Thrawn: Alliances

When the Emperor senses a disturbance in the Force on the edge of Imperial space, he is concerned enough to dispatch two of his most trusted agents to investigate: Darth Vader and Grand Admiral Thrawn. But as it turns out, Thrawn and Vader have worked together once before, years ago…when Vader was known as Jedi Anakin Skywalker.

Timothy Zahn is one of the most influential voices in the Star Wars literary canon, and his greatest contribution to the universe is undoubtedly Grand Admiral Thrawn, the red-eyed, blue-skinned alien tactician virtually without peer. Thrawn: Alliances delivers Thrawn at his most Sherlockian, reveling in his incredible attention to detail, deductive skill, and multilayered thought processes.

But Darth Vader is no slouch here, offering his own insights and deductive capabilities, granting the reader a rare look into the intellect of the Emperor’s second-in-command rather than at his Force abilities, aggression, or combat prowess.

By showing both sides of the Anakin/Vader coin alongside different versions of Thrawn, Zahn has elevated all three characters, making for an impressively cerebral entry in a normally action-focused universe.