Book Review: Thrawn - Alliances

 

It’s that time again! Another year goes by and it’s time to experience another galactic adventure with everyone’s favorite tactical genius, Grand Admiral Thrawn. It’s worth noting that since reading the last Thrawn book, my favorite blue boy made his live action debut in the Disney+ show Ahsoka.  His appearance in that show indicates the start of a big plot arc in the live action universe which may be leading towards some kind of Heir to the Empire-inspired narrative (Don’t worry that book is on my list to read as well!). But while we wait for events to play out in the live action universe, it’s time to settle back into Thrawn’s written escapades with the 2^nd book in Thrawn’s trilogy detailing his early rise through the ranks of the Galactic Empire.  This time around he’s accompanied by none other than the Star Wars icon himself, Darth Vader. 

Thrawn: Alliances serves as the second entry in Timothy Zahn’s trilogy regarding Thrawn’s early days throughout the Galactic Empire. After Disney bought Star Wars back in 2012, they made a controversial yet necessary decision to retcon a number of plotlines established post-Return of the Jedi by categorizing those stories as non-canon and labelling them under the Legends banner.  One notable casualty of this move was Grand Admiral Thrawn, who established a long-standing impression with the Star Wars fanbase with his part in the Heir to the Empire trilogy during this era.  Despite the sad relegation of that portion of the universe, it wasn’t long till Lucasfilm and Disney made the call to bring Thrawn back into the canon timeline in a big way through the animated show Star Wars Rebels.  Since his debut in Rebels, Timothy Zahn was given the opportunity to pen for the Chiss general many times over with a collection of books.  Thrawn: Alliances was the 2^nd of his newly established stories in the canon era, and it follows on soon after Season 3 of Star Wars Rebels with events from the show playing into the core narrative.

After suffering an embarrassing defeat at the hands of the rebel unit known as Phoenix Squadron on the planet of Atollon, Grand Admiral Thrawn is called to Coruscant to face Emperor Palpatine alongside Darth Vader.  While both attend under the impression that Thrawn is to face admonishment for his shortfall, Palpatine instead instructs both Vader and Thrawn with an important mission.  Together the duo is ordered to venture into the outer regions to the planet of Batuu where the Emperor has sensed a notable disturbance in the force which he wishes to be investigated.  Despite his own grievances with being paired with the Admiral in the light of his recent failure, Vader reluctantly accepts the order from the Emperor and ventures into the outer regions with Thrawn in their respective star destroyers. While the pair initially struggle to find even footing, their journey to Batuu brings back distant memories of an old encounter Thrawn and Anakin Skywalker once shared during the near-end of the Clone Wars.  While both their past and present missions may seem like two distinct journeys, there’s an underlying link that will bring the duo to face their past escapades in order to achieve success in their present endeavors.

The narrative structure of this story is both interesting and compelling to read through. It’s clear that Timothy Zahn is they most reliable writer you could pay to write for Star Wars because he understands the universe on a clearly fundamental level. The way he constructs the dynamic between Vader and Thrawn is interesting because they are two very distinct characters who have very different ways of proceeding with their mission.  Their struggle to compromise and get on the same page leads to some of the most intriguing parts of the story.  The choice to go back to the past and reflect their relationship within the earlier days when Vader was Anakin Skywalker too, adds a nice bit of flavor to the contrast and similarities they both share. The two separate missions they partake in both the past and present are my only notable criticism of the wider plot behind this book.  The present-day mission feels a bit unfocused on the whole and its core impact feels undercooked by the end of the book’s page count.  The mission the duo is on during the Clone Wars era is notably more interesting as it benefits from a tighter focus and structure.  The story’s wider cast of characters serve to support the narrative structure and what I appreciate is they are all well implemented into the narrative with a lot of strong definition behind their characteristics.

When it comes to getting the tone of the narrative down, the two corresponding plotlines benefit from balancing the tone of the respective period they are set in.  Make no distinction, Thrawn and Vader are not necessarily good guys, but when given parameters of their mission, the story gives them the appropriate measures to make their personal missions easy to follow in light of their contrasting ideals. The present-day plot follows them in the midst of the Empire’s major height of power, so Vader and Thrawn have all the means and resources to enact their mission without too much struggle, it’s a plot that reflects tactical efficiency.  Their journey in the Clone War era is one more layered with adventure and personal stakes. There’s a nice level of banter between the central characters in this plot too.  There’s a notable contrast between the tone of the two narratives for sure and I feel I got more out of the Clone War’s tone and set up on reflection.  The way the narrative is paced is well-established too, and the two plots intercede with one another in smart ways that you actually understand the benefit both stories share with one another.

Thrawn: Alliances delivers on the core appeal behind any Grand Admiral Thrawn story.  The choice to pair him up with such an iconic character like Darth Vader was well made too, especially when you consider the contrast between the two characters.  The overall story they share leaves a slightly smaller impression compared to the dynamic between the actual characters but I can appreciate Timothy Zahn’s determination to construct two parallel storylines that are intended to coincide with one another.  While not a perfectly constructed book, it’s an exceptional slice of the Star Wars universe to dive into.