Star Wars: Heir to the Empire

(20th Anniversary Edition), The Thrawn Trilogy, Book 1

By: Timothy Zahn

Narrated by: Marc Thompson

Length: 13 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

Here is a special edition 20th anniversary release of the number-one New York Times best-selling novel that reignited the entire Star Wars publishing phenomenon - unabridged for the first time. The biggest event in the history of Star Wars books, Heir to the Empire follows the adventures of Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Princess Leia after they led the Rebel Alliance to victory in Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi.

Five years after the Death Star was destroyed and Darth Vader and the Emperor were defeated, the galaxy is struggling to heal the wounds of war, Princess Leia and Han Solo are married and expecting twins, and Luke Skywalker has become the first in a long-awaited line of new Jedi Knights.

But thousands of light-years away, the last of the Emperor’s warlords - the brilliant and deadly Grand Admiral Thrawn - has taken command of the shattered Imperial fleet, readied it for war, and pointed it at the fragile heart of the New Republic. For this dark warrior has made two vital discoveries that could destroy everything the courageous men and women of the Rebel Alliance fought so hard to create.

The explosive confrontation that results is a towering epic of action, invention, mystery, and spectacle on a galactic scale - in short, a story worthy of the name Star Wars.

More in the Thrawn Trilogy we have. And listen to all of our Star Wars titles you can!

©1991 Timothy Zahn (P)2011 Random House Audio

best 13 hours ever!

loved it, played it from Baton rouge to Atlanta and back. time flew. just great.

Pure Skill...

Zahn at hos finest. Mr Thompson is exceptional as the narrator! This was worth every dollar!

Greatness of the movies continued

What made the experience of listening to Star Wars: Heir to the Empire (20th Anniversary Edition) the most enjoyable?

This is a great audiobook, my first Star Wars book/audiobook and I am so glad it was. The sound effects in this (and many other Star Wars audiobooks) take this version over the top. In addition to the narrator doing a fantastic job, the sound effects really help make it feel like you're in the story and in the Star Wars universe!

Any additional comments?

This book got me hooked not just on this trilogy but on all the other Star Wars books. I was delighted to find that many others have sound effects and fantastic narrators as well and i highly recommend this and the other two books in the series for anyone who loves the movies.

Impatiently awaiting the rest of the darn series

Awesome book, just like going to the movie without the lack of story thanks to it being unabridged. My only complaint is that i have no idea if i will ever get to hear the rest of the series. Looks like it depends on sales of the first book before they even decide to procede. That bothers me, i wont waste my money on the abridged books and now im waiting in limbo. BE BOLD! Commit with eta dates and then you Will get the sales on the first book. This way is backwards and makes no sense. If I realized the other 2 books of the series might not come to audible before i downloaded it i may have not bought it in the first place. Dam executive corporate logic doing things wrong and backwards like always.

Got Audible specifically for this series

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

If they are a star wars fan yes fills gaps in story.

What did you like best about this story?

It's star wars :)

What about Marc Thompson’s performance did you like?

Different Voices were great

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No very long book took a few days

Any additional comments?

Such a good series wish this was one book, but worth the three credits. Fills so many gaps after watching the latest star wars movies.

Amazing performance

Amazing performance like no other audiobook I have read (background noise, lots of different voices).

I found it predictable following Luke hon and laya since no matter how bad the situation gets these characters always end up on top. But all considered worth a listen for the high production value.

This is Start Wars

after watching and reading all the new Star Wars stuff, I decided to go back to this and am glad I did. THIS is how you do a non movie Star Wars story.

Ughhh so sucked in so quickly

Ughhh so sucked in so quickly into this book it was hard to turn it off it was beyond amazing if you’re into Star Wars definitely take the time listen to it.

Amazing!!

love the sound effects and voice acting. It felt like I was in the story!! It's better than the recent sequels!!

Mostly excellent

The story is excellent. I honestly think this trilogy is better than the all of the recent Star Wars movies. The addition of the music is inspired. Plus, the narrator is really, really good. I could easily believe there was an entire cast reading the male voices. There are recognizable accents, tones and speech patterns for each character- even minor ones. It’s incredibly impressive. But. He’s bad at the women’s voices. Like, really bad. There’s not much difference in the voices used for the two primary female characters and they both always sound unpleasant- either curt, sarcastic, snarling, snapping or shrill - whether it makes sense for the interaction or not. The personality and nuance that’s evident with the reading for all of the male characters is entirely absent for the female characters. It detracts a little, but it’s still mostly excellent