Star Wars: Thrawn Ascendancy (Book I: Chaos Rising)

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 and 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 life long loyalty from those that 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 need to do the 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.

This story is good, but as someone who has to read every word instead of skim reading there are so many things the proof reader and publisher missed, and it’s not just once or twice in the whole book every chapter has at least one error and some have up to five that really takes away from being able to be absorbed into the story as a reader

This book begins before the first Thrawn novel. It covers Thrawn's background and his early career in the Chiss Ascendancy, and the sorts of missions/conflicts he got involved in with the other races in the Chaos. Without saying too much, it explains a lot about the Chiss culture and society. Admiral Ar'alani features heavily in it too, which I think is great because she is really cool, as you would know from having read the first 3 Thrawn novels. If you like Thrawn as a character, definitely pick this up. It's the first book in a new Thrawn trilogy too!That said, please DO read the first 3 Thrawn books before picking this one up.

I thought about reading this book for a long time - from the write-up there was nothing directly related to the Star Wars universe I've been reading about since Timothy Zahn's 'Heir To The Empire', so I wondered if I needed to read a trilogy of books about aliens who didn't have any connection to Star Wars (apart from Thrawn, obviously).But I ordered it and just recently the second book was published so I thought I'd give part one a try...Hook, line and Sinker!Great story, looking forward to part 2.And it turns out there is a certain level of crossover into the SW Universe, after all.

Yet another brilliant book featuring Thrawn and his past in the Chiss Ascendancy. Completely worth it, even with shipping costing three times as much as the book.As a fan of the old Thrawn trilogy and books, I am more than amazed that the new ones are as good, if not better. I definitely recommend all of them to anyone who is a fan of Thrawn, the Chiss or Zahn's wonderful writing style. I love how he managed to use a lot of the good bits and characters from the old books in the new ones. As a fan of Thrawn and the Chiss, I was more than ecstatic to learn there would be a trilogy dedicated to his past and the Ascendancy. I cannot wait to read the rest of this new series. The Thrawn books are the one good thing about the new Star Wars. The blue page borders were a really nice surprise.