Star Wars: Hand of Thrawn, Book 2: Vision of the Future

By: Timothy Zahn

Narrated by: Anthony Heald

Length: 3 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

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 Caamas, 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.

The cunning major Tierce has joined with the ambitious Moff Disra in the Empire's master plan. At its heart lies the most elaborate con of all: the rumor that the legendary Grand Admiral Thrawn, long believed dead, has returned to lead the Empire to a prophesied triumph. The news of Thrawn's return is already rallying Imperial forces against the New Republic.

As Leia travels to a secret rendezvous with an Imperial commander who claims to want peace, Han and Lando Calrissian journey into enemy territory to learn the truth of Caamas destruction. Meanwhile, Luke and Mara Jade infiltrate a hidden fortress where Thrawn's most fanatical followers await his call to arms. And Talon Karrde returns to his underworld past and a brutal crime lord whose knowledge may save the Republic. But it is the truth about Thrawn that is most important. In his hands, alive or dead, rests the fate of the New Republic.

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©1998 Lucasfilm Ltd. and TM. (P)1998 Lucasfilm Ltd. and TM.

Critic reviews

"Anthony Heald is a superb performer for the various Star Wars audiobooks. He slides in and out of distinctive Star Wars characters with such smoothness that the characters are instantly recognizable, as if the original actors were working in ensemble." (AudioFile)

I did not know there were more than one narration

If I had not listened to Marc Thompson's version of book 1 and found it to be EXCELLENT. I would have never known what I would be missing. The Narration by Anthony Heald is good but does not come close to the quasi-dramatization of the Thompson's work and who would have thought there would be more than one narration. I would love to return this copy, but I have already purchased the Thompson copy and while I finished this one I can already see that the Thompson copy adds so much more. In the Heald copy the music is out of place and dominates the storyline from time to time without adding any real benefit to the story line.

Long overdue and finally got to it. Well worth it.

As a Star Wars fan, I thoroughly enjoyed the Hand of Thrawn series. The original Thrawn trilogy had been my introduction to the expanded universe, and I was eager to see how Timothy Zahn would continue the story. I was not disappointed.

The return of Grand Admiral Thrawn, one of the most captivating and enigmatic characters in the Star Wars universe, was a highlight of the series for me. Zahn's writing was engaging, and he did an excellent job of capturing the essence of the Star Wars universe, with its epic battles and intricate political landscape.

I particularly enjoyed the exploration of the political climate in the Star Wars galaxy. Zahn delved into the complex relationships between various factions and showed how the actions of a few could have far-reaching consequences. I found this aspect of the series to be both thought-provoking and entertaining.

Another aspect of the series that resonated with me was the return of familiar characters from the original trilogy. Seeing how their stories had developed over the years was satisfying and added depth to the series. I also appreciated the introduction of new characters that were well-developed and engaging in their own right.

While the pacing of the series could be slow at times, and some of the political maneuverings were a bit tedious, overall, I found the Hand of Thrawn series to be a satisfying follow-up to the original Thrawn trilogy. It provided closure to some of the storylines from the earlier books while introducing new threats and challenges for the characters to face.

In conclusion, the Hand of Thrawn series holds a special place in my heart as a continuation of the Star Wars story that I grew up with. It may not be perfect, but it is a well-crafted story with engaging characters that kept me invested from beginning to end.

Not the same as book 1

How can you change the voices of all the characters in book 1? It's awful! Admiral Akbar, Shada , Han , Leia, C3PO, Card all different voices and bad voices! It's distracting from the story. Not sure if I can finish the whole book.

abridged version don't buy

its the abridged version don't buy. story was ok just short left wanting more no

If this was a stand alone book I'd give it 4 stars

What did you like best about Star Wars? What did you like least?

What I liked most? Its a Timothy Zahn book. Maybe not one of his strongest works but not bad.

What I absolutely hated about it was the voice actor. I don't want to be too negative of Mr Heald, but Marc Thompson has been doing Mr Zahn's stores for a while now. Frankly after back to back to back to back stories where Marc Thompson has nailed most of the characters brilliantly and where his depiction of Thrawn from a vocal standpoint sound exactly as I'd expect from the physical description given. After all that, Anthony Heald just didn't pull it off. Enough so that 15 minutes in I really wish Audible had a return policy. I actually put the ebook away for a few days and considered just pulling out the physical book and rereading it. I worked my way through the book but even some of the names were pronounced wrong. The level of jarring this book was compared to others. Not good. From here on out I will be listening to all samples. I made a mistake here.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Anthony Heald?

Marc Thompson, without hesitation. He has played these characters brilliantly in all previous books. I don't know why he wasn't picked up for book 2, but it was a gross mistake.

Any additional comments?

Of all the various books I've purchased on Audible, this is the first time I've ever regretted the purchase.

Good story; poor narrator

common place names mispronounced; didn't flow well from first book; character voices mixed up from first book

I wish the voice acting was as good as the sound effects

I wish the voice acting was as good as the sound effects. It’s hard to listen to when you got drawn in by the voice actors from the original Thrawn trilogy.

unfortunately unabridged and poor performance

So much was left out from the book. Anthony Heald's performance was not as good as Marc Thompson. It would be great to have the whole book available with a Marc Thompson read.

I dont like abridged books too much

Would you try another book from Timothy Zahn and/or Anthony Heald?

I bought the unabridged version of this when it became available. I'm not a fan of anthony Heald though, marc thompson does a much better job

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

most interesting - mara and luke hook up. Least interesting - the annoyances of abridgement.

What aspect of Anthony Heald’s performance would you have changed?

he doesnt differentiate the characters well, makes them all sound like senior citizens with whiny accent.

Could you see Star Wars being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

this should be episode 10-11, depending on how the movie goes by the books

Any additional comments?

I am listening to the unabridged version of this now. I HATE abridged versions

changed narrator!

Nothing against Anthony, but I can't stand it when they change narrators half way between a series. the characters voices change as a result and it makes it really hard to follow the story.