Heir to the Empire: Star Wars Legends: The 20th Anniversary Edition

Timothy Zahn

Sep 2011 · Star Wars: The Thrawn Trilogy - Legends Book 4 · Sold by Random House Worlds

About this ebook

Here is a special 20th anniversary edition of the #1 New York Times bestselling novel that reignited the entire Star Wars publishing phenomenon—featuring an Introduction and annotations from award-winning author Timothy Zahn, exclusive commentary from Lucasfilm and Del Rey Books, and a brand-new novella starring the ever-popular Grand Admiral Thrawn. The biggest event in the history of Star Wars books, Heir to the Empire follows the adventures of Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Princess Leia after they led the Rebel Alliance to victory in Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi.

Five years after the Death Star was destroyed and Darth Vader and the Emperor were defeated, the galaxy is struggling to heal the wounds of war, Princess Leia and Han Solo are married and expecting twins, and Luke Skywalker has become the first in a long-awaited line of new Jedi Knights.

But thousands of light-years away, the last of the Emperor’s warlords—the brilliant and deadly Grand Admiral Thrawn—has taken command of the shattered Imperial fleet, readied it for war, and pointed it at the fragile heart of the New Republic. For this dark warrior has made two vital discoveries that could destroy everything the courageous men and women of the Rebel Alliance fought so hard to create.

The explosive confrontation that results is a towering epic of action, invention, mystery, and spectacle on a galactic scale—in short, a story worthy of the name Star Wars.

Features a bonus section following the novel that includes a primer on the Star Wars expanded universe, and over half a dozen excerpts from some of the most popular Star Wars books of the last thirty years!

Ratings and reviews

Nothing can be worst than thinking you bought a long book and half way into it you get cut short of your good fast pace story for stupid excerpts

One of the best "villains" of all time, not only because he fought against our established heroes... but as a person who used his mind against our heroes. Very enjoyable.

I remember being in Atlanta airport over 20 yrs ago wasting a couple hours on layover looking past depressing novels and from out of the blue Star Wars Lives! The original Heir to the Empire is far better than The Force Awakens! It is the true Episode 7 and will always be to me! (SPOILERS) Luke is a grown man, a jedi, training Leia. Leia is Chief of the New Republic, married to Han, expecting twins, beating back the Imperial Remnant. But a master tactician Grand Admiral takes over the Empire and over three books gives a rollercoaster ride with all the emotional attachments and pull out of near disaster moments from the original films. Being written by Timothy Zahn, it is also full of those little details that make a world realistic. Part numbers and names for hardware and ships, details for species (not just men in "costume".) IMHO, if Zahn hadn't written this, all the other Star Wars novels would not have been permitted, and the prequels would have stayed locked in Lucas' file cabinet.

About the author

Since 1978 Timothy Zahn has written nearly seventy short stories and novelettes, numerous novels, and three short fiction collections, and won the Hugo Award for best novella. Timothy Zahn is best known for his Star Wars novels: Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, The Last Command, Specter of the Past, Vision of the Future, Survivor’s Quest, Outbound Flight, and Allegiance, and has more than four million copies in print. His most recent publications have been the science fiction Cobra series and the six-part young adult series Dragonback. He has a B.S. in physics from Michigan State University, and an M.S. in physics from the University of Illinois. He lives with his family on the Oregon coast.