The
Thrawn trilogy, also known as the Heir to the Empire
trilogy, is a series of best-selling novelA novel is a long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
s written by Timothy ZahnTimothy Zahn is a writer of science fiction short stories and novels. His novella Cascade Point won the 1984 Hugo award. He is known for three Star Wars Expanded Universe novels, called the Thrawn Trilogy, which takes place after Return of the Jedi...
. The novels are set in the Expanded Universe of the Star Wars galaxyThe Star Wars galaxy is the fictional setting for the Star Wars franchise. It is referred to in several official publications as the galaxy or the Known Galaxy...
approximately five years after the events depicted in the film Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the JediStar Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi is a 1983 space opera film directed by Richard Marquand and written by George Lucas and Lawrence Kasdan. It is the third film released in the Star Wars saga, and the sixth and final in terms of internal chronology...
.
The series introduced many notable characters, such as
Mara JadeMara Jade Skywalker is a fictional character in Star Wars Expanded Universe books, comic books, and computer games. In video games, she is voiced by Heidi Shannon and Kath Soucie.-Concept and development:...
, Talon Karrde, and
Grand Admiral ThrawnGrand Admiral Thrawn is a fictional character and major antagonist from the Star Wars galaxy. He first appeared in Timothy Zahn's Thrawn trilogy, published between 1992 and 1994...
, one of the more notable Expanded Universe villains. Also, the trilogy first publicly revealed the name of the galactic capital world of
CoruscantCoruscant is a planet in the fictional Star Wars universe. It first appeared on screen in Return of the Jedi: The Special Edition , but was first mentioned in Timothy Zahn's Heir to the Empire. An ecumenopolis, it was renamed Imperial Center during the reign of the Galactic Empire and Yuuzhan'tar...
.
Zahn's treatment of Thrawn included the original element of artistic analysis of cultures.
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The
Thrawn trilogy, also known as the Heir to the Empire
trilogy, is a series of best-selling novelA novel is a long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
s written by Timothy ZahnTimothy Zahn is a writer of science fiction short stories and novels. His novella Cascade Point won the 1984 Hugo award. He is known for three Star Wars Expanded Universe novels, called the Thrawn Trilogy, which takes place after Return of the Jedi...
. The novels are set in the Expanded Universe of the Star Wars galaxyThe Star Wars galaxy is the fictional setting for the Star Wars franchise. It is referred to in several official publications as the galaxy or the Known Galaxy...
approximately five years after the events depicted in the film Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the JediStar Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi is a 1983 space opera film directed by Richard Marquand and written by George Lucas and Lawrence Kasdan. It is the third film released in the Star Wars saga, and the sixth and final in terms of internal chronology...
.
The series introduced many notable characters, such as
Mara JadeMara Jade Skywalker is a fictional character in Star Wars Expanded Universe books, comic books, and computer games. In video games, she is voiced by Heidi Shannon and Kath Soucie.-Concept and development:...
, Talon Karrde, and
Grand Admiral ThrawnGrand Admiral Thrawn is a fictional character and major antagonist from the Star Wars galaxy. He first appeared in Timothy Zahn's Thrawn trilogy, published between 1992 and 1994...
, one of the more notable Expanded Universe villains. Also, the trilogy first publicly revealed the name of the galactic capital world of
CoruscantCoruscant is a planet in the fictional Star Wars universe. It first appeared on screen in Return of the Jedi: The Special Edition , but was first mentioned in Timothy Zahn's Heir to the Empire. An ecumenopolis, it was renamed Imperial Center during the reign of the Galactic Empire and Yuuzhan'tar...
.
Zahn's treatment of Thrawn included the original element of artistic analysis of cultures. Thrawn devised military strategy based in part on the aspects of his enemies' mindset that he derived from their cultures' art, e.g. determining from his study of paintings that a simultaneous englobement with small fighters would induce temporary paralysis in an enemy's command structure.
All three books were later adapted as comic books by
Dark Horse ComicsDark Horse Comics is the largest independent American comic book publisher.Mike Richardson, the owner of several comic book shops in the Portland, Oregon metropolitan area, began to publish in 1986 with an anthology series called Dark Horse Presents, investing profits from his stores into Dark...
. The series was divided into six separate issues per book.
A soundtrack of the trilogy had been in discussions by Robert Townson, the vice president of Varese Sarabande Records, but did not go any further than that.
Books in the series
- Heir to the Empire
Heir to the Empire is the first book in a trilogy of novels known as The Thrawn Trilogy, all written by Timothy Zahn.-Description:The book is set five years after the events of Return of the Jedi...
, 1992 (ISBN 0-553-40471-7)
- Dark Force Rising
Dark Force Rising is a 1992 novel, the second book in the Thrawn Trilogy by Timothy Zahn.-Plot:Prior to the Clone Wars, the Old Republic had constructed a fleet of 200 Dreadnaughts that were highly automated. This reduced their crew complement from 16,000 to 2,000 without diminishing their firepower...
, 1992 (ISBN 0-553-08574-3)
- The Last Command
The Last Command is the third and final book in the Thrawn Trilogy by Timothy Zahn.-Plot:Grand Admiral Thrawn launches his offensive against the fledgling New Republic with great success. As if his uncanny knack for anticipating opponents’ strategy wasn’t enough, his forces are quickly being...
, 1994 (ISBN 0-553-56492-7)
Role-playing game versions
Each novel in the trilogy had its own
Star Wars RPGThe Star Wars Roleplaying Game is a role-playing game set in the Star Wars universe, written and published by West End Games between 1987 and 1999...
sourcebook created for it by
West End GamesWest End Games was a company that made board, role playing, and war games. It was founded in 1974 in New York, but later moved to Honesdale, Pennsylvania...
. When the rules for the Star Wars
RPG changed the three volumes were collected into one book for the entire Thrawn trilogy which also served as a second edition to the original three source books.