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Star Wars: Thrawn Ascendancy 2: Greater Good Book Review

“Star Wars: Thrawn Ascendancy 2: Greater Good” has its ups and downs.

Written by “Star Wars” novel veteran and Thrawn creator Timothy Zahn, “Star Wars: Thrawn Ascendancy 2: Greater Good” is the second book in the Thrawn Ascendancy series which takes place during the Clone Wars era before Thrawn became involved with the Empire. There are a lot of interconnected plot threads here involving the Chiss dealing with the remnants of the alien foes (the Nikardun), the telepathic Haplif of the Agbui setting a trap for the Chiss for his boss Jixtus, Thurfian (who is no fan of Thrawn) and his rise to power, Che’ri the sky-walker and Thalias her caregiver (who has more roles than that, alien refugees, and, of course, Senior Captain Thrawn of the Springhawk vessel.

Given that today is Star Wars Day (May The 4th Be With You all by the way), it seems only fitting to review the latest Star Wars novel. Zahn, for those that may not be aware, is undoubtedly one of the most popular and celebrated SW novelists having penned the 90’s Thrawn trilogy along with numerous other titles. Now, in the modern era, Zahn is revisiting the character again with this new canon version of Thrawn that is both similar and different to the one before. Zahn is also focusing on much more than just Thrawn as he is exploring the innerworkings of Chiss culture, politics, military and families. If that all sounds a little Klingon esque, well, it kind of feels that way too. Even the ship battles feel very “Star Trek” like. That may put off some fans, but it works in the context of the novel as Zhan is doing some serious world building while also showcasing Thrawn’s skills as a ship Captain.

So, how does ‘Greater Good’ fare as a sequel to the first book in the trilogy? I would say it’s on par. The first book laid a lot of groundwork and was quite eventful story wise. This second part is clearly leading to a big finale as Zahn sets the stage for events to come while also slowly building up the mysterious big bad Jixtus. At the same time, this second book does lag a bit with a lot of pages devoted to brooch and bird migration chatter. Thrawn himself takes a backseat for long chunks of the book and his presence is missed at times. Whenever he does appear, the calculating and risky Captain character is nothing short of captivating

May 4, 2021 - Posted by nicklyons1 | Book review | Star Wars Books, Star Wars Day, Star Wars: Thrawn Ascendancy 2: Greater Good Book Review, Thrawn