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

It's about time!

Marc Thompson is a fantastic narrator. I've listened to many of his books, and loved every one. I encourage everyone to buy this book immediately. We need to show that if they release unabridged star wars audio, then we'll buy it! It appears they've stopped making the horrible abridged releases already. However, I really hope this starts a new trend of releasing old star wars books unabridged. Hopefully it's not a one time thing.

As for the book, it's also fantastic. There are plenty of reviews of the material in the book on Amazon. Buy it. You'll love it.

At last!

Very entertaining read. Marc Thopson wow. You just cant beat this guy as far as readers go. He took a really good book and made it that much better. If your a star wars fan this is a must read and if not read it anyways you might become one.

Beware of this book!

This audiobook feature promises many annotations from Timothy Zahn and much more, to which is true to a very slight degree, but nothing like what is promised in the Product Summary. I downloaded this audiobook as it's finally available in unabridged formatting, and the promised novella isn't in the download, so I strongly suggest those wishing to read that novella to either purchase the hardcover edition of this book, or to contact Audible's customer support and request an explanation. Because selling a product or service and not delivering on a promise is blatant false advertisement. So I urge true fans of Zahn's work to beware, and get this resolved.

Thank you for this AMAZING production.

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

It being a fully produced (soundtrack, effects and all) unabridged version.

What did you like best about this story?

A continuation of the saga

What about Marc Thompson’s performance did you like?

Overall good, only nitpick is that Han could have sounded a little more like Harrison. but overall it was great!

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

Yes

Any additional comments?

We need to get the other two books re done like this.

Excellent

I hope they do this for the rest of the Thrawn Trilogy. Hell I hope they do it for the rest of the Star Wars books

Finally! Unabridged after 20 years!

Would you consider the audio edition of Star Wars: Heir to the Empire (20th Anniversary Edition) to be better than the print version?

Heir to the Empire was the very first book that ignited my passion for literature as a teenager. Imagine my disappointment when this wonderful book could only be found as an abridgment in audio format. Now, with the 20th anniversary, the fans are rewarded by an unabridged version of Heir to the Empire. I would highly recommend to anyone who has ever loved the Star Wars series, that they read/listen to this story. Fans of the SW saga will be delighted by the same level of action and intrigue Timothy Zahn placed into this book as George Lucas put into the series. Whether you are a life-long SW fan or new to the series, you will not be disappointed by this series. Hopefully, the fans will not have to wait too long for the rest of the Thrawn trilogy to be available in an unabridged format.

What did you like best about this story?

The interaction between the original characters was wonderful and true to the movies. The new characters were also marvelously developed and wonderfully complex. This book does indeed read like the 7th episode in the SW saga.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

They may have defeated the Emperor and Darth Vader, but the Empire may not be as defeated as they think.

Perfect

This book is one of the best Star Wars books that I have ever read and when it became available on audible I jumped at the chance to experience this riveting story again. The audio version of this book is excellent. Marc Thompson portrays every character very well in distinct voices. This rendition also contains music and sound effects. At first I found the sound effects very jarring and would take me out of the story. Fortunately I got used to these sound effects and instead of detracting from the story they reinforced the performance. After I listened to Heir to the Empire I was excited to continue listening. I looked up when Dark Force Rising would be released in anniversary edition, and discovered that it will only be released if Heir to the Empire preforms well enough. I hope that Marc Thompson narrates that version if it comes out or if it doesn't then he narrates the the complete trilogy anyway.

Star Wars: Heir To the Empire

This is my first Star Wars book and also the first time I had heard Marc Thompson narrate a book. I was impressed with this reading of the book. This book also has sound effects. The book kept me interested with good story line and lots of action. I could visualize the characters better because I had seen the movies. The book ended with a to be continued.

Finally!!!!!!!

This is a great addition! Like a previous reviewer mentioned we need more Star Wars books that are unabridged and Marc Thompson as the narrator. This is the book that started it all for the expanded universe and is a must read for any Star Wars fan. I just hope they continue the series with the following books. Truly a great production with sounds and Thompson at the helm.

Good story, but were the sound effects necessary?

Any additional comments?

I have that kind of autism that is very sensitive to repetitive noises. It makes me want to gauge out my eardrums. So I found the sound effects in this production very distracting.

Granted, I LOVED the Imperial March and the lightsaber sounds. It's the constant background noises that stopped me from enjoying the story. There are constant beeps and chirps to make ambiance and it drove me NUTS.

If you don't mind noises that take away from the narrators voice, I highly recommend this audiobook.

Sound effects made this audiobook my favorite

Random House Audio is from now on my first choice. Sound effects plus multiple voices created unique experience

A classic

I am more of a fan of canon star wars due to the more cleaner lore presented and even this book from legends seemed to struggle to match the prequals lore but if you ignore all that and see this as the 90s continuation of the orginal films it works very well.

with the audiobook the modern sounds and up to date reading from mark Thomas breathes new life and makes the book timeless.

Fantastic from start to finish

This is the first time I've listened to any audio book. Highly recommended to any Star Wars fan.

really good

Good voice acting by Mark Thompson!

I liked Thrawn's character. He's excellent. and interested in Mara Jade too!

Nice to be back

It was great to have a follow up on the original trilogy. Having the books on my bookshelf for decades and never managed to read them, I feel the guilt of losing so much time not knowing what happened after the battle of Endor. I'm happy to catch up now with a wonderful performance.

Awesome! 99% of it...

Story and performance were both just perfect. The real Star Wars canon story, how it should have been.

There is just 1 but... same one 3 times. In the performance there was X-Wing engine sound 3 times for an extended time. It was WAAAY too loud, drilling right into one's brain. Hated those moments, especially because they lasted so long (~10 minutes the first time). If you can last through it, you will enjoy every minute of the rest of the book.

Classic!

Great story and amazing performance! Should have been the base for the actual sequel trilogy

Hollow story, and small universe syndrome.

TLDR: while this story may have worked for people in the 90s it doesn’t hold up to modern standards I would expect from Star Wars novels.

I decided to read this considering Dave Filoni is supposed to be directing an heir to the empire type of story to culminate the mandoverse. I’ve heard nothing but great praise for Timothy zahns thrawn trilogy every since getting back into Star Wars in 2014. I loved thrawns portrayal in rebels and I liked Zahns Thrawn Novel.

Heir to the Empire however, is extremely disappointing and hasn’t aged well. I can understand why this book have meaning to some people as it was the first real piece of EU media post ROTJ. However the over realiance on references to the OT was something I didn’t expect and it made the universe feel so small. Anytime the character feels something Zahn feels inclined to reference a moment in the OT and that really took me out of the story and made it feel fan fiction like.

This version of thrawn is also not very smart. He has one impressive naval victory at the start of the novel and then for the rest of it he is kind of just bumbling around. Also his appreciation for art felt shoe horned in and under used, whereas in rebels it is integral for how he defeats and tracks the rebels.

The performance is good as mark Thompson usually is however the wookie voice is insufferable. I considered skipping over those chapters however I powered through.

before Disney, before the woke and dark time's.

This is what we should have gotten instead of the abysmal disney's trilogy. this book and the ones that follow play out perfectly like a real star wars film. staying true to the source material and characters involved.

A very good addition

Beautifully written addition to the Star Wars universe. Great narration, really sounds like it’s been made my people with passion. Thought the story had a bit of a fall on Myrkr, but still very excited about the sequel!