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Covers of the three Thrawn Ascendancy books. The first is a gray cover with a man at the end of a long path (or a cliff). The path/cliff has red chimaeras coming for him. The second book has a red cover. The chimaeras are black, and are arching over him; he is in white. The third book cover is black. The chimaeras are red and heading toward the reader, while the figure is in white and the far horizon.

Stars Wars: Thrawn Ascendancy

Written by alamancelibraries on . Posted in Book Reviews.

Covers of the three Thrawn Ascendancy books. The first is a gray cover with a man at the end of a long path (or a cliff). The path/cliff has red chimaeras coming for him. The second book has a red cover. The chimaeras are black, and are arching over him; he is in white. The third book cover is black. The chimaeras are red and heading toward the reader, while the figure is in white and the far horizon.
Star Wars Thrawn Ascendancy Books 1-3

Zahn Timothy. Star Wars: Thrawn Ascendancy Chaos Rising. New York, NY: Del Rey 2020.
Zahn Timothy. Star Wars: Thrawn Ascendancy Greater Good. New York, NY: Del Rey 2021.
Zahn Timothy. Star Wars: Thrawn Ascendancy Lesser Evil. New York, NY: Del Rey 2021.


The Star Wars: Thrawn Ascendancy trilogy takes readers back in time from where we meet the character in Star Wars Thrawn. It explores in-depth Thrawn’s life and military career among his own people, the Chiss, and how his goals and indeed his purpose for existing clash with their laws.

The books are set in the Unknown Regions around the same time as the Clone Wars are happening. Thrawn and his allies must dodge and outmaneuver both Chiss politicians, who view Thrawn as a threat to the Ascendancy’s existence, and the Ascendancy’s external enemies to unravel the mystery behind a plan to destroy the Ascendancy. These three books take us on a deep dive into Chiss culture and society exploring government and family hierarchies and how they work with and clash with the military structure, and the overarching goal of protecting the Ascendancy.

These books will be an exciting read for long time fans of Star Wars and Thrawn in particular, but they would also be a good place to start if you are new to Star Wars. They, like the previous Thrawn trilogy, explore his motivations and desires. However, the new setting presents Thrawn with a new set of challenges: he must still fight political battles, but his people’s strict adherence to a policy of isolationism and no preemptive strikes clashes with Thrawn’s desire to keep his people safe at any price. These books would also be a good read for fans of the show Ahsoka as understanding Thrawn’s goals may have bearing on the future direction of the series.

Kyle F. is a Library Assistant at May Memorial Library, and leads the Galactic Book Club, which meets every first Monday of the month.

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