Chaos Rising (Thrawn Ascendancy #1) by Timothy Zahn

My rating: 4.3 out of 5

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. 

***** *** *******

I've become quite a fan of Thrawn, the blue-skinned and red-eyed Chiss with a brilliant mind and ruthless character, yet so very likeable. This began by reading the original Thrawn Trilogy books (also by Timothy Zahn) from the early 90's, which were incredibly significant books that effectively kicked off the whole expanded universe phenomenon. These are currently considered non-canon and known as Star Wars Legends. Thrawn has evidently always been a character that George Lucas has wanted to explore, and even after the transition to the Disney-owned era and a whole new canon of Star Wars lore, some of the first books published were Thrawn books (the three-part Star Wars: Thrawn series) and which were all great reads. After their successes, Zahn has again been commissioned to give us another series set "A long time ago, beyond a galaxy far, far away….". Set chronologically before the previous series, it is called the Thrawn Ascendancy series and set down for three books at this stage. Grand Admiral Thrawn is possibly going to become a whole lot more relevant in the grand scheme (note the reference to him in the recent episode of The Mandalorian TV series...) and this book is playing a key role in building his character.

Mitth'raw'nuruodo

In Thrawn from 2017 (see my review HERE) we're reintroduced to him as Mitth'raw'nuruodo, exiled to a remote forest planet, his Chiss rulers having seen it fit to punish him for wrongdoing during his military career. This new series takes us back to the beginnings of that career and starts to build for us the story of how Thrawn falls out of favour with his superiors. As a quick recap, The Chiss Ascendancy is an empire of near-human Chiss located inside the Unknown Regions of the galaxy (known as the Chaos to the Chiss) which is highly secretive and strictly isolationist to outsiders. To quote from the book itself:

For thousands of years it has been an island of calm within the Chaos. It is a center of power, a model of stability, and a beacon of integrity. The Nine Ruling Families guard it from within; the Expansionary Defence Fleet guards it from without. Its neighbours are left in peace, its enemies are left in ruin. It is light and culture and glory.

Chiss Ascendancy logo

Set during what fans know as the Republic era, there is some crossover with that timeline and we briefly come across a familiar character or two that Star Wars fans will know. This again points to the Unknown Regions/Chaos playing a larger role in the new-canon universe moving forward. Bring it on I say. Anyway, enough background, what about the book?

There are two separate chronological plot lines which run beside each other for the whole book. The main plot line has Thrawn as a mid-level officer of the Chiss Expansionary Defence Fleet and involved in the investigation of some disturbing events going on in space surrounding the Ascendancy. It's an intriguing and action-packed story with a number of interesting and likeable supporting characters, and portrays Thrawn as the cunning and quick-thinking officer that we've seen lots of previously. His love for art and culture is, again, very prominent and we see him deduce much about his opponents and other species from closely observing their artistic expression. The second plot line gives the back story of how Thrawn transitions from nothing to brilliant military officer in a rather meteoric rise up the command chain. There is clearly more than meets the eye going on here and as the story moves forward we learn much about the political skulduggery that dominates Chiss society. Thrawn grows up through this system into a master military tactician and leader, yet ignorant to the nuances and intricate self-serving that makes up the world of politics. You can see this weakness taking him toward that exile that I mentioned earlier. No doubt we will arrive at that part of the story later in this book series.

The action sequences are excellent and not drawn out unnecessarily, which is great for me because long space battles can have me quickly losing focus. The intrigue part of it is pretty good, and gives the reader a few things to mull over in their mind as the story unfolds. It's one of those stories which I had to keep my brain in gear enough to follow the plot, and if I let my attention wander, I found myself going back to re-familiarise myself with the guts of what was going on. This is mostly a reflection of me reading when I'm much too tired and in no way due to the writing style, which is typically mostly superb. In fact, as can reasonably be expected, Zahn displays his excellent storytelling skills. Although, for my only complaint as it were, I found the whole feel and vibe of the story as a bit "youthy", like it was targeted at a younger audience than myself. The dialog and the speech style used is very clean, almost too clean, like it's written for a teenage reader. I guess this could be the desire to have the book accessible to all age groups, and it doesn't really present much of a problem, but it's a noticeable facet. I’d happily let my kids read this and I think that they’d enjoy it immensely as would my mother, that’s if any of them were into Star Wars...

The characters are excellent. Additionally to Thrawn himself, I found myself liking just about all of them, even the more unsavoury types. There is an interesting cast of supporting players and throughout the story we learn a lot about Chiss society and the way that their hierarchy operates. I suspect that this information will be important for the new story arc moving forward; I can see the Chiss and the other species of the Unknown Regions becoming a sizeable part of the Star Wars universe. One small thing, possibly insignificant yet tantalisingly curious, is reference to the connection of the name of the Chiss child space navigators called sky-walkers and the familiar name Skywalker. Does this hint at a possible Unknown Regions origin of the Skywalker bloodline and Aanakin’s extraordinarily high midi-chlorians count? This is good, very good, especially since we’ve often been given tantalising little snippets of information over the years due to Emperor Palpatine’s interest and fascination with the Unknown Regions. This is quite safe territory for the new direction as well with little or no risk of overwriting previously published things from the expanded universe. Yet again, I'm left feeling happily content with the direction that the new Star Wars brains trust is taking things overall. The new and forthcoming High Republic Era and its stories offer more mouthwatering and alluring prospects.

In summary, this book is a pleasing addition to this new canon story arc and is one that is easily devoured and enjoyed. If you want to keep abreast with what possibly could be one of the next big movie characters, I suggest that you keep learning about Thrawn and who he is and what he represents. He might just be seeing a whole lot more of him in the coming years.

5/5 for concept

4/5 for delivery

4/5 for entertainment

= 4.3 out of 5

Buy the ebook HERE (Amazon US)

Buy the paper book HERE (Book Depository)

Thrawn: Treason (Star Wars: Thrawn #3) by Timothy Zahn

Thrawn: Treason by Timothy Zahn

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

“If I were to serve the Empire, you would command my allegiance.”

Such was the promise Grand Admiral Thrawn made to Emperor Palpatine at their first meeting. Since then, Thrawn has been one of the Empire’s most effective instruments, pursuing its enemies to the very edges of the known galaxy. But as keen a weapon as Thrawn has become, the Emperor dreams of something far more destructive.

Now, as Thrawn’s TIE defender program is halted in favour of Director Krennic’s secret Death Star project, he realises that the balance of power in the Empire is measured by more than just military acumen or tactical efficiency. Even the greatest intellect can hardly compete with the power to annihilate entire planets.

As Thrawn works to secure his place in the Imperial hierarchy, his former protégé Eli Vanto returns with a dire warning about Thrawn’s home world. Thrawn’s mastery of strategy must guide him through an impossible choice: duty to the Chiss Ascendancy, or fealty to the Empire he has sworn to serve. Even if the right choice means committing treason.

***** *** *******

Boy, this new canon of Star Wars stories, both in books and on the screen is really starting to heat up and I've been suitably impressed by most of the new Disney-era stuff. When I saw that there is yet another new canon series (Thrawn Ascendancy) out there, I thought it best to get caught up with this final book of the Thrawn series. 

In what is the final episode of this particular series, the story arc is presumably brought to a close, yet doors have definitely been opened to further exploration. It's a pretty good addition and a little bit better than the previous book Alliances in my opinion (see my review HERE). In all honesty, the plot line is nothing overly spectacular, but it lends itself well to what has been a fairly entertaining series.

We follow Thrawn with his crew and associates on a mission to discover the reason for stolen shipments of equipment and materials from the huge Imperial weapon Project Stardust (named by designer Galen Erso after his daughter Jyn Erso - see Rogue One), or the building of the Death Star. What ensues is an enjoyable mystery ranging across the galaxy, and an encounter with a mysterious alien threat in the form of the Grysks (what appear to possibly be the new canon version of the Yuuzhan Vong) who originate from far beyond Imperial territory. We also learn more about Thrawn's people the Chiss and their potential role in future events.

I'm aware that this is a rather brief review, but it should suffice to say that this is yet another typically well-written Zahn Star Wars story, with a good measure of intrigue and some really good action scenes, especially the space battles. Zahn again proves why he's long been one of the first choices to write Star Wars novels and it's great to see that the new "ideas" people want to keep him around.  It's undeniable that Zahn had a huge hand in creating what became the Star Wars Expanded Universe and the awesome evolving creature that became. I can only hope that the new canon of stories becomes as good or better than that. Based on what I've seen so far, I'm quietly confident that all will be just fine in the Star Wars universe.

4/5 for concept

4/5 for delivery

4/5 for entertainment

= 4 out of 5

Buy the ebook HERE (Amazon US)

Buy the paper book HERE (Book Depository)

The War of the Maps by Paul McAuley

The War of the Maps by Paul McAuley
My rating: 4.7 of 5 stars

On a giant artificial world surrounding an artificial sun, one man - a lucidor, a keeper of the peace, a policeman - is on the hunt. His target was responsible for an atrocity, but is too valuable to the government to be truly punished. Instead he has been sent to the front lines of the war, to use his unique talents on the enemy. So the lucidor has ignored orders, deserted from his job, left his home and thrown his life away, in order to finally claim justice.

Separated by massive seas, the various maps dotted on the surface of this world rarely contact each other. But something has begun to infiltrate the edges of the lucidor's map, something that genetically alters animals and plants and turns them into killers. Only the lucidor knows the depths to which his quarry will sink in order to survive, only the lucidor can capture him. The way is long and dangerous. The lucidor's government has set hunters after him. He has no friends, no resources, no plan.

But he does have a mission.

***** *** *******

A nice surprise was this. Every so often you come across a book that turns out to be a pleasant slap in the face, one of those books that make you realize that maybe you keep your reading boundaries a bit too tight. This is one such book. After reading the synopsis, I had reservations about starting this book and initially had in the back of my mind that I'd end up not finishing it. I didn't really think that it sounded much like my sort of thing, but those thoughts disappeared after only a half-dozen or so pages. The basic idea of the story, set on some sort of huge artificial world in space somewhere was enough to grab my attention, and I was not left disappointed. I ended up totally absorbed in the story and actually purposely taking my time with it, basking in the escapism that it gave me.

The main character, a retired cop, is on a mission to finish some business, and nasty business at that. He's really want to finish the job that he was tasked with, and there's a bit of score to settle. He's on the trail of another bloke who has been involved in some interesting going-on and needs to be brought in. He is instantly likeable, and the story begins building nicely right from the start, both in character development and in the world building. Behind this is the fact that there is some sort of invasion going on across various parts of the world, where people and various creatures are being attacked/manipulated/modified by some sort of organism or something that is on the loose. There are plenty of references to ancient creators and world-builders that are now revered as deities, a fascinating idea. These concepts are left open throughout the entire book, but with plenty of clues to keep you hypothesizing, trying to work out the origins of the world and the people in it.

McAuley's world building is superb and he seems to be able to describe things with very few words, which I was quite impressed by. The characters are good, but it's really only main chap who is explored to any sort of depth. The secondary supporting members of the cast are likewise portrayed well, albeit to a lesser level of detail. The story's journey across the world is wonderfully captivating, there being many things of interest to see and marvel at. There a number of quite awesome spectacles along the way which are elements that I always look for in sci-fi, one example being the huge sea-going arks that were once used to explore that vast oceans that separate the various "maps" on the outer surface of this big construction. And the weird and wonderful beasts in these oceans are likewise pretty incredible. The ending didn't deliver a big final reveal like I initially thought it was going to and definitely leaves the way open to further exploration. However, don't take this to mean that it has an unsatisfactory conclusion. I hope McAuley decides to give us some more of this awesome world and it's story.

My attention was held easily while reading this, and I'd happily recommend this to anybody who is looking for a read with a wonderful balance of adventure and intrigue yet is relaxing enough to just chill with and escape reality for a while. 

5/5 for theme

5/5 for delivery

4/5 for entertainment

= 4.7 out of 5

Buy the book HERE (Amazon)

Buy the book HERE (Book Depository)

View all my reviews

Dune (Dune Chronicles #1) by Frank Herbert

Dune by Frank Herbert
My rating: 4.7/5

Set in the far future amidst a sprawling feudal interstellar empire where planetary dynasties are controlled by noble houses that owe an allegiance to the imperial House Corrino, Dune tells the story of young Paul Atreides (the heir apparent to Duke Leto Atreides and heir of House Atreides) as he and his family accept control of the desert planet Arrakis, the only source of the 'spice' melange, the most important and valuable substance in the cosmos. The story explores the complex, multi-layered interactions of politics, religion, ecology, technology, and human emotion as the forces of the empire confront each other for control of Arrakis.

Published in 1965, it won the Hugo Award in 1966 and the inaugural Nebula Award for Best Novel. Dune is frequently cited as the world's best-selling science fiction novel. 

***** *** *******

This is my third reading of this classic sci-fi novel, which I thought that I'd get in before the release of the latest screen adaptation attempt due to be released later in 2020. The origins and subsequent success of Frank Herbert's 1965 novel Dune is well documented and is a good indication of how good this book really is. It comes across as a bit dated in its style and prose, but you can't deny the quality of the story. It's an epic adventure across the face of an incredible and desolate planet which is itself part of a massive galactic empire, under the rule of an Imperial head and administered by various noble houses or families who constantly strive in competition and rivalry with each other, contending for power and commercial gain which is itself controlled by a huge galactic corporation. It's all good stuff right here.

I was actually introduced to Dune by listening the the music of Iron Maiden, who have a track called "To Tame A Land" on their 1983 album Piece Of Mind which is a heavily paraphrased seven minute version of the story. Apparently the band wanted to call the song "Dune", and approached Frank Herbert for permission, who quickly refused due to his dislike of heavy metal music. Fair enough, but he's got Maiden to thank for revealing his excellent novel to me and, I'm sure, many others as well.

The characters of the story are excellent and have quite some depth in most cases, although Dune itself only really scrapes the surface of the story and its characters. These are apparently expanded upon to quite some extent in the sequel novels, as well as the canon of "expanded universe" works co-authored by Herbert's son Brian and Kevin J Anderson. My intention is to explore some of these in the future, although opinion seems to be very mixed as to their worth as companion works to one of the most successful science fiction books of all time.

It's interesting and enjoyable that Herbert wrote so many strong and interesting female characters into his story, and I reckon this is one of the the real highlights of the characterisation. There's been some talk about the gender of one or more of the characters being changed in the upcoming movie(s) in, what I can only assume, is an attempt at political correctness which I find just a tad ridiculous. The world depicted in Dune has many male figureheads yet there are women pulling the strings all over the place as well as men who truly love and honour their women. One of the more distasteful players in the story (Baron Vladimir Harkonnen) is presented as a homosexual deviant with a taste for young men, another plot point which might need to be treated a bit more carefully in this day and age. This is just more reason for me to eagerly anticipate the movies, to see just how things might be dealt with in the context of both the story and current thinking about issues such as the role of women and sexuality.

Reading this book is best done in an unhurried manner, taking the time to fully digest the words and the details of the story. The pacing does feel a bit erratic at times, sections of extended but very good character dialogue mixed with some really good action scenes, especially the knife fights! This is a mere observation and I didn't find the differences in pace distracting in any way. Overall its position as a seminal work of science fiction, which went on to inspire an untold number of readers and writers alike, is well deserved. What it loses in terms of its sometimes dated speech, it more than makes up for in depth of story and intrigue. I highly recommend it to anybody who enjoys an absorbing and epic tale.

Roll on the new movie or movies! May they do for Dune what Peter Jackson's movies did for LOTR and undo the damage (personally speaking only) from the 1984 film adaptation.

5/5 for theme

4/5 for delivery

5/5 for entertainment

= 4.7 out of 5

Buy the book HERE (Amazon)

Buy the book HERE (Book Depository)

View all my reviews

Mass Awakening by Shoshi Herscu

Mass Awakening by Shoshi Herscu

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

The Truth has been hidden from us while a global policy of mass depopulation and exploitation has been carried out behind the scenes for the past half-century. The author, an independent journalist, became aware of this agenda only in the past few years. She found it hard to believe, but in-depth research and the testimony of whistleblowers worldwide have exposed these strategies. They include geoengineering (chemtrails), fluoridation of water supplies, GMOs, vaccinations, false flag terrorist attacks, and economic warfare by the group David Wilcock calls the Cabal. However, despite this grim reality, a positive shift of mass awakening is occurring worldwide. Tribunals are being established to prosecute elite offenders; revelations of hidden technology like free-energy and new economic models are being put forth. The author shows how humanity is claiming its rightful heritage as spiritual beings and charts the course of our elevation of consciousness.

MASS AWAKENING gives us all real hope for an amazing future.

***** *** *******

I love the subject matter, but I found this to be a a bit all over the place, and almost reads like a teaching book for a cult (and, yes, I've read one or two of those over the years...).

I found the short part about music frequencies and the section about global financial matters quite interesting, especially in the light of our current events (COVID-19, which Shoshi obviously knew nothing about while writing the book). But, if you consider yourself anything resembling agnostic, you won’t appreciate most of it; it’s got a heavy spiritual content. Also, the ET thing is massive for her. I'd say that she is a bit of a disciple of the Galactic Confederation of Light concept (or something similar) which has been around for some time now.

The huge number of internet links was slightly off-putting and, because I read this book on an e-reader, they were unusable. I can't help but see this book as a slightly jumbled compilation of a series of ideas gleaned from many, many hours surfing the internet and spent on social media conversing with members of countless fringe groups.

The subject matter is fascinating and mind-bending and (in my opinion) grounded in fact, well worth investigating if you are seriously interested in the world around you and what is REALLY going on. To me, Shoshi Herscu came across as a bit of a nutter, a crazy woman who spends too much time talking to other nutters. That's only my perception, and she's probably not, but what came across while reading made me feel this way.

Overall, if you're new to the idea of things being way different to what they appear to be, and have a very open mind, you will glean much from this book. But for me, this was far too chaotic and untidy for the subject matter to be fully grasped and appreciated.

3/5 for theme

2/5 for delivery

2/5 for education

= 2.3 out of 5

Buy the book HERE (Amazon)

Buy the book HERE (Book Depository)