Chaos Rising

Star Wars: Thrawn Ascendancy #1

by Timothy Zahn

Discover Thrawn’s origins within the Chiss Ascendancy in the first book in an epic new Star Wars trilogy from bestselling author Timothy Zahn.

Beyond the edge of the galaxy lies the Unknown Regions: chaotic, uncharted, and near impassable, with hidden secrets and dangers in equal measure. And nestled within its swirling chaos is the Ascendancy, home to the enigmatic Chiss and the Nine Ruling Families that lead them.

The peace of the Ascendancy, a beacon of calm and stability, is shattered after a daring attack on the Chiss capital that leaves no trace of the enemy. Baffled, the Ascendancy dispatches one of its brightest young military officers to root out the unseen assailants. A recruit born of no title, but adopted into the powerful family of the Mitth and given the name Thrawn.

With the might of the Expansionary Fleet at his back, and the aid of his comrade Admiral Ar’alani, answers begin to fall into place. But as Thrawn’s first command probes deeper into the vast stretch of space his people call the Chaos, he realizes that the mission he has been given is not what it seems.

And the threat to the Ascendancy is only just beginning.

Genres: Star Wars, Science Fiction, Fiction, Audiobook, Fantasy, Space Opera, Novels

400 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2020

About the author

Timothy Zahn attended Michigan State University, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in physics in 1973. He then moved to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and achieved an M.S. degree in physics in 1975. While he was pursuing a doctorate in physics, his adviser became ill and died. Zahn never completed the doctorate. In 1975 he had begun writing science fiction as a hobby, and he became a professional writer. He and his wife Anna live in Bandon, Oregon. They have a son, Corwin Zahn.

Reviews

[Khurram · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a great book. This is the most insight I have had on Thrawn after all these years. In the books, Thrawn always seems to be playing his own long game. Even his own people, the Chiss, do not understand him. Some see greatness in him. Others see great danger.

I actually like this version of Thrawn away from the Imperials. Yes, he is a militery man through and through, but he shows more compassion in his attitude and tactics here. Also, he does an incredible job of mentoring his subordinates. Though he claims not to understand the political games, he earns lifelong loyalty from those who are close to him.

I also like that older school touches. The pathfinders and the Chiss' own version of them who "find" new hyperspace routes to get to certain destinations quicker. Extended Universe will remember the brother and sister found their way in the Golden Age of the Sith.

This book follows a younger, slightly less experienced but brilliant Thrawn doing what he needs to do to save the Ascendancy. There are also his older memories of him coming up the ranks. There are also awesome side characters that I really hope are explored further. A couple of the have made a appearance in other Disney era Star Wars book and series already. Another brilliant touch was linking this book to Thrawn Alliances. It was a small touch, but to a continuity lover like me, it was awesome, and hearing the conversation from Thrawn's was a nice touch. I am really looking forward to the next book in the trilogy, and I want to know the final fate of Thrawn post Rebels.

[Blaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Art mirrors the soul from which tactics arise. One can see in artwork the strengths and weaknesses of those who created it. In fact, if one has a sufficient variety of art to study, one can extend and extrapolate to the strengths, weaknesses, and tactics of entire cultures.

I greatly enjoyed the original Thrawn trilogy when Mr. Zahn wrote it back in the 1990s. It was a fine set of sequels to the original movie trilogy, and Grand Admiral Thrawn was a great character. And I also really liked the new Thrawn trilogy, though I didn’t love how it ended, leaving way too many plot lines unresolved in deference to the Star Wars Rebels television show.

Did we need a prequel trilogy? Probably not, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a good read. It bears many similarities to the earlier novels. It’s elaborately plotted, telling one story in the present and a related one from the past in alternating chapters. Captain/Commander Thrawn (Sherlock Thrawn to his friends) remains a great character. But I thought the supporting characters here—former skywalker Thalias, Admiral Ar'alani, General Yiv—were unusually strong in this novel. And the introduction of the nine ruling families of the Chiss Ascendancy provided an extra layer of political intrigue, a la Dune or Game of Thrones, that will hopefully continue to payoff over the rest of the trilogy. A fun read.

[Jonathan Koan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'll be completely honest, I was not looking for this book. When it was announced in October of 2019 that Timothy Zahn would be writing a new prequel trilogy, I was not excited. I loved Thrawn and Thrawn Treason and liked Thrawn Alliances well enough, but I was looking more towards Thrawn's future than his past. Surely Zahn can't tell a compelling story yet again.

But he did! And it was amazing!

The first thing I'll say about this book is that it's the most "Timothy Zahn" Star Wars book that he's written. That statement might seem clunky, but hear me out. When Zahn writes a Star Wars book, he changes his style a little bit, and it's obvious that he's writing for the Star Wars audience. When he writes his own books, he has this overtone of Sci-Fi and military based storytelling that isn't in his normal Star Wars novels. If you take out the Star Wars elements of this book(which are surprisingly few), then this really just works as a generic Sci-Fi book by Timothy Zahn, only it's really written excellently.

I loved the characters in this book. Thrawn is always great, but I loved his interactions wtih Ar'alani, Samakro, Thalias, Che'ri, and Ba'kif. It's so funny how everyone underestimates Thrawn, or just assumes everything will go poorly, and then Thrawn outwits them.

I'll focus first on Ar'alani. I feel like there is a sibling relationship between Thrawn and Ar'alani. I love how she really trusts him and recognizes his potential, and even puts her own reputation and future on the line because she trusts him. There were times where I wondered if their plot, particularly their "Memories" would lead to romanticism between them, but that didn't happen. Instead it was more a brother-sister relationship, which was awesome!

I loved how Samakro got passed over by Thrawn, and yet he didn't allow his personal feelings to be known to the crew. He really worked as a good "first mate", and gave me some great Chakotay vibes.

Thalias is still somewhat of an enigma to me. I assume we'll see more of her story in book two, but I thought they were going in a certain direction with her character, and I was kind of right, but not completely.

One thing about this book that is unique is it's humor. There is a lot of situational humor and funny dialogue that isn't normally present in Timothy Zahn books. I literally laughed out loud at some of the humor, which doesn't normally happen with me and Star Wars novels.

I'm also continually amazed at Zahn's ability to write mystery. He writes Thrawn great here, as the Sherlock of the series, and Yiv serves as a good "Moriarty" of this book. Everytime Thrawn was backed in a corner, I knew he'd get out, but I never knew how, and was surprised every single time!

Overall, I loved this book. It was exactly what I hoped for and more. I was blindsighted by how good it was and now I can't wait until book two(which I assume comes out next year). Anyway, You did a fantastic job Zahn. 9.3 out of 10! (This now makes my top 5 for the Canon, I'm just not sure where).

P.S. Del Rey, thank you for the Dramatis Personae. It helps a lot. Please include it in future books. Thanks.

[fatherofdragons113 · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF with about 100 pages remaining.

I've seen that my opinions on this book kind of make me an outlier as it appears lots of people really enjoyed this book and I'm so happy it's so beloved, but this book did NOT vibe with me at all.

Let me start by saying I'm reading all the Star Wars canon (and some legends) in chronicle order. I haven't read the other Thrawn books, only seen him in Rebels, so I went into this book with basically no background knowledge on Thrawn's origins or the Ascendancy.

I want to start with what I did like about this book. I love Thrawn as a character. I love his intellect and deduction abilities. I would feel completely safe in his charge. The book did a good job at expanding his character. I loved seeing that he's not a ruthless monster/killer (not that I ever thought that) he just does what he thinks is the most logical choice. I liked the character of Ar' alani and hope to see her again in the future.

To me, the plot of this book was almost entirely invisible. There was nothing really going on except a bunch of different planets are being "possibly" conquered and occupied and none of that was intriguing enough for me. Thrawn is obviously disliked by the government, and again, it was high enough stakes or interesting enough to really capture my imagination.

All the different names just seemed unnecessary and confusing. I read one review where the reader said that this was supposed to be a misdirection, but I always knew who was who because of the list of characters in the beginning of the book.

The dialogue is cringe and unnatural. So much of it seemed like it could've been exposition, but if it were then there would have been no need for dialogue or characters at all. This book could easily have just been a wiki page about Thrawn or the Ascendancy and I would've gotten the same information with the same amount of gusto (in my opinion).

This book to me is very militaristic and while that's fine, I just don't vibe with that type of storytelling. Yes, I understand this is Star WARS, but there's so much more to the universe and the mythology/lore. If it was all space ship battles and lasers, I wouldn't be here in the first place.

Despite the DNF and one star-rating, I will probably try to read the second book to see if it's any better. I skipped to the end and saw some things that were intriguing, but all of that was drowned by this very slow paced and boring plot.

AMENDMENT: I did look forward to see the parts including Anakin. It seemed interesting, but didn't really go anywhere. I read that this particular scene is also a flashback scene in a later Thrawn book, so here's hoping that book is much better!

*I tabbed seven passages that interested me, almost all of them regarding Thrawn's personality*

[Ethan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thurfian studied him out of the corner of his eye. The boy might bring glory to the Mitth, the way Ba'kif thought. He might just as easily bring shame and regret. That was how the universe operated.
But either way, it was done.
Vurawn was no more. In his place now stood Thrawn.

Beyond the edge of the galaxy lie the Unknown Regions, known collectively to those who inhabit them as the Chaos. Strange creatures inhabit these famously impassable regions, and many ships have been lost trying to explore them. The Chaos is home to several planets and systems, among them the planet of Csilla, homeworld of the Chiss Ascendancy. The events of Chaos Rising revolve around this world, but the reader is taken throughout the Chaos in this page-turning first entry in legendary Star Wars author Timothy Zahn's new Thrawn Ascendancy trilogy.

In Chaos Rising, Csilla is attacked. At around the same time, a refugee ship is found floating in the Chaos, with everyone aboard murdered in cold blood, and no discernible motive to be found. Are the events related? Who is responsible? Seeking answers, and forced to navigate a minefield of obstacles which include inter-family power struggles within the Ascendancy's Nine Ruling Families and political maneuvering by the Syndicure (the Ascendancy's supreme ruling body), is the brilliant military tactician known in some circles by his full name of Mitth'raw'nuruodo, but more commonly by his shortened name of Thrawn.

Yes, that Thrawn. Grand Admiral Thrawn. Arguably the most famous Star Wars character ever created outside of one of the films. This book explores his early days within the Chiss Ascendancy as Captain Thrawn, as he faces off against perhaps the greatest and most cunning threat the Chiss Ascendancy has ever seen...

This book features rich worldbuilding, masterfully weaving together the stories of families and their histories, palace intrigue to rival that of the Dune Chronicles, governmental systems, and fully fleshed out cultures and civilizations. The collective whole was quite impressive. I also loved the Memories chapters, which further build Thrawn's character by showing rare vulnerabilities and lapses in his decision-making, making him more personable.

On the negative side, the story lagged at times, and the combat scenes at the end, which most of the book had tangibly built towards, felt rushed, and were ultimately disappointing. It also became a bit tedious to read scenes involving Thrawn after a while. He's a lot like Spock in Star Trek: cold, calculating, always trying to gain and display superior technical knowledge and advantage in every interaction he ever has with anyone. This was even alluded to once or twice in the book:

For that matter, why was Thrawn even going through this logic puzzle with her, especially this way? It was like the schoolwork classes she'd had to take as an occasionally reluctant sky-walker, or the same classes she was now having to inflict on an even more reluctant Che'ri.

Criticisms aside, this book is definitely a page-turner. The characters are superb, the worldbuilding is top-notch, and the occasionally tedious Thrawn is otherwise masterfully realized. It's one of the better Star Wars books I've read, and I can't wait to read book two in the series.

Recommended!

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thrawn gonna Thrawn and Zahn gonna Zahn.

Readers of Star Wars novels owe Timothy Zahn a massive debt. His was the creative genius initially entrusted with the continuation of the story beyond Return of the Jedi with his Heir to the Empire trilogy set five years after the films ended. He discharged this faith ably, creating many of the "Legends" books' most notable characters along the way, including the one front and centre once more here: military tactician and art historian extraordinaire, Mitth'raw'nuruodo.



I've commented previously that inconsistencies in Thrawn's characterization between his Legends and Canon
incarnations are understandable (two different timelines and all that), and also that if anyone has the right to tinker with who Thrawn is and what he is capable of it's arguably his own creator, Zahn himself.

That said, the Thrawn we get here, just as in the previous three canon books beginning with the aptly titled Thrawn, is presented once more like a gifted space Sherlock (now with a touch of James Bond, if James were clueless around women) who acts out of loyalty and an overriding concern for the security of a Chiss Ascendancy that clearly doesn't trust or understand him...quite at odds with the ruthless animated Thrawn of the Rebels TV series who once forced a factory worker to test ride a hoverbike he had sabotaged until it blew up under him.

Which is the true Thrawn? The noble guardian willing to make the hard choices for the greater good, or the sadistic military strongman willing to achieve victory at all costs? No definitive answers can be found here, though one suspects which of the two the author favours for his creation.



In fairness, there are sequences of true interest and quality here, including some trademark riveting Zahn space battles and finally some insight into the nature of the Chiss civilization, family structure and homeworld, as well as how and why the Chiss had been heretofore so isolated from the mainstream galactic stream of history. SOME of these details require quite a bit of suspension of disbelief, though. It is shown that the Chiss have trade dealings with outsiders regularly, so how is it their technology is so different from that of the Republic in "Lesser Space"? Why no droids? Perhaps answers will come later, but it was an oddity.

I will read the next book and also enjoy it, but this is really establishing itself as almost an Elseworlds continuity at this rate. Which is fine by me...so long as it is artistically done.

NOTE: for those who haven't read Thrawn: Alliances Chapter 17 might seem quite incomplete and random, which is unfortunate. For me it almost felt like the main characters of one space opera crossed the studio lot to briefly hang out in another movie altogether.

[Eric Allen · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book does a very, very poor job of justifying its own existence.

We already had a Thrawn origin story. It came out just 3 years ago. And it was better than this one in pretty much every way. It's like the difference between Terminator 2 and Terminator 3. They are basically the same movie. They have the same story and plot structure. They hit all the same beats at generally the same time. But one of them is a beloved classic, while the other is a forgettable mess that wasn't worth the price of admission. Chaos Rising attempted to do what Thrawn already did 3 years ago, but it was inferior to Thrawn in every way. The side characters were less entertaining. The subplots were boring and kind of pointless. And Thrawn actually focused on THRAWN, and his rise within the Imperial military, where he's more of a side character in Chaos Rising, and much of his rise within the Chiss military is glossed over.

If you're just going to tell the same story again, at least try to put a little effort into making it stand out in SOME way. It didn't. It really, really didn't. Chaos Rising was the Terminator 3 to Thrawn's Terminator 2.

A few other things here. The side characters in this book are both really annoying, and really pointless. There isn't a single chapter in this book from Thrawn's point of view. Instead we're subjected to several navigators and former navigators that just aren't all that interesting. In fact. This book doesn't really seem to even have a protagonist. There are people in it. These people do things. But the book isn't ABOUT any of them.

This series has "Skywalkers" aplenty. Using the word "Skywalker" instead of "navigator" was kind of really annoying. SURELY there was a better word to use instead?

And one last thing. There are two storylines in this book. One told through flashbacks about Thrawn's rise within the Chiss military, and the present day about Thrawn matching wits with a local warlord. The problem is that these two storylines are basically the same. Sure, every flashback chapter is labeled as such, BUT, if you're not paying very close attention they can bleed into each other, and it makes it hard to keep track of which one is which. They're so similar that, at times, it's hard to tell if you're in a flashback or present day at all.

This one was a pretty big dud for me. It's the same story we got just 3 short years ago from this author, just not as good in every way. I was really, really bored throughout most of it. There's only so far you can stretch the Thrawn does something crazy, explains how it was brilliant instead, then likens it unto art premise, and it's really starting to wear thin. Zahn seems content to just wallow along in his comfort zone, rather than doing anything new with the character. Which is sad, because behind Darth Vader, Thrawn is my second favorite Star Wars villain of all time.

4 Thrawn books in the last 3 years. 2 good. 1 terrible. 1 mediocre verging on bad. Not a great ratio there.

[Jim C · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actual rating is 3.5 stars.

This is the first book of a series and for the most part a prequel to the books already published about this character. I say mostly because there is one scene that we saw in greater detail in the previously published books. This book is twofold as we see Thrawn realize that the Chiss society might be in trouble by an invasion. We also get a look into Thrawn's past.

Like the book my enjoyment of this book was twofold. I absolutely loved the look into Thrawn's past. We get to see how he excels at the military arena but his political nature is so poor. With this contrast Thrawn alienates people while also endearing people to him. I really liked this look into his character. Also, with the look into Thrawn's past, we get to know about the Chiss society and I enjoyed the look into it. The part I did not enjoy was the present time setting of this story and Thrawn dealing with the potential enemy and invasion. I never felt any rush from it. I believe the problem was the antagonist and all the different factions involved in the plot. The author really didn't build them up and I never cared for any of them. The only thing I did care in this plot was the fate of two minor characters but it wasn't enough for me to enjoy the main plot.

I enjoyed this book. Parts of it I loved and I kept on wondering when we would get back to these parts. Unfortunately these parts were not the main focus. The main focus was just ho-hum for me.I will read the next book in the series but I have noticed a pattern with these "Thrawn" novels. There are parts I do love but the main story isn't doing it for me.

[Steph LaPlante · Rating 5 out of 5]

With the release of the second book in the Thrawn Ascendancy series, I decided to reread the first novel and write probably the most self serving review I have ever written, you can find it here.

Thrawn is my absolute favourite Star Wars character.





YES!! Timothy Zahn did it again.

I am so happy. I really really enjoyed this book. It was filled with information about the Chiss and Thrawns past, it was exactly what I wanted. I am very excited for the next installment in the series.

[Kyle Larson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full review coming but the less you know the better. Feel like Timothy Zahn had this story in his head for decades.

[Reverenddave · Rating 1 out of 5]

Honestly couldn’t tell you why I even try these anymore. Zahn seems to have lost his command of this universe after Visions of the Future and Disney seems to be doing its level best to turn all aspects of the SW universe into boring, poorly constructed trash.

Thrawn and the initial trilogy was so incredible to me as a little kid I’ve kept returning to these books but it might finally be time to stop pretending they are ever gonna capture any of that old exciting world and character creation.

[Ozro Davis · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've been an avid reader of Star Wars books since they decided to do a canon reset, and if there's been one criticism that's popped up time and time again, it's when books are too safe. They often clearly just exist to tie in to whatever movie or show is coming up without offering much story of their own. That was partly the case for Zahn's return to Star Wars with Thrawn a few years ago, which served mostly as an intro for the character we saw in Star Wars Rebels, though it ended up being a solid read, and still stands as the best of these new Thrawn books.

To its credit, this new book (with the classicly ridiculous full title of Star Wars: Thrawn Ascendency: Chaos Rising) does not fall into that trap. It's a new story and setting, almost completely separate from what's come before. So it's got that going for it. Unfortunately, there's not much else.

A confessional side note: I've never read the original Thrawn trilogy. I was three when it came out, and while I've read dozens of Star Wars books by this point, I've still not experience the so-called holy grails of licensed fiction. So I have no attachment to the classic character of Thrawn or Zahn's writing. I don't want to judge other people's likes, but I feel like there's a lot of rose-colored glasses going on for this character, because I just don't see the appeal. I feel like the emperor has no clothes on.

Simply put - Thrawn is a pretty bad character.

His appeal is "Sherlock Holmes in Star Wars," which is interesting enough. But the writing isn't clever enough to back that up. When Sherlock solves a mystery, he walks us through these things that we as readers never noticed, but kind of make sense when we're told about them. Thrawn's oft-repeated schtick, though, is deducing how a character - or even entire civilization - will behave in battle simply by looking at their art. An example:

Your sculptures show your fondness for wide-spaced combinations, particularly three- and four-coil patterns. Your favorite subjects indicate the short attacks, hesitation feints, and aggression. The particular shape of open areas shows how you compose your feints, and the angular style suggests a spinning attack would be unexpected and disconcerting enough to slow your response.

That's after he spent a few minutes looking at another character's art. It's not as ridiculous here as it was in Thrawn: Treason, but it's still just a dumb gimmick that I simply can't get over. Even in a series that has a magic frog puppet teach a farm boy how to lift a spaceship with his mind. There's no real world anchor for me like there are in Sherlock's mysteries, so it feels like lazy writing to just tell us that there are these supposed links between how someone paints and how they'll conduct battle in space.

Possibly more importantly, where Sherlock shines when played off of the more normal Watson, Thrawn really only works when there are other characters present. This has been true through all four novels - Thrawn is rarely the best part of his own books. He's a character with nearly no weakness, because his absurd analysis can overcome any problem. His one apparent weakness is a lack of political understanding, which we only really know about because no fewer than five characters point it out to the reader throughout the book. There's hardly any actual consequence for this flaw, but Zahn makes sure to point out that it exists repeatedly. And while Sherlock's lack of social awareness makes him frustrating but endearing (at times), Thrawn's just makes him dull.

Outside of a drab main character, the book's plot simply isn't interesting. After nearly 400 pages, I couldn't really tell you exactly what happened in it beyond "Thrawn stopped some nearby aliens from taking over another planet." There's no consequence, very little drama, and ultimately nothing is said about... well, much of anything. Zahn's writing is dry and extremely repetitive (a quick search of my ebook shows at least fifty instance of characters saying the word "perhaps"). Like many tie-in fiction books, his writing simply tells a story but doesn't do much else. Compare to the more recent Alphabet Squadron trilogy, where Alexander Freed uses his characters to explore the morality of war and humanity at deeper than just a surface level.

The book is at its best when focusing on a few sideplots. There's a running set of a dozen or so flashback chapters that detail the main characters' backstories, and the story in them is MUCH more interesting than the main plot. Unfortunately, it's only told in splices and comes across disjointed. There are also some good character moments between some side characters where Thrawn isn't even present. In fact, almost any scene where he's not present is more engaging than the rest.

Possibly the only other thing keeping my interest was Zahn's exploration into the Chiss culture. Star Wars doesn't often really dig into alien cultures and customs, so that was great to see, and there's some really cool stuff here. However, it often came across as something that could've just been told in a textbook, which isn't particularly fun to read.

I've clearly let this character get under my skin. Maybe it's because I've heard for more than 20 years how cool he is. But after four novels and two seasons as the antagonist on a TV show, I'm not seeing it.

[Eli - Bookworm & Vine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let’s go Thrawn!

[Braxiatel · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book sets up some interesting ideas, but it seems like Disney basically told Zahn to sit outside of the Star Wars sandpit or else.

These books have just been going downhill in terms of actual scifi creativity and stakes/impact on the actual canon Star Wars universe, since Disney deleted the EU, since all the novels have zero canon impact.

The original Thrawn Trilogy was rough but interesting 90s scifi with some pulpy and yet enjoyably dumb aspects. The Hand of Thrawn was interesting as it had a bit of that Asimov Second Foundation flair. Outbound Flight and Choice of One etc were interesting character/mystery pieces.

The nucanon novels play it way too safe and going back in time to see Thrawn's history is entertaining but I would rather literally see Thrawn's future character development and not whatever nucanon filler Disney has in mind next.

I guess part of the reason why tie in novels have such a bad reputation is because the authors can't do anything outside of their allocated block which makes them inferior to regular novels and this story epitomises that.

Half of the reason why Thrawn is an interesting character is because he's a morally grey antagonist with the Imperials and both the protags and antags are put through some hard choices. In the Legends version, it's interesting to see characters that I root for vs Thrawn that I root for and the sacrifices that they both make in spite of it. A lot of the nucanon books take all the teeth out of the actual interesting conflict.

Since Thrawn's no longer in charge of the whole operation and is just another Grand Admiral, well a lot of the blame for the things he does is just shifted up the command chain. You don't really get to see him wage war on the scale and with the fallout of the originals. Instead we get a lot more internal conflict and red tape.

And the prequel stories... These are more like just why? Sure, it's interesting and often heartwarming to see Thrawn interact with the other characters and the mystery is interesting, but there is absolutely zero danger is involved (since we obviously can't cross any canonical lines) and there isn't really any development on top of what we've seen further down his timeline.

To some extent, a lot of these nucanon books lack everything that made me fall in love with the stories in the first place. Sure, you'll get some filler and some interesting standalone adventure that will return to status quo. Zahn writes an interesting story - but it's not nearly as interesting as if the authors had free rein and all the interesting characters weren't being saved for the next failure of a Star Wars movie.

[julia ☆ [owls reads] · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars!

*

"Uncertainty can be the most difficult and frightening of mental states."

Excuse me, I love Thrawn so so so much.

Chaos Rising was honestly fascinating. This very much felt like a story Timothy Zahn had been waiting a really long time to tell--and he did so perfectly! The insight into Thrawn's early years through flashbacks was so well done and intriguing and I loved how they related to what was going on in present time.

Thrawn has always been such a mysterious figure so it was lovely to get to learn about his life with the Chiss. There was so much that was new to me and the way the world-building was developed just made me more and more interested in this part of the Star Wars universe. The political side to the Ascendancy was also so well written, especially when Thrawn is so Thrawn about it lol

And the tension! The danger! Thrawn's beautiful mind! I honestly have no words to describe how much I loved the battle scenes and Thrawn's plan being put into effect and how annoying it was to other people. Reading about how everything unfolded and how Thrawn's expectations were perfectly met was so!!! good!!! I just love how smart and competent he is, thank you.

And the ending left me filled with curiosity over what's coming next for Thrawn. Oh, and I feel like I need to mention that one really popular Star Wars character makes a tiny cameo in this and it's a good nod to one of the other Thrawn series :D

*

Series: #1 in the Star Wars: Thrawn Ascendancy series.
POV: Told from multiple POVs! And it has flashbacks :D
Cliffhanger: Not really.
HEA: Nope.
Up Next: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55213748-untitled.

[H (trying to keep up with GR friends) Balikov · Rating 4 out of 5]

"“The Nikardun are a serious threat, General,” Thrawn said quietly. “Possibly the most serious the Ascendancy has faced in recent history. General Yiv is competent and charismatic, with the ability to both conquer and enlist those in his path.”"

Timothy Zahn is a prolific sci-fi author. I have enjoyed many of his books. Back when Disney wasn’t controlling the Star Wars Universe, he was already writing what have become known as legacy novels. One of his characters was a blue-skinned humanoid of immense intelligence and capabilities named Thrawn (of the Chiss Ascendancy)

One of the takeaways from the earlier two series is that: no matter where Thrawn is, he stands outside the common and conventional. This makes him an outsider that few feel that they understand (and far fewer actually do).

"“Why are we talking tactics in an art gallery?”
“Because the one is reflected in the other,” Thrawn said. “Art mirrors the soul, from which tactics arise. One can see in artwork the strengths and weaknesses of those who created it. In fact, if one has a sufficient variety of art to study, one can extend and extrapolate to the strengths, weaknesses, and tactics of entire cultures.”"

He brings with him some special skills and abilities that are usually seen as valuable but he also can be “high maintenance.”

"“Very well,” she said. “Set course for Naporar; best speed we’ve got.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Wutroow said.
“And once we’re on the way,” Ar’alani added, handing back the questis, “have the weapons crews start full-service scans on their equipment.”
“You think there’ll be combat at the other end of this trip?”
“Thrawn’s there,” Ar’alani reminded her. “So, yes, I’d say that’s pretty much guaranteed.”"

So, Zahn likes to surprise his readers; don’t ever assume that you know fully: what is going on; who all are involved; or, their motivation. This is either an annoying style choice or part of the fun. With this third series we continue to go back in time. You, who have read the others, know how this is going to turn out and why. The gold here is the build-out of the Chiss Ascendancy, both culturally and politically….that and the reason for Thrawn being where he was at the start of the last series. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Yes, this is a space opera, yet it packs in a lot of battle scenes and it explains the reason for the first meeting between Thrawn and a key member of the Star Wars pantheon.
3.5*

"No one out here liked the Chiss. At least, no one Qilori had ever met who’d worked with them liked them. It wasn’t just that they considered themselves better than everyone else. Most species had that delusion, after all. No, it was that the Chiss didn’t seem to think there was even anyone else out here for them to feel superior to. They had a strange and infuriating blind spot where the rest of the Chaos was concerned, as if every other species was entirely composed of particularly clever animals or else had been brought into existence solely for the Ascendancy’s benefit."

"The majority of the Syndicure clearly assumed the attack had been a prelude to a more sustained campaign, and once they finished their posturing they would undoubtedly start urging the Defense Force to pull its ships inward for the protection of the major systems. More than that, they would probably insist the Expansionary Defense Fleet likewise withdraw from the borders to augment them. Was that the goal? To keep the Chiss looking inward and not outward? In which case, bowing to the Syndicure’s demand for security would play directly into the enemy’s plans. On the other hand, if the syndics were right about this being the start of a full-fledged campaign, leaving the Espansionary Fleet out in the Chaos could be an equally fatal move. Either way, if they guessed wrong, it would be too late to correct the error by the time they knew the truth."

"If the whole thing goes crash-dive, are you prepared to have their deaths on your conscience?”
“I’m aware of the danger,” Thrawn said. “I would never want the weight of such memories and regrets. But I’m more prepared to see their deaths through my action than I am to put the entire Ascendancy at the same risk through my inaction.”
Ba’kif nodded. He’d thought Thrawn’s answer would be something like that. And unfortunately, he had to agree with him."

"(Thrawn,)“Alliances can shift in warfare, too.”
“But it takes time to move ships and armies around and reconfigure battle lines,” Ar’alani said. “You have that time to adapt to the new landscape. In politics, it’s all done with words and bits of writing. Half an hour of conversation—less than that if there are bribes involved—and everything has changed.”
“I see.” Thrawn took a long breath. “Then I need to study this form of combat. Study it, and master it.”
“That would be helpful,” Ar’alani said."
(But, Thrawn never proves capable of doing so.)

[Aristotle · Rating 4 out of 5]

You do know that Thrawn, make that Grand Admiral Thrawn fought with the dark side.
You do know that Thrawn attacked the New Republic.
You do know that Thrawn sent a group of killers to capture Luke and a pregnant Leia.

With all that i cheered for Thrawn in 'Chaos Rising'. A well told story set before Thrawn encountered the Empire. A prequel to the prequel 'Thrawn'.

What i found the most interesting with this book is Thrawn's relationships with the women in the Chiss Ascendancy.
He treats Ar'alani, Thalias and Che'ri with respect, friendship and patience. Thrawn is a chess grandmaster who sees 20 moves ahead but was never condescending to those around him. I look forward to book 2 and what led to Thrawn joining the Empire.

"Unidentified ship, this is General Anakin Skywalker of the Galactic Republic."
Holy crap!

You do know that Thrawn was killed in The Last Command.

[Chris (horizon_brave) · Rating 1 out of 5]

**As per all of my reviews, I like to preface by saying that I listened to this book in audiobook format. This does indeed slightly skew my rating. I have found that audiobooks, give me a better "relationship" with the characters if done well, but also kills the book for me if narrated poorly. Also due to the nature of listening to the text, names and places may be spelled incorrectly here as I often do not have the physical volume in front of me.

Also, I have written this review in a "rolling updates" style. In that I basically chronicle my reading as I progress. This may make for a jarring and spoilery review so be warned.**

Okay, so I'm coming into this well aware that I'm not exactly in a "Star Wars mood" right now. I read Star Wars Shadowfall earlier this summer and really really liked it, but I dont 'know there's something about knowing that this book was going to be Chiss focused, all Thrawn all the time, that sort of soured me a bit... Plus I'm not exactly in the mood for a pompous, self assured, infinite confidence brimming character.. But hey, let's give it a try. I enjoyed sort of the previous "Imperial Thrawn" trilogy during his time in the Empire. Now we're seeing him as he is helping his people before any of his Imperial time. So this I'd say probably takes place 5 years prior to the first thrawn book? Just a guesstimate. The book starts off with sacraligious tones already..."A Long Time Ago, Beyond a Galaxy Far Far Away..." I'm kidding, it's cute, just hope it's limited to this series...but I like it.

The stage is set with an attack that is launched against the Chiss homeworld of Csilla. The 'senate' and military seem to be one body. Each made of some pretty important families. The Mitth being one of them. They're debating and arguing about how to handle and exact revenge on the sudden attack. So we're introduced to young Thrawn and given a quick 'hands on' about their naming scheme and how the family's house name is the first name of the person.

The book is...slow very slow. And it moves at a pace that is very...Thrawn. The difference however between this and the other three books previously, is that those books were in the more classic Star Wars environment. Here we're dropped into a new setting, and while it's very interesting to see this collective group in the Ascendancy interact with other races and obstacles.. it's just boiling down to a Chiss vs Pirates story.

Also the book is doing something that Zahn is making a habit of, and I'm not sure how I feel about it. The book is bouncing back and forth between time periods and he's been doing this now for a bit, and it's very jarring because the time frames have have very similiarly named characters or in some cases the same characters. And while in the physical copy of the book, the typeset is different, to give you an visual cue as to 'when you are', the audiobook does not have this. The two story lines sort of bleed together, and while I get that it's trying to draw parallels between lessons he learned when he was young, and then the same situations come up when he's older and he can call back, it's getting to be so transparent as to what's trying to be done, it's now a bit over used.

Also I know up top I'd try to not let the narrator bother me, and normally Marc Thompson can do no wrong, but his voice of the little girls is absolutely atrocious. I feel like grown men should not voice little girls..or little children in general, it sounds so awful... Funnily enough the only other book that I had a huge problem with Thompson's narration was the first Thrawn book.

So in current day story, Thrawn is of course brought to the forefront to find the source of this pirate attack. His craft the SpringHawk is provided a Skywalker...oh boy alright this is another rabbit hole...So the Chiss' children who have this '3rd sight' have the ability to navigate the chaos voids of the Unknown Regions. Pretty cool... Well in their language they call them SkyWalkers. It's so weird to hear this normally hallowed name tossed around so loosely about some kids. So this young girl, Che'ri, who's reaching the height of her ability to navigate for the Chiss military is given station on Thrawn's ship. Thrawn is unusually nice to her compared to her other 'masters'. She also has a special caretaker while on board. The female Chiss she's given as ward to, was a former Skywalker as well. Interestingly, she, Thalias, met Thrawn in passing we see during one of the flashback scenes. She's been sort of obsessed ever since. So when she got older she found what ship Thrawn was stationed to and transferred herself there taking the young Chiss girl Che'ri under her tutelage and care. Not sure why yet she's so interested in Thrawn.
We get a lot of scenes between Che'ri and her caretaker Thalias...and not to say this isn't interesting.. but it's so repetitive.... the dialogue is so infuriatingly slow and drawn out, and I get it most kids who are timid speak slower, and it's trying to establish she's uncertain... but I'm losing a lot of caring about her from what little I had to begin with. Even in the bigger story line here....I can't really say I'm even that invested... Okay so the Chiss got attacked,...and now are looking for the attackers. There's nothing here that makes me want to care...that makes me want to find out more. I know Thrawn is just going to outsmart them and toss in some dialogue about art.

Yea so the book is pretty much skating on what I imagined going in. I'm not really impressed here. This is just turning into a showcase for 'how awesome thrawn is at X Y and Z". The flash backs show him doing something awesome, then we see him use that awesome thing in current time. There is nothing here that makes me interested if he'll grow or learn. Worse off, this book is supposed to take place before the previous trilogy, yet he's somehow more cocksure, confident and self assured than he was in those books, which are supposed to take place later in his life. I don't get that feeling. This feels like he's at the height of his intelligence. What I liked about the first books in the prior Trilogy, is that they didn't make him out to be a superhero. That changed with the 3rd book of the trilogy and now seems to be continuing here. I have zero relatable attachment to him. He is a Gary Stu here..

Even the timing in this book is..baffling. Normally I'd really love this..and I admit it did have an aha moment when I realized what was happening..but it's so surrounded by boring, rambling nonsense, I didn't really care as much. So what I'm referring to is the scene that is directly seen in Book II Alliances. So in that book this scene is a flashback. So in book 2, there's a flashback, that has Thrawn meeting Anakin. It's the conversation where Anakin humorously messes up his name. But in that book we saw it from the perspective of Anakin. This time we see it from Thrawn's point of view and it even references his 'copilot' who we never heard from in book two...only referenced. What's really neat is that this was a flash back in Book 2, but it's current day in this book... but this book itself has flash back chapters... so the time lines get pretty confusing.. But yea will fully admit I smiled.

So that tiny moment of joy lasted 5 minutes..and we're back into the dreggs of this utterly boring, completely predictable, and inconsequential book. I'm either just very checked out of Star Wars right now....or I have much less interest in Thrawn than I previously thought. The story spins around and is acting just as a showcase, as always to Thrawn doing everything right and being the best...Which is grating. I will say that there are these momentary 'reminders' especially towards the end, where Zahn attempts to remind us that he has this single flaw of knowing about politics. And I like that..but it's never made into anything. It's always just tossed out. This is the most it's ever been touched on but even still it comes after he did all of his winning and making everyone else look foolish.
This book in particular is so burdened down by exposition. Constant stopping of the flow of any movement is given to just halting and telling us how Thrawn is out maneuvering this opponent. He has to breakdown everything he does so we always know "it was his plan" all along. This is so egregiously silly by the end, when the general is in a standoff with him. The guy monologues in some juvenile completely over the top fashion..and of course Thrawn wins. I can not tell you how cringey this sounded. This quite seriously read like an 8th grader was trying to write a story about a super cool brooding bad ass.

The young girl Cherri here...another annoying and whiny character that I have zero connection to by the end. This book, and I'm shocked to say this, has pretty much cemented my view of this character. That's two very very poor books in a row...which is funny because the first two weren't bad at all. I'm done, I was smiling ear to ear when it was over...

[Filip · Rating 5 out of 5]

This review was originally published over at The Fantasy Hive.

It is a testament to Timothy Zahn’s skill that among all the Force-sensitive warriors and diplomats, among all the scoundrels and morally questionable archaeologists, his is one of a handful of characters that endure as endlessly fascinating. Mitth'raw'nuruodo, better known as Thrawn, was the superb antagonist of the Heir to the Empire trilogy (1991-1993), and a mainstay in the collective imagination of the Star Wars fandom. The striking from cannon of this trilogy (which revitalized the entire franchise, and contributed to George Lucas’s decision to return to a galaxy far, far away) for the sake of Disney’s sequel trilogy was one of the early moments of contention between long-year fans and the Mouse; when Zahn was announced to helm one trilogy (and then another), I do believe old man Ben Kenobi must’ve sensed a million voices cry out in surprise, and then sigh in contentment.

That first trilogy was a little uneven, and more a collection of standalone stories chronicling Thrawn’s rise to power in the Galactic Empire, his partnership with Darth Vader, and his internal struggles to *squints eyes* secure funding for a series of stealth fighter ships by making a wager with Director Krennic and Grand Moff Tarkin, which was then met by some serio—let’s move on, shall we?

I hold Thrawn in such esteem because few characters signify the sci-fi elements of the Star Wars DNA better than he does. The best Thrawn stories, I have always held, are strong enough that they would thrive in a setting different from the Star Wars one. If you were to crop all the important plot points and characters, and only have to do some fine-tuning to make of a franchise novel something unique and original, could you do it? When it comes to most Thrawn books, the answer is a resounding yes. (With the exception of Thrawn: Alliances, that is, which incidentally is the weakest of Zahn’s Chiss-centred works.) These novels are enhanced by being in the Star Wars universe, not dependent on it.

Chaos Rising is a return to form for Zahn*. The first in three novels which chronicle Thrawn’s ascendance in his native Chiss Ascendancy (you didn’t think I would resist, did you?), this does exactly what you want a Star Wars novel to do after the horrible dog’s breakfast** that was the sequel trilogy. It expands the fricking universe in ways that are beyond engaging, while offering a whole new look at our title character. One character I was crazy about in the Thrawn: Treason novel makes her return here – Admiral Ar’alani, whose personal history with Senior Captain Thrawn goes far deeper than I dared hope. She’s one of the main PoV characters in this one, and the novel is all the better for every sentence spent through her perspective; Ar’alani is almost a foil to Thrawn in some ways. Though incapable of seeing what he sees (Thrawn is a tactical genius, capable of understanding both the strategy and tactics of other species by studying their art and philosophy), Ar’alani excels at seeing through the minefield that is Ascendancy politics, and her own insights into military matters are no small thing. Through an unlikely friendship with the more junior officer, Ar’Alani proves an invaluable ally in the political machinations taking place against Thrawn.

One of the consistent points of Thrawn’s characterization across thirty years of books, comics and even animation has been his inability to process the world of political intrigue. In Chaos Rising, there’s no end to the Chiss’ blunders. Add to that the complex hierarchical order of the Ascendancy, with its nine ruling families plotting and conniving against each other for greater power, and you will begin to see how great a blind spot Thrawn’s political ineptitude is.

To offset this slap-down I delivered, let’s look to a consistently portrayed strength of the Chiss tactician. He has always been an excellent teacher, offering leading questions and gentle nudges to those who serve with him, guiding them to seeing a problem and figuring out its solution. It’s an ever-engaging dynamic that earns Thrawn the loyalty of those that surround him. This time around, I most enjoyed his taking the young Chiss girl Chirri under his tutelage, teaching the skywalker to fly. Yes, you read that right – skywalker is a title in the Ascendancy, reserved for young children capable of guiding vessels through the chaos of hyperspace. They do so through the Force—though they have no skill in manipulating it otherwise.

Half a dozen other characters make for a memorable cast of allies and adversaries to Thrawn, most of them Chiss. Zahn does some interesting worldbuilding for the Ascendancy, which renders them to life while enriching Thrawn himself, making of him something of a…maverick, I believe, is a word one antagonistic aristocra uses to describe him. The villain of this piece is General Yiv the Benevolent, an all-around pleasant chap who has no dictatorial tendencies at all and seeks to promote peace and—yes—benevolence throughout the galaxy.

Just kidding. Yiv is no push-over. The nefarious Nikardune’s tyrannical leader, he is a  commander of great skill equaled only by his pride, and someone comfortable with working in the shadows at the edges of Ascendancy space. His threat is immense, and Thrawn’s recognition of that thread places the two on a collision course that dominates Chaos Rising and never, ever disappoints.

As always, Thrawn’s tactical prowess takes centre stage. Set pieces offer not a single dull moment, and the sound effects Star Wars audiobooks implement do not fail to make any of the half a dozen engagements between Chiss and other alien species climactic and thrilling.

A pleasant surprise in this piece has to do with the humour Zahn deploys – it hits all the marks, and I didn’t quite expect that. It’s not that Zahn’s previous novels are devoid of humour, but it has never stood out the way it does here. Whenever Thrawn himself cracked a few jokes, I was wheezing.

If you’re looking for Marc Thompson to give a bad performance, keep looking. His Thrawn continues to be the defining performance for the character *scoffs at Rebels*, and Thompson never fails to imbue the wide cast with life. Ar’alani and Thalias are both splendidly done, the former’s performance a hundred percent consistent with what Thompson did in Treason; the latter is just a phenomenal new character, and I am eager to see where her personal story, so intertwined with Thrawn’s, will take her.

Chaos Rising had me nerding out so hard. I’m not ashamed to admit, I have a special place in my tiny black heart for Thrawn and Star Wars both, and this novel offered the best of both. I’m certain to relisten many a memorable section of the audiobook – the dialogue, combat and characterization warrant it.

*Especially if you’ve recently read Pawn (Sibyl’s War #01), as I did, earlier this summer.

**I was aiming for a synonym to ‘clusterfuck,’ because profanity is so bad, you guys, and turns out, this is a thing! I know!

If you're interested in some spoiler-heavy lingering questions I've got, you should read my semi-regular weekend column, Saturday Star Wars!

[Christopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chaos Rising gives us a look at the Rise of Thrawn and his rise through the ranks of the Chiss military! This gives us a look at how Thrawn went about gaining his ranks and developing his strategies as well as taking on the challenge of his art obsession etc but we also get to see how the Chiss go about doing things both within the military and within the civilians of the Chiss which are ruled by Nine families with other below them in the social pecking order all routinely interfering in military matters! The families such as the Mitth, Zarr etc are all brilliantly complex and you never know who side that they are really on so adds to the tones of mystery throughout the books and ties in with books other tones of adventure and action brilliantly! The same time due to the nature of this structure means that many of military with ranks below Commodore have somewhat divided loyalties! This makes Chaos Rising a great tangle of obligations for its characters that prove intrinsic to the plot and Thrawn's ambitions to rise in the military!

Thrawn is as complex as ever with the various families all recognising him and either lauding him or running in terror from him about what he might do to the Chiss! This adds in brilliantly to the already tangled nature of Chiss policies that to his friends like Admiral Ar'alani, General Ba'kif etc with his who continuously seem to have eye roll at what Thrawn is going to pull out of the hat next! General Yiv as the bad guy trying to bring down the Chiss Ascendancy with his Nikardun Alliance which is busily swallowing up civilizations like the Vak, Paccosh etc! This makes for a great battle of will as the Chiss families are trying to block Thrawn so the situation that Thrawn is dealing with is spiralling out of control! How Thrawn and Ar'alani deal with this is brilliantly handled and will keep you on the edge of your seat from the start!

Chaos Rising is filled with an epic cast of characters to Thrawn's colleagues in the military such as Ar'alani and General Ba'kif to the former Skywalker Thalias and her entanglements with the family of Mitth and her own entanglements with Thrawn are brilliantly done and how these two characters developing the way they are is brilliantly done and also sets up new plotlines! We also get appearances from angry Jedi Anakin which neatly ties into events that we see in other books!
This also happens to illustrate that while Thrawn is busily getting to know the Jedi he leaves a a kid in orbit namely Che'ri but she is independent and a Skywalker so I don't think Thrawn will get in to much trouble! Che'ri herself shows that is capable of anything Chaos Rising really works on her character, Thalias and the others and set up future plot for them! At the same time the military officers like Samakro, Kharill etc with Samakro doing the first officer job like for Thrawn like Chakotay on Star Trek Voyager, Ivanova on Babylon 5 etc but gradually having himself realise that is the real deal! This adds to the great character development that we see from the start with with all the characters such as Thrawn, Ar'alani all getting developed! Ar'alani really shows what she is made of from the start as well and her relationship with Thrawn is a brother sistster relationship from we can see and their own causal nature with each other even when bypassing ranks is brilliantly done and you are constantly get a feeling their bond where they make a great team which really add to Chaos Rising's tones of adventure, action etc !

Chaos Rising pace is epic from the beginning! It never lets up from the attack on the Chiss homeworld to Thrawn's and Ar'alani's ruthless investigation of what General Yiv activities really are! The fact that Yiv is up to no good in the neighbourhood is also neatly handled as he is an opponent that like Thrawn does not reveal all of his cards at once! The use off different time period s to show how character got to where they are and where they are going in neatly handled as well and gives us insight into what makes the characters tick and what their future actions will be! This all makes for a brilliantly epic book that never lets up from the start and will keep you guessing from the start!

Chaos Rising does not let up from the start with the pace coming brilliantly! The Attack on the Chiss homeworld is rebelled brutally leaving an epic mystery that again adds to the tone of Chaos Rising, The heroics are all up there on the page as the Chiss military under General Ba'kif, Ar'alani, Thrawn etc swings into action pulling off classic maneuvers and new ones outsmarting superior numbers, Family entanglements that stretch loyalties throughout, word building as Thrawn and Ar'alani set out to make new contacts, explore the universe three dimensional characters as we learn more about our characters their origins and where they are going, adventure as Thrawn, Ar'alani come across more alien races and action! Brilliant Plots, Edge of the Seat Adventure and Action! Crisp High Five! Get it When You Can! :D

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audiobook review
Marc Thompson does a fantastic job narrating this fun adventure. I still don't get why Thrawn is as bad at politics as he is, but still a wonderful character. He is surprisingly good at teaching children in an absolutely adorable scene. He's still Thrawn though and will still use you as a chess piece. His friendship with Ar'alani is amazing. Thalias is a fun addition, but not sure why she needed to have some stalker behavior. Hopefully she's fine with just being a trusted friend of his. He's not the dating type, or the marrying type either. He's the oblivious to the fact that you're flirting with him type.

Original Review
Overall a very fun and enjoyable read. Though the writing wasn't as crisp and clean as I've come to expect from a Timothy Zahn novel. Love learning about Chiss culture. But really, no Thrass? No including his brother, the Mycroft to his Sherlock? A mention of an older sister he misses, but not his older brother. Hopefully in future books we get him back. Loved the characters, though there were some pacing issues.

[ScottIsANerd (GrilledCheeseSamurai) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this in one sitting because, yes, it sucked me in that much.

I also really liked that pretty much 90% of the characters in this book were alien. Definitely a great Star Wars read. :)

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m a simple person with simple needs

[Adah Udechukwu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chaos Rising was good but they were moment when the novel dragged on or lost its edge.

[Manveer · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5ish rounded up.
An interesting read with two interwoven narratives that sheds light on the origins of one of the most infamous and fascinating characters of the entire Star Wars continuum.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chaos Rising is the first book in Timothy Zahn’s new Thrawn Ascendancy trilogy, and it’s off to a good start for Thrawn fans. In this adventure, readers get a deeper look in the Chiss Ascendancy, their politics, how their military works, their allies and enemies, and another peek into Thrawn’s past. Zahn weaves together an enjoyable and intriguing military sci-fi adventure as Thrawn and several other key Chiss characters navigate the dangers of the Unknown Regions in order to protect the Chiss people. In doing so, Thrawn comes up against a dangerous alien threat and has to pit his strategic genius to outsmart them.

First off, if you’re a Thrawn fan, you’re going to want to check this book out. The book dives a bit into Thrawn’s past, tells a story set during The Clone Wars, and weaves in the other Thrawn books to tell a new chunk of Thrawn’s life. In this book, you see a Thrawn who is skilled but still learning. He’s not completely confident, and he does make some mistakes here and there, especially when it comes to politics. Furthermore, it dives into how the Chiss culture, government and military works. Readers will learn a lot more about the Chiss, as well as the other alien species in their area of space. On top of that, the book sets up the trilogy for a new villain that threatens the Chiss. All of it is compelling stuff for Thrawn fans that you will not want to miss out on.

For those who are more interested in other characters, Zahn does a nice job of balancing Thrawn out with Ar’alani. This isn’t her first appearance, as she also appeared in Outbound Flight, Thrawn, Thrawn: Treason and elsewhere. However, this is the first time I’ve really gotten invested with the character. By exploring her backstory more, and showing how she rose up the ranks with Thrawn, it adds a ton of depth and interest. It’s enough to make you want to go back and read those other books to remind you of what she’d done previously. But she’s not the only other character that steals the spotlight from Thrawn. There’s also Thalias, a new character that gets a lot of page time as she explores her place in the galaxy. Thalias is a former sky-walker who decides to become a caretaker, a person who takes care of sky-walkers while they’re deployed, and thus ends up on a lot of missions with Thrawn. Alongside Thalias is Che’ri, the young sky-walker she’s in charge of. These characters help explore other aspects of the Chiss, as well providing some different viewpoints and character personalities. While Thrawn’s cunning can be interesting, it’s nice to have some more normal characters who are exceptional in their own ways. Together, they all strike a nice balance for the story.

The story itself takes place before, during, and after Thrawn: Alliances Clone Wars storyline. In that book, there were two storylines, one following Thrawn and Anakin, the other Thrawn and Vader. Chaos Rising actually collides into the one storyline before splitting back off to show readers what happened afterwards. There are also chapters entitled “Memories” that flashback to previous key events in Thrawn’s life, from his adoption by the Mitth family, to one of the events that caused him to have a falling out with Chiss favor. It’s a little odd at first as the story jumps around, but it quickly starts to aid the story as it yields valuable information on the characters and past events. Once you start to get familiar with the characters and where the story is taking place, it’s easy to get swept away and invested.

While Chaos Rising might not be the best Thrawn book ever, it’s nevertheless a good one and very enjoyable. I’m not sure how well it would work for new readers, but for anyone who is already invested with the character, you’ll get a fun ride out of this one. I really enjoyed the new characters and there’s some good action, twists and turns as the story unfolds. Best yet, it’s setting up a new trilogy which means there’s more to come with these characters. I give Chaos Rising a four out of five and look forward to seeing where Thrawn goes next.

[Jack · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unfortunately, one of the more lackluster installments in the canon and from this author. Rather repetitive and shallow. I am hoping this is just lots of world-building ahead of some better installments yet to come.

[Sud666 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a big fan of Zahn's "Dark Force Rising" trilogy. His newer books have been good, but not to that level. Happily, this book (1st in the Thrawn series) "Ascendancy: Chaos Rising" is almost as good as that original series. The reason this book works so well is that it details a lot of Thrawn's early years.

This is the tale of how Thrawn rose up the ranks of the Chiss. It starts with his adoption into a major clan and his time spent at the academy. Thrawn's abilities not only make him coveted but also despised. The politics of Chiss clan culture seems to elude Thrawn, but his amazing military abilities more than make up for it.

Thrawn must figure out why an alien force seems to be acting aggressively towards the Chiss and outlying systems. Using his unorthodox methods, Thrawn breaks a few rules in order to get to the bottom of this mess.

A very good story that shines due to its explanation of Thrawn's early years as well as a good look at how the Chiss operate and their clan rivalries. If you are a fan of Grand Admiral Thrawn then you will really enjoy this book.

[Alexandru · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very weak entry into the new Thrawn Ascendancy trilogy. There is a lot of filler dialogue with a child navigator which is very boring, Thrawn's strategies feel a bit too convoluted and once again the battles are never with more than a few capital ships. I am not sure why we can't have large scale space battles in a universe called Star Wars.

The only upside is the interesting lore added about the Chiss Ascendancy, their ships and organisation and the other various races and factions neighbouring them.

I am beginning to think that perhaps Timothy Zahn is not actually a good writer or maybe he has lost his flair.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, I finally understand why so many Star Wars fans love the Thrawn books. Chaos Rising was a lot of fun from start to finish. There's political machinations, a captivating setting, and a cast of characters I really cared about. It was so cool to learn about a part of the Star Wars universe that was new to me. I listened to the audiobook and Marc Thompson does a truly excellent Thrawn voice that's nearly identical to Lars Mikkelsen's in Rebels, which was a lovely touch. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens in book 2.