#personally I am in the “Mr Skywalker I saw your Chanel boots” camp

[tbookblurbs]

The Last Command - Timothy Zahn

4.5/5 - Classic Star Wars action, good plot resolution and character arcs! I was happy all around, I think I just prefer Star Wars as a visual media. Totally recommend just for the fun of it though!

SPOILERS BELOW!!!!

Personally, I loved the irony that by pulling from Zahn's idea of Palpatine's cloning tanks as a failsafe instead of decanonizing it, Disney could have saved their new trilogy, but no! We got "somehow Palpatine has returned" and the Sith ghost soccer stadium instead.

I found Mara Jade's character arc to be really satisfying. The reveal that Palpatine's ghost was haunting her and compelling her behavior was a nice twist that I didn't see coming! It also makes her doubts and uncertainty about her own feelings, while still dogmatically pursuing Luke's death, feel much more real and much less hot and cold. I hated the potential implication that Mara and Luke might end up together in the future though. Just because they're both Jedi does not mean they're well-suited.

I was also impressed by the way Zahn handled Leia's pregnancy and the immediate aftermath. I'll admit that I was worried he might play down her role as the series (and her pregnancy) progressed but was pleasantly surprised to be wrong! The code-breaker being a droid* was fun and I appreciated how even the smaller characters played a big role in saving the Republic. It fits nicely in with the idea throughout the series that you can come from nothing and still have a big impact (e.g. Anakin/Luke/Rey literally coming from the middle of nowhere).

The secret planet/mountain with all of Palpatine's secrets was a little cheesy, but no more than I expect from Star Wars. I think this last battle also gave Thrawn a demise fitting of his villainy - he is winning because he's smarter than a lot of our protagonists for a while, and it's always refreshing to read a competent antagonist.

Overall, great fun was had by all! I like that this trilogy dealt with the politics of the New Republic but didn't get bogged down there, plus it introduced some more weird/fun worlds and even showed Lando on the way to his next scheme. One of my favorite parts about Star Wars is the different aliens and different planets they get to visit, so I was happy to see such an in-depth look at the Noghri in particular. Great read for Star Wars fans who haven't read anything in the universe yet but who don't want to commit to reading a long series, since the trilogy is fairly tight, plot-wise.

*if I remember correctly, it's been a couple months since I've read it