Summer’s coming up and in a recent thread, somebody mentioned the books of Timothy Zahn, as well as a plot synopsis.
Being in a Star Wars mood recently, I must ask.
Are the Zahn books worth the time and effort? I’ve never read any star wars fiction so I don’t have anything to compare them to, but I know not to expect literary masterpieces, but hopfully something interesting and entertaining and well-written.
Thoughts? Comments?
I read the trilogy once, in the 1990s, for about twenty minutes. Or maybe it took me a little longer than that.
It was a decent read. Far better than some of the atrocious books that followed, but nowhere near the caliber of a Hugo or Nebula winner. It entertained me and the dialogue surpassed anything from the movies, and I’d recommend reading them if you’re in such a mood.
Well, this is just one fanboy’s opinion, but I liked them. Thrawn was a more capable villain than I thought he would be. They’re a fun read.
Well, some things from ROTS invalidate some stuff from Zahn’s trilogy but they’re still enjoyable books.
It’s kind of a refreshing change to have an enemy that’s a supergenius rather than a psychotic, drooling lightsaber swinger.
Just whatever you do, don’t read The Crystal Star. I have a rather huge tolerance for crap but that one was beyond me.
Personally, I’d recommed avoiding anything by KJ Anderson who is both a terrible writer and a whining little chump.
-Joe
Read them. They’re a good summer read, reasonably well-told. Good characters, interesting plotting, great bad guy(s), and generally worth your time.
While the books were well-written, Zahn’s plot was cliched. It was just cliched in a totally different way from other Star Wars books. Aside from that, his depiction of “the supergenius” was silly.
They are mediocre. Read them if you have no other books, or the books you have are of the Dan Brown level of authorship.
I loved the Thrawn trilogy. Zahn’s dialogue and building of new worlds seamlessly fit into the Star Wars universe in my head. Plus, he introduced several integral and cool characters: Mara Jade and Talon Karde.
I agree with Merijeek, Crystal Star was horrendous. Avoid at all costs.
I’d agree with that.
A few years back, I decided I was being a book snob by sneering at all these Star Wars books as being beneath me. So after some research, I found that the consensus was that these were the best of the lot, and read them. I found them just barely readable. I guess I’m a book snob after all.
YMM, of course, V.
That’s okay. I haven’t seen ROTS yet. It’ll probably be a while before I do(I’m waiting till it hits the local theater pubs).
KJ Anderson? Of the Dune prequels fame? Not a problem. I already have a death wish againest him for those.
Mara Jade is as close as you can come to a full canon character outside of the movies. She’s shown up in video games, action figures, and other novelizations.
That said, yes, I think they’re worth it. Worth it enough to be the ‘real’ 7-9.
I would have to say that of the EU novels I’ve read, the Thrawn trilogy was the best of the lot.
Thrawn is a cool villian, mostly because he’s not eeeeevvvvviiiiillllllllllllll. He’s intelligent, believes in the Empire as an ideal that could have worked if it had been governed with the Good of the Emipire in mind rather than the personal ambitions and greed of the people who actual ran it, thinks Darth Vader was a schmuck, and runs his military campaign using The Art of War or its SWU equivalent as a textbook.
The big problem I have with Thrawn is that his plans require his enemies to be idiots (fortunately, they are) and his little trick of pretending to read averythig about a culture or race by looking at a few art peices. And Joruus C’Boath was just silly.
No more so than 98% of the characters Lucas created. 
KJA(whining): But I’ve won several major awaaaaards…
Note that is his standard response to everything, including, presumably, when his wife complains that he left the toilet seat up.
-Joe
I really liked them when I read them (of course, that was back in junior high school, so I might not feel the same way now.) Thrawn’s a great character. I didn’t like the ending, but you can’t have everything.
I thought they were worth it back when I was still in high school but I’m not sure what I’d think now. What I do know is that Thrawn’s method of discerning the weakness of entire races is weak in the extreme. He examines their art and based on that gains insight into how they can be best defeated.
Marc
The Noghri were also a welcome addition to the Star Wars universe. Who wouldn’t love creepy little alien killers with needle teeth who worship Darth Vader?
I started the first one when it was released in the early nineties but didn’t finish because I thought it was really stipid. After the first prequel, I picked it up again and was startled (and a little chagrined) to find how much better it and its sequels were than The Phantom Menace.
All in all, a fun read. Star Wars novels are good vacation books.