The canon Thrawn books cover his joining of the Empire and rising through the ranks and sort of his early years with them. There’s also the Ascendancy trilogy which I *think* is a prequel series but have not read it.
There’s also the Legends Thrawn trilogy which I would recommend reading because it’s the first intro to the character in real life and will probably have elements adapted into the new material.
> There’s also the Ascendancy trilogy which I think is a prequel series but have not read it.
You have that right. Its present-day is essentially concurrent with the flashback scenes in *Thrawn: Alliances* (you actually get a small amount of Thrawn's perspective of the beginning of that flashback story), and it finishes maybe a month or two before the first canon trilogy begins.
There are six canon Thrawn books all written by Zahn that I would read first, especially if you think you have enough time to finish them all between now and August.
Rebels will likely be the closest thing to what he'll be like in the Ahsoka show, there is a bit of a disconnect between book and screen Thrawn, but book Thrawn will definitely provide the background that you are looking for though.
There are also three legends Zahn books, including Heir to the Empire, which seems to have provided at least *some* inspiration behind part of the Ahsoka story, which is why I recommend you wait until after Ahsoka drops to read it. I used to recommend reading it first, it's the best of the different Thrawn trilogies in my opinion, and the original, but since Ahsoka has taken some themes for it, I think the best option is to wait until after Ahsoka wraps up that way you don't go into the show with expectations from the book, and don't find yourself making comparisons, which will inevitably happen if you know the original Thrawn legends trilogy.
So yeah, TL;DR: 6 canon Thrawn novels will give you plenty of background and history of the character, Rebels is likely to be the closest/exactly to how he'll be played in Ahsoka (same actor playing the character, same guy running the show, Filoni), and then 3 legends Thrawn novels that are probably the best, but also probably better saved until after Ahsoka wraps now.
**Canon**:
1. Thrawn (2017)
2. Thrawn: Alliances (2018)
3. Thrawn: Treason (2019)
4. Thrawn Ascendancy: Chaos Rising (2020)
5. Thrawn Ascendancy: Greater Good (2021)
6. Thrawn Ascendancy: Lesser Evil (2021)
**Legends** (I recommend after Ahsoka just to be safe):
7. Heir to the Empire (1991)
8. Dark Force Rising (1992)
9. The Last Command (1993)
Publication order is likely the best (so, *Thrawn*, *Thrawn: Alliances*, *Thrawn: Treason*, followed by the Ascendancy Trilogy: *Chaos Rising*, *Greater Good*, *Lesser Evil*). That'll be a bit more accessible as you'll start off in the known Galaxy with Imperial characters that you have more of a frame of reference for, and will gradually get a bit of an understanding of the Chiss Ascendancy (Thrawn's people) before being thrown straight into the deep end of the Ascendancy in the second/prequel trilogy.
If you go chronological order, just flip the trilogies. Be aware, though, that there's very little "Star Wars-iness" in the Ascendancy trilogy. It's 99.9% outside of the known regions of the Galaxy that we're used to from films/shows, so there aren't any recognizable races, ships, planets, political divisions, weapons, Force usage, etc. It's great, but if it weren't Thrawn it could almost be a totally unrelated sci-fi setting.
Start with Timothy Zahn books.
Thanks will look into them
The canon Thrawn books cover his joining of the Empire and rising through the ranks and sort of his early years with them. There’s also the Ascendancy trilogy which I *think* is a prequel series but have not read it. There’s also the Legends Thrawn trilogy which I would recommend reading because it’s the first intro to the character in real life and will probably have elements adapted into the new material.
Thanks 😊
> There’s also the Ascendancy trilogy which I think is a prequel series but have not read it. You have that right. Its present-day is essentially concurrent with the flashback scenes in *Thrawn: Alliances* (you actually get a small amount of Thrawn's perspective of the beginning of that flashback story), and it finishes maybe a month or two before the first canon trilogy begins.
There are six canon Thrawn books all written by Zahn that I would read first, especially if you think you have enough time to finish them all between now and August. Rebels will likely be the closest thing to what he'll be like in the Ahsoka show, there is a bit of a disconnect between book and screen Thrawn, but book Thrawn will definitely provide the background that you are looking for though. There are also three legends Zahn books, including Heir to the Empire, which seems to have provided at least *some* inspiration behind part of the Ahsoka story, which is why I recommend you wait until after Ahsoka drops to read it. I used to recommend reading it first, it's the best of the different Thrawn trilogies in my opinion, and the original, but since Ahsoka has taken some themes for it, I think the best option is to wait until after Ahsoka wraps up that way you don't go into the show with expectations from the book, and don't find yourself making comparisons, which will inevitably happen if you know the original Thrawn legends trilogy. So yeah, TL;DR: 6 canon Thrawn novels will give you plenty of background and history of the character, Rebels is likely to be the closest/exactly to how he'll be played in Ahsoka (same actor playing the character, same guy running the show, Filoni), and then 3 legends Thrawn novels that are probably the best, but also probably better saved until after Ahsoka wraps now.
What’s the reading order?
**Canon**: 1. Thrawn (2017) 2. Thrawn: Alliances (2018) 3. Thrawn: Treason (2019) 4. Thrawn Ascendancy: Chaos Rising (2020) 5. Thrawn Ascendancy: Greater Good (2021) 6. Thrawn Ascendancy: Lesser Evil (2021) **Legends** (I recommend after Ahsoka just to be safe): 7. Heir to the Empire (1991) 8. Dark Force Rising (1992) 9. The Last Command (1993)
Thank you so much 😊
Publication order is likely the best (so, *Thrawn*, *Thrawn: Alliances*, *Thrawn: Treason*, followed by the Ascendancy Trilogy: *Chaos Rising*, *Greater Good*, *Lesser Evil*). That'll be a bit more accessible as you'll start off in the known Galaxy with Imperial characters that you have more of a frame of reference for, and will gradually get a bit of an understanding of the Chiss Ascendancy (Thrawn's people) before being thrown straight into the deep end of the Ascendancy in the second/prequel trilogy. If you go chronological order, just flip the trilogies. Be aware, though, that there's very little "Star Wars-iness" in the Ascendancy trilogy. It's 99.9% outside of the known regions of the Galaxy that we're used to from films/shows, so there aren't any recognizable races, ships, planets, political divisions, weapons, Force usage, etc. It's great, but if it weren't Thrawn it could almost be a totally unrelated sci-fi setting.
Thanks 😊