Star Wars Thrawn Ascendancy Lesser Evil Review

[@Voxorius]

This is my favorite Star Wars content and I was genuinely sad when I finished it because I wanted more. It makes me very happy whenever I see people still talking about the books to this day.

[@djsalad5752]

while i do agree that romantic subplots can add the the emotional layer of a story, I think that with thrawn it's not really something that works out too well. overall, though, i really loved your review. i've read the book twice so far (mixture of audio and physical book reading) and i will say it's one of my favorite books of all time. (spoilers below) i really loved the character moments, although ba'kif's moment with the stybla patriarch was not as much of a punch in the gut surprise for me, as i remembered the conversation with thooraki from chaos rising where he calls him labaki, something which instead added to the emotional layer of saying that the stybla patriarch was now the only friend he had left who called him by that name. thalias' "volcano option" was masterfully written, in my opinion, and especially in the audiobook could you hear the tension and emotion of the scene. this, added onto her experience with thrawn's sister at the shade house was amazing. in the audiobook, thrawn's sister's voice has this amazing way of sounding distinct, but unmistakably related to him. another small moment that I felt was amazing was thrawn's conversation on sunrise with qilori, which again in the audiobook had an amazing feel to it. another scene with qilori i thought was amazing was when he told thrawn that the chiss don't have friends, which greatly developed thrawn's character, as well as the reader's view into his mind. hands down my favorite characters, however, were thrass and thrawn. their story arc as friends, and brothers, with the added bonus of expanding on the threat facing the ascendancy, was sheer brilliance. I felt super sad from thrass' death, as well as physically teared up when thrawn mentioned the bistro he ate at with thrass in the memories chapters.

[@jonathankoan]

I did enjoy Thrass a lot, and the way it tied into Outbound Flight was genius. And I guess I just didn't remember the Bakif moment because when I read it I was blown away I was like "That means that he has more reason to support Thrawn other than his brilliance as a pupil"! I still really think this was a well done trilogy, although it'll probably read better on reread. Thank you for watching.

[@knoober3756]

I basically have your thoughts. Mid Captain Samakro was my unsung hero of the whole trilogy. Bro is such a chad, not being remotely bugged by his command being given to thrawn. I honestly think that the memories section in GG probably could’ve been left out all together and it probably would flowed better. My ranking is 1,3,2. An amazing trilogy tho just because of how original it is and it’s truly the leap SW books need to take.

[@TheCodeXCantina]

Actually, I was wondering to my SW friends if this was longest Thrawn book and we didn’t know the answer off hand. Glad you could knowledge drop that info where it sits 👍 Greater Good didn’t sit the best with me.

[@jonathankoan]

Greater Good was a polarizing book. I enjoyed it, but it wasn’t what I wanted. Lesser Evil is almost exactly what I wanted.

[@IcyBrickzStudios]

Fantastic review! I am currently reading Thrawn Ascendancy The Lesser Evil, certainly enjoying it very pleased with it so far.

[@moxmox8058]

Just finished it and wow! Loved it. What an ending… and beginning. So glad I read Outbound Flight before this last in the trilogy too. It added such an extra oomph to every memory around Thrass. Excellent trilogy, some of the best Star Wars out there in my opinion!

[@jonathankoan]

Absolutely. It has some of the elements of typical Star Wars stories, but has that classic sci-fi feel and worldbuilding that I really love. This was definitely a risky trilogy and I think it was worth it. Thank you for watching!

[@withacy]

I had pre-ordered both the book and the audiobook (and listened to the audio book while doing other things, which is more convenient sometimes than sitting down with a book). I agree with most of what you had to say, but by the end, I would've preferred a romantic relationship (if Zahn was going to go in that direction) between Thalias and Samakro. I really wish she had told him her real reason for wanting to be on Thrawn's ship. Also, I think Jixtus had to be covered up, so there was no way the Chiss could receive a report on their appearance - which Thrawn would have found out about. The reason was continuity - I'm pretty sure in Alliances it was established that Thrawn had never actually seen a Grysk before, and didn't know what they looked like. Or was that Treason? But I know it was in one of them. Two things I noticed - slight spoilers - first, was it just me, or did it seem that a good portion of this book was rather Thrawnless? He was on the Paccian (?) ship, and even during the final battle, we more heard him than were with him. Second, I noticed Zahn making a great point of Thrawn's willingness to do anything for the Chiss, even at the expense of other peoples. More than once, Thrawn came out and said it. It seemed to me, with the likelihood of Thrawn appearing in live action on Disney Plus, Zahn might be trying to influence how Thrawn is portrayed. That unlike the Thrawn of those non-cannon books, this Thrawn has a people he would not abandon for a futile attempt to conquer an alien empire, wasting resources and time to fight other former Imperials. But maybe I'm just seeing what I want to see.

[@jonathankoan]

Thank you for watching! I did notice that the book was Thrawnless for a large portion. I was so invested in this cast of characters that I was ok with it, but it was an odd choice. I definitely think Zahn is trying to reconcile the Thrawn of the books with the Thrawn of Rebels to work well in Live action as a villain but who still has noble purposes.

[@pieterboelen2862]

Thrawnless indeed... In the final scene between Thalias and Samakro, I did feel potential for a proper relationship there. Until there's new stories with them, in my imagination they turn surrogate parents to Che'ri together.

[@sfkeepay]

Fun review. Your comment around “if you’ve read it, you’ll know the scene” that made you laugh out loud in the library also made me laugh out loud when I recalled what you were referring to. “Flouncing” indeed. Btw, what makes you think Thrawn is heterosexual? I’ve read all three of the primary trilogies and there’s no hint of sexual attraction to anyone, period. Maybe there’s something in legends? I actually felt that, if anything, Thrawn had a more-than-mentor warmth for Eli. The Emperor seemed to think so when he responds to Thrawn’s request to have Eli assigned to him by saying “…but I will give him to you.” But Thalias? Really? Overall, though, I have to agree it was an exceptional trilogy with a killer concluding entry. p.s. I have a few minor nitpicks with Zahn. A drinking game, or collecting dimes, etc. prompting the corresponding action every time Zahn refers to characters clenching teeth, feeling their lips twist, or inclining their heads would result in rapid inebriation or enrichment, respectively. It was eventually quite distracting, particularly as I don’t even know what he even means by, for instance, “lips twisting.” As far I can tell…and I’ve now had copious opportunities for checking…my lips never do whatever he’s referring to. I also find “inclined her head” to be an oddly detached phrase. Why not just use “nod”? Or at least mix it up a bit. Also, while I of course recognize the narrative structure and technique Zahn deploys around Thrawn, after nine novels, I would enjoy knowing what he, himself, actually thinks. The books use the first person perspective for most other characters, of course, but the transparency of Zahn’s technique for inducing awe and mystery around Thrawn starts to wear thin, just a bit, by the end. And the works do occasionally run against one another insofar as who Thrawn is. One example: Even though he explicitly states that he sees non-Chiss beings as potential allies, or enemies, or resources, he also seems to have, in the two new canon trilogies, a deep and emotional concern for all lives, at least sentient ones, regardless of species. Of course he can be ruthless, but he’s never capricious or cruel. And while it might be claimed all these positions are compatible within his “Chiss-above all” philosophy, I don’t find that argument compelling. So, while it would be challenging, I would at some point enjoy a look inside the man’s head, or outward through his eyes, that’s clearer. That is, of course, purely subjective, and would require every ounce of Zahn’s skill to pull off without eroding the “Thrawn mystique”.

[@jonathankoan]

I think Zahn enjoys is the element of Thrawn being an enigma, and also wants to keep his options open to ensure Thrawn can be used in whatever capacity the movie shows wanna use him as. Regarding from being heterosexual, I just assumed that because Zahn hasn’t really put any LGBTQ+ characters in his books (at least none that I caught or remember, and I’ve read around 25 of them). So I assumed that if Thrawn under Zahns direction would be Heterosexual, but Thrawn probably is just “married to his work”. 😂

[@raf.nogueira]

I'm so sad that I never found this version of the book in my country. I had to buy the "pocket" edition =( , I wish some friend could help to find a hard case like this that could ship to me or sell me

[@patrickdeboor6606]

Excellent review! Lesser Evil was definitely my favorite out of the trilogy and I loved your take. Keep up the solid reviews!

[@jonathankoan]

Thank you for watching! I really enjoyed the Ascendency Trilogy. Hopefully Zahn will be able to experiment with more books in the future.

[@SuperHero-my6sc]

Would you recommend reading the first canon thrawn trilogy before reading this trilogy? I plan on reading both eventually but the ascendancy trilogy interests me more. :)

[@jonathankoan]

For sure read the Thrawn trilogy first. There are very specific reveals and plot threads that need to be understood in release order.

[@edt8300]

You should do a Star Wars book case tour

[@jonathankoan]

I’ll definitely do one in 2022. I have a TON of Star Wars books. Somewhere over 250.

[@johnnydiamond79]

I was considering getting Alphabet Squadron but I don't feel like being prescribed Valium after I'm done reading it 😆. I'm gonna look for the old X-Wing novels I had from the '90s instead of buying Alphabet Squadron. Those were books were fun🙂! Maybe that guy in the cloak wearing the gloves whose face is always covered up is Jorus C'Baoth? Sorry if I spelled his name wrong, Jonathan, but I'm talking about the evil Jedi Master from Timothy Zahn's very first Star Wars trilogy 30 years ago. I know that trilogy is no longer canon but I'm pretty sure Timothy Zahn hasn't forgotten about him since he created him, you know? I do like The Hunt For Red October so I will keep this book and trilogy in mind for a future purchase 🖖.

[@jonathankoan]

I think that would be a cool development if it was C’baoth. However, based on some timeline issues, I don’t think it is him.

[@bluearcher1559]

Possible Spoiler*** Throughout the book, I was wondering if it was going to be revealed Jixtus was Thrass. Zahn still could, I suppose.

[@jonathankoan]

That would have been cool. I was originally hoping when reading Greater Good that Jixtus was going to be Palpatine or Snoke, but it obviously didn’t go that way, had he gone with Thrass, it would have been cool. But this was still a fantastic book!

[@pieterboelen2862]

@@jonathankoan I was thinking of Palps too. Would've hated for it to be Thrass though. He was one of the *good* guys.

[@f0ren51c5candy]

This book feels like the revenge of the sith of the newer, cannon thrawn books

[@jonathankoan]

Good description!

[@leifster_cheifster]

SPOILER AHEAD Just finished the audiobook, probably gonna re-listen to it, I missed a few parts, including Syndic Thrass's death, by chance, could you give me the page/chapter number of it?

[@jonathankoan]

SPOILERS It occurs during Memories XII, on page 425 of 549. If you don’t remember any previous Thrass stuff, you might want to check out Outbound Flight. It’ll help clear things up.

[@leifster_cheifster]

@@jonathankoan Noted, thanks!

[@pieterboelen2862]

Whatever WAS the real name of Sunrise and the aliens there? Anything we might know...? And what did the Magys Force business lead to? She went a bit off the deep end with Che'ri. Ar'alani evem spends some time in mid-battle worrying about it. And then... Nothing.

[@jonathankoan]

I remembered at one point, but can’t now. I’d have to reread it to find that.

[@pieterboelen2862]

@@jonathankoan The mystery deepens... 😂 No worries. There are more important things. Was just simple idle curiosity on my part. 😅

[@codycollins6369]

Not a bad review. I can't think of too much I disagree with. Definitely one of the best CANON books

[@jonathankoan]

Thanks for watching!