Thrawn: Alliances by Timothy Zahn

“I have sensed a disturbance in the Force.”

Ominous words under any circumstances, but all the more so when uttered by Emperor Palpatine. On Batuu, at the edges of the Unknown Regions, a threat to the Empire is taking root—its existence little more than a glimmer, its consequences as yet unknowable. But it is troubling enough to the Imperial leader to warrant investigation by his most powerful agents: ruthless enforcer Lord Darth Vader and brilliant strategist Grand Admiral Thrawn. Fierce rivals for the emperor’s favor, and outspoken adversaries on Imperial affairs—including the Death Star project—the formidable pair seem unlikely partners for such a crucial mission. But the Emperor knows it’s not the first time Vader and Thrawn have joined forces. And there’s more behind his royal command than either man suspects.

In what seems like a lifetime ago, General Anakin Skywalker of the Galactic Republic, and Commander Mitth’raw’nuruodo, officer of the Chiss Ascendancy, crossed paths for the first time. One on a desperate personal quest, the other with motives unknown . . . and undisclosed. But facing a gauntlet of dangers on a far-flung world, they forged an uneasy alliance—neither remotely aware of what their futures held in store.

Now, thrust together once more, they find themselves bound again for the planet where they once fought side by side. There they will be doubly challenged—by a test of their allegiance to the Empire . . . and an enemy that threatens even their combined might.

I wonder if this would be a better book if it simply ditched the first third of the story. Darth Vader and Thrawn doing a buddy-cop routine in a bar doesn't exactly hit the same notes as The Last Command.

Still, the book picks up from there. Thrawn is less annoying when he's really unaware of how hard he can push Vader. Meanwhile, Vader is most intriguing when he's actually struggling with the identity of “The Jedi.”

You get the sense that Zahn has the essence of a great story and dynamic between the two (three?) principle characters in the book. However it just seems like a lot of the plot that moves us from one scene to another is largely interchangeable. That's okay, but given the chance to fill holes in canon, I'd hoped Zahn would address Cortosis-like details more frequently and deeply.

4.5, Why???? There was something missing in this one, little bit more action, whenever Thrawn is thrown in, expect the story to be analytical, and that is one of the reason Darth Vader and Thrawn side by side is chemical, our Dark Lord who only needs to gesture if he feels slighted, angry, in other words intolerant and volatile, together with a shrewd tactician, analytical. Volatile plus calm, I would love to be under them both at the same time, except on days Lord Vader feels picky.......

The point of view between Thrawn/Anakin and Thrawn/Lord Vader, here we see the differences between Anakin and Vader, the inherent volatileness, being always angry but always trying to control it, and the other anger controlling your actions, I guess the only good thing becoming a Sith Apprentice is no more conscience to answer to, either you do or you do not(Master Yoda must be rolling around laughing).

Thrawn on the other hand, calm, controlled, always figuring things out before he acts. Even with Lord Vader at his side, he is not afraid to countermand any action he deems unsuccessful, I wonder if Emperor Palpatine is in command, would he even countermand a direct order from Palpatine himself.........

Grand Moff Tarkin, Darth Vader, and now Grand Admiral Thrawn, The Emperor has surrounded himself with the finest personages albeit with their own shortcomings, no wonder the Empire had no competition, no Jedi to foil the Sith, no tactician as shrewd as Thrawn, and no commanding officer as brilliant and cold as Tarkin.

Alliances was a study of different points of view of two powerful figures, then and now. Anakin is gone, Thrawn, if we are following the New Jedi Order universe(not the Disney universe) will always remain as one of the bright spot, the upcoming Chiss Ascendancy series would be a barometer for Thrawn's direction......

This was a big step down from the first book in the series. Although it was fun to see Thrawn and Darth Vader team up, their story arc was less than riveting. For me, knowing the fates of established characters (Vader, not Thrawn) drains the story of any real stakes. Similarly, the Thrawn/Anakin/Padme story that parallels the present day narrative did not land for me and I felt myself rushing through it just so I could get back to Thrawn/Vader, which I also quickly lost interest in. So then I was rushing through both timelines just so I could finish the book and move on to the sequel, which has better reviews and features the welcome return of Eli Vanto, who I sorely missed here.

Executive Summary: Another solid Thrawn book, but not as good [b:Thrawn 31140332 Thrawn (Star Wars Thrawn, #1) Timothy Zahn https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1468787895s/31140332.jpg 51766424] in my opinion. There was also far less Darth Vader in this book than the cover seemed to imply.Audiobook: Another fantastic job as always by Marc Thompson. I don't read a lot of Star Wars books, but I'm always more inclined to listen to the ones he narrates. I don't like music/sound effects in audio books typically because I find they make it harder to focus on the story/hear the narration in most.These books however do a great job with it making it at times feel more like a radio drama than an audiobook. I will say that his voice for Padme sounds a lot like his voice for Leia, but given the fact that he's a male and Leia's parentage I was OK with this. All of his other voices sound exactly like the characters from the movies/TV series to me.Full ReviewSo I said in my summary that there is far less Darth Vader than I expected. That's because there is a lot more Anakin Skywalker. It turns out most of this novel is a flashback to the first time Thrawn encountered/interacted with the Republic/Empire. The stories are mostly told in parallel, but much of the story takes place in the past.I didn't care much for Anakin after watching the movies, but the Clone Wars show really changed my opinion on the character. I thought they did a far better job there (and had a far better actor playing him). And while I think Natalie Portman does a good job as Padme in the movies the writing of her character is also much better on the show. Thankfully Mr. Zahn bases his portrayal of Padme on the show.I've never been a huge Darth Vader fan. He's fine as an antagonist, and James Earl Jones has a fantastic voice but I just never found him that interesting. Thrawn on the other hand I think is probably the best antagonist the series has had, and I was glad to see him returned to cannon both on the page and in the Rebels TV show. I'd love to see him make his big screen debut at some point down the road.The pairing of the two was interesting because their talents complement each other pretty well. Anakin tends to act before he thinks, while Thrawn is always planning things several moves in advance.The story told here was entertaining enough but didn't do nearly as much to flush out Thrawn as the previous book did. There were a few little tidbits that have me intrigued, but as much of the book was a flashback we didn't get very much of the storyline from the previous book as I was hoping for. I think he's contracted to write a third book, so I'm hoping that book focuses more on those aspects.Overall, this was an enjoyable book and if you're a casual Star Wars book reader like me this is one worth picking up, especially in audio.