It's FINALLY Here - GrogCast Season 4!

[bayonetbrant]

the one you want is Heir to the Empire, and then the 2 after that

[Emeraldlis]

the one you want is Heir to the Empire, and then the 2 after that

Just looked this up on Amazon , U.K. , can't get this as a kindle download , which is what I wanted for my kindle app on iPad . But can order as a hardback book ....was about to have a meltdown , lol , b/c I don't want to wait for the book to be posted !!!!!! Then had a brainwave to check it out on audible ....and voilà, it's there so I've just bought  , Star Wars : the thrawn trilogy , book one :heir to the empire   thanks for the info  I'm sure at some point though , I'll end up with the hardback version 

[mirth]

They're not great books (yes I'll get shit for saying it). Don't spend a lot on them. The best Star Wars Expanded Universe stories can be found in the Dark Horse comics.

[Emeraldlis]

They're not great books (yes I'll get shit for saying it). Don't spend a lot on them. The best Star Wars Expanded Universe stories can be found in the Dark Horse comics.

Only spent a fiver on it , but STILL looking forward to giving it a listen but ....oh....my.....gawd , now I have to go check out dark horse comics  thanks mirth , haha ....

[mirth]

The Zahn books are okay and I give Zahn a lot of credit for carrying the franchise through a moribund period. It's hard to believe today, but after Return of the Jedi the SW franchise was pretty much dead for almost a decade. Lucas was done with it, no one knew if there'd ever be another movie and little else was going on with it. Zahn's books changed all that and renewed interest in SW in a big way. I'm just not a huge fan of the stories, but I will acknowledge what he did for SW.

[bbmike]

So it's basically the "Spock Must Die!" of the Star Wars universe?

[mirth]

So it's basically the "Spock Must Die!" of the Star Wars universe?

Heh. I haven't read that one, but I read pretty much every Star Trek novel written through 1989 and 90% of those books were drek.

[bbmike]

So it's basically the "Spock Must Die!" of the Star Wars universe?

Heh. I haven't read that one, but I read pretty much every Star Trek novel written through 1989 and 90% of those books were drek.

That's so true. But there were a couple of diamonds in there.

[mirth]

So it's basically the "Spock Must Die!" of the Star Wars universe?

Heh. I haven't read that one, but I read pretty much every Star Trek novel written through 1989 and 90% of those books were drek.

That's so true. But there were a couple of diamonds in there.

Agreed. The Diane Duane books were some of the best sci-fi I've ever read. There were  a few other gems as well. Vonda McIntyre's books were very good. Her adaptation of Wrath of Khan is worth a read to this day.

[bbmike]

Highly recommend Black Fire by Sonni Cooper as well.

[mirth]

Highly recommend Black Fire by Sonni Cooper as well.

Heh. I was just thinking about that one. Still remember when I read it back in '83.

[Emeraldlis]

The Zahn books are okay and I give Zahn a lot of credit for carrying the franchise through a moribund period. It's hard to believe today, but after Return of the Jedi the SW franchise was pretty much dead for almost a decade. Lucas was done with it, no one knew if there'd ever be another movie and little else was going on with it. Zahn's books changed all that and renewed interest in SW in a big way. I'm just not a huge fan of the stories, but I will acknowledge what he did for SW.

So did Lucas want to jump back in and do more films directly because of the Timothy zahn books ? I love the movies , but I've never really delved much into the background of the whole thing . What's the relationship between zahn and Lucas ?

[mirth]

I don't think there's a direct relationship. The main thing the Lucas people told Zahn, and other authors, was that the period before the first Star Wars film was off limits. So Lucas was planning to do the prequels at some point. But Zahn's books did reignite fan interest and lead to other works. Shadows of Empire was widely acknowledged as a Star Wars movie without an actual movie. That book was marketed as though it was a movie - toys, video game tie-ins, etc.

[bayonetbrant]

The Zahn books are okay and I give Zahn a lot of credit for carrying the franchise through a moribund period. It's hard to believe today, but after Return of the Jedi the SW franchise was pretty much dead for almost a decade. Lucas was done with it, no one knew if there'd ever be another movie and little else was going on with it. Zahn's books changed all that and renewed interest in SW in a big way. I'm just not a huge fan of the stories, but I will acknowledge what he did for SW.

So did Lucas want to jump back in and do more films directly because of the Timothy zahn books ? I love the movies , but I've never really delved much into the background of the whole thing . What's the relationship between zahn and Lucas ?

Zahn was hired by Lucas to write the official follow-up after Return of the Jedi, and Lucasfilm had deemed them "canonical".

Whether or not Lucas was 'inspired' by Zahn to go back to the first 3 movies is unknown, but I doubt it, since they were 8 years or so apart.

When Disney bought the Star Wars franchise, they jettisoned all of the "official" continuity from the post-Jedi Lucasfilm efforts (several book series and several graphic novels - Dark Empire was incredible) and completely rebooted everything, and that gave us The Force Awakens.  It also deprived us of ever seeing Thrawn on the big screen as he was written in the Heir to the Empire series, where he was a serious bad-ass.

[bayonetbrant]

Shadows of Empire was widely acknowledged as a Star Wars movie without an actual movie. That book was marketed as though it was a movie - toys, video game tie-ins, etc.

Was there an actual novel, or just the graphic novel?  (he says, obviously too lazy to hit Google)