Good story for Star Wars fans who like seeing some of the insides of imperial life ( )

2.5 stars.

Star Wars: Thrawn – Treason, the third book in the new canon Thrawn series by Timothy Zahn, is an ideal way to wrap up this current-canon story of Grand Admiral Thrawn– AKA the enigmatic and brilliant Chiss warrior Mitth’raw’nuruodo– which Zahn does by skillfully and thankfully doing away with the structural crutches that made the previous two entries a bit overly repetitive. Yay for a clear narrative! You see for as entertaining as the last two novels were, they were problematic, especially the plodding prequel-era flashbacks of last year’s Star Wars: Thrawn – Alliances. In their place is a very welcome straightforward narrative mixing political intrigue with good old fashioned space battles.

After Thrawn: Alliances connected the Original Trilogy and the Prequels, Treason returns to the early days of the Galactic Civil War. The rebellion is hardly a presence in the galaxy. The Death Star project is underway, so Rogue One’s bad boy Orson Krennic is concentrating on both his super-weapon project and his rivalry with Grand Moff Tarkin. Tarkin challenges Thrawn to get rid of the pests challenging Krennic’s supply chain. Krennic gives him one week to do it and wagers Thrawn’s pet project, the TIE Defender squad.

The real stakes are clear ( if not muted): either Thrawn fails and Tarkin is discredited, or he succeeds and the Death Star project scoops up his funding. Of course, the story soon becomes bigger than that: the Chiss have appeared in the known galaxy, fighting their old nuisance, the Grysks.

But alas even a straightforward narrative can’t save this novel from pitfalls. For starters, this being Star Wars: Thrawn – Treason we, the readers, know the Grysk don’t play a major role in the ongoing saga for at least the following thirty or forty years in the timeline, so that particular threat never feels very… well, threatening. Plus, we know that Thrawn is too much of an asset/threat to the Emperor to be disposed.

The common theme throughout this entire book, however, is that of loyalty. When it was marketed beforehand, the whole concept behind Thrawn Treason was that Thrawn's loyalties would be tested and I totally thought that he may betray the Empire. While I do think that his loyalties were being tested, I believe that the words "treason" and "loyalties" can describe the character arcs of all the people surrounding Thrawn (just think of the personal ambitions of Krennic) as much as they pertain to Thrawn himself.

I really, really wanted to like this book more than I did. But the muted stakes, the lack of any real treason, I felt disappointed. Zahn is a great cinematic writer and these are significantly closer in tone to the first book of this trilogy, and to the original Thrawn trilogy but Star Wars: Thrawn – Treason lacks a thoroughly engaging storyline that delivers.

As for the audible narration, Marc Thompson delivers another stellar performance backed by a phenomenal production crew. ( )

Excellent - remarkable!

Zahn continues the tale of Thrawn and his work for the Empire. Intricately plotted as always, with Thrawn as the brilliant Sherlock Holmes of the Galaxy Far, Far Away. His relationship with others - and his ability to lead them to learn "his methods" far better than Watson ever did.

The plotting and clever twists are first-rate. My minimal knowledge of the TV show "Rebels" did not matter - Zahn gives you everything you need to know (though it left me wanting to see more of Rebels.) ( )

Thrawn is very interesting. Unfortunately, it seems hard to place him in a story where he's challenged or forced to develop. Instead, everyone around him is a bit of an idiot or an eventual follower who comes to appreciate his deductive genius. It gets boring, especially the third time around.

There is a moment early in the book, Thrawn's Imperials encountering the Chiss, when it looks like Zahn is setting up a genuinely engaging conflict. Instead, both sides are just following the same forgettable third-party threat.

It's a waste. This could easily have setup up a true crucible for Thrawn by placing him opposite a Chiss threat to the Death Star. A plot actually worthy of the book's title. Surprisingly little of note happens despite this being the third novel attempting to develop Thrawn in the new EU. What's weird is that Zahn is capable of a more engaging plot. Perhaps this area of canon is still too constrained by new movies and TV to allow for a more meaningful story? ( )

3.75 ★
I have mixed feelings about this book. It was cool, but I don't think it was memorable. It does have a clear plotline in counterpoint to the previous two, which made the experience more seamless, but the end result wasn't nearly as entertaining.
If we didn't know of Thrawn's eminent fate in Rebels, the story would have no stakes; and was left with little answers. Even with incoming projects, the trilogy should stand better on it's own.
That being said, the book is carried by the characters, seeing Eli again was amazing (even if severely lacking interactions with Thrawn), and I'm always interested in the inner workings and expansion of the universe. ( )