Thrawn Books Reading Order
Jon Levatte
Grand Admiral Thrawn is one of the treasures of the Star Wars universe. He is a worthy foe to the Jedi and is my favorite Star Wars villain. If you are new to the world of Thrawn books I will set forth the books about Thrawn and give my suggested reading order for Thrawn.
In total there are 11 books about Thrawn, spread across 4 series. All of them were written by Timothy Zahn. Only books that have Thrawn as the main character are included. I have also included the release date for each book. The books are split into these 4 sections:
Heir to the Empire was the first book I read about Thrawn. It was also my first Star Wars book. It builds on the Return of the Jedi so well. The characters (Luke, Leia, Han, etc.) are exactly as you would expect them to be. I wish Disney would have gone with this book as its sequel for Star Wars. But oh well, maybe one day we will get a Thrawn Star Wars movie!
You should first read Heir To The Empire. It is the book that started it all. It might be the most important Star Wars book ever written because it set a standard for what a Star Wars book could be. It was a popular book and brought excitement (and new hope) to the Star Wars Universe.
The good thing is that there is no definitive reading order for Thrawn. Depending on how you were introduced to the character or what part of the Star Wars timeline you want to start in, you can start with almost any of the Timothy Zahn-penned Thrawn books.
I do not, however, recommend starting with the Thrawn Ascendancy trilogy. These books are some of the most heavy political sci-fi in all of Star Wars and are best read after the new Thrawn trilogy (Thrawn, Alliances, Treason).
Legends/EU: Set 5 years after the events of Return of the Jedi, the New Republic begins hearing whispers about Imperial remnants in the far reaches of the galaxy. These remnants are being led by one of the last Imperial warlords, who has discovered vital secrets that could be used to destroy the fragile New Republic.
The High Republic: Shadows of Starlight #1 (Oct. 4): While the upcoming Phase 3 books time jump to a year after the fall of Starlight Beacon, the miniseries Shadows of Starlight showcases what all happened in that year. The series, whose first issue drops on Oct. 4, focuses on the Jedi Council and the institution of emergency measures in response to the devastating Nihil attack.
I'm ashamed to admit I haven't touched the Legends Thrawn books, though they are on my shelf, to be read sometime soon... I do like that Grand Inquisitor cover! And I though I'd share that I've started up my own newsletter. If you'd like to see my SW shelves have a look at my first post
With three trilogies, a duology, and several other books and stories featuring the legendary Chiss character, there are always questions about how to read Thrawn books \u2014 where to start, in what order, etc.
New canon: Set during the height of the Empire\u2019s power, the Thrawn trilogy reintroduced the character into the new canon and explained his rise from exiled Chiss to grand admiral status. The second book follows Thrawn in the present day and in flashbacks alongside Darth Vader and Anakin Skywalker, respectively, on similar missions to Batuu. The final book sees Thrawn at odds with various Imperial leaders, including Death Star director Orson Krennic. There\u2019s also a major threat to Thrawn\u2019s homeworld of the Chiss Ascendancy, and he\u2019s forced to choose between his people and the Empire.
Before Thrawn became an Imperial grand admiral, he was a Mitth'raw'nuruodo, a merit adoptive of the high-ranking Mitth family in the Chiss Ascendancy. The blue-skinned, red-eyed Chiss operate in an oligarchic autocracy and for the most part are isolationists in the Unknown Regions of the galaxy. Thrawn\u2019s origin story and strategical prowess are explored through the three sci-fi political novels, which take place roughly around the same time as the prequels and the Clone Wars. The final novel charts how Thrawn\u2019s actions led him to be exiled from his people.
Hand of Thrawn duology: Spectre of the Past and Vision of the Future: While Thrawn isn\u2019t the main focus of these books, they are excellent sequels to the original Legends trilogy. These two novels explore some of the Imperial remnants after Thrawn\u2019s death as well as show Luke Skywalker and Mara Jade\u2019s discovery of a mysterious fortress and the truth about Thrawn.
Outbound Flight and Survivor\u2019s Quest: In the first novel, we see Master C\u2019baoth during the prequel era, when his dream Outbound Flight project comes to fruition. The massive long-term space travel vessel eventually comes in contact with the Chiss and their mastermind Thrawn. Decades in the future in Survivor\u2019s Quest, Luke Skywalker and Mara Jade investigate the remains of the Outbound Flight project, which was destroyed by Thrawn and saw thousands of people killed.
\u201CIt was such an honor to be involved in the 10th anniversary for Rebels. Having recently revisited the adventures of the Spectres in preparation for Ahsoka, this opportunity was perfect timing,\u201D cover artist Caspar Wijngaard told StarWars.com. \u201CWe\u2019ve been absolutely spoiled with Rebels content these last few weeks and I\u2019m glad I could be a part of it in some way.\u201D
Crimson Climb (Oct. 10): E.K. Johnston\u2019s next Star Wars book stars Qi\u2019ra from Solo: A Star Wars Story. At the beginning of the movie, Han and Qi\u2019ra escape the White Worms and try to leave Corellia, but Qi\u2019ra is ultimately left behind and returned to the ruthless underworld sewers. The young adult novel follows Qi\u2019ra\u2019s next journey from orphan scrumrat to top brass in the Crimson Dawn crime syndicate.
Star Wars: The Ultimate Cookbook (Oct. 10): The Official Guide to Cooking Your Way Through the Galaxy includes more than 80 recipes inspired by characters, locales, and stories from the films, TV shows, novels, comics, video games, and theme park attractions \u2014 from Bantha burgers and carbonite n\u2019 cream pies to Chiss-themed Csaplar shakes.
Read the Thrawn book and then Thrawn: alliances and then Thrawn: treason. then you should read the ascendancy trilogy. then read the original Thrawn books from all the way back in 1994 (correct me if I am wrong about the year) though read how you like. but that is how I am reading them. i am going to compare and contrast the canon and legends versions
I've just started reading Heir to the Empire. Although I started reading yesterday, 4 chapters are finished by now. I really liked it's atmosphere and characters. I'm planning make a post about it in 2-3 weeks.
Absolutely read the original Thrawn Trilogy first. Timothy Zahn (the author of the series), recommends you do so. Start with Heir to the Empire, then move swiftly on to Dark Force Rising and then finally, enjoy The Last Command.
Thank you so much for updating this. It is possible to find the info yourself on Memory Alpha etc but this is a much easier way to do it and a good way too not scare off new readers with them having to do too much own research.
Thanks for the note dwasifer, fixed that error now :)
Rev, Planet X doesn't really much connect to the wider continuity as far as I know (I've not read it), but I believe it's a direct sequel to the TNG/X-Men comic Second Contact, which itself takes place immediately after First Contact.
This is an amazing reference.
Thanks very much for putting it together.
I've been using it to organise my Trek Books and for reading the 20 or so trek books that I've recently bought in the right order.
This is really awesome! I love Star Trek and after watching everything 1000 times over I need new content so I figured I would dive into the book series for the first time. But where to start? This really helps answer that question and gives me a good reference! Thanks!
First, I absolutely love this thing. I've been trying to get caught up on Trek lit for a while now and this has been VERY HELPFUL.
A couple constructive comments:
#1 There's a dashed green line going to Serpents Among the Ruins/The Art of the Impossible/Alien Spotlight: Cardassians/Cardassia and Andor that doesn't have a beginning. It's all end arrows, so it's unclear which direction this is supposed to go.
#2 Q Are Cordially Invited. I haven't read it yet so I don't know exactly where it goes but I'm thinking it needs to be included.
Hi Benjamin, apologies for the very slow reply, I hadn't spotted your comment!
As you might see, we've just posted an updated version of the chart, which might help with your questions, but to expand on them:
#1 We removed the multi-directional Cardassian story arrow because ti was a bit confusing indeed, but the idea was to show how all the Cardassian/Garak stories are generally a bit interconnected. But we can sort of communicate that with the series dots not, so we didn't need the confusing arrows to everywhere!
#2 Q Are Cordially Invited... tells the story of the Picard/Crusher wedding, which took place some time before Greater Than the Sum. But there is a framing story on an unspecified wedding anniversary. As we couldn't spot a reference to which anniversary we've opted to put it down in almost publication order, with the other TNG ebook, just before The Fall.