Preview
  • Star Wars: The Thrawn Trilogy, Book 1: Heir to the Empire

  • By: Timothy Zahn
  • Narrated by: Denis Lawson
  • Length: 2 hrs and 57 mins
  • 4.1 out of 5 stars (820 ratings)

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Star Wars: The Thrawn Trilogy, Book 1: Heir to the Empire

By: Timothy Zahn
Narrated by: Denis Lawson
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Publisher's summary

Heir to the Empire begins five years after Return of the Jedi. The Rebel Alliance has destroyed the Death Star, defeated Darth Vader and the Emperor, and driven the remnants of the old Imperial Starfleet back into a quarter of the territory it once controlled. Princess Leia and Han Solo are married and have shouldered heavy burdens in the government of the new Republic, and Luke Skywalker is the first in a hoped-for new line of Jedi Knights.

But thousands of light-years away, where a few skirmishes are still taking place, the last of the Emperor's warlords have taken command of the remains of the Imperial fleet - and have made two vital discoveries that could destroy the fragile new Republic. The tale that emerges is a towering epic of action, invention, mystery, and spectacle on a galactic scale: in short, a story that is worthy of the name Star Wars.

More in the Thrawn Trilogy series we have. And download all of our Star Wars titles you can!
©1992 Timothy Zahn (P)2007 Random House
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Critic reviews

"Well written." (School Library Journal)

What listeners say about Star Wars: The Thrawn Trilogy, Book 1: Heir to the Empire

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

skip ahead

I would suggest to skip ahead and get the 20th anniversary version of the book. It feels like he was just reading the book. No real change in voice between male and female voices. Also at times I felt like it was hard to hear what was being said.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Abridged leaves out the good parts

The abridged version leaves out too many of the fun details. And Denis Lawson does a good job but the pronunciation of Chimaera as "kih-moor-ah" and Nkllon as "New Kylon" drives me batty every time. Maybe the abridgment authors changed the spellings.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great star wars story!

It was a great continuation story starting after return of the jedi. Thrawn is a great antagonist.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Might've been too hyped for me

Loves many other EU Star Wars books but this one didn't quite do it for me. Didn't care for the voice actors performance at all.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

fantastic!

A much needed continuance between the canon original trilogy timeline and the new movies. Thanks!

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

it was good. But I like the "New Thrawn Series

the "New Thrawn Seriestthat just came out in 2020. I like it a lot better because because it fits into the Canon storyline of the movies all the way from Return of the Jedi to "Last Jedi".... it was much better with the voices in the new series that came out this year but the music and sound effects are better in the old series here....

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

fantastic

I loved the book. I've always been intrigued to find out what took place after Return of the Jedi. I just hated how the reader pronounced character names and planets wrong. Also the wookie leader impression was hard to bare . outside of that amazing story and I would recommend it to all Star Wars fans.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

So great!!

Such an enjoyable story and logical take off point of episode 6. They should have just made these movies instead.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

No clue what the Star Wars universe is

Wish they could find someone at least a little familiar with the universe to read for it. Clearly not the the case. Hard to listen to, Princess Leeeah, “Leia” Lāha. Bet it was an A.I.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

The narrator was a poor choice for this book

I loved this book as a kid but the narrator is a poor choice to read star wars novels hard to understand and does not know the universe or how to pronounce a lot of the stuff in the universe.

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