Grand Admiral Thrawn
Timothy Zahn's bestselling "Thrawn" trilogy (1991–1993) reignited interest in the franchise and introduced the popular characters Grand Admiral Thrawn, Mara Jade, Talon Karrde, and Gilad Pellaeon. The first novel, "Heir to the Empire", reached #1 on the "New York Times" Best Seller list, and the series finds Luke, Leia, and Han facing off against tactical genius Thrawn, who is plotting to retake the galaxy for the Empire. In "The Courtship of Princess Leia" (1994) by Dave Wolverton, set immediately before the "Thrawn" trilogy, Leia considers an advantageous political marriage to Prince Isolder of the planet Hapes, but she and Han ultimately marry. Steve Perry's ' (1996), set between "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Return of the Jedi", was part of a multimedia campaign that included a comic book series and video game. The novel introduced the crime lord Prince Xizor, another popular character who would appear in multiple other works. Other notable series from Bantam include the "Jedi Academy" trilogy (1994) by Kevin J. Anderson, the 14-book "Young Jedi Knights" series (1995–1998) by Anderson and Rebecca Moesta, and the ' series (1996–2012) by Michael A. Stackpole and Aaron Allston.