Thrawn

Zahn is back with another Thrawn masterpiece.

Mitth'raw'nuruodo is one of my top 3 favorite fictional characters of all time, and not only does this book fail to tarnish his legacy, it buffs it to a beautiful shine.

Thrawn is extremely intelligent, perceptive, creative, and insightful both in his tactics and interactions with people, and this is portrayed beautifully in the novel.  If you are into audio, I highly recommend the audible version, as Marc Thompson does an absolutely phenomenal job at its narration.  So good, in fact, that I double checked that there wasn't more than one narrator.  He fluctuates from delicate voices, to phlegmy obtuse voices, to hillbillies and decidedly demonic ones beautifully.

The story takes place from Thrawn being exiled and alone, and follows him through his ascendancy through the ranks, and also hints at yet another tale that has yet to be told.

The mindset within Thrawn himself is high level.  Strategy and tactics, obviously, but as well there is a high emphasis on the growth mindset, putting in the work, and Vanessa Van Edwards esque study of facial expressions and people.

While there is a fine comic book version of this spectacular novel that does hit all the main story points, it does not capture the mindset of Thrawn nearly as well.  Still, it is entertaining in its own way.  Perhaps my expectations of comics are too high - we shall see, as itcomics (a company whose mission mirrors our own in mindsettertainment) is launching their first impact theory comic October 3rd.

I have high expectations for itcomics.  Perhaps that's because in many ways I could easily draw multiple comparisons between Thrawn and Tom Bilyeu, their CEO.

(And though I know he is loath to dress up for Halloween, a part of me holds out a thin hope that Tom will dress up as him one day... Though more likely seeing him as such will be the result of photoshop rather than photography)

Top marks for this amazing addition to Thrawn's legacy!

(Do not ask me about the second book in the series... Rubbish.)