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Specter of the Past (Star Wars: The Hand of Thrawn, Book 1) | 
 enlarge | Author: Timothy Zahn
Publisher: Spectra
Category: Book
List Price: $6.99
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Avg. Customer Rating:  225 reviews
Sales Rank: 51279
Media: Mass Market Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 416
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 6.9 x 4.3 x 1.1
ISBN: 0553298046
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780553298048
ASIN: 0553298046
Publication Date: September 1, 1998
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Amazon.com Review
Timothy Zahn is the master of the Star Wars novel. His trilogy (Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, and The Last Command) did almost as much as the movie trilogy's re-release to create new interest in Luke, Leia, and Han Solo. Specter of the Past is the first of a new series, The Hand of Thrawn. Princess Leia is trying desperately to hold the loose coalition of interests known as the New Republic together long enough to see the evil Empire finally vanquished. But in a stunning setback, Han Solo and Luke Skywalker discover that the pirate ships raiding New Republic transports are staffed with clones under the command of someone who claims to be Grand Admiral Thrawn, the Empire's most powerful warlord, believed dead for 10 years. Thrawn's plan for destroying the fragile New Republic seems well on the way to completion--unless Han, Leia, and Luke can stop it.
Product Description
Hugo Award-winning author Timothy Zahn makes his triumphant return to the Star Wars(r) universe in this first of an epic new two-volume series in which the New Republic must face its most dangerous enemy yet--a dead Imperial warlord.
The Empire stands at the brink of total collapse. But they have saved their most heinous plan for last. First a plot is hatched that could destroy the New Republic in a bloodbath of genocide and civil war. Then comes the shocking news that Grand Admiral Thrawn--the most cunning and ruthless warlord in history--has apparently returned from the dead to lead the Empire to a long-prophesied victory. Facing incredible odds, Han and Leia begin a desperate race against time to prevent the New Republic from unraveling in the face of two inexplicable threats--one from within and one from without. Meanwhile, Luke teams up with Mara Jade, using the Force to track down a mysterious pirate ship with a crew of clones. Yet, perhaps most dangerous of all, are those who lurk in the shadows, orchestrating a dark plan that will turn the New Republic and the Empire into their playthings.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 220 more reviews...
 A fair read... October 13, 2008
...but overall it was pretty meh. There were several 4+star moments, but there were not enough to average out the dull ones. There was minimal character growth on the part of the primaries and the few new roles were sparsely placed, hopefully setup for a larger role in the second book.
That brings me to the end of the book, which apparently is in the next installment. I would have been ticked if I bought this as a new release. I mean it's one thing to wait a week to see what happens on a tv show. It's a completely different deal to wait months and months for the second half of a book to come out. This is yet another case of the almighty dollar being more important than the creation of good quality writing.
Overall, the read is ok, but not what the first Thrawn set was. It does have fewer of Zahn's quirky dialogs like characters using "Point" as the realization and sudden end of verbal debates, the likes of which seriously annoyed me in the first set. The "ending" of this book leads me to believe the next volume will tie up many of the loose ends Zahn and others left dangling in the vastness of space.
pretty good story October 25, 2007
This review is for The Hand of Thrawn Duology. This duology consists of Specter of the Past and Vision of the Future. This is the follow-up to The Thrawn Trilogy, by Timothy Zahn.
This story is about how the Imperials finally surrender to the New Republic.
Overall, the story is pretty good. My only negative is that the author was bogged down by having to tie up loose ends from other Star Wars books.
 The Blah of Thrawn May 22, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I put the book down about half-way through it because I just couldn't get into it anywhere near as much as the Thrawn Trilogy. I realize that this book is probably just a lot of setting-up for the 2nd book, but I decided that I'd rather read other books instead of be bored on the way. It probably would have been better if Zahn had stuck with his original idea of one book instead of making it a duology.
Instead of this book, I highly recommend the following 5-star novels:
Cloak of Deception (Star Wars)
Shadow Hunter (Star Wars: Darth Maul)
Labyrinth of Evil (Star Wars, Episode III Prequel Novel)
Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader (Star Wars)
Shadows of the Empire (Star Wars)
 Zahn's triumph June 13, 2006
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I really, really enjoyed Tim Zahn's retur to the Star Wars universe, especially since this actually makes political sense. Though I enjoyed the Thrawn trilogy, Thrawn himself was rather annoying, as I am sure that he was to Luke, Leia et al, since he was so good at making their lives miserable. But he was just so omniscient that he was a tad over the top, a Fu Manchu from the Galaxy far, far away. This time, he is just being imitated, with humorous results. Mara Jade is back, too, and nobody does Mara like Zahn does. I don't think the other authors that touch on her really understand her, at all, least of all B. Hambly. Highly recommended.
 A worthy "follow-up" to the Thrawn trilogy August 19, 2005
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
I really liked this book. Zahn did a great job leading you along. You couldn't wait to start the second book in the duology A Vision of the Future.Luckily since I didn't get to read it till well after they had both been published I didn't have to wait. This is one of the better Star Wars books out there.
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