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

Thrawn needs more use in the New Canon!

It's Thrawn, is there better? Great acting, great sounds effects. if you are going to try one star wars novel, this is it.

An excellent classic

If you ever want to know what the legends of Star Wars are - this is the best place to start. Zahn helped create the universe and direction of SW after the Return of the Jedi. I read this trilogy at least 3 times while growing up. Marc Thompson does an awesome job reading all of these SW stories, and his performance in this book is no exception. This is only the first book of the trilogy - I highly recommend listening to the entire set.

The REAL Post-ROTJ Trilogy (NOT DISNEY)

This original Post-Return of the Jedi Trilogy takes place 5 years after Jedi.

Absolutely love it. They narrator is excellent! The voice characterizations of the original cast are spot on. Includes original sound effects, John Williams’ score and even R2 beeps etc. C-3PO too! Chewies growl. All of it. So good.

Great storytelling.

It’s the way it should have been in the cannon. So happy I’ve discovered this after the Disney crap they’ve served us. I’m excited to start the next 2 chapters in this series. Shame on Disney for not allowing this EPIC series to be cannon.

“No,...there is another”

Great Performance

It's Star Wars, what's not to love. Can't wait to listen to two and three.

A Little Disappointed

Although I'm very late to the Star Wars fiction novels, I've been a huge fan of the movies since Episode IV in 1977. I was eight years old when I saw it on the big screen and I've been glued to that screen ever since.I've heard a ton of praise for Timothy Zahn's Star Wars stories and how they reignited the interest in Star Wars through the novels. I didn't dive into Zahn's books at the start. I've been reading other novels of favorite characters.

Having a new interest in the Chiss character Thrawn, I decided to try my first Zahn novel with "Heir to the Empire" and enjoy the 20th Anniversary Edition. I have mixed feelings. As an ex-editor of fiction, most reading for me has been spoiled since editors notice a lot more technical issues with books than the average reader, so I had to put my editor's hat aside at the older writing style predominant in the 90s...and Zahn's style is no different.

What I had a huge problem with in this novel were two major points: 1) The constant recycling of Star Wars dialogue from the first three movies and 2) some of the lame character issues with Mara Jade. I don't want to spoil too much, but Mara Jade is set up at the very beginning of the story with one goal in mind driven by intense hatred. The reveal of what drove her hate was a big let-down and then when she finally had the chance to accomplish her one goal, she failed just for the simple lack of effort. It's not that she tried and failed. It's that she had her quarry practically gift wrapped and she didn't follow through. Her whining and complaining throughout the entire novel not only made her unlikable, but the purpose of the character was pretty much reduced to her complaints.She really didn't need to be in the story when it came down to brass tacks.

I will say I have been enjoying the character Thrawn and the story revolving his tactics and how he is trying to rebuild the Empire fleet is fascinating. I'm getting a little tired of the dark Jedi thread, which is a bit over the top for my tastes and goes right along with the Mara Jade storyline distaste.

Because the novel is left with a major cliff hanger, I've downloaded the other two books, but as I'm listening to Book 2, Mara Jade is back with the same pointless goal in Book 1, which shows no growth in the character whatsoever. NOT looking forward to her part in this next installment. I am interested in what happens with Han, Leia, Luke and Lando, so that's why I'm continuing...but just barely.

If I was reading this book instead of listening to it, I would have put it down and I have to credit the narrator for my reasons to continue with the trilogy. The voice talents of Marc Thompson are astounding! My enjoyment of the story is almost solely in his voice and how he can recreate the voices of the characters I know so well, but it's more than that. He's given the Star Wars characters a wonderful life of their own and makes me feel like I'm spending time with old friends. For his talents alone, I recommend spending your credits on these books.

I hate to say it, but I just don't understand what all the hype is with Timothy Zahn's books. I'm hoping I'll be surprised in his other novels because I'm slowly going through the Star Wars series. THE BEST Star Wars novel I've listened to so far - on story content alone - has been "Tarkin: Star Wars" by James Luceno. Learning about the first Grand Moff and his rise to become the commander of the Death Star was FANTASTIC! I highly recommend it. And Euan Morton's performance is wonderful!

Good story and voices

I enjoyed the story and the voices and sound effects were good. Except for the Wookie leader, his voice was grating and I found myself skipping over his parts.

Loved it

The audible version is amazing. Great sound effects, great voice effects, great pitch and tone

on my 4th listen

first experience with the SWEU love this trilogy and the voice acting 15 out 10. love thrawn and Timothy zahn

One of the Best Books about Thrawn

This book is so great to me because I love Thrawn and his tactical brilliance. The one bad thing about this book is it doesn’t fit in with the end of the Star Wars Rebels ending (spoiler alert) where Thrawn is taken into hyperspace on the bridge of an ISD with the viewport glass broken which meant he should have been sucked into space and died. Somehow he managed to survive and make his way back to the empire which doesn’t really make sense. Otherwise this book is a great choice for any Star Wars fan who wants to learn more about Thrawn (thank you Timothy Zahn for writing about Thrawn).

Amazing

Amazing book I would recommend anytime !! Truly great writing and reading my Marc Thompson. Star Wars til I die.