Book Review: “Star Wars : Thrawn Ascendancy — Chaos Rising”
By: Dr. Thomas J. West Iii
Tags: Book Review, Science Fiction, Culture, Star Wars, Books

It’s pretty much accepted wisdom that Thrawn is one of the best villains that has ever emerged out of Star Wars, and that’s been the case since Timothy Zahn released his first Thrawn-focused book way back in the early 1990. It was something of a tragedy that, when Disney bought LucasFilm and booted everything out of the canon, that they didn’t do more to bring Thrawn back into the mainstream fold. Fortunately, that has begun to change a bit because, in addition to his appearances in the Rebels TV series, he’s also been featured in a new series of books and, as fans of The Mandalorian know, he seems poised to appear in more TV series.

When I happened to see the new book, Thrawn Ascendancy: Chaos Rising, sitting on the shelf at my local Barnes & Noble, I knew that I had to read it. I absolutely loved the other books in Zahn’s new Thrawn series, and I very much looked forward to this new entry, particularly since it promised to shine a light on some of Thrawn’s younger years and the events that shaped his later perspective and destiny.

Narratively, the story flicks between the past and the present, showing how Thrawn was from a young age encouraged by those in power, even as some among the ruling Chiss saw him as a threat to the Ascendancy as a whole. In the novel’s present, the great conflict t is with General Yiv, a powerful presence whose motivations remain somewhat clear but are nevertheless explicitly focused on conquest and possibly bringing about an end to the Ascendancy itself.

It’s immediately very clear that Thrawn is the same brilliant tactician that we got to know in earlier novels, which is a never-ending source of both frustration and awe among his colleagues and superiors. As with the earlier Thrawn books, most of what we learn about Thrawn is conveyed through those that surround him, most notably Ar’alani. Though some readers might find it a bit frustrating that we don’t get to see inside of Thrawn’s mind — thus leaving him something of an enigma, even in a book that is all about him — I actually think there’s something a little brilliant about Zahn’s strategy here. He clearly wants us to understand the forces that shaped this brilliant man, without quite tearing away the veil of mystique and mystery that has always surrounded him.

Embedded within Thrawn’s strategy is a compelling bit of philosophy. It’s well-known by this point that Thrawn has a bit of an obsession with art and the way that it reflects the thought structures of the people that produce it. Time and again, he’s shown that understanding society’s cultural productions allows for a nuanced, and militarily significant, grasp of their decision-making apparatuses. Anyone who’s even studied in a literature program will recognize that bit of philosophy, and it’s rather refreshing to see it make its way into a Star Wars novel.

This book focuses a bit more on the nuances of the Ascendancy and what makes it work than previous installments in the new saga. For, while Thrawn is an undisputed master of military strategy, he’s notoriously bad at navigating the treacherous waters of politics; no matter how hard hard he tries, he simply cannot grasp the motivations of politicians. For many of his Chiss antagonists, bringing Thrawn down isn’t a matter of personal vengeance, or at least not primarily so. Instead, they see him as a potent threat to the well-being and stability of the Ascendancy. Given that their society is both ancient and enormously powerful — and given that it has devoted itself to maintaining the peace — it makes sense that they would do so, and at times we even find ourselves sympathizing with them, even though they’re opposed to the main character that we’re supposed to be caring about.

However, the book isn’t entirely about politics, and there’s quite a lot of space battle and war tactics for those who enjoy that aspect of a Star Wars novel. Zahn has a firm grasp of both technology and battle tactics, but he conveys this with a light touch. Even I, who prefer to read more about politics than battles, found myself caught up in the adrenaline rush that he manages to capture.

And, of course, there’s still an enigma at the end of the book, in that it’s revealed that there is another force that has been observing the confrontation between Yiv and the Ascendancy, one whose name remains unknown. This little epilogue raises so many questions. Who, exactly, is this person and what do they have against the Ascendancy? The obvious suggestion is that it might be Palpatine, adopting one of his many personae as he continues to pull the strings of those even far away from him. Given his yearning for power, it would make sense that he would be the one responsible for bringing about an end to the Ascendancy, which he would most certainly see as a threat to his own hegemony. However, there’s also the possibility that it’s someone not at all connected to the main Star Wars narrative and that, it seems to me, is an even more frightening prospect.

Overall, I quite enjoyed Ascendancy. It is true, as some fans of the franchise have argued, that it doesn’t really advance the plot of Star Wars appreciably, especially since there are clear end-points. We know, after all, that Thrawn ends up serving in the Galactic Empire under the rule of Palpatine, and we know that he survives at least until the time of The Mandalorian. Nevertheless, it’s always a pleasure to spend more time with Thrawn, especially since he’s not straightforwardly evil. Even now, it’s hard to say exactly what his motivations are. However, I would argue that it’s precisely this opacity that makes him such a fascinating character to return to and, indeed, it goes a long way toward explaining why we keep reading about him. Like the people that surround him, we want to know more, even though we know we might not get it.