When beginning the book exchange that brought me to
read Star Wars novels with my good friend Joey, there was one trilogy
that I knew he would have me read at some point would be Timothy Zahn’s Thrawn
Trilogy, the trilogy that begun the series of Star Wars expanded
universe novels and comics proper after Alan Dean Foster’s Splinter of the
Mind’s Eye. Heir to the Empire
is the first sequel to be published after the original trilogy, though eight
years later with Timothy Zahn being essentially given free reign to tell what he
thought would be the next step in the Star Wars saga. What is fascinating about this novel is that it
is largely structured like a film that could easily slot into the original trilogy,
elevating it in the minds of Star Wars fans to status of the official
continuation of the series when George Lucas didn’t really have much input in
what Zahn was allowed to write. Return
of the Jedi ends with the Emperor and Darth Vader dead, the latter redeemed
in the eyes of our protagonist, and the galaxy presumably at peace with the
heavy implication being that the Empire is just going to crumble and the Rebellion
is going to take over. Timothy Zahn realizes
that that is clearly not what would happen, Luke Skywalker may be a legendary
hero but he’s a hero who created a power vacuum. While it’s clear the Rebellion and the
burgeoning New Republic is expanding at the beginning of Heir to the Empire,
it's also clear there are others vying for the position of Emperor replacement.
Grand Admiral Thrawn is the main villain of the book and
the trilogy, and Timothy Zahn uses his introduction to really sell what the
book is going to be. Much like the
introduction of Vader in Star Wars, Thrawn’s introduction is what essentially
opens Heir to the Empire and Zahn takes the inspirations of Lucas from
various fascist regimes and pushes them further. Thrawn sets himself apart from the villains
who came before by being an incredibly charismatic villain, one to propose and plan
Xanatos Gambits, being one step ahead of our heroes all while not ever actually
meeting them yet. Zahn gives Thrawn’s perspective
through the point of view of those under him, continuing the ideas of tempting
Luke to the Dark Side using the insane clone of a “Dark Jedi” which doesn’t
come to fruition, as well as tempting and training the unborn children of Leia
and Han. There is this utterly
terrifying monologue about how one can know a people through their art that is
perhaps Thrawn’s defining moment as a villain.
Much of Heir of the Empire is setup for the rest of the trilogy,
but it is actually really good setup.
Zahn’s writing style is very pulp fiction from the 1990s meaning that it
is breezy and fits right in with the pulp origins of Star Wars as a
franchise, especially with the way that Zahn takes the main characters. Zahn attempts to give Luke more depth and
intrigue in the challenges he has to face as restoring the Jedi Order in stark
contrast to the original trilogy’s more surface level characterization. Leia also gets her own subplot with Chewbacca
and his family though Zahn sadly doesn’t get creative with how he presents
Wookiee dialogue, just using brackets to indicate a different language.
There is one large misstep in the novel, and that’s
perhaps how much coincidence brings our characters back together after
splitting up. This wouldn’t be a problem
if it happened once, but it happens essentially every time the characters need
to meet up again it happens because of coincidence. Han and Lando just happen upon the group that
has Luke captured being the one that really took me out of the book, but Zahn
does soften that slightly by having Luke escape on his own accord. There’s also an alien species that suppresses
the Force used to capture Luke which feels like such a 1990s pulp idea that I
don’t quite know what to make of it. As
a novel Zahn also has to establish new characters and the clear standout
outside of Thrawn is Mara Jade, a character I know is significant but I don’t
know why. While the whole Jedi/Sith
dynamic hasn’t been established by Lucas yet, Mara Jade is revealed to have
been an apprentice of the Emperor who by the end of the novel is clearly on the
early path of a redemption arc, while Zahn makes her resentment of Luke feel
real.
Overall, Heir to the Empire while not quite
reaching the heights of the original trilogy did for me, a certainly difficult
bar to clear, takes Star Wars from what it was doing in the 1980s and
allows it to move forward and examine some of what was underdeveloped
on-screen. It’s not a perfect book but the
trilogy is certainly more inviting now, supported by a fascinating villain that
I just need more of. 8/10.
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