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Star Wars: The Hand of Thrawn Duology #2
Star Wars: Vision of the Future
Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, and Han Solo are thrust into the middle of an impending civil war - and discover the shocking truth behind the rumored resurrection of the dead Admiral Thrawn. For a beleaguered Empire, desperate times call for desperate measures. Sowing discord among the fragile coalition of The New Republic, remnants of the once powerful Empire make one last play for victory. Having implicated the Bothans in the genocide of the Caamasi, they now plan an attack on Han and Leia that is also to be blamed on the Bothans. If they are successful, the New Republic will be torn asunder. To prevent inevitable disaster, Luke, Leia, Han, and their friends must prove the Bothans innocent and reveal the Empire's treachery. But time is running out.
520 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1997
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7865 people want to read
About the author
Timothy Zahn
486 books8,392 followersTimothy Zahn attended Michigan State University, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in physics in 1973. He then moved to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and achieved an M.S. degree in physics in 1975. While he was pursuing a doctorate in physics, his adviser became ill and died. Zahn never completed the doctorate. In 1975 he had begun writing science fiction as a hobby, and he became a professional writer. He and his wife Anna live in Bandon, Oregon. They have a son, Corwin Zahn.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 494 reviews
May 7, 2024
A Quickie Review
Though George Lucas' space opera is made up of many parts--romance, tragedy, triumph, humor, etc.--the main attractor of Star Wars for most fans is the action. Unfortunately, this last volume of a tie-in duology proved to be a bit light in that department. It still made for somewhat enjoyable reading, but it's not the lightsaber-dueling, interstellar dogfighting adventure that we got on the big screen.
Content Concerns: There isn't all that much violence, but one scene does feature a few stabbings. "Shavit," which obviously sounds and looks like an English profanity, is said fully once and left unfinished another time, the latter seemingly indicating the Earth vulgarity.
Score: 2.75/5
Though George Lucas' space opera is made up of many parts--romance, tragedy, triumph, humor, etc.--the main attractor of Star Wars for most fans is the action. Unfortunately, this last volume of a tie-in duology proved to be a bit light in that department. It still made for somewhat enjoyable reading, but it's not the lightsaber-dueling, interstellar dogfighting adventure that we got on the big screen.
Content Concerns: There isn't all that much violence, but one scene does feature a few stabbings. "Shavit," which obviously sounds and looks like an English profanity, is said fully once and left unfinished another time, the latter seemingly indicating the Earth vulgarity.
Score: 2.75/5
August 27, 2021
This definitely wasn’t as good as I remember it being, which is sad. But it was still good!
It’s just, I remember swooning pretty hard during the scene where . I remember it being epic, and significant (both in terms of importance and length). And reading that scene again, it didn’t feel either of those things. I guess I was bringing the swoon myself last time, which makes sense. I was very practiced at doing that in the late 90’s/early 2000’s. (I definitely didn’t remember that the love confession scene involved what is essentially mind-sex, and then an immediate marriage proposal. I guess I was just hoping for text than subtext leading up to that moment, so it didn’t feel so out of place.)
Anyway, that complaint aside, the sci-fi/space opera part of this book is absolutely spot on. Zahn creates an epic cast of characters to join the already existing ones, whom he serves pretty well. In fact, Zahn’s Luke is much more developed than movie Luke, even if his Han is somewhat less of a smart-arse.
The scope of the story was great. I love the whole trajectory of this book being about finally ending the Empire, not by defeat, but with a peace treaty. And I love that the way to oppose that isn’t by outright simple defeat or super weapon (things Star Wars writers both tend to over-rely on), but by infiltration and instigation of civil war. I love that Zahn acknowledges that not everyone in the Empire is faceless and Evil. The Empire is made up of people, and people are complicated. Pellaeon is a good guy who just happened to believe in an institution that sucked hairy donkey balls. What are you going to do.
I seem to remember that further Zahn books after his initial trilogy and this duology only produced diminishing returns, so I don’t know if I will be re-reading any of them. Maybe next year, if The Force Awakens reignites my Star Wars love even more.
It’s just, I remember swooning pretty hard during the scene where . I remember it being epic, and significant (both in terms of importance and length). And reading that scene again, it didn’t feel either of those things. I guess I was bringing the swoon myself last time, which makes sense. I was very practiced at doing that in the late 90’s/early 2000’s. (I definitely didn’t remember that the love confession scene involved what is essentially mind-sex, and then an immediate marriage proposal. I guess I was just hoping for text than subtext leading up to that moment, so it didn’t feel so out of place.)
Anyway, that complaint aside, the sci-fi/space opera part of this book is absolutely spot on. Zahn creates an epic cast of characters to join the already existing ones, whom he serves pretty well. In fact, Zahn’s Luke is much more developed than movie Luke, even if his Han is somewhat less of a smart-arse.
The scope of the story was great. I love the whole trajectory of this book being about finally ending the Empire, not by defeat, but with a peace treaty. And I love that the way to oppose that isn’t by outright simple defeat or super weapon (things Star Wars writers both tend to over-rely on), but by infiltration and instigation of civil war. I love that Zahn acknowledges that not everyone in the Empire is faceless and Evil. The Empire is made up of people, and people are complicated. Pellaeon is a good guy who just happened to believe in an institution that sucked hairy donkey balls. What are you going to do.
I seem to remember that further Zahn books after his initial trilogy and this duology only produced diminishing returns, so I don’t know if I will be re-reading any of them. Maybe next year, if The Force Awakens reignites my Star Wars love even more.
December 5, 2011
Vision of the Future finishes off the Hand of Thrawn duology. Most of what I have to say about it would reiterate what I said about Specter of the Past; Zahn's strengths are characterization and plotting (though this particular book suffers a tiny bit from Loads and Loads of Characters and approaches a Thirty Xanatos Pileup toward the end).
The biggest weakness of this book is that Zahn is burdened with a lot of junk from other EU authors, making the book inaccessible to people who haven't read the EU. He seems to be most positively influenced by the X-wing series. On the negative side, there's one scene that just screams RETCON as Mara provides an alternate explanation for her apparent hookup with Lando. I can't really blame Zahn for wanting to retcon that, because c'mon, Mara and Lando? That wouldn't happen. But the execution is a tiny bit hamfisted.
One interesting facet of the duology is that Zahn actually picks up threads from the Thrawn trilogy that were never explained, such as the old beckon call Luke found in the dark side cave on Dagobah. In the Thrawn trilogy, that beckon call appears to be simply a MacGuffin that sends Luke to Nkllon at a plot-convenient time, but in this duology, we learn that it actually had some significance.
I mentioned in my Specter of the Past review that the real genius of this book is that it finally puts an end to the Empire as the major threat to the EU. It also presents Thrawn as not the Big Bad Evil Guy he appeared to be; Thrawn was attempting to gain control of the galaxy because he believed that the galaxy's best chance against the Yuuzhan Vong was to unite under his command.
Incidentally, how terrible is it that I haven't read a single book about the Yuuzhan Vong and they're not even named in any book I've read and yet I still know who/what they are? I'm going to go give myself a wedgie now.
The biggest weakness of this book is that Zahn is burdened with a lot of junk from other EU authors, making the book inaccessible to people who haven't read the EU. He seems to be most positively influenced by the X-wing series. On the negative side, there's one scene that just screams RETCON as Mara provides an alternate explanation for her apparent hookup with Lando. I can't really blame Zahn for wanting to retcon that, because c'mon, Mara and Lando? That wouldn't happen. But the execution is a tiny bit hamfisted.
One interesting facet of the duology is that Zahn actually picks up threads from the Thrawn trilogy that were never explained, such as the old beckon call Luke found in the dark side cave on Dagobah. In the Thrawn trilogy, that beckon call appears to be simply a MacGuffin that sends Luke to Nkllon at a plot-convenient time, but in this duology, we learn that it actually had some significance.
I mentioned in my Specter of the Past review that the real genius of this book is that it finally puts an end to the Empire as the major threat to the EU. It also presents Thrawn as not the Big Bad Evil Guy he appeared to be; Thrawn was attempting to gain control of the galaxy because he believed that the galaxy's best chance against the Yuuzhan Vong was to unite under his command.
Incidentally, how terrible is it that I haven't read a single book about the Yuuzhan Vong and they're not even named in any book I've read and yet I still know who/what they are? I'm going to go give myself a wedgie now.
September 21, 2015
Superb. If I were to give Timothy Zahn’s novel “Vision of the Future” a one-word review, it would be “superb”.
But since I am chronically verbose, I can’t stop at just one word. So, those of you in the “less is more” camp will simply have to deal with it.
Zahn’s second book in his “Hand of Thrawn” duology is not only a satisfying conclusion to his Thrawn series, it is also an excellent conclusion to the entire “Star Wars” series started by George Lucas in 1977 with “Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope”. Well, it would be an excellent conclusion if the Expanded Universe didn’t continue on long after the events of this novel, which it does. Roughly forty-plus more books have been written since Zahn published “Vision of the Future” in 1998.
Of course, this number only includes the post-”Return of the Jedi” novels and doesn’t include the countless other novels dealing with the Old Republic, the Rise of the Sith Lords, the events leading up to the prequels, the Clone Wars, and the many spin-off series involving events tangential and unrelated to the events of the original films.
So, yeah, Zahn’s novel could have been the last “Star Wars” novel ever published, and, with it, the final say on the fate of the SWEU, and all would be well and good. But where’s the fun in that? Especially when Zahn basically opens the gateway, literally, to a whole unexplored sector of the Expanded Universe, creating an even vaster playing field in which writers have to explore Lucas’s vision.
Many integral events happen in this novel, not the least of which is the marriage of Luke Skywalker and Mara Jade. It is a turning point not only for the prototypical “lone gunman” persona of Luke’s character but a turning point for the maturity of the entire “Star Wars” series.
The first trilogy is basically a coming-of-age story. When Luke is first introduced in “A New Hope”, he is, essentially, a child: naive, unworldly, with few aspirations due more to lack of opportunity than lack of will. He is a simple farm boy who knows that he will, most likely, live---and die---the forgotten life of a farmer on a backwater planet.
Luke not only discovers that there is something larger than himself in the universe, but he also discovers that he has a significant role to play in history. In the first film, that revelation comes with joyous celebration. He is is still a child, but he is now a child with a purpose.
In “Empire Strikes Back”, Luke has a lot of painful growing up to do. Not only is he introduced to the tragedy of losing close friends and loved ones, but his entire world is turned upside down when he discovers who his real father is. There is the painful discovery that evil not only exists, it also exists within himself. It is within this second film that Lucas changes the game, taking the black/white, good/evil dichotomy of the first film and adding the element of a gray area.
“Return of the Jedi” is about redemption and finding an inner peace. Luke, ironically, wears black throughout most of the film: a visual indicator of the moral game-changer that Luke has become in these films. He is neither a good guy nor a bad guy in this film, but a human Schrodinger’s Cat that could go either way at any point in the story. It isn’t until the end that Luke makes the choice to deny the Dark Side, an act which ultimately inspires his father to do the right thing. Darth Vader is destroyed, and Luke’s father, Annakin, is reborn in a noble death.
Luke, however, is continually fearful of joining the Dark Side, and rightfully so. In Zahn’s novels, Luke purposely refuses to use the Force because he is afraid that even an innocuous use of the Force could ultimately send him down the path that his father once took.
Mara Jade, the once-evil Imperial assassin who joined the Rebel Alliance, is the perfect yin to Luke’s yang. Like Luke, she is reluctant to use the Force for completely opposite reasons. She is afraid of opening herself completely to the Force. She believes that doing so will result in the loss of her own dark side, which she feels gives her an inner strength.
Zahn deftly avoids sentimentalizing the love story between Skywalker and Jade. It never devolves into sappy romance, mainly because it is not necessarily a love based on romance. It is, ultimately, a love based on mutual respect and need. The two physically and spiritually need each other to survive and thrive.
Zahn’s choice to have Luke marry is not a simple one. Like most archetypal western heroes, Luke’s power comes from his being a singular hero, a lone wanderer, not tied down to anyone or anything. When Luke and Mara discover that true power comes from connection and opening one’s self completely to each other, the repercussions of this discovery are felt throughout the SWEU.
Nowhere is this felt more than with the surprising end to the war between the Empire and the New Republic. Even more surprising is the source of this push for peace: Imperial Admiral Pellaeon, probably one of the most mature characters in the SWEU.
Pellaeon is fascinating if only for the fact that he represents a very radical element to the “Star Wars” universe: a warrior who longs for peace. His character represents an end to the very thing that keeps the momentum of “Star Wars” going. Here’s a clue: it’s one of the two words in the main title.
Not that there will ever be an end to war, and certainly there will be no end to “Star Wars”, because Zahn pretty much secures a no-end clause by introducing the potential for bigger and badder threats from the unexplored reaches of outer space.
It will be interesting to see where J.J. Abrams takes the film franchise. As someone who has grown attached to the many new characters of the SWEU, it will be sad if Abrams chooses not to follow the SWEU narrative. Then again, I won’t be too upset because Abrams and Zahn are simply two talented visionaries---one working in film and the other in print---who are bringing their own unique worldviews to the SWEU.
But since I am chronically verbose, I can’t stop at just one word. So, those of you in the “less is more” camp will simply have to deal with it.
Zahn’s second book in his “Hand of Thrawn” duology is not only a satisfying conclusion to his Thrawn series, it is also an excellent conclusion to the entire “Star Wars” series started by George Lucas in 1977 with “Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope”. Well, it would be an excellent conclusion if the Expanded Universe didn’t continue on long after the events of this novel, which it does. Roughly forty-plus more books have been written since Zahn published “Vision of the Future” in 1998.
Of course, this number only includes the post-”Return of the Jedi” novels and doesn’t include the countless other novels dealing with the Old Republic, the Rise of the Sith Lords, the events leading up to the prequels, the Clone Wars, and the many spin-off series involving events tangential and unrelated to the events of the original films.
So, yeah, Zahn’s novel could have been the last “Star Wars” novel ever published, and, with it, the final say on the fate of the SWEU, and all would be well and good. But where’s the fun in that? Especially when Zahn basically opens the gateway, literally, to a whole unexplored sector of the Expanded Universe, creating an even vaster playing field in which writers have to explore Lucas’s vision.
Many integral events happen in this novel, not the least of which is the marriage of Luke Skywalker and Mara Jade. It is a turning point not only for the prototypical “lone gunman” persona of Luke’s character but a turning point for the maturity of the entire “Star Wars” series.
The first trilogy is basically a coming-of-age story. When Luke is first introduced in “A New Hope”, he is, essentially, a child: naive, unworldly, with few aspirations due more to lack of opportunity than lack of will. He is a simple farm boy who knows that he will, most likely, live---and die---the forgotten life of a farmer on a backwater planet.
Luke not only discovers that there is something larger than himself in the universe, but he also discovers that he has a significant role to play in history. In the first film, that revelation comes with joyous celebration. He is is still a child, but he is now a child with a purpose.
In “Empire Strikes Back”, Luke has a lot of painful growing up to do. Not only is he introduced to the tragedy of losing close friends and loved ones, but his entire world is turned upside down when he discovers who his real father is. There is the painful discovery that evil not only exists, it also exists within himself. It is within this second film that Lucas changes the game, taking the black/white, good/evil dichotomy of the first film and adding the element of a gray area.
“Return of the Jedi” is about redemption and finding an inner peace. Luke, ironically, wears black throughout most of the film: a visual indicator of the moral game-changer that Luke has become in these films. He is neither a good guy nor a bad guy in this film, but a human Schrodinger’s Cat that could go either way at any point in the story. It isn’t until the end that Luke makes the choice to deny the Dark Side, an act which ultimately inspires his father to do the right thing. Darth Vader is destroyed, and Luke’s father, Annakin, is reborn in a noble death.
Luke, however, is continually fearful of joining the Dark Side, and rightfully so. In Zahn’s novels, Luke purposely refuses to use the Force because he is afraid that even an innocuous use of the Force could ultimately send him down the path that his father once took.
Mara Jade, the once-evil Imperial assassin who joined the Rebel Alliance, is the perfect yin to Luke’s yang. Like Luke, she is reluctant to use the Force for completely opposite reasons. She is afraid of opening herself completely to the Force. She believes that doing so will result in the loss of her own dark side, which she feels gives her an inner strength.
Zahn deftly avoids sentimentalizing the love story between Skywalker and Jade. It never devolves into sappy romance, mainly because it is not necessarily a love based on romance. It is, ultimately, a love based on mutual respect and need. The two physically and spiritually need each other to survive and thrive.
Zahn’s choice to have Luke marry is not a simple one. Like most archetypal western heroes, Luke’s power comes from his being a singular hero, a lone wanderer, not tied down to anyone or anything. When Luke and Mara discover that true power comes from connection and opening one’s self completely to each other, the repercussions of this discovery are felt throughout the SWEU.
Nowhere is this felt more than with the surprising end to the war between the Empire and the New Republic. Even more surprising is the source of this push for peace: Imperial Admiral Pellaeon, probably one of the most mature characters in the SWEU.
Pellaeon is fascinating if only for the fact that he represents a very radical element to the “Star Wars” universe: a warrior who longs for peace. His character represents an end to the very thing that keeps the momentum of “Star Wars” going. Here’s a clue: it’s one of the two words in the main title.
Not that there will ever be an end to war, and certainly there will be no end to “Star Wars”, because Zahn pretty much secures a no-end clause by introducing the potential for bigger and badder threats from the unexplored reaches of outer space.
It will be interesting to see where J.J. Abrams takes the film franchise. As someone who has grown attached to the many new characters of the SWEU, it will be sad if Abrams chooses not to follow the SWEU narrative. Then again, I won’t be too upset because Abrams and Zahn are simply two talented visionaries---one working in film and the other in print---who are bringing their own unique worldviews to the SWEU.
July 11, 2010
"The more you tap into [the Force:] for raw power, the less you're able to hear its guidance over the noise of your own activity"
The New Republic is on the brink of collapse as members use the Camaas Document and the situation of the Bothans as an excuse to let loose on each other. Han and Lando make a desperate mission into the heart of the Empire; Luke goes to rescue Mara on a world in the Unknown regions; Leia receives word of the transmission from Admiral Paelleon--the first signal of peace between their governments. But can their be peace when "Thrawn" has appeared?
In the tradition of the review of the previous Hand of Thrawn entry, I want to give you the ABC's of Timothy Zahn: Adventure, Big, and Clever.
Whenever you open up a Zahn book, you expect ADVENTURE, action, and intrigue. With Vision of the Future, you get it. Specter of the Past was 300+ pages of setup: the background (where are the characters now and what is the situation), the contention point (the discovery of the Camaas document), the history (the destruction of Camaas, the unravelling of the New Republic, the Empire's bid for peace), and the plan (find the full Camaas document!). So, while I still very much enjoyed Specter, it was a much drier read, particularly in comparison to Vision. Vision is the payoff, seeing one plot thread after the other, how they intertwine, how they accomplish the final outcome; Luke is here, Leia is here, Han is here. Wedge and Corran meet Moranda; Lando is with Han; Talon is with Shada. Again, each character is given a mission befitting their personality; each mission has some intrigue, some "danger", some adventure! It's just like watching Star Wars, only with words and images that Zahn creates in your mind!
There are also many personal adventures. Shada Du'Kal desperately seeks vengeance for the destruction of Emberlene, disgusted at how it was overlooked in favor for the more "chic" Camaas. Talon Karrde must seek after Jorj Car'das...but the last time he saw Jorj, Jorj was a ruthless smuggler. Can Karrde survive a meeting with Car'das? Mara is frustrated with her Force powers, her inability to hear the Qom Qae and the Qom Jha. Plus, she is hoping to bring Luke back to the man he had been ten years ago, the man she respected and admired. Luke is trying to figure out the path of the Jedi. And so on. And so forth.
Vision of the Future is BIG. Literally AND figuratively. Clocking in at 694 pages in paperback, this novel remains THE largest novel of the Star Wars Expanded Universe. And when you start reading what is inside, you learn why. There are SO many plot threads, so many characters, so many storylines, it couldn't be any shorter without losing something vital to the story, to the essence. If there is any complaint, it is that there is no Character Sheet at the beginning to remind us of all the participants, because Timothy Zahn does what we love and creates new, amazing characters like Moranda Savich (a personal favorite), Shada Du'Kal (seen in his short story in Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina), and Child of Winds (Luke and Mara's native guide).
Lastly, Zahn once again writes a CLEVER novel. Gone are the overblown, useless superweapons. Gone are the silly warlords who are said to be worse than they really are. Gone are the too-powerful Jedi who are too easily undermined by even more absurdly powered Sith. This book is smart, this book has intelligence, this book is founded at least partially in the real world. I've said it before in Specter, but the overarching conflict over the Camaas Document doesn't sound too out of place on our planet. I liked how Zahn removed the "evil" from the Empire, how he made the INDIVIDUAL the evil one instead of the side. I love how Zahn imitates life in having people have over-blown opinions of others (such as how everyone in this book thinks Thrawn is unable to be defeated, even though Thrawn lost several battles AND was never able to anticipate his death). I love how the characters are intelligent, likeable, good at what they do. There are no bumbling idiot bad guys, no doofus good guys meant for bad jokes, and no sexy women thrown in just to be sexy women. Everyone has a purpose, everyone has a motivation, and everyone has a story. Some characters get along, some don't. It's beautifully done.
There are so many aspects to love about this book, let me make a list of my highlights of the book:
1.Mara and Luke's relationship: Mara and Luke finally break down and talk about their previous relationships. I can't help but think that Mara had a crush of sorts on Luke, but could never get close to him because his mind was always on someone or something else. Here, she finally can break down that wall and show him how she feels. And Luke of course does the same.
2.Paelleon's call for peace: When Leia discovers the message Pellaeon sent to Garm Bel Iblis, I was choked up. Having Leia, who negotiated a cease-fire with the Bakurans, and Pellaeon , who was a staunch Imperial of a new, more benign order, both sit down and talk peace was brilliant and poignant.
3.The Qom Qae and the Qom Jha: I love how they talk, I love how they assist Mara and Luke. Their concept is interesting, and I just think Child of Winds is adorable.
4.Moranda Savich: This woman is pure brilliance to me. Independent, smart, and not some sexy, young thang...thank you, Zahn!
5.Flim as Thrawn: This poor man, whose only skill to the Triumvirate is the fact he can impersonate Thrawn. He tries desperately hard to ingratiate himself to the group, to "hang on" with the threat of the Hand of Thrawn returning and supplanting Flim. It's sad to see his struggle and you can't help but feel for the guy.
6.A hint at the Yuuzhan Vong: Parck tells Mara that there are things, ominous things in the Unknown Regions. A nice entry into the New Jedi Order.
Of course, no book is perfect. The beginning is long; the book itself is very long. It's easy to become disheartened and stop, then to resume and forget where you were. I got lost in some of the descriptions of some of the settings. And this book makes almost no sense without Specter. Years ago, I read this book without having read Specter and I spent half the book playing catch-up and failing.
Vision reminds us why we love Star Wars, why we love Han, Luke, and Leia, and why Timothy Zahn is so amazing at plots. It is the crown jewel in Timothy Zahn's Star Wars work, his biggest, most elaborate contribution. I highly recommend.
The New Republic is on the brink of collapse as members use the Camaas Document and the situation of the Bothans as an excuse to let loose on each other. Han and Lando make a desperate mission into the heart of the Empire; Luke goes to rescue Mara on a world in the Unknown regions; Leia receives word of the transmission from Admiral Paelleon--the first signal of peace between their governments. But can their be peace when "Thrawn" has appeared?
In the tradition of the review of the previous Hand of Thrawn entry, I want to give you the ABC's of Timothy Zahn: Adventure, Big, and Clever.
Whenever you open up a Zahn book, you expect ADVENTURE, action, and intrigue. With Vision of the Future, you get it. Specter of the Past was 300+ pages of setup: the background (where are the characters now and what is the situation), the contention point (the discovery of the Camaas document), the history (the destruction of Camaas, the unravelling of the New Republic, the Empire's bid for peace), and the plan (find the full Camaas document!). So, while I still very much enjoyed Specter, it was a much drier read, particularly in comparison to Vision. Vision is the payoff, seeing one plot thread after the other, how they intertwine, how they accomplish the final outcome; Luke is here, Leia is here, Han is here. Wedge and Corran meet Moranda; Lando is with Han; Talon is with Shada. Again, each character is given a mission befitting their personality; each mission has some intrigue, some "danger", some adventure! It's just like watching Star Wars, only with words and images that Zahn creates in your mind!
There are also many personal adventures. Shada Du'Kal desperately seeks vengeance for the destruction of Emberlene, disgusted at how it was overlooked in favor for the more "chic" Camaas. Talon Karrde must seek after Jorj Car'das...but the last time he saw Jorj, Jorj was a ruthless smuggler. Can Karrde survive a meeting with Car'das? Mara is frustrated with her Force powers, her inability to hear the Qom Qae and the Qom Jha. Plus, she is hoping to bring Luke back to the man he had been ten years ago, the man she respected and admired. Luke is trying to figure out the path of the Jedi. And so on. And so forth.
Vision of the Future is BIG. Literally AND figuratively. Clocking in at 694 pages in paperback, this novel remains THE largest novel of the Star Wars Expanded Universe. And when you start reading what is inside, you learn why. There are SO many plot threads, so many characters, so many storylines, it couldn't be any shorter without losing something vital to the story, to the essence. If there is any complaint, it is that there is no Character Sheet at the beginning to remind us of all the participants, because Timothy Zahn does what we love and creates new, amazing characters like Moranda Savich (a personal favorite), Shada Du'Kal (seen in his short story in Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina), and Child of Winds (Luke and Mara's native guide).
Lastly, Zahn once again writes a CLEVER novel. Gone are the overblown, useless superweapons. Gone are the silly warlords who are said to be worse than they really are. Gone are the too-powerful Jedi who are too easily undermined by even more absurdly powered Sith. This book is smart, this book has intelligence, this book is founded at least partially in the real world. I've said it before in Specter, but the overarching conflict over the Camaas Document doesn't sound too out of place on our planet. I liked how Zahn removed the "evil" from the Empire, how he made the INDIVIDUAL the evil one instead of the side. I love how Zahn imitates life in having people have over-blown opinions of others (such as how everyone in this book thinks Thrawn is unable to be defeated, even though Thrawn lost several battles AND was never able to anticipate his death). I love how the characters are intelligent, likeable, good at what they do. There are no bumbling idiot bad guys, no doofus good guys meant for bad jokes, and no sexy women thrown in just to be sexy women. Everyone has a purpose, everyone has a motivation, and everyone has a story. Some characters get along, some don't. It's beautifully done.
There are so many aspects to love about this book, let me make a list of my highlights of the book:
1.Mara and Luke's relationship: Mara and Luke finally break down and talk about their previous relationships. I can't help but think that Mara had a crush of sorts on Luke, but could never get close to him because his mind was always on someone or something else. Here, she finally can break down that wall and show him how she feels. And Luke of course does the same.
2.Paelleon's call for peace: When Leia discovers the message Pellaeon sent to Garm Bel Iblis, I was choked up. Having Leia, who negotiated a cease-fire with the Bakurans, and Pellaeon , who was a staunch Imperial of a new, more benign order, both sit down and talk peace was brilliant and poignant.
3.The Qom Qae and the Qom Jha: I love how they talk, I love how they assist Mara and Luke. Their concept is interesting, and I just think Child of Winds is adorable.
4.Moranda Savich: This woman is pure brilliance to me. Independent, smart, and not some sexy, young thang...thank you, Zahn!
5.Flim as Thrawn: This poor man, whose only skill to the Triumvirate is the fact he can impersonate Thrawn. He tries desperately hard to ingratiate himself to the group, to "hang on" with the threat of the Hand of Thrawn returning and supplanting Flim. It's sad to see his struggle and you can't help but feel for the guy.
6.A hint at the Yuuzhan Vong: Parck tells Mara that there are things, ominous things in the Unknown Regions. A nice entry into the New Jedi Order.
Of course, no book is perfect. The beginning is long; the book itself is very long. It's easy to become disheartened and stop, then to resume and forget where you were. I got lost in some of the descriptions of some of the settings. And this book makes almost no sense without Specter. Years ago, I read this book without having read Specter and I spent half the book playing catch-up and failing.
Vision reminds us why we love Star Wars, why we love Han, Luke, and Leia, and why Timothy Zahn is so amazing at plots. It is the crown jewel in Timothy Zahn's Star Wars work, his biggest, most elaborate contribution. I highly recommend.
December 23, 2023
The Thrawn duology, not quite talked about as much as the numerous Thrawn trilogies, how does it compare? Honestly I enjoyed it quite a bit, but its just a little step down from the best Zahn has to offer.. A lot of older characters make their appearance and a few new ones as well. This duology feels a bit like a Brandon Sanderson book, with a long, slow and methodical buildup (but still keeps it interesting all the way), and ends off with a bit of a Zahnderlanche towards the end.
There are a lot of good storylines here but my personal favorite was definitely Luke and Mara.
Overall a good pair of books that a Star Wars and Zahn fan should not overlook, especially when reading through the New Republic timeline of Legends. I’m looking forward to the future of this book universe.
There are a lot of good storylines here but my personal favorite was definitely Luke and Mara.
Overall a good pair of books that a Star Wars and Zahn fan should not overlook, especially when reading through the New Republic timeline of Legends. I’m looking forward to the future of this book universe.
June 17, 2014
3.5 Stars.
The second and final book in the Hand of Thrawn was everything it was supposed to be. Nothing more and nothing less. I must admit to enjoying the story, I think it was very well crafted by Zahn, told at a great pace and delivered masterly by the narrator. Certainly an enjoyable story. It has still left me on the fence with Star Wars books though, I can quite easily take em or leave em. I don't know what it is about them, that doesn't have me clamoring for more. Given that I enjoy scifi and have been know to enjoy scifi opera, but when it comes to Star Wars I always feel slightly under awed. I guess it has something to do with knowing the characters and it being strange reading other stories that they are in, I don't know.
But all in all, I enjoyed the story and I LOVED the narration. Hard enough to do multiple characters, but when you have to make them sound alien as well..... well that takes skill.
I probably won't be jumping into the earlier trilogy any time soon, as I definitely prefer to catch up on my Alistair Reynolds reads first.
The second and final book in the Hand of Thrawn was everything it was supposed to be. Nothing more and nothing less. I must admit to enjoying the story, I think it was very well crafted by Zahn, told at a great pace and delivered masterly by the narrator. Certainly an enjoyable story. It has still left me on the fence with Star Wars books though, I can quite easily take em or leave em. I don't know what it is about them, that doesn't have me clamoring for more. Given that I enjoy scifi and have been know to enjoy scifi opera, but when it comes to Star Wars I always feel slightly under awed. I guess it has something to do with knowing the characters and it being strange reading other stories that they are in, I don't know.
But all in all, I enjoyed the story and I LOVED the narration. Hard enough to do multiple characters, but when you have to make them sound alien as well..... well that takes skill.
I probably won't be jumping into the earlier trilogy any time soon, as I definitely prefer to catch up on my Alistair Reynolds reads first.
July 28, 2024
(rating relative to other Star Wars novels)
Excellent. Good plot twists, good suspense. Great character development.
This edition, BTW, had 694 pages, not the lesser number displayed by Goodreads.com.
It must be hard to write a book in which none of the main characters can have much happen to them ... like die. But Zahn did a great job, again, within the constraints of the Star Wars extended universe.
Even though he was not credited for it, Drew Struzan's cover art was good, too.
If George Lucas hadn't already said that no future SW movies would include the original characters, I'd suggest this story as a candidate plot line.
(2024 addendum: Thrawn has been added to the Asoka series at least. And was mentioned in a Mandalorian episode.)
Excellent. Good plot twists, good suspense. Great character development.
This edition, BTW, had 694 pages, not the lesser number displayed by Goodreads.com.
It must be hard to write a book in which none of the main characters can have much happen to them ... like die. But Zahn did a great job, again, within the constraints of the Star Wars extended universe.
Even though he was not credited for it, Drew Struzan's cover art was good, too.
If George Lucas hadn't already said that no future SW movies would include the original characters, I'd suggest this story as a candidate plot line.
(2024 addendum: Thrawn has been added to the Asoka series at least. And was mentioned in a Mandalorian episode.)
March 16, 2021
For 2020, I decided to reread (in publication order) all the Bantam-era Star Wars books that were released between 1991 and 1999; that shakes out to 38 adult novels and 5 anthologies of short stories & novellas.
This week’s focus: the conclusion to the Hand of Thrawn duology, Vision of the Future by Timothy Zahn.
SOME HISTORY:
There’s a common misconception about Vision of the Future: mainly, that it was the final Star Wars book released by Bantam. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. After the release of Vision of the Future in the fall of 1998, there were still six books to come before the license fully switched over to Del Rey. But it is true that Vision of the Future is the final hardcover release of the Bantam era; it’s also the final book to get lovely cover art from Drew Struzan. And in a way, it was Zahn having the last word about the shape and fate of the Star Wars universe thus far. Vision of the Future made it to number thirteen on the New York Times bestseller list for the week of September 20, 1998, and was on the NYT list for two weeks.
MY RECOLLECTION OF THE BOOK:
During past rereads, I focused on just one character (usually the Luke & Mara plot), and skipped the other bits. So I was surprised (again) by how much I enjoyed the different Imperial plotlines.
A BRIEF SUMMARY:
As Leia Organa Solo travels to a secret meeting with an Imperial commander who claims to want peace, Han Solo and Lando Calrissian journey into enemy territory in search of an intact copy of the Caamas Document. Meanwhile, Luke and Mara Jade infiltrate a hidden fortress where Thrawn's followers await his return. But it is ultimately the fate of Thrawn--living or dead--that holds the future and fate of the New Republic in the balance...
THE CHARACTERS:
The most progress and character development happened with Luke and Mara. In Specter of the Past, they were in this awkward place where they had weird interactions with each other. In Vision of the Future, Zahn trots out an old trick that he’s used before in Heir to the Empire and The Last Command: “how to make sure Luke and Mara have time for important heart-to-heart convos?” It seems that Zahn's favorite approach is to have them trek through the wilderness for days on end. (In VotF, they trek through caves.) It works; I just hadn't really noticed until this reread how much Zahn relies on this trope.
Luke comes to some revelations about how to use the Force and how he's been messing things up for the past ten years. And Mara in turn comes to revelations that, like John Donne said, no man is an island. She has a role to play in the galaxy, and she has friends and family that she’s grown close to. It does feel at times as though both Mara the character and Zahn the author are ganging up on Luke a little; but to be fair, Luke in past Bantam era books has made some very questionable decisions, so I also felt like it was a little justified.
But since ten years have elapsed since the Zahn’s Thrawn trilogy, it also felt like both Luke and Mara hadn't really made any progress. Mara obviously no longer wants to kill Luke, but she's still closed off emotionally--not close to anyone, her whole concept of freedom tied up in her ship--and Luke doesn't know what he should really be doing in the galaxy. He started a Jedi Academy, but he’s still questioning everything. It just felt like they were stuck in stasis, and while I’m glad that Zahn wrapped them up (so to speak), I wish it had come a little sooner.
Leia felt less like a character, and more like a plot device: Zahn wanted to show us certain situations in the story, so we have Leia go there. Leia goes and meets with Pellaeon (which honestly, I was fine with because she was the Chief of State and she's still a High Counselor); then we have Leia going back to the Bothans’ homeworld because she needs to be there for the final battle. But especially compared to Luke and Mara, it didn't feel like she was going through any sort of emotional arc.
Han and Lando go off looking for the Caamas Document--a little strange to me, because they know that Karrde is also off after a copy of the Caamas Document, but i guess everyone in VotF just runs around like chickens with their heads cut off looking for this document. This plotline felt like another attempt to emphasize how many people bought the fake Thrawn act. But since we already got that in book 1 with Lando and the Diamala, it felt unnecessary.
I did like seeing the prejudice that normal everyday people feel against clones. You expect it on the Imperial side, which is why it’s so surprising when an outright good guy like Han also displays this antipathy towards them. It takes a lot for Han to trust the Devist brothers, because he just has this ingrained prejudice against them.
On the Lando front: I especially liked near the end when they needed someone to take command of the haphazard fleet that had assembled above Bothawuii and Lando did it! People call him “General Calrissian” and then forget that he has actual command experience, so I enjoyed seeing that again.
And then speaking of wild goose chases: Karrde's plot line was boring and unnecessary, and he never even got a copy of the document out of it! He's really worried about meeting Jorj Car’das (that's a running theme)--he makes it to Exocron, there’s going to be a huge battle against Rei’Kas and his slavers...but these monks show up from the Kathol Rift and fix everything. (The monks and the Rift are from a supplement to the Star Wars Roleplaying Game, the DarkStryder Campaign, so while I hate the monks, they’re not a new creation.) Jorj Car’das gives Karrde and Shada a datacard that ends up completely debunking the fake Thrawn, which...I'm not crazy about the triumvirate plot only falling apart because of a macguffin given to Karrde by this former crime boss. I would have much preferred if Admiral Pellaeon’s investigation had led to this instead of Karrde showing up from out of nowhere and derailing what looked like a very exciting battle.
Bel Iblis is preparing for an attack against Yaga Minor, so they can secure a copy of the Caamas Document. (Another one???) I enjoyed the scenes with Bel Iblis, and with Wedge and Corran and the rest of Rogue Squadron, but their plot ultimately felt useless and futile. I’m sure that Zahn did that on purpose, but it’s frustrating for the reader to be building towards this great battle and then everything just fizzles out.
I love Admiral Pellaeon; at this point, I think he’s eclipsed Grand Admiral Thrawn for me in that he’s interesting and intelligent, but not to the unbelievable extent that Thrawn was. We’ve really got to see Pellaeon grow and develop over the course of these books, and you’re rooting for him to get everything he wants--which is mainly peace.
The triumvirate also continues to be really interesting to me. There were power plays between various members in Specter of the Past, and their alliance is starting to wear thin here. To break up Flim and Tierce’s close team, Disra reveals the concept of the Hand of Thrawn, which leads to Flim being flat-out terrified at all times. Tierce’s schemes become larger and more far-reaching, and Disra becomes more leery of him. The final revelation about Tierce’s background makes a lot of sense--that he was, in fact, a clone; and not just any clone, but an attempt to combine the original individual (the original Major Tierce) with a more strategic mind like Thrawn. But Tierce isn't Thrawn at all; he’s obsessed with revenge, so while a lot of his plans work, he doesn’t have Thrawn’s ability to look at the broader picture.
ISSUES:
My main complaint with VotF is that the pacing is sooo slowww. With multiple viewpoint characters, Zahn will sometimes leave a plot thread untouched for a long period of time--that was especially noticeable with Luke & Mara and with Karrde. At one point we didn’t hear about Luke and Mara for almost one hundred pages, which was definitely a lengthy break.
I also felt like there was a lot of interesting build-up to these military actions that never panned out. With Zahn, I'm expecting well-written, exciting battle scenes like we saw in the Thrawn trilogy, but the battle scenes in this book were a little disappointing, mostly because they were cut off in the middle of the action. With the battle over Bothawui, Imperial Intelligence spurs everyone on to fight among themselves. Han and the clones discover the cloaked Star Destroyers; Leia on the Ishori ship and Lando on the Diamala ship head off towards them, and everyone unites against the Star Destroyers. Then we cut to a new chapter where the Imperials are escaping back to Bastion. So it felt like the build-up to this battle was interesting--Leia being on one side, Lando on the other, the Star Destroyers lying in wait--but it was over way too fast.
I also got the sense from VotF that while Zahn wanted Luke and Mara to get together romantically, he didn't want to write the actual romance aspects. So what we have are a lot of really good conversations--and then Luke says “let's get married��� and Mara goes “sure.”
Likewise, everything with Karrde and Shada’s plotline felt like them becoming a romantic couple. Karrde completely changes his business just so that Shada can be doing something that she agrees! But that's it. There's nothing overtly romantic about their plot line other than it feels coded as romance to me.
I don't think it's surprising then to find that there have been a lot of fanfictions, especially of the Luke and Mara pairing, that either get them together earlier in the timeline or try to add in that romance aspect that we were missing here. So either it takes them a long time to get back to Coruscant and we get all the actual romantic stuff, or it inserts some romantic development into their trek to the fortress. The jump straight to marriage is so abrupt, but Zahn doesn't want to write romance so it's all off screen here.
If Stackpole argued that there was “no retconning to see here, move along” in I, Jedi, Zahn outright admits it. (From an interview in 2000: “There were some things there that I thought were out of character, were not the way I saw Star Wars. And I wanted to kind of talk about them, make some kind of rationale about them, bring things back to what I thought.”) That led to some quibbles for me, mainly being that Zahn is beginning to retcon Mara’s backstory and I don’t like it.
Usually I’m arguing the opposite, but I felt like the Hand of Thrawn duology might have worked better as a trilogy. There’s a lot to unpack here. Vector Prime, the first book in the New Jedi Order series would be published in October of 1999, so Zahn is setting the stage for what will come.
We have Parck and Fel and the Chiss talking about great threats out in the Unknown Regions. We have the fact that Thrawn was building this power base in the Unknown Regions against a nebulous threat. We have Leia resigning from her role as High Counselor--taking her out of politics for the foreseeable future. We have Karrde setting up as a neutral intelligence agency. We have Luke thinking about how he's going to change the Jedi Academy: the praxeum would be for younger students, and then older students would be paired one-on-one with a Master like how he was trained by Obi-Wan and Yoda. And then most important of all, we have the New Republic signing a peace treaty with the Empire so that hopefully they're going to be working together against this unknown force that's out there...
IN CONCLUSION:
Vision of the Future is a nice tail end to the Bantam era, with good character development and interactions. What lets me down in the end, though, is that the battles end way too soon, and the "romantic energy" in the book is nonexistent. (Admiral Pellaeon and the Imperial Triumvirate, though, are fantastic characters worth revisiting.)
Next up: the second book in the Bounty Hunter Wars trilogy, Slave Ship by K.W. Jeter.
My YouTube review: https://youtu.be/OzrCqpZpRTQ
Extended Vision of the Future rants: https://youtu.be/BLCHJxTq5jA
TheForce.net interview with Timothy Zahn: https://www.theforce.net/jedicouncil/...
This week’s focus: the conclusion to the Hand of Thrawn duology, Vision of the Future by Timothy Zahn.
SOME HISTORY:
There’s a common misconception about Vision of the Future: mainly, that it was the final Star Wars book released by Bantam. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. After the release of Vision of the Future in the fall of 1998, there were still six books to come before the license fully switched over to Del Rey. But it is true that Vision of the Future is the final hardcover release of the Bantam era; it’s also the final book to get lovely cover art from Drew Struzan. And in a way, it was Zahn having the last word about the shape and fate of the Star Wars universe thus far. Vision of the Future made it to number thirteen on the New York Times bestseller list for the week of September 20, 1998, and was on the NYT list for two weeks.
MY RECOLLECTION OF THE BOOK:
During past rereads, I focused on just one character (usually the Luke & Mara plot), and skipped the other bits. So I was surprised (again) by how much I enjoyed the different Imperial plotlines.
A BRIEF SUMMARY:
As Leia Organa Solo travels to a secret meeting with an Imperial commander who claims to want peace, Han Solo and Lando Calrissian journey into enemy territory in search of an intact copy of the Caamas Document. Meanwhile, Luke and Mara Jade infiltrate a hidden fortress where Thrawn's followers await his return. But it is ultimately the fate of Thrawn--living or dead--that holds the future and fate of the New Republic in the balance...
THE CHARACTERS:
The most progress and character development happened with Luke and Mara. In Specter of the Past, they were in this awkward place where they had weird interactions with each other. In Vision of the Future, Zahn trots out an old trick that he’s used before in Heir to the Empire and The Last Command: “how to make sure Luke and Mara have time for important heart-to-heart convos?” It seems that Zahn's favorite approach is to have them trek through the wilderness for days on end. (In VotF, they trek through caves.) It works; I just hadn't really noticed until this reread how much Zahn relies on this trope.
Luke comes to some revelations about how to use the Force and how he's been messing things up for the past ten years. And Mara in turn comes to revelations that, like John Donne said, no man is an island. She has a role to play in the galaxy, and she has friends and family that she’s grown close to. It does feel at times as though both Mara the character and Zahn the author are ganging up on Luke a little; but to be fair, Luke in past Bantam era books has made some very questionable decisions, so I also felt like it was a little justified.
But since ten years have elapsed since the Zahn’s Thrawn trilogy, it also felt like both Luke and Mara hadn't really made any progress. Mara obviously no longer wants to kill Luke, but she's still closed off emotionally--not close to anyone, her whole concept of freedom tied up in her ship--and Luke doesn't know what he should really be doing in the galaxy. He started a Jedi Academy, but he’s still questioning everything. It just felt like they were stuck in stasis, and while I’m glad that Zahn wrapped them up (so to speak), I wish it had come a little sooner.
Leia felt less like a character, and more like a plot device: Zahn wanted to show us certain situations in the story, so we have Leia go there. Leia goes and meets with Pellaeon (which honestly, I was fine with because she was the Chief of State and she's still a High Counselor); then we have Leia going back to the Bothans’ homeworld because she needs to be there for the final battle. But especially compared to Luke and Mara, it didn't feel like she was going through any sort of emotional arc.
Han and Lando go off looking for the Caamas Document--a little strange to me, because they know that Karrde is also off after a copy of the Caamas Document, but i guess everyone in VotF just runs around like chickens with their heads cut off looking for this document. This plotline felt like another attempt to emphasize how many people bought the fake Thrawn act. But since we already got that in book 1 with Lando and the Diamala, it felt unnecessary.
I did like seeing the prejudice that normal everyday people feel against clones. You expect it on the Imperial side, which is why it’s so surprising when an outright good guy like Han also displays this antipathy towards them. It takes a lot for Han to trust the Devist brothers, because he just has this ingrained prejudice against them.
On the Lando front: I especially liked near the end when they needed someone to take command of the haphazard fleet that had assembled above Bothawuii and Lando did it! People call him “General Calrissian” and then forget that he has actual command experience, so I enjoyed seeing that again.
And then speaking of wild goose chases: Karrde's plot line was boring and unnecessary, and he never even got a copy of the document out of it! He's really worried about meeting Jorj Car’das (that's a running theme)--he makes it to Exocron, there’s going to be a huge battle against Rei’Kas and his slavers...but these monks show up from the Kathol Rift and fix everything. (The monks and the Rift are from a supplement to the Star Wars Roleplaying Game, the DarkStryder Campaign, so while I hate the monks, they’re not a new creation.) Jorj Car’das gives Karrde and Shada a datacard that ends up completely debunking the fake Thrawn, which...I'm not crazy about the triumvirate plot only falling apart because of a macguffin given to Karrde by this former crime boss. I would have much preferred if Admiral Pellaeon’s investigation had led to this instead of Karrde showing up from out of nowhere and derailing what looked like a very exciting battle.
Bel Iblis is preparing for an attack against Yaga Minor, so they can secure a copy of the Caamas Document. (Another one???) I enjoyed the scenes with Bel Iblis, and with Wedge and Corran and the rest of Rogue Squadron, but their plot ultimately felt useless and futile. I’m sure that Zahn did that on purpose, but it’s frustrating for the reader to be building towards this great battle and then everything just fizzles out.
I love Admiral Pellaeon; at this point, I think he’s eclipsed Grand Admiral Thrawn for me in that he’s interesting and intelligent, but not to the unbelievable extent that Thrawn was. We’ve really got to see Pellaeon grow and develop over the course of these books, and you’re rooting for him to get everything he wants--which is mainly peace.
The triumvirate also continues to be really interesting to me. There were power plays between various members in Specter of the Past, and their alliance is starting to wear thin here. To break up Flim and Tierce’s close team, Disra reveals the concept of the Hand of Thrawn, which leads to Flim being flat-out terrified at all times. Tierce’s schemes become larger and more far-reaching, and Disra becomes more leery of him. The final revelation about Tierce’s background makes a lot of sense--that he was, in fact, a clone; and not just any clone, but an attempt to combine the original individual (the original Major Tierce) with a more strategic mind like Thrawn. But Tierce isn't Thrawn at all; he’s obsessed with revenge, so while a lot of his plans work, he doesn’t have Thrawn’s ability to look at the broader picture.
ISSUES:
My main complaint with VotF is that the pacing is sooo slowww. With multiple viewpoint characters, Zahn will sometimes leave a plot thread untouched for a long period of time--that was especially noticeable with Luke & Mara and with Karrde. At one point we didn’t hear about Luke and Mara for almost one hundred pages, which was definitely a lengthy break.
I also felt like there was a lot of interesting build-up to these military actions that never panned out. With Zahn, I'm expecting well-written, exciting battle scenes like we saw in the Thrawn trilogy, but the battle scenes in this book were a little disappointing, mostly because they were cut off in the middle of the action. With the battle over Bothawui, Imperial Intelligence spurs everyone on to fight among themselves. Han and the clones discover the cloaked Star Destroyers; Leia on the Ishori ship and Lando on the Diamala ship head off towards them, and everyone unites against the Star Destroyers. Then we cut to a new chapter where the Imperials are escaping back to Bastion. So it felt like the build-up to this battle was interesting--Leia being on one side, Lando on the other, the Star Destroyers lying in wait--but it was over way too fast.
I also got the sense from VotF that while Zahn wanted Luke and Mara to get together romantically, he didn't want to write the actual romance aspects. So what we have are a lot of really good conversations--and then Luke says “let's get married��� and Mara goes “sure.”
Likewise, everything with Karrde and Shada’s plotline felt like them becoming a romantic couple. Karrde completely changes his business just so that Shada can be doing something that she agrees! But that's it. There's nothing overtly romantic about their plot line other than it feels coded as romance to me.
I don't think it's surprising then to find that there have been a lot of fanfictions, especially of the Luke and Mara pairing, that either get them together earlier in the timeline or try to add in that romance aspect that we were missing here. So either it takes them a long time to get back to Coruscant and we get all the actual romantic stuff, or it inserts some romantic development into their trek to the fortress. The jump straight to marriage is so abrupt, but Zahn doesn't want to write romance so it's all off screen here.
If Stackpole argued that there was “no retconning to see here, move along” in I, Jedi, Zahn outright admits it. (From an interview in 2000: “There were some things there that I thought were out of character, were not the way I saw Star Wars. And I wanted to kind of talk about them, make some kind of rationale about them, bring things back to what I thought.”) That led to some quibbles for me, mainly being that Zahn is beginning to retcon Mara’s backstory and I don’t like it.
Usually I’m arguing the opposite, but I felt like the Hand of Thrawn duology might have worked better as a trilogy. There’s a lot to unpack here. Vector Prime, the first book in the New Jedi Order series would be published in October of 1999, so Zahn is setting the stage for what will come.
We have Parck and Fel and the Chiss talking about great threats out in the Unknown Regions. We have the fact that Thrawn was building this power base in the Unknown Regions against a nebulous threat. We have Leia resigning from her role as High Counselor--taking her out of politics for the foreseeable future. We have Karrde setting up as a neutral intelligence agency. We have Luke thinking about how he's going to change the Jedi Academy: the praxeum would be for younger students, and then older students would be paired one-on-one with a Master like how he was trained by Obi-Wan and Yoda. And then most important of all, we have the New Republic signing a peace treaty with the Empire so that hopefully they're going to be working together against this unknown force that's out there...
IN CONCLUSION:
Vision of the Future is a nice tail end to the Bantam era, with good character development and interactions. What lets me down in the end, though, is that the battles end way too soon, and the "romantic energy" in the book is nonexistent. (Admiral Pellaeon and the Imperial Triumvirate, though, are fantastic characters worth revisiting.)
Next up: the second book in the Bounty Hunter Wars trilogy, Slave Ship by K.W. Jeter.
My YouTube review: https://youtu.be/OzrCqpZpRTQ
Extended Vision of the Future rants: https://youtu.be/BLCHJxTq5jA
TheForce.net interview with Timothy Zahn: https://www.theforce.net/jedicouncil/...
June 7, 2021
(Okay - I can now confirm that having a baby can interfere with even the most dedicated Star Wars Classic EU fan's re-read schedule.)
1998's Vision of the Future is the last Timothy Zahn book published before The Phantom Menace was released in cinemas, coming to bookshops around eight months before the first Star Wars prequel movie came out and changed our understanding of the Galaxy Far, Far Away forever. As such, Vision of the Future is something of a capstone to the set of fan beliefs about the Empire, the Old and New Republics, the Clone Wars and the Jedi that had been slowly building up ever since the original movie Star Wars had been released in 1977.
This is a novel from before we had heard the term "padawan"; before we knew that "Darth" was a title for Sith Lords and not just an assumed first name; before we knew about the Trade Federation, the planet Naboo, and Separatist droid armies; before we knew about Jango Fett and the clone Grand Army of the Republic; and before we knew that Yoda had been a revered Jedi Master who lived in splendour within a colossal Jedi Temple instead of existing for centuries communing with the Force in isolation in a hovel in the middle of a swamp.
So, if you come to this story already knowing all of those things, you might find a few aspects of the tale a little incongruous. My advice is: plough through any confusion, because there is a damned fine story in here, and there are multiple different Star Wars continuities anyway, so you might as well enjoy the well-crafted ones whatever "timeline" they fit into.
I have consumed so much Star Wars media (books, comics, videogames, TV shows, animated shows and movies) of varying quality since I first read this, I feel I now have a far greater appreciation for the care and attention that Timothy Zahn puts into his narratives. Sure, he has a few writing foibles (favourite characters, plot set-ups and tech references) permeating his books, but I find that they don't really negatively affect my enjoyment - and with Zahn there is always far more to enjoy than to be irritated by.
Following on from the success of the Thrawn Trilogy, Zahn could have just revisited the same story all over again, but—like U2 pulling Achtung Baby out of the hat when they could have kept making variations on The Joshua Tree for the rest of their careers—Zahn shakes up the formula to produce a story that has a very different and distinct feel, but without alienating the fans of what came before.
This book (and its predecessor in the "Hand of Thrawn" duology, Specter of the Past) form a single story that has all the hallmarks of Zahn's intricately plotted Star Wars stories, and this time full of references to the other Classic EU works that had come out in the five years since he'd completed his Thrawn trilogy. Characters introduced in Michael Stackpole's X-wing novels and comics are presented with just as much care, attention and consistency as Zahn's own original creations, and of course the pantheon of characters created by George Lucas. No other Star Wars writer, before or since, has managed to capture the tone and resonance of Star Wars, and that is something that makes a Zahn story always worth a read.
There are weak points, of course—the Jorj Car'das quest falls a little flat by the end, and I wanted to find out more of what happened to Moranda on Bothawui—but these are minor quibbles in an otherwise gripping read.
The characters make the novel: Leia, Han, Lando, Artoo and Threepio all feel true to their movie portrayals; Pellaeon, Talon Karrde and Mara Jade in particular have grown from their Thrawn Trilogy appearances; Corran Horn and Booster Terrik are as much fun as they were in the X-Wing stories; And here, at least, we don't have Luke Skywalker as a sad celibate hate- and fear-filled hermit cowering alone on a hidden island—we have a kind, thoughtful, heroic Luke Skywalker, like the Jedi we have come to love from the original trilogy of movies, the rest of the Classic EU novels, and from his all-too-brief but oh-so-refreshing appearance in The Mandalorian.
So—yes, I am a fan of this, and I would encourage other Star Wars fans to read this and Zahn's other Star Wars books (as well as the X-wing novels and comics, and Stackpole's I, Jedi).
I'm giving this a continuity-nostalgic 5 stars out of 5.
1998's Vision of the Future is the last Timothy Zahn book published before The Phantom Menace was released in cinemas, coming to bookshops around eight months before the first Star Wars prequel movie came out and changed our understanding of the Galaxy Far, Far Away forever. As such, Vision of the Future is something of a capstone to the set of fan beliefs about the Empire, the Old and New Republics, the Clone Wars and the Jedi that had been slowly building up ever since the original movie Star Wars had been released in 1977.
This is a novel from before we had heard the term "padawan"; before we knew that "Darth" was a title for Sith Lords and not just an assumed first name; before we knew about the Trade Federation, the planet Naboo, and Separatist droid armies; before we knew about Jango Fett and the clone Grand Army of the Republic; and before we knew that Yoda had been a revered Jedi Master who lived in splendour within a colossal Jedi Temple instead of existing for centuries communing with the Force in isolation in a hovel in the middle of a swamp.
So, if you come to this story already knowing all of those things, you might find a few aspects of the tale a little incongruous. My advice is: plough through any confusion, because there is a damned fine story in here, and there are multiple different Star Wars continuities anyway, so you might as well enjoy the well-crafted ones whatever "timeline" they fit into.
I have consumed so much Star Wars media (books, comics, videogames, TV shows, animated shows and movies) of varying quality since I first read this, I feel I now have a far greater appreciation for the care and attention that Timothy Zahn puts into his narratives. Sure, he has a few writing foibles (favourite characters, plot set-ups and tech references) permeating his books, but I find that they don't really negatively affect my enjoyment - and with Zahn there is always far more to enjoy than to be irritated by.
Following on from the success of the Thrawn Trilogy, Zahn could have just revisited the same story all over again, but—like U2 pulling Achtung Baby out of the hat when they could have kept making variations on The Joshua Tree for the rest of their careers—Zahn shakes up the formula to produce a story that has a very different and distinct feel, but without alienating the fans of what came before.
This book (and its predecessor in the "Hand of Thrawn" duology, Specter of the Past) form a single story that has all the hallmarks of Zahn's intricately plotted Star Wars stories, and this time full of references to the other Classic EU works that had come out in the five years since he'd completed his Thrawn trilogy. Characters introduced in Michael Stackpole's X-wing novels and comics are presented with just as much care, attention and consistency as Zahn's own original creations, and of course the pantheon of characters created by George Lucas. No other Star Wars writer, before or since, has managed to capture the tone and resonance of Star Wars, and that is something that makes a Zahn story always worth a read.
There are weak points, of course—the Jorj Car'das quest falls a little flat by the end, and I wanted to find out more of what happened to Moranda on Bothawui—but these are minor quibbles in an otherwise gripping read.
The characters make the novel: Leia, Han, Lando, Artoo and Threepio all feel true to their movie portrayals; Pellaeon, Talon Karrde and Mara Jade in particular have grown from their Thrawn Trilogy appearances; Corran Horn and Booster Terrik are as much fun as they were in the X-Wing stories; And here, at least, we don't have Luke Skywalker as a sad celibate hate- and fear-filled hermit cowering alone on a hidden island—we have a kind, thoughtful, heroic Luke Skywalker, like the Jedi we have come to love from the original trilogy of movies, the rest of the Classic EU novels, and from his all-too-brief but oh-so-refreshing appearance in The Mandalorian.
So—yes, I am a fan of this, and I would encourage other Star Wars fans to read this and Zahn's other Star Wars books (as well as the X-wing novels and comics, and Stackpole's I, Jedi).
I'm giving this a continuity-nostalgic 5 stars out of 5.
May 7, 2009
Here's the thing- I read this when I was 13. I don't remember much about it (a lot of action and general gripping thrillingness) except for one scene, but I remember that scene word for word. Probably because I am incredibly sappy.
October 27, 2024
Phenomenal in every sense of the word.
April 24, 2025
This is the second book in the Hand of Thrawn Duology, taking place roughly ten years after the Thrawn Trilogy and fifteen years after Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. Vision of the Future follows the collapse of the Empire and the near self-destruction of the New Republic, as they both deal with the aftermath of the events from Specter of the Past. Here, Grand Admiral Thrawn has returned, but has been replaced by an impersonator; the Hand of Thrawn continues to influence, and we learn it includes enormous amounts of information and Thrawn’s clone. Pellaeon politically destroys Thrawn’s impersonator while Mara and Luke physically destroy Thrawn’s clone. One of the major themes focuses on deception and the power of myth, especially in relation to Thrawn and his legacy, which is remarkably similar to the deception and the power of myth associated with Paul Atreides in Dune Messiah. However, I wished this book was more of a space opera, focusing on science fiction and interstellar warfare; moreover, I wished there was a new, powerful Jedi, or Dark Jedi. I will be taking a break before reading more in the Star Wars Universe by Timothy Zahn.
“Thrawn wasn’t human, you know, no matter how human he might have looked. He was an alien, with alien thoughts and purposes and agendas. Perhaps I was never more to him than just one more tool he could use in reaching his goal. Whatever that goal was…” — Page 79
“Apologies always made her uncomfortable, even when they were sincere. especially when they were sincere.” — Page 188
“The dark passageway through the docking bay’s service and supply area was also deserted. ‘Soon as we’re aboard you get the engines fired up,’ Han told Lando as they stepped out onto the permacrete beneath the open sky. The Lady Luck was still there, looking just the way they’d left her. ‘I’ll handle the weapons. Maybe Moegib can get into spaceport computer and get us a quick exit slot —‘ ‘That won’t be necessary,’ a quiet voice came from behind them. Han spun around, yanking out his appropriated blaster. Behind them on the permacrete had appeared the flickering full-sized holo of a man. A man with blue skin, wearing a white Imperial uniform… Lando made a strange sound in the back of is throat. ‘It’s him,’ he murmured. Han nodded, feeling numb. It was indeed. Grand Admiral Thrawn…” — Page 354
“Lightsaber ready in his hand, Luke slid around the end of the wall segment. Beyond it was a large open space that had been set up as a sort of command center, though it was currently as unoccupied as everywhere else they’d been today. Two circles of command consoles had been laid out, the boards and displays winking status lights toward the empty chairs in front of them. To one side, a larger and more elaborate chair ringed by its own status boards had been set up on a meter-high platform where it could overlook the entire operation. And in the center of it all was a sight that sent a shiver of memory along Luke’s spine: a holographic map of the galaxy, with the sectors of the New Republic, the Empire, and the rest of the known regions marked out in a bewildering array of a dozen different colors. The whole variegated mosaic stretched across perhaps a quarter of the huge spiral, fading into neutral white where the edges of the Outer Rim Territories gave way to the vastness of the Unknown Regions beyond. It was a duplicate of the galactic holo Emperor Palpatine had had in his throne room in Mount Tantiss. Luke swallowed, tearing his eyes away from the holo to give the surrounding equipment a closer look. Yes, the consoles were indeed Imperial issue: status and computer-access boards from a Star Destroyer or other major capital ship. The chairs, likewise, were straight from a Star Destroyer’s bridge crew pits. And the overseer chair and boards were those of an Imperial fleet admiral. Such as the one Grand Admiral Thrawn would have used… Luke frowned, focusing on the galactic spiral again. What in space was she referring to? And then, abruptly, he caught his breath. No. No — he was seeing things. Surely he was seeing things. But he wasn’t. At the edge of the known galaxy, where Palpatine’s holo had shown only the white stars of the Unknown Regions, an entirely new area had been colored in. A huge new area…” — Pages 414-415
“And did you tell her about my kidnapping by the Bpfasshi Dark Jedi?… It was a terrible experience… Possibly the first time in my life I’d felt truly and genuinely terrified. He was half mad with rage — maybe more than half mad — with all of Darth Vader’s power and none of his self-control. One of my crewmen he physically ripped to shreds, literally tearing his body apart. The other three he took over mentally, twisting and searing their minds and turning them in to little more than living extensions of himself. Me… Me, he left mostly alone… I’m still not sure why, unless he thought he might need my knowledge of ports and spacelanes to make his escape. Or perhaps he simply wanted an intact mind left aboard who could recognize his power and greatness and be properly frightened by it… Finally, for reasons I still don’t entirely understand, we made for a little backwater system not even important enough to make it onto most of the charts. A planet with nothing but swamps and dank forests and frozen slush. A planet named Dagobah… I don’t know if the Dark Jedi expected to be all alone down there… But if he did, he was quickly disappointed. We’d barely stepped outside the ship when we spotted a funny-looking little creature with big, pointed ears standing at the edge of the clearing where we’d put down. He was a Jedi Master named Yoda. I don’t know whether that was his home, or whether he had just flown in specially for the occasion. What I do know is that he was definitely waiting for us… I won’t try to describe their battle… Even after forty-five years of thinking about it, I’m not sure I can. For nearly a day and a half the swamp blazed with fire and lightning and things I still don’t understand. At the end of it the Dark Jedi was dead, disintegrated in a final, massive blaze of blue fire…” — Pages 504-505
“I pity them, Councilor. I really do. For all the strength and mental agility they claim their political techniques provide to their species, I see them as an essentially unhappy people. Their whole outlook on life breeds mistrust; and without trust, there can be no genuine peace. Neither in politics, nor in the quiet individuality of the heart and spirit.” — Page 513
“Thrawn wasn’t human, you know, no matter how human he might have looked. He was an alien, with alien thoughts and purposes and agendas. Perhaps I was never more to him than just one more tool he could use in reaching his goal. Whatever that goal was…” — Page 79
“Apologies always made her uncomfortable, even when they were sincere. especially when they were sincere.” — Page 188
“The dark passageway through the docking bay’s service and supply area was also deserted. ‘Soon as we’re aboard you get the engines fired up,’ Han told Lando as they stepped out onto the permacrete beneath the open sky. The Lady Luck was still there, looking just the way they’d left her. ‘I’ll handle the weapons. Maybe Moegib can get into spaceport computer and get us a quick exit slot —‘ ‘That won’t be necessary,’ a quiet voice came from behind them. Han spun around, yanking out his appropriated blaster. Behind them on the permacrete had appeared the flickering full-sized holo of a man. A man with blue skin, wearing a white Imperial uniform… Lando made a strange sound in the back of is throat. ‘It’s him,’ he murmured. Han nodded, feeling numb. It was indeed. Grand Admiral Thrawn…” — Page 354
“Lightsaber ready in his hand, Luke slid around the end of the wall segment. Beyond it was a large open space that had been set up as a sort of command center, though it was currently as unoccupied as everywhere else they’d been today. Two circles of command consoles had been laid out, the boards and displays winking status lights toward the empty chairs in front of them. To one side, a larger and more elaborate chair ringed by its own status boards had been set up on a meter-high platform where it could overlook the entire operation. And in the center of it all was a sight that sent a shiver of memory along Luke’s spine: a holographic map of the galaxy, with the sectors of the New Republic, the Empire, and the rest of the known regions marked out in a bewildering array of a dozen different colors. The whole variegated mosaic stretched across perhaps a quarter of the huge spiral, fading into neutral white where the edges of the Outer Rim Territories gave way to the vastness of the Unknown Regions beyond. It was a duplicate of the galactic holo Emperor Palpatine had had in his throne room in Mount Tantiss. Luke swallowed, tearing his eyes away from the holo to give the surrounding equipment a closer look. Yes, the consoles were indeed Imperial issue: status and computer-access boards from a Star Destroyer or other major capital ship. The chairs, likewise, were straight from a Star Destroyer’s bridge crew pits. And the overseer chair and boards were those of an Imperial fleet admiral. Such as the one Grand Admiral Thrawn would have used… Luke frowned, focusing on the galactic spiral again. What in space was she referring to? And then, abruptly, he caught his breath. No. No — he was seeing things. Surely he was seeing things. But he wasn’t. At the edge of the known galaxy, where Palpatine’s holo had shown only the white stars of the Unknown Regions, an entirely new area had been colored in. A huge new area…” — Pages 414-415
“And did you tell her about my kidnapping by the Bpfasshi Dark Jedi?… It was a terrible experience… Possibly the first time in my life I’d felt truly and genuinely terrified. He was half mad with rage — maybe more than half mad — with all of Darth Vader’s power and none of his self-control. One of my crewmen he physically ripped to shreds, literally tearing his body apart. The other three he took over mentally, twisting and searing their minds and turning them in to little more than living extensions of himself. Me… Me, he left mostly alone… I’m still not sure why, unless he thought he might need my knowledge of ports and spacelanes to make his escape. Or perhaps he simply wanted an intact mind left aboard who could recognize his power and greatness and be properly frightened by it… Finally, for reasons I still don’t entirely understand, we made for a little backwater system not even important enough to make it onto most of the charts. A planet with nothing but swamps and dank forests and frozen slush. A planet named Dagobah… I don’t know if the Dark Jedi expected to be all alone down there… But if he did, he was quickly disappointed. We’d barely stepped outside the ship when we spotted a funny-looking little creature with big, pointed ears standing at the edge of the clearing where we’d put down. He was a Jedi Master named Yoda. I don’t know whether that was his home, or whether he had just flown in specially for the occasion. What I do know is that he was definitely waiting for us… I won’t try to describe their battle… Even after forty-five years of thinking about it, I’m not sure I can. For nearly a day and a half the swamp blazed with fire and lightning and things I still don’t understand. At the end of it the Dark Jedi was dead, disintegrated in a final, massive blaze of blue fire…” — Pages 504-505
“I pity them, Councilor. I really do. For all the strength and mental agility they claim their political techniques provide to their species, I see them as an essentially unhappy people. Their whole outlook on life breeds mistrust; and without trust, there can be no genuine peace. Neither in politics, nor in the quiet individuality of the heart and spirit.” — Page 513
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 30, 2021
This was excellent.
Somehow, Timothy Zahn stays perfectly true to the spirit of Star Wars and expertly weaves political intrigue, general intrigue, loveable characters, and A+ character arcs (especially Luke's and Mara's) into his Star Wars books.
I love this series even more than the Thrawn trilogy. If you are a Star Wars fan who loves the original movie trilogy and the Thrawn trilogy, the Hand of Thrawn duology is a must-read.
Content: violence, a cut-off s-word, two non-descriptive kisses. Lots of odd but interesting Force philosophy.
Somehow, Timothy Zahn stays perfectly true to the spirit of Star Wars and expertly weaves political intrigue, general intrigue, loveable characters, and A+ character arcs (especially Luke's and Mara's) into his Star Wars books.
I love this series even more than the Thrawn trilogy. If you are a Star Wars fan who loves the original movie trilogy and the Thrawn trilogy, the Hand of Thrawn duology is a must-read.
Content: violence, a cut-off s-word, two non-descriptive kisses. Lots of odd but interesting Force philosophy.
April 14, 2012
Disappointing. I loved Zahn's original Star Wars trilogy and had high hopes for this book. It's an okay story, but it has too many threads, drags on, and the ending feels very much like "happily ever after." i think part of the problem comes from tying into too many other stories from the larger Star Wars universe. I haven't read any SW books other than Zahn's and there are times when the backstory looms very large. I frequently felt like I lacked the background to understand all the nuances of certain scenes. it also felt to me like Zahn wanted to give everyone character his or her own thread, and this would have been fine, but it feels like some of them get stretched too long to make the timing work out. Overall this didn't impress me as much as the previous trilogy and didn't deliver on the promise of Specter of the past.
July 17, 2019
Luke and Mara!!!!
Reading this book was such a fun time, I loved diving into this version of what had happened after the original trilogy and especially being reminded of what an amazing character Luke is. This book is almost 700 pages but it just flew by.
Reading this book was such a fun time, I loved diving into this version of what had happened after the original trilogy and especially being reminded of what an amazing character Luke is. This book is almost 700 pages but it just flew by.
July 14, 2023
I don't remember this book being such a slog, but man it is. I still really enjoyed it. But it didn't need 12 different plot threads jumping around for 700 pages.
Still, it was worth it for the Luke and Mara relationship. Plus, after 20 years, the war with the imperials finally ends.
Still, it was worth it for the Luke and Mara relationship. Plus, after 20 years, the war with the imperials finally ends.
August 12, 2010
After reading six Tim Zahn-Star Wars books, I feel like I've been beaten up by Sugar Ray Leonard. No mas. I'm done.
July 10, 2025
This was a really good read albeit a little long. I’m not sure if Zahn only got a two book deal but I think this duology could’ve been a trilogy. Other than that, I have no complaints about the book. This is a really good edition to the EU that shows us a lot of great characters having a lot of existing stories come to a great conclusion. We see one of best stories of Luke and Mara, the “conclusion” of the New Republic & Empire, and the return of “Thrawn”. This was a great read.
May 21, 2022
zbyt rozciągnięta, ale nadal lepsza od sequeli
July 21, 2025
crying. i wish i could experience that all again for the first time
March 23, 2023
CAWPILE rating: 8/10
STAR rating: ★★★★½
didn't enjoy this quite as much as the first one for some reason, but still such a fun reading(listening?) experience. i say this in the review of every star wars audiobook i listen to but they're just SO good. marc thompson is a hell of a narrator, i hope they keep hiring him for future star wars audiobooks!
STAR rating: ★★★★½
didn't enjoy this quite as much as the first one for some reason, but still such a fun reading(listening?) experience. i say this in the review of every star wars audiobook i listen to but they're just SO good. marc thompson is a hell of a narrator, i hope they keep hiring him for future star wars audiobooks!
August 6, 2024
w dupie mam wszystkie wady luke i mara zasługuja na wszystko (tak jak w sumie wszyscy bohaterowie tu)
December 3, 2021
*chef's kiss*
January 21, 2014
audiobook narrated by Marc Thompson
Vision of the Future is 2nd book of The Hand of Thrawn duology. Zahn always does a great job with Star Wars and does not disappoint here. Is the New Republic going to enter a civil war over the atrocities some Bothans helped commit? How is the New Republic going to react to these rumors that Grand Admiral Thrawn is back from the dead? Will Luke manage to save Mara and discover the secrets behind these strange craft being spotted? What or who is The Hand of Thrawn?
So many questions to answer and it's no surprise that this book is kind of long for a Star Wars book. The book keeps up a steady pace and does manage to resolve all the different threads and plot points introduced in Specter of the Past. There are many different threads at work in this book but Zahn manages to juggle them well. At one point I got the feeling that more than half of the threads involved characters trying to recover a copy of the Caamas document in their own ways which felt like a lot. At least they were all good reasons to have some crazy adventures.
All in all I'd say that you can't go wrong with a Zahn Star Wars book but I would definitely start with his Thrawn trilogy (starting with Heir to the Empire) or Allegiance.
Marc Thompson does a great job with impressions of all our favorite characters and the special effects are great too. There was some great use of music during more sensitive moments that helped bring them to a nice crescendo. The pirate's voice sounded just like ones you'd find in the Caribbean - which was interesting, and the Caamas apparently have an island accent. There were a few times I found the sound effects a bit distracting but overall they are awesome.
Vision of the Future is 2nd book of The Hand of Thrawn duology. Zahn always does a great job with Star Wars and does not disappoint here. Is the New Republic going to enter a civil war over the atrocities some Bothans helped commit? How is the New Republic going to react to these rumors that Grand Admiral Thrawn is back from the dead? Will Luke manage to save Mara and discover the secrets behind these strange craft being spotted? What or who is The Hand of Thrawn?
So many questions to answer and it's no surprise that this book is kind of long for a Star Wars book. The book keeps up a steady pace and does manage to resolve all the different threads and plot points introduced in Specter of the Past. There are many different threads at work in this book but Zahn manages to juggle them well. At one point I got the feeling that more than half of the threads involved characters trying to recover a copy of the Caamas document in their own ways which felt like a lot. At least they were all good reasons to have some crazy adventures.
All in all I'd say that you can't go wrong with a Zahn Star Wars book but I would definitely start with his Thrawn trilogy (starting with Heir to the Empire) or Allegiance.
Marc Thompson does a great job with impressions of all our favorite characters and the special effects are great too. There was some great use of music during more sensitive moments that helped bring them to a nice crescendo. The pirate's voice sounded just like ones you'd find in the Caribbean - which was interesting, and the Caamas apparently have an island accent. There were a few times I found the sound effects a bit distracting but overall they are awesome.
February 15, 2022
Wow big swing and a miss here. The first book in this duology was just tons and tons and tons of set-up and nothing happening so I expected this book to pay things off. Wow oh wow were there just too many plot threads and perspectives. Let's list them shall we? Luke, Luke and Mara, Han, Lando, Leia (these three link up and break apart), the clones, Admiral Pelleon, Karde, Shayda, the person following Shayda, the triumvirant of bad guys, Wedge and Corrin, Garm Bel Iblis, Karde's old woman infiltrator, the imperial infiltrators, and the star destroyer commander behind the cloak. That's just off the top of my head. The star destroyer commander wasn't a big important one but... eh. There's just too much going on and a lot of it isn't that interesting. Does anybody care about Karde meeting up with a criminal kingpin and then meeting another criminal kingpin? Does anybody care about Shayda who is written like Mara Jade when Mara Jade was first introduced and was utterly insufferable? Anyone care about the imperials trying to sabotage the bothan shield generator and having to match wits with old woman who works for Karde? I dunno... it just felt like "well we have to get everyone in there".
I read this book because I just finished the trilogy and was interested in seeing how things progressed 6 years later in real time (and 10 years in-universe). I saw that this was where Luke and Mara get together and where the Empire and Republic finally agree to peace terms. But wow did that just kind of come out of nowhere. I didn't feel some sort of loving connection between Luke and Mara that would necessitate Luke asking her to marry him. I mean I could see them saying "hey let's get together more often" but... marriage? Really? You spent a week with her on this alien planet and you were like "yup she's the one for me FOREVER"? Really? The way Pelleon wins is also a little anti-climactic.
Whatever. I'm not turned off to the Star Wars EU or to Timothy Zahn but I think I've had more than my fill for quite some time.
I read this book because I just finished the trilogy and was interested in seeing how things progressed 6 years later in real time (and 10 years in-universe). I saw that this was where Luke and Mara get together and where the Empire and Republic finally agree to peace terms. But wow did that just kind of come out of nowhere. I didn't feel some sort of loving connection between Luke and Mara that would necessitate Luke asking her to marry him. I mean I could see them saying "hey let's get together more often" but... marriage? Really? You spent a week with her on this alien planet and you were like "yup she's the one for me FOREVER"? Really? The way Pelleon wins is also a little anti-climactic.
Whatever. I'm not turned off to the Star Wars EU or to Timothy Zahn but I think I've had more than my fill for quite some time.
August 22, 2012
Le supposé retour de Thrawn a réussi a insuffler une énergie nouvelle aux Restant de l'Empire et à briser le moral de la Nouvelle République. Pendant ce temps, Luke et Mara Jade découvrent un complexe de guerre nommé la Main de Thrawn qui est dirigé par l'ancien impérial nommé le Baron Soontir Fel. Luke doit donc détruire le complexe à seulement l'aide de Mara Jade.
Ce que j'ai aimé le plus dans ce livre est que l'auteur fait une mise au point de ce qui s'est passé entre les livres qu'il a écrit et ceux de cette duologie. Il fait beaucoup de correctif par rapport à certaines histoires minables qui ont un peu bousillé la saga. Ceci permet de repartir l'histoire en général sur des meilleures bases. C'est bien de découvrir que Thrawn est de race Chiss.
Un des éléments majeur est que l'association entre Luke et Mara Jade devient une histoire d'amour et qu'elle ne rend pas l'histoire mielleuse. La Main de Thrawn est vraiment une série à lire pour éviter de lires les autre mauvais livres de la saga grâce à la mise-au-point de Timothy Zahn.
Ce que j'ai aimé le plus dans ce livre est que l'auteur fait une mise au point de ce qui s'est passé entre les livres qu'il a écrit et ceux de cette duologie. Il fait beaucoup de correctif par rapport à certaines histoires minables qui ont un peu bousillé la saga. Ceci permet de repartir l'histoire en général sur des meilleures bases. C'est bien de découvrir que Thrawn est de race Chiss.
Un des éléments majeur est que l'association entre Luke et Mara Jade devient une histoire d'amour et qu'elle ne rend pas l'histoire mielleuse. La Main de Thrawn est vraiment une série à lire pour éviter de lires les autre mauvais livres de la saga grâce à la mise-au-point de Timothy Zahn.
October 4, 2016
Fantastic ending to a killer 5 book series from Zahn. The layers of storytelling with the Empire and Republic perspectives along with the individual character stories for Luke with Mara, Talon and Shada, and Han and Leia is simply masterful. He weaves so much into one final book its amazing and all boils down to the Camass document and the Bothan planet. Luke goes after Mara who is on a distant planet in search of clues to the "hand of Thrawn". Han goes in search of the Camass document and Leia gets a cryptic deal presented to her from Admiral Palleon. Meanwhile Talon is with Shada on their own wild goose hunt for Car'Das, Talon's old boss. The Luke and Mara relationship finally gets traction and its really well written. Its a story full of intrigue and espionage, with some minor battles here and their. The nostalgia meter is at max and I loved every page. I guess I have to read more Zahn star wars because I cant get enough.
November 15, 2016
This is one time where I actually wished the series was stretched out by a book instead of shrunk down by a book or two. This is a duology and it could have been a trilogy. Leia is still fighting to keep the New Republic together, the Empire under Thrawn are still causing havoc and Pellaeon is finally starting to hear rumors about Thrawn being alive - and it's thwarting his plans for peace. Meanwhile, Han and Lando are off to the heart of the Empire to find the list of names of the Bothans responsible for the betrayal (with the theory being that those names would then stop all the vengeful planets/races from wanting to destroy or cripple the entire race of Bothans - still a dumb premise, but we have to go with it to enjoy an otherwise solid novel). Meanwhile, Mara Jade had disappeared and Luke Skywalker and R2 went off to find her. I was pleasantly surprised about how those two made my day near the end. Tim Zahn is the best SW writer hands down.
February 2, 2009
Between these two books, you get about 1000 pages of setup for about 15 pages of action.
With all due respect Mr. Zahn, we're pretty tired of Thrawn. We know you love him and he was cool for a while, but let's move on.
With all due respect Mr. Zahn, we're pretty tired of Thrawn. We know you love him and he was cool for a while, but let's move on.
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