserves to be a Grand Admiral.

anyways i said i'd keep this short so do yourself a favor and buy this book. The art is incredible and the dialogue is word for word from the novels with no changes. I will be reading the Novels soon, maybe after i reread this comic again from the beginning!