grand admiral thrawn is one of the treasures of the star wars universe. he is a worthy enemy of the jedi and is my favorite star wars villain. If you’re new to the world of thrawn books, I’ll introduce the books about thrawn and give my suggested reading order for thrawn.
Like most of the Star Wars universe, the book’s release date never coincides with the actual timeline of history. Below I have listed the Star Wars Thrawn books in timeline order.
You are reading: Thrawn books in order
In total there are 11 books about thrawn, spread over 4 series. They were all written by Timothy Zahn. only books that have thrawn as the main character are included. I have also included the release date of each book. the books are divided into these 4 sections:
- ancestry of thrawn
- star wars: thrawn trilogy
- thrawn trilogy
- the hand of thrawn duology.
star wars thrawn series
thrown ancestry
- Chaos River: September 1, 2020
- Greater Good: April 27, 2021
- Lesser Evil: November 26, 2021
thrawn ascendence series is the last written by timothy zahn. it was written 30 years after the original books.
tells the early history of thrawn, then known as mitth’raw’nuruodo, and his time in the Chiss ascendancy. takes place between the attack of the clones and the revenge of the sith.
star wars: thrawn trilogy
- Star Wars: Thrawn – April 11, 2017
- Thrawn: Alliances – July 24, 2018
- Thrawn: Betrayal – July 23, 2019
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These are considered a trilogy and were published in chronological order, but were also written to stand alone. These books explain Thrawn’s rise to Grand Admiral of the Empire. The first book takes place around 8 years after Revenge of the Sith and 11 years before Star Wars: A New Hope.
This series stands out for exploring Thrawn’s relationship with Darth Vader.
thrawn trilogy (the original)
- heir to the empire – May 15, 1991
- dark force rise – June 1, 1992
- the last command – April 1, 1993
Based on the original Star Wars movies (ie episodes 4-6), this was the first introduction to Grand Admiral Chiss Thrawn. Set five years after the return of the Jedi, the books feature the same characters as the movies with the addition of three main newcomers; grand admiral thrawn, mara jade, and jorrus c’baoth.
Heir to the Empire was the first book I read about thrawn. It was also my first star wars book. It’s very well based on Return of the Jedi. the characters (luke, leia, han, etc.) are exactly how you’d expect them to be. I wish disney had opted for this book as a sequel to star wars. but hey, maybe one day we’ll get a thrawn star wars movie!
the hand of thrawn duology
- Ghost of the Past – December 1, 1997
- Vision of the Future – September 1, 1998
These books take place after the thrawn trilogy and conclude the original story. the books take place about 14 years after the return of the jedi.
suggested reading order of the discarded books
You should first read Heir to the Empire. It is the book that started it all. It could be the most important Star Wars book ever written because it set a standard for what a Star Wars book could be. It was a popular book and brought excitement (and new hope) to the Star Wars universe.
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The reading order I suggest is based primarily on the series the books are in. For example, Heir to the Empire doesn’t solve itself and you should read the rest of the books in the series.
suggested reading order
- Heir to the Empire and the Thrawn Trilogy
- Star Wars Thrawn Trilogy: Learn more about Thrawn’s beginnings and how he rose to the title of Grand Admiral.
- the hand of thrawn duology: you still get the classic star wars characters in this series, but i don’t think this series is as good as the previous two.
- ancestry of thrawn: for the hardcore fans thrown in . more details on chiss and how thrawn was formed.
Which released books are canon?
any thrawn book set before a new hope is considered canon.
so the following books are star wars canon:
- star wars: thrawn
- thrawn: alliances
- thrawn: betrayal
- chaos grows
- the greater good
- lesser evil
The following books are not considered canon:
- heir to the empire
- dark force rising
- the last commando
- specter from the past
- vision of him future
*colon featured image art
write me: sam@samuelpedro.com
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