Great book

This was a great read. I love how this ties in the various thrawn stories. Nobody writes better than Zahn! ( )

I read this series of 3 books to sort of take a break from heavier stuff I'd been reading, figuring Star Wars would be easy and quick, but I didn't want a novelization with all the characters and bleeps and bloops - this is a series that takes place outside of the location and timeline of the main Stars Wars (I knew this) but still fit the tropes quite well - it fit the bill, a fun read, where I could slide with fun familiar things, like breaking my diet for one meal and driving through the hamburger joint. Plus, I trust that Zahn is a skilled author, and in this series he held up that bargain as well. If this is the sort of thing you're looking for, this is for you. If you're looking for your favorite characters, they're not here, Anakin makes an off-screen cameo, and of course in this ending chapter of the book, you get set up for all the Thrawn expanded universe stuff, but it's not Star Wars. But it is in the tropes, and, not being critical, because this is what I expect, even look for in a relax read - I mean there's a lot of intellectual debt owed to Dune, E. E. Doc Smith, Sailing Ship age novels, Star Wars of course (even long lost siblings trope makes an appearance), the whole Hero's Journey thing, and more. Nor should you expect any hard sf, I mean space is crowded with debris (it's not) and there is no smoke in space, but, we don't care, it's for fun. And as I said, I have a high opinion of Zahn to give you a good story. It does get a bit draggy when the main character Thrawn, goes through the same routine over and over again, making some magically never-fail fake-out gambit - you'd think every other character would get wise after 3 books of this (well, they do, sort of) - but on the other hand, these sections read like military sf under cruise control. Set your expectations, and Zahn delivers to those. Put your feet up and read.

4,75 ★
"Anything decided on by generals and administered beneath the weapons of warship was unlikely to be pleasant"

With so much to wrap up and link to the previous trilogy weighting on the tension crescendo of the narrative, I'd say I was cautiously optimistic about this book.
But while, yes, it is a heavy book to fit all the necessary points, I feel that the execution was perfectly balanced between tension, emotion, adventure, and the unique humor of the Chiss.
This is an incredibly satisfactory conclusion for the prequel story of Thrawn, and leaves enough open threads for the audience to hope that future projects come back to tie them.
(and they should better bring back Timothy Zahn for that, either it being on upcoming novels or the apparent inclusion of Thrawn in the Ahsoka show) ( )

Timothy Zahn’s Star Wars: Thrawn Ascendancy Book III: Lesser Evil picks up following the events of Greater Good, with Thrawn having narrowly avoided Jixtus’s plans to foment civil war within the Chiss Ascendancy. Rumors swirl about the events surrounding Hoxim while Jixtus continues to sow discord throughout the Ascendancy. The various officers and others that Thrawn has worked with remain loyal to him, though his actions increasingly alienate him from the Syndicure. Zahn builds to a satisfying conclusion to his Thrawn prequel trilogy while setting up the events of his 2017 novel, Star Wars: Thrawn. The title itself refers to the ways in which Thrawn must flout Chiss conventions in order to preserve Chiss society (pg. 520) while the “memories” flashbacks in this book work to develop his personal life (pg. 389). A great conclusion to this story that develops Thrawn’s backstory as well as that of the Chiss Ascendancy. ( )

Lesser Evil completes the Thrawn Ascendancy trilogy of books that deal with our favorite Chiss military tactician's early career. Thrawn must defend the Chiss Ascendency from dangerous outside threats as well as civil war breaking out among the ruling families. Jixtus, an agent of a mysterious people called the Grysk Hegemony, was behind the attacks on the Chiss described in the earlier books, but now is ready to face Thrawn in battle. Thrawn must ally with an alien race and work against his own military, political, and family leaders to find a way to defend the Ascendancy against the more powerful Grysky warships.

The great thing about Zahn's books is that they long ago stopped being about just Thrawn. There are a rich collection of characters her including Thrawn's mentor General Ar'alani, ship captain Samakro (who Marc Thompson voices to sound like Jack Nicholson), the young "sky-walker" or ship's navigator Che'ri and her caregiver Thalias (both of whom have Force sensitivity which is key to the plot), an alien navigator-for-hire named Qilori (drink everytime that Qilore's winglets twitch!), and in flashbacks, Thrawn's friend Thrass who has the political acumen that Thrawn lacks. I confess that I lose track of the many characters and plots, but nevertheless I do find it incredibly engaging to read. And the book ends perfectly setting up the events at the beginning of Thrawn. ( )