Dark Force Rising (Star Wars: The Thrawn Trilogy, Book 2) [Mass Market Paperback]

Grand Admiral Thrawn is an ingenious, calculating and efficient villain, someone the New Republic should fear. The patient approach Grand Admiral Thrawn employs by building a formidable force with the Empire to challenge the New Republic is clever. While Star Wars hasn't been overly political, politics play a part in the developments and brings more depth to an otherwise action oriented plot. The author wisely invested sufficient time developing character and cultural histories to tie nicely with the existing history thereby enriching an already compelling genre.

I highly recommend this series above all others to any fan of the Star Wars universe.

Thank you.

The stakes are higher than ever. Grand Admiral Thrawn's first puch against the New Republic was unsuccessful, but the victory wasn't nearly one-sided. Treachery and political infighting threatens to tear the government apart. As Han and Lando fight to clear Admiral Ackbar's name of treason, Leia races to an alien planet to try to bring a dangerous and proud alien race into the fight against the Empire. Luke, feeling the call of Joruus C'baoth, the mad Jedi master, must team up with Mara Jade once again, to free her employer and comrade from Thrawn's own ship.

The threads of the plot, while becoming more numerous and complex, never get tangled. Zahn juggles the huge cast of characters with talent that few have ever shown in the series. The action is larger, the characters are more complex, creating tension on both sides of the war. The clashing between Joruus C'baoth and his uneasy ally, Thrawn, becomes more apparent, and threatens to disrupt the Empire's plans, and C'baoth himself makse a move to corrupt Luke, Leia, and her unborn children for his own twisted desires.

This is one of the rare sequels that doesn't suffer from sequelitis. True, you really have to have read the first book to understand what's going on, but the book has a definite beginning and end, and more than enough excitement and interesting characters to fill the 400 plus pages. But, aside from the quality, which is exceptional, this is just a plain fun read. Like the first novel in the Thrawn Trilogy, this captures the essence of the Star Wars mythos, while building on its wonderful history and story.

If you're looking for a fantastic literary saga in the Star Wars universe, you can't do better than the Trawn Trilogy, and the second book proves that Zahn's writing and grasp of the SW universe just keeps getting better and better.

It is a time of crisis for the New Republic. Even though Darth Vader and the Emperor are dead and the galaxy-spanning Empire reduced to a quarter of its original size, a new Imperial warlord has returned from the Unknown Territories and rallied the cream of the Imperial fleet to mount a savage attack on the still-struggling New Republic.

Aided by the insane clone of a long-dead Jedi Master, the tactical genius Grand Admiral Thrawn has discovered the means to clone Imperial troopers, crewers, and pilots to replenish the once-depleted forces of the Empire. Now he searches for the Dark Force, the near-mythical Katana Fleet of ancient but still powerful dreadnaughts lost in a bizarre incident in the days before the Empire. Once in Imperial hands, this massive fleet will help Thrawn and his forces to regain control of the galaxy.

But all hope is not lost to the former Rebel Alliance. Luke, Leia (who is pregnant with Jedi twins), Han, Chewie, and the droids are now being aided by the mysterious smuggler chief Talon Karrde and his protege Mara Jade. Facing the twin threats from Thrawn's stunning offensive and political discord from Bothan politician Borsk Fey'lya, the Heroes of the Rebellion are still the galaxy's brightest hope in the struggle between good and evil....