Review: STAR WARS: THRAWN ASCENDANCY (BOOK II: GREATER GOOD) Is Different Than Expected
Last week, Del Rey released the second book in Timothy Zahn’s latest trilogy, Star Wars: Thrawn Ascendancy (Book II: Greater Good). You can grab a copy from your favorite book stores. Del Rey was kind enough to provide me with a copy to review, and I’ve finally finished reading it. The book is 416 pages long and takes place between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, but in a different part of the universe referred to as the Chaos.
Thrawn’s latest triumph still rests newly on his shoulders. He has led the Chiss to victory and brought glory to the House of Mitth, but the true threat to the Ascendancy has not yet been extinguished. Their foes do not send threats or ultimatums, do not mass ships on the edge of the Chaos. Their weapons come cloaked in smiles and generosity: Gifts offered freely. Services granted unconditionally.
Across the Ascendancy, seemingly inconsequential events could herald the doom of the Chiss. As Thrawn and the Expansionary Defense Fleet rally to uncover the plot, they discover a chilling truth: Rather than invade Chiss capitals or pillage resources, their enemy strikes at the very foundation of the Ascendancy, seeking to widen the rifts between the Nine Ruling Families and the Forty Great Houses below. As rivalry and suspicion sow discord among allies, each warrior must decide what matters most to them: the security of their family or the survival of the Ascendancy itself.
Greater Good is a roller coaster. If you enjoyed Chaos Rising, you’ll love the story here. There’s plenty of political intrigue, military action, mysterious aliens, and more to get you sucked in. One of my favorite things that Zahn does is build relationships between the characters in his books. There are so many characters that get involved in these books, and they all feel like they live in the same space as actual beings and not just dolls designed to play a part. I particularly loved reading the journey of Lakinda and am very interested to see where her path takes her.
Surprisingly, the main political players of Chaos Rising appeared to take a bit of a backseat, but there was still a ton of Chiss politics to fill the void. In fact, Greater Good is not what I expected when it came to characters. In all honesty, Thrawn feels less like the main character in this book’s story and more like a main supporting character. It’s definitely not something I expected, but it ends up working great.
Greater Good is a great sequel to Chaos Rising, but it also feels very different. This is a nice change in my opinion, just very unexpected. If you’re a fan of Star Wars, I definitely recommend reading the two books that are currently released and I can’t wait to see how the trilogy ends this November.
