Treason: Thrawn, Book 3

496 pages

English language

Published Dec. 30, 2020 by Penguin Random House.

ISBN:: 978-1-78746-327-1

(1 review)

Grand Admiral Thrawn faces the ultimate test of his loyalty to the Empire in this epic Star Wars novel from bestselling author Timothy Zahn.

"If I were to serve the Empire, you would command my allegiance."

Such was the promise Grand Admiral Thrawn made to Emperor Palpatine at their first meeting. Since then, Thrawn has been one of the Empire's most effective instruments, pursuing its enemies to the very edges of the known galaxy. But as keen a weapon as Thrawn has become, the Emperor dreams of something far more destructive.

Now, as Thrawn's TIE defender program is halted in favor of Director Krennic's secret Death Star project, he realizes that the balance of power in the Empire is measured by more than just military acumen or tactical efficiency. Even the greatest intellect can hardly compete with the power to annihilate entire planets.

As Thrawn works to secure his place …

Grand Admiral Thrawn faces the ultimate test of his loyalty to the Empire in this epic Star Wars novel from bestselling author Timothy Zahn.

"If I were to serve the Empire, you would command my allegiance."

Such was the promise Grand Admiral Thrawn made to Emperor Palpatine at their first meeting. Since then, Thrawn has been one of the Empire's most effective instruments, pursuing its enemies to the very edges of the known galaxy. But as keen a weapon as Thrawn has become, the Emperor dreams of something far more destructive.

Now, as Thrawn's TIE defender program is halted in favor of Director Krennic's secret Death Star project, he realizes that the balance of power in the Empire is measured by more than just military acumen or tactical efficiency. Even the greatest intellect can hardly compete with the power to annihilate entire planets.

As Thrawn works to secure his place in the Imperial hierarchy, his former protégé Eli Vanto returns with a dire warning about Thrawn's homeworld. Thrawn's mastery of strategy must guide him through an impossible choice: duty to the Chiss Ascendancy, or fealty to the Empire he has sworn to serve. Even if the right choice means committing treason.

8 editions

Thom reviewed Treason by Timothy Zahn (Star Wars: Thrawn #3)

Review of 'Treason' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Thrawn accepts a difficult challenge and returns to form after a disappointing 2nd book. The storyline fits between two TV story arcs, on Rebels I believe. The epilogue plays to that directly - and is useless to me.

I liked the interactions with Faro. Vanto was a bit confusing - he was in the first book as well, and I'd need to go back and check how the relation was there. A few of the larger plot points carry one from the second book, with Vader playing almost no role. I found the space battle scenes well described.

My reviews keep repeating this, but I haven't seen Rebels. This isn't a point in Zahn's favor here - he uses a lot of characters and situations that the reader may not know. Not good. The epilogue is the worst example of that. The Grysk, bad guys from the last two books, …

Thrawn accepts a difficult challenge and returns to form after a disappointing 2nd book. The storyline fits between two TV story arcs, on Rebels I believe. The epilogue plays to that directly - and is useless to me.

I liked the interactions with Faro. Vanto was a bit confusing - he was in the first book as well, and I'd need to go back and check how the relation was there. A few of the larger plot points carry one from the second book, with Vader playing almost no role. I found the space battle scenes well described.

My reviews keep repeating this, but I haven't seen Rebels. This isn't a point in Zahn's favor here - he uses a lot of characters and situations that the reader may not know. Not good. The epilogue is the worst example of that. The Grysk, bad guys from the last two books, come out into the open and... aren't that scary. Finding the weak points and nightmares of a species hardly seems compelling to me, but it is their major point - often said, never demonstrated.

I found the first book in the series pretty good, 3.5 stars. That makes rating this one easy - better than the first? 4 stars or more. Worse? 3 stars or less. For me, this was the latter. The goodreads ratings of the books in the series (4, 2, 3) average to a 3, but I would knock that back to a 2 also - the books agree but the stories don't really complement - perhaps they should be considered add-ons for the tv show.

If you like the blue guy, there is apparently another trilogy called "Thrawn Ascendancy". Not sure how that connects with these, but I'll wait to see what other reviewers think before diving in.