Of all the things I could have done this weekend besides recovering from E3, I went out and picked up Timothy Zahn’s “Heir to the Empire” and the rest of the Thrawn trilogy. Many thanks to those of you who commented on my initial JIT post. Being at E3 actually spurred me on to start this sooner rather than later. Previews of The Old Republic and The Force Unleashed 2 put me over the edge and meeting Sam Witwer aka Starkiller didn’t hurt either.
To be quite honest, finding Zahn’s Star Wars titles wasn’t easy. I stopped by Strand figuring some second hand copies would be lying around. No dice. Forbidden Planet is a block away, so I went there next. No dice. After checking prices on Amazon and Barnes and Noble, I made my way through the riffraff in Union Square to the 4th floor of the ginormous B&N store. I don’t much like big box bookstores. They just seem very soulless. Anyway, I went over to the Fantasy/Sci-Fi section and went straight for the Zs whilst passing Lev’s “The Magicians,” which is now available in paperback (I expect lunch for this, Lev). When I got to the Zs, I couldn’t find any of Zahn’s Star Wars books. Confused, I walked over and used one of those handy kiosks. “In stock” is what it told me. I kindly asked a B&N employee where they might be only to be told that those books were out of print and unavailable. Long story short, the books were in stock but in the Star Wars section of the Fantasy/Sci-Fi section, the kiosks are “dumb” according to one B&N employee and mad props to the chick in glasses that showed me where the SW section was.
And so my journey begins.
I’m only five chapters into Heir but I’ve gotta say that this whole Ysalamiri Force repellant thing is absolutely ridiculous. Zahn is kidding me with this shit, right? Do these creatures play a prominent role in the rest of the Extended Universe? Pellaeon only exists in the EU? Is Thrawn some sort of Na’vi being? It just might be the cover art that’s throwing me off but Jedi Master C’baoth is a 70’s Disco king tripping on acid, right? And one last thing; Karrde and co. along with all the Empire types are all-new and exist only in the EU, correct?
Also, Zahn sure knows how to get things moving pretty quickly. Will report back again very soon.
Oh, is the Dark Horse adaption of “Heir to the Empire” worth picking up? I like pictures.