Content and design by Stoja Leesa 2003 | please don't steal No affiliation with George Lucas or Lucasfilm. The Jade Sabre is an unofficial fan site.

Spacelog:   Star Wars... from a certain point of view. August 28th, 2002: Zahn-a-thon and My Novel History    After apologizing for my late absence from the spacelog (and the site in general), I have to excuse myself with the fact that I have been honorably occupied. Let me explain.    I have read many Star Wars books in my career as a die-hard fan, but there are five that have always stood above the rest. I hope you know of which I speak. They are, of course, the pillars of the expanded universe, the stories to which all other stories answer: the Timothy Zahn novels.    These were not, sadly, the first Star Wars novels that I read. I began by devouring the Young Jedi Knight books, and soon discovered The Courtship of Princess Leia. My first introduction to Mara Jade, believe it or not, was in the Corellian trilogy by Roger MacBride Allen. Around the time that Vector Prime was released, however, I learned that Luke Skywalker was married. Married? I was shocked! I had no idea that such an event was taking place in the expanded universe. You see, my friends, I had hadn't even payed the Thrawn series' a passing glance by this point. Ah, what I had missed. Fortunately, I was jolted into awareness by the fact that I had almost no idea who this 'Mara Jade' character was who had gone off and married Luke. I had to find out!    I can't remember whether I read Vector Prime or the Thrawn trilogy first. In either case, I soon fell in love with the character of Mara Jade. She was smart, she was clever, she was strong, and best of all, she had red hair. She was the perfect role model. (Minus the slight attitude problem, of course.) The novels by Timothy Zahn, including his later Hand of Thrawn duology, captivated my attention and quickly became my favorite Star Wars books.    Now, back to what I have been honorably occupied with. My memories of these wonderful novels have been growing a bit dim of late, so I decided that a Zahn-a-thon was definitely in order. I began at the beginning and intend to finish at the end-- I am currently in the process of re-reading Specter of the Past.    The Heir to the Empire trilogy was even more enjoyable for me this time through. The books introduce so many incredibly fascinating characters, and the plotlines are so true to the spirit of the Star Wars movies. Grand Admiral Thrawn, Captain Pellaeon, the Noghri, Talon Karrde, Mara Jade, Myrkr, Winter, Ghent, the Imperial Palace; these are but a few of my favorite aspects of these books. Another striking aspect of the novels is that they were the first of their kind-- the beginning of the expanded universe after Return of the Jedi.    As you are all probably getting sick of this, I'll try to stop singing Zahn's praises now. (It's hard.) In conclusion, however, I'd like to suggest that any of you who have not visited Zahn's universe for a while, or who have never visited at all, stop on by and read his Star Wars novels. You will be very glad you did. - Stoja Leesa | 11:27 pm Current Spacelog Spacelog Archives Idea for an article?