Ok so we've just completed The Clone Wars and Rebels and we're now ready for Ahsoka. I have one question though. Is it worth reading the Thrawn novels? I know the original Thrawn trilogy is not canon anymore but there are two other Thrawn trilogies written by the same author that are considered canon. Does anyone know if they're any good or if reading those would add to my enjoyment of the Ahsoka series, in which Thrawn is set to play a major role.


And while you're at it, feel free to recommend any other Star Wars novels. Preferably ones that take place in the official canon.

I've always heard the Thrawn story is rather compelling.

I've read this before, but I'll just copy and paste as to get it right.

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Zahn would go on to write a pair of sequel books, in the Hand of Thrawn duology (Specter of the Past (1997) and Vision of the Future (1998)), expanding on the background of the Thrawn character He would later develop Thrawn's legacy further by writing Survivor's Quest (2004), and subsequently the prequel novel Outbound Flight (2006).

Although George Lucas did not consider the Expanded Universe to be canonical, he adopted the name Coruscant for the galactic capital in the prequel trilogy, which was created by Zahn in the Heir to the Empire.

While the Thrawn trilogy would be rendered non-canon following the Disney acquisition of the Star Wars franchise, the character of Thrawn would later be re-canonised by Lucasfilm as he was introduced into Star Wars: Rebels.

Additionally, Zahn would soon after return to write an alternate trilogy surrounding the Thrawn character, in Star Wars: Thrawn (2017), Thrawn: Alliances (2018), and Thrawn: Treason (2019), and would later create a prequel trilogy about the character in the Ascendency trilogy.

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I wouldn't know how to start reading all that. The original trilogy is hailed as reviving the franchise in many ways (which of course makes Lucas poopoo it). I suppose if I were going to read the original trilogy, I'd start with Outbound Flight first, then the trilogy, then Survivor's Quest. Then I'd dig into the 2nd prequel trilogy, then the 2nd 2017-2019 trilogy.

I've always heard amazing stuff about the original books and the character in general. Once I finish my Toni Morrison journey this year, maybe I'll dive into all things Thrawn for 2024.

TrivialPursuit said:

That's just it though. I would kind of rather avoid all the non-canon stuff for now just so I don't get confused with everything. But I have heard that the Thrawn novels are genuinely great reads so I think I might just read the canon books first and then go back and read the original Thrawn trilogy as a kind of "alternate universe" type of thing.

ShellyMcG said:

That's just it though. I would kind of rather avoid all the non-canon stuff for now just so I don't get confused with everything. But I have heard that the Thrawn novels are genuinely great reads so I think I might just read the canon books first and then go back and read the original Thrawn trilogy as a kind of "alternate universe" type of thing.

Yeah, I'd probably wanna stick to canon as well. The original 3 weren't, but as noted Lucas did re-canonize the character later, and used a word from the books. So - who knows. I did tweet about it. I'll see if anyone answers.

TrivialPursuit said:

Was it Lucas that re-canonised him or was it Disney?

ShellyMcG said:

TrivialPursuit said:

Yeah, I'd probably wanna stick to canon as well. The original 3 weren't, but as noted Lucas did re-canonize the character later, and used a word from the books. So - who knows. I did tweet about it. I'll see if anyone answers.

Was it Lucas that re-canonised him or was it Disney?

It's on the Wiki page for the series. I forget, but it's on there.

TrivialPursuit said:

I'm far too lazy to check that though

Ah I'm just kidding. I'll do a bit of research on my break today in work.