Specter of the Past Specter of the Past is the first book in " The Hand of Thrawn Duology " by Timothy Zahn . Narration for the abridged audio version was performed by Anthony Heald . Narration for the unabridged audio version was performed by Marc Thompson . Publisher ' s summary . Hardcover . From Hugo Award - winning author Timothy Zahn , whose unprecedented bestselling trilogy continued the saga of George Lucas ' blockbuster films and became a landmark in the history of science fiction publishing , comes " Specter of the Past " , the first in the epic two - volume series The Hand of Thrawn . Now Luke Skywalker , Princess Leia , and Han Solo must battle to safeguard the fledgling New Republic from a dead Imperial warlord — and from itself . " Once the unquestioned master of countless solar systems , the Empire is tottering on the brink of total collapse . Once commanding an invincible armada of Star Destroyers , its fleet has been reduced to a skeleton force . Day by day , neutral systems are rushing to join the New Republic coalition . But with the end of the war in sight , the New Republic has fallen victim to its own success . An unwieldy alliance of races and traditions , the confederation now finds itself riven by age - old animosities . " " Princess Leia struggles against all odds to hold the New Republic together . But she has powerful enemies . An ambitious Moff Disra leads a conspiracy to divide the uneasy coalition with an ingenious plot to blame the Bothans for a heinous crime that could lead to genocide and civil war . At the same time , Luke Skywalker , along with Lando Calrissian and Talon Karrde , pursues a mysterious group of pirate ships whose crews consist of clones . And then comes the most startling news of all : Grand Admiral Thrawn — believed to be dead for ten years — is reported alive . The most cunning and ruthless warlord in Imperial history has seemingly returned to lead the Empire to triumph . " " As Han and Leia try to prevent the unraveling of the New Republic in the face of this fearful and inexplicable threat from the past , Luke sets out to track down the rogue pirate ships . To do so , he will team up with Mara Jade , with whom he will share his growing mastery of the Force and the ever - present threat of the dark side . All the while , lurking in the shadows is the enigmatic Major Tierce , a disciple of Emperor Palpatine , sharing his long - dead master ' s lust for power , schooled in the devious stratagems of Thrawn himself , and armed with his own dark plans for the New Republic and the Empire . " Paperback . " The Empire stands at the brink of total collapse . But they have saved their most heinous plan for last . First a plot is hatched that could destroy the New Republic in a bloodbath of genocide and civil war . Then comes the shocking news that Grand Admiral Thrawn — the most cunning and ruthless warlord in history — has apparently returned from the dead to lead the Empire to a long - prophesized victory . Facing incredible odds , Han and Leia begin a desperate race against time to prevent the New Republic from unraveling in the face of two inexplicable threats — one from within and one from without . Meanwhile , Luke teams up with Mara Jade , using the Force to track down a mysterious pirate ship with a crew of clones . Yet , perhaps most dangerous of all , are those who lurk in the shadows , orchestrating a dark plan that will turn the New Republic and the Empire into their playthings . "