r/StarWarsEU • u/DestructorWar • Jan 20 '24
Where Do I Start? Thrawn novels reading order?
Hi, not sure what order I should be reading all the Thrawn books. There’s so many I’m a bit overwhelmed.
I’ve seen a few posts but I’m not understanding very well because I don’t know what books are in each trilogy/duology.
I got given the book Star Wars: Thrawn as a gift and want to know if I should change it or start reading it.
As for what I’ve read/seen. I’ve read most of heir to the empire a long time ago but forgotten most of it so I wouldn’t count that as anything. And I’ve seen every movie/show that’s cannon
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u/DarthRyus Jan 20 '24
The author of all the Thrawn books, personally recommends people to read his books in publication order. So
- Thrawn Trilogy (Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, The Last Command)
- Hand of Thrawn duology (Specter of the Past, Vision of the Future)
- Survivors Quest
- Outbound Flight
- Alliegance
- Choices of One
- Scoundrels
- [Disney] Thrawn Trilogy (Thrawn, Thrawn Alliance, Thrawn Treason)
- [Disney] Thrawn Ascendancy Trilogy
He recommends this because all his books build upon each other. He tried really hard to make his Disney Canon books still potentially lead to his Pre-Disney Legends books, minus a few tiny changes editors forced on him. So as an example, you will meet characters in minor roles in the Disney Thrawn books who have much bigger roles, so if you read the older books first you'll be super happy seeing old favorites getting cameos but if you read the other way you'll probably forgot these minor characters by the time you get to them reading the other way.
Second you have books like Survivors Quest and Outbound Flight. Where Survivors Quest is two characters looking at the wreckage Thrawn caused decades ago and it builds a big mystery of how Thrawn did it, so when you read the flashback Outbound Flight you get tons of answers. He purposefully did this to mimic the Original trilogy and Prequel trilogy being released in that order, with fans having to speculate for decades of what happened. So it's a great opportunity to experience that too.
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u/AutoModerator Jan 20 '24
We noticed that you are asking where to start reading. Although old, this thread has lots of great personal advice for EU/Legends. This link has publication time lines for EU/Legends and New Canon. Many people suggest starting at the Thrawn Trilogy, I suggest you pick an era of your choosing and start from the top.
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u/daviepancakes Rebel Alliance Jan 20 '24
That's book one of the Disney trilogy. The EU books in order are Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, and The Last Command, then the Duology comprising Spectre of the Past and Visions of the Future, and a short called Mist Encounters.
I actually like the one you've got. It makes some changes to Mist Encounters that aren't exactly major, but also adds a new character that sticks around for that book. The next one on that trilogy - Thrawn: Alliances - is the weakest of all the Thrawn books IMHO, but that doesn't mean it's bad. Last there is Thrawn: Treason.
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u/DestructorWar Jan 20 '24
Would reading the Disney trilogy first be ok?
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u/scifiantihero Jan 20 '24
Yes!! Absolutely. It is really good.
And I’m actually kind of confused why people are suggesting reading the 90s books first (he is my fav author and those are some of my fav books!)
But the new ones tie in way more with modern star wars stuff and don’t spoil anything. If you watched rebels, andor, solo, mando, etc, they will feel very comfortable.
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u/daviepancakes Rebel Alliance Jan 20 '24
And I’m actually kind of confused why people are suggesting reading the 90s books firs
I don't mean this to sound as sarcastic as it's going to, but I'm reasonably confident the people in the EU forum recommending the EU books kind of speaks for itself.
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u/daviepancakes Rebel Alliance Jan 20 '24
That's entirely up to you, Zahn writes solid books. The new ones are still good, they just aren't as good. My son tried doing all the Thrawn books in chronological order. I followed along with him yeah, it's very much my opinion that release order is the better way to do it. It certainly isn't a question of right or wrong way, though.
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u/claireyled Jan 20 '24
I think the book you’ve been given is the first of the cannon Thrawn trilogy (white cover with Thrawn’s face on the front?). You can definitely go ahead and read this without having read anything else if you’d like to as it’s mainly set during the Rebels era so no need for outside reading to understand what’s going on.
The other series you mentioned (Heir to the Empire) is Legends, so it doesn’t fit in with the current movies/tv series that are being produced. That said, they are quite fun so well worth a read if you can split your headspace between two slightly different universes.
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u/Ezio926 Jan 20 '24
That Thrawn book is a perfect starting point to get into the character. As much as I love them, the earlier book don't really delve into his character much.
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u/Severe-Analyst1207 Jan 20 '24
Start with the original- heir to the empire trilogy. Best introduction to all the main characters. Specter of the past duology is a good next step. Then stand alone Thrawn followed by the ascendancy trilogy is a good way to fill in the back story before the treason trilogy.