Hand of Thrawn: Specter of the Past 1 (Star Wars)

WHAT'S GOOD:
Zahn brings his usual high-quality style to this book and it reads very much as a continuation of the original Thrawn trilogy. One of the things I liked most was the fact that Pellaeon is a shrewd enough tactician to know when to sue for peace, which is a drastic change from the usual maniacal Imperial leaders from other Star Wars books. Zahn wrote this book with strong links to Michael A. Stackpole's 'I, Jedi' and as such there are many familiar faces ranging from Corran Horn to Elegos A'kla. Generally speaking, this is an excellent addition to the saga.

WHAT'S BAD:
Fans of Star Wars action may well be disappointed as this book mostly consists of the build-up towards conflict, rather than the conflict itself. Leia's official position is a bit unclear too, in the preceding and following Star Wars books she's Chief of State, but here she seems to have no official power at all.


A great idea well written   September 19, 2003
Mr. R. P. Ward (London)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

Having never read any star wars books, only listened to the audio and this was a great starter. It brings back characters from the old thrawn trilogy, who had not had any major roles since, like Talon Karde, and Captain/Vice Admiral/Admiral Pellaeon (who had only been in darksaber since).
The introduction of new characters suchas Moff Disra and Major Tierce gives the story a new flavour and the ending will leave you interested and keen to read vision of the future.


good but not great   September 13, 2003
Mr I Burns
i just bought this book and in my style finished it in 5 days, and thought that the book was really good....but it is slow. while the main plot is interesting( people shooting other people in the flacon etc) there are points where the story just drags on or where it goes completely off on its own and your stuck thinking "why have they put this in" and i suspect that the answer will be in visions of the future(which i'm reading now and is a bit faster). if u do buy this book get visions of the future aswell because i assume that the answers will be in there. well they will be but u no what i mean. you'll find out why the characters who have no real part in sceptre of the past are there.


An enthralling read with a great plot   May 31, 2002
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

A great book from an excellent author. It is worth buying this book just for the plot. The idea of the whole Thrawn scam is quite clever with some clever plot twist and excellent description, this a brilliant book. The character developemnt is great and the plot twists near the end of this duology are good. I've just re-read this book for the uptenth tome and you HAVE to get it . If you don't you don't know what you're missing.


Zahn's usual standard   September 7, 2001
4 out of 4 found this review helpful

This book is just as good as the original Thrawn trilogy. All characters and storylines interact well to produce on of the best Star Wars novels that I have read. After finishing this you will be desperate to read 'Vision of the Future'.

However, I would not recommend reading this book if you haven't read the original Thrawn trilogy. Not because it is hard to pick up the storyline but reading this first will spoil your enjoyment of three great novels.

No other author manages to capture the magic of the movies quite like Zahn does. I can't wait for more.