David: Rancor Spotting #18

Vision of the Future by Timothy Zahn


Page 135 -
Major Tierce: "I'd remind you that three brand-new treaties is a very good return for a week's work."
Moff Disra: "Only if Coruscant doesn't come down on us like a wounded rancor."

Page 151 -
Luke snorted. "No, his style was to rancor-roll some brilliant strategy over everyone."

Page 218 -
"Of course they're dangerous," Mara snorted. "You ever hear of the topshot in any clan who picked a name that made him sound calm and reasonable? This has to be the Qom Jha version of kick-the-rancor."
"Kick-the-rancor?" (Luke)
"A slang term in Palpatine's court," Mara said. " Any stupid stunt where the risks were way out of proportion to the gain."

Page 328:
The moment of shock passed, and Disra's expression of stunned disbelief suddenly changed to that of a crazed rancor. "Back!" he snarled at Dreyf, his hand slashing at him as if trying to ward away a dangerous animal. "I'm all right. Just stay back." (Moff Disra, during a private meeting with Admiral Pellaeon and his aide, has just received a most disturbing message from his desktop comm informing him that the pirate Zothip was in his private quarters.)

Page 377:
His own people had been overridden, nudged aside, superseded, or flat out run over as this oversized rancor of a restoration crew lumbered through his ship. (Booster Terrik - as he lets the New Republic borrow his Star Destroyer for a mission in return for upgrading the ship's systems)

Page 415:
Mara nodded. "If the Outer Rim was a torture cell, the Unknown Regions was a fully populated rancor pit," she said

Page 573:
Bel Iblis shrugged slightly. "We are an Imperial Star Destroyer," he reminded him."I think we'll be able to rancor-roll our way out without too much trouble."

David's Review of Vision of the Future

5/5 Rancors - In my review of Specter of the Past, the first book in the two-volume series The Hand of Thrawn, I offered my opinion that Timothy Zahn was the best author in the Star Wars Expanded Universe. Vision of the Future, the second book in the series, does nothing to change my mind. Mr. Zahn has done an outstanding job once again as he gives us remarkable action with memorable characters while at the same time actually making the reader think a little bit.

The setting of the tale is during a time when the New Republic is on the verge of civil war and the remains of the Empire are putting together a master plan to get back in power. According to rumor, the legendary Grand Admiral Thrawn has returned from the dead to lead the Empire's troops once again. He has joined forces with Moff Disra and Major Tierce to build a formidable fighting force that is creating chaos for the New Republic.

Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia, and Lando Calrissian are all facing significant challenges in trying to deal with the Empire's new strategies. Luke joins with Mara Jade to penetrate a mysterious fortress and find out who is there and what trouble they are causing. Leia, Han, and Lando go their separate ways to deal with major threats against the New Republic. They all have to overcome huge hurdles to have any chance of success.

The book is full of Machiavellian dealings, and problems seem to arise one after another. The action in the story rolls right along, and the characters easily maintain the reader's interest. Mr. Zahn even gives us a little romance under perilous circumstances as Luke and Mara find their way into the imposing fortress.

I highly recommend both books in The Hand of Thrawn series - Specter of the Past and Vision of the Future.

David's Review of Specter of the Past

5/5 Rancors - About four years ago, two of us launched a blog at "rancorslovetoread" in which our goal was to read all of the books in the Star Wars Expanded Universe in as close to chronological order as we could and then publish reviews of each book. So far we have read about 90 of the just less than 150 books on the list. My personal feeling is that the best author writing in the Star Wars world is Timothy Zahn. His stellar efforts have included Outbound Flight, Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, and The Last Command. Those last three, of course, make up The Thrawn Trilogy.

In Specter of the Past, Mr. Zahn continues his winning ways. This first volume in a two-part series is outstanding. It is set in a time when the Empire appears to be on the verge of a complete collapse. New Republic forces are busy around the galaxy dealing with a myriad of problems, and the Empire turns out to have a few tricks left. A plot is in place that could destroy the New Republic in a civil war. Plus, the truly disturbing news is that Grand Admiral Thrawn, a military leader of unparalleled skill and cunning, appears to have returned from the dead to lead the Empire's forces once again.

Mr. Zahn's plots are always excellent, and the tale in this book is certainly no exception. On the one side, we have most of our favorite heroes going off in different directions to see what is actually going on and what can be done. Luke, Leia, Han, Lando, Mara Jade, C-3P0, and R2-D2 all have major roles to play. On the other side, Admiral Pellaeon, Moff Disra, and Grand Admiral Thrawn (apparently) are leading the way. Other characters come along for various stretches of the book and play important roles. Character development is one of the author's strengths, and he certainly does well with it here. He also can tell an excellent story. Some of the Star Wars authors go overboard with philosophizing and trying to analyze the motives of key individuals. Mr. Zahn does not get bogged down in such things. His story moves along and holds the reader's attention.

Specter of the Past is a must-read book for any fan of Star Wars. I look forward to the second volume, Vision of the Future.