Thrawn Ascendancy: Lesser Evil is coming this November and will close Timothy Zahn’s prequel trilogy. To celebrate its approaching release, Star Wars have shared an exclusive excerpt from the highly anticipated sequel which dives deep into a key moment in Thrawn’s life.
If you’ve read the previous books, you’ll know that the “Memory” chapters play a big role in expanding our understanding of the Chiss Ascendancy. They also help set up some major plot points. The memories return once again and delve into Thrawn’s past. We’ll be going all the way back to his early days as a member of the Mitth family. But there’s a twist. This time we’ll be stepping into someone else’s shoes- Thrass.
Check out the excerpt below which features Thrawn and Thrass welcoming new members to the Mitth family.
MEMORY I:
Of all the duties foisted on low-ranking family members, Aristocra Mitth’ras’safis had often heard, the task of welcoming new merit adoptives to their formal rematching dinner was one of the worst. The newcomers were either highly skilled additions to the Mitth, in which case they tended to have an overblown opinion of themselves and their value; or they were freshly initiated into the Ascendancy military, in which case they were self-conscious and, well, extremely military. Nearly all of the blood, cousins, and ranking distants opted out of reception duty, leaving most of the burden to fall on Trial-borns and other merit adoptives, none of whom had enough pull to avoid it.
Which made Thrass a definite anomaly… Because unlike practically everyone else in his circle of friends, he genuinely enjoyed the service.
Of course, he’d only been doing it for the past three years, and in that time he’d only welcomed eleven merit adoptives. Maybe after a couple more years the excitement of meeting and evaluating new people would fade and he would become as cynical and world-weary as everyone else.
But he doubted it. Every one of these people had been approved by the Patriarch’s Office, a fair percentage of them by the Patriarch himself, and Thrass liked to see if he could figure out what made each of them special in the family’s eyes.
This one, for example. The young man freshly renamed Mitth’raw’nuru was standing inside the reception room, looking around the walls at the Avidich landscape paintings and the corner statuettes representing or created by some of the ancient Mitth Patriarchs. To Thrass’s eye he looked just a bit lost, a fairly common reaction from someone who’d been rematched from a nondescript family on a minor world into one of the greatest of the Ascendancy’s Nine Ruling Families. Thrawn was wearing the uniform of a Taharim Academy cadet, which meant he’d been taken from his home directly to Naporar and then been brought here to Avidich for his welcome and orientation.
Thrass frowned. For new warriors it usually went the other way around, first to Avidich and then to Naporor. Apparently, someone in the family had wanted him signed into the Expansionary Defense Fleet as quickly as possible, before even his formal welcoming.
Hopefully, he wouldn’t look as intimidated in the heat of battle as he did in a grand Ruling Family reception room. The one common attribute of Ascendancy military types was their outward confidence.
The younger man turned as Thrass walked in through the archway. “Cadet Mitth’raw’nuru?” Thrass asked formally.
“I am he,” Thrawn said.
Interested? You can read the full excerpt over at StarWars.com where you’ll have the opportunity to explore the Mitth family and experience this newly released chapter in audio form.
In case you missed it, here is what we can expect from Lesser Evil:
For thousands of years The Chiss Ascendancy has been an island of calm, a center of power, and a beacon of integrity. Led by the Nine Ruling Families, their leadership stands as a bulwark of stability against the Chaos of the Unknown Regions.
But that stability has been eroded by a cunning foe that winnows away trust and loyalty in equal measure. Bonds of fidelity have given way to lines of division among the families. Despite the efforts of the Expansionary Defense Fleet, the Ascendancy slips closer and closer toward civil war.
The Chiss are no strangers to war. Their mythic status in the Chaos was earned through conflict and terrible deeds, some long buried. Until now. To ensure the Ascendancy’s future, Thrawn will delve deep into its past, uncovering the dark secrets surrounding the ascension of the First Ruling Family. But the truth of a family’s legacy is only as strong as the legend that supports it. Even if that legend turns out to be a lie.
To secure the salvation of the Ascendancy, is Thrawn willing to sacrifice everything? Including the only home he has ever known?
Timothy Zahn’s Thrawn Ascendancy – Lesser Evil will be available on November 16th. Are you ready for the final chapter in this thrilling trilogy? Let us know your thoughts in the comments. Be sure to preorder your own copy of Lesser Evil. You can also apply for a printable 2022 calendar and digital wallpaper featuring exclusive Thrawn art.
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