Star Wars: Thrawn Ascendancy (Book II: Greater Good)

By: Timothy Zahn

Narrated by: Marc Thompson

Length: 16 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's Summary

New York Times Best Seller

Thrawn and his allies race to save the Chiss Ascendancy from an unseen enemy in the second book in the epic Star Wars: Thrawn Ascendancy trilogy from best-selling author Timothy Zahn.

Thrawn’s latest triumph still rests newly on his shoulders. He has led the Chiss to victory and brought glory to the House of Mitth, but the true threat to the Ascendancy has not yet been extinguished. Their foes do not send threats or ultimatums, do not mass ships on the edge of the Chaos. Their weapons come cloaked in smiles and generosity: Gifts offered freely. Services granted unconditionally. 

Across the Ascendancy, seemingly inconsequential events could herald the doom of the Chiss. As Thrawn and the Expansionary Defense Fleet rally to uncover the plot, they discover a chilling truth: Rather than invade Chiss capitals or pillage resources, their enemy strikes at the very foundation of the Ascendancy, seeking to widen the rifts between the Nine Ruling Families and the Forty Great Houses below. As rivalry and suspicion sow discord among allies, each warrior must decide what matters most to them: the security of their family or the survival of the Ascendancy itself.

©2021 Timothy Zahn (P)2021 Random House Audio

I guess this is a thrawn novel

You know, I was excited. I pre-ordered this book the day I was able to. I listened to the entire thrawn collection in order in time for this book. And then... this book. The story really strayed for what dynamic I thought was building and ended up at back woodsville chisstuckey with who cares face molesting aliens. The overall plot? Well of course thrawn figured it out. Wait? Where was thrawn for two thirds of that book? I had to listen to this book twice so I could be sure I didn’t miss something that wasn’t given away in the first hour. Sigh. I fear Disney is pushing you to hard Zahn. The first thrawn of the cannon series was amazing! But I feel it’s been slowly deteriorating as the books continue. I’m a good fan and will be ordering the next book. I’m just underwhelmed with the overall direction of our characters. Anyone who’s read the other books known the grisk will not be defeated and thrawn is to be sent away. What are we building towards? No a writer. Just a fan, but come on I wanna see the tactical brilliance and feel thrawn strain at the complexity of his enemy. Not sneak around behind the mayors back.

Great Book, but Where is Thrawn?

This book, as normal, was excellently written and narrated, every character is interesting, my only complaint is that Thrawn, whom the book is named after, only takes a supporting role throughout most of the book. He is there for much of the action, yet we never see his thoughts or perspective, making this book much note about the Chiss Ascendancy than Thrawn himself. Which is not bad, just be aware of that and temper your expectations.

Pointless Filler

I really enjoyed the 2017/2018 Thrawn books although the last two felt a little more like mid-season TV episodes rather than actual books. This one, unfortunately, crosses the line into pure filler content. Almost nothing happens worth noting and the entire story could be compressed into a 2-3 chapters and nothing would be lost. The Thrawn scenes are always fun but they are pretty spread out and most of the book takes place with random characters who are dimwitted at best and annoying/incompetent at worst.

I think this is the first Zahn book where I found myself chapter skipping because I disliked characters so much. If that wasn't bad enough I didn't find myself missing any details of the plot and could still easily see where the overall narrative was going. As much as I enjoy getting a Thrawn book a year I wish Zahn would spend a little more time working through his ideas and building something more engaging rather than spitting out stuff like this where the plot and characters are essentially at the same point they were at the end of the last book.

Decent, but Che'ri

Please, for the love of all that is holy, get rid of Che'ri. I really wanted to give this 3 stars, truly. I went back and forth on it for a while, but in the end, had to give it a 2. The story was troubling for several reasons. First, there's just not enough Thrawn in it. It's a book about Thrawn, but if I had to guess I'd say 50% of the book featured him, tops. The rest was filled with random nobodies, like farmers and random "mid-agers", that left me just wanting to skip ahead. Second, again with the flashbacks. They really ruin ruin flow of the book. I know there are many books, such as Game of Thrones, that follow many different story lines at once and jump between them frequently. The difference is, those books feature different story lines with different characters. This book uses flashbacks, so the same characters are being talked about in both the present and the past, so it makes it annoying to try and keep up with what's really going on.

The performance was actually great, as far as nailing what he's going for, but it does ruin the immersion a bit to hear so many country bumpkin voices roaming around. I don't bang him too much for it, because I always try to be a bit lenient with things that are fantasy, but the fact that I can't recall a single person sounding like Larry the cable guy in the film series kinda ruins it a bit. While this is fantasy, not reality, there are many films in which precedent has been set. Even though I HATE Che'ri, he nails what he's going for. I just cannot take any more of her, she ruins the whole experience for me.

I'm not a parent, so maybe it's just a tolerance I haven't acquired, but I cannot deal with the "whiney, always sulking, sounds like she's about to cry at any moment" nature of her voice. I literally skip any part that she's involved in, which just ruins the flow of the story. Please, either exclude her from the 3rd book, or have her grow up a bit and get a normal voice, or kill her off, I honestly don't care. I just love anything Thrawn and want to absorb every morsel that I can, but I can't with Che'ri involved. I almost returned this one, but I didn't. The next one I most likely will.

So Very Boring

Not sure if boring is a strong enough word. Now that I have reached the end of the story I honestly cannot recall one exciting event. Thrawn is an awesome character, but is wasted in this story.

Where is Thrawn?

A book about Thrawn should have more Thrawn than the occasional chapters. missed Arlani too. Very disappointed in this book!

Needs more Thrawn

this new trilogy spends a ton of time with Thrawn adjacent characters. This book more so than the previous since now every backstory chapter is about someone else. I suppose its necessary to help build more of Chiss society, though the concept of a chiss college bro on his gap year was not a welcome addition to the lore.

Not Enough Thrawn

This book is my least favorite of all the Thrawn books written to date. The Thrawn and Expansionary Defense stories were a lot of fun, but the side character stories droned on and on. It got to the point where I would subtly curse under my breath when I heard the California surfer voices of two of the side characters. That's not a knock on Marc Thompson --- he was terrific as always --- but that storyline unnecessarily went on for too long.

not worth the wait.

I kept hoping it would get better but alas it continued to drag on.

Another great book from Timothy Zahn

Zahn remembers his story and respects his characters. Lots of continuity between his Thrawn books.

Great Star Wars story but lacks Thrawn

short and sweet
Good book, if a star wars fan and thrawn fan, it is important to read this to understand more about the events in the chaos
but i just wish there was more thrawn we all know and love in this.
would I read it again? 100%!