Star Wars: The Last Jedi - 10 Great (Canon) Books To Read While You Wait

5. Thrawn

Hardcore Star Wars fans will need no introduction to Grand Admiral Thrawn, a character as famous for his appearance in Rebels as much as he is for the OG Dark Horse EU comics themselves.

For those unfamiliar with the blue-skinned alien, Thrawn is the master tactician of the Imperial Navy, and one of the main adversaries to have featured in Star Wars: Rebels. Timothy Zahn's novel featuring the character, however, isn't set during this period. Instead, it examines the character's rise to power, rooting itself in both the Republic and Imperial eras.

Being such a fan favourite character, and having orchestrated many other Thrawn stories in the past, Zahn's handling of the Admiral feels both immediately familiar and infinitely refreshing. Like many of the other novels to have released after Disney's EU reboot, it again takes a look at the transitory phase between the Republic's fall and the rise of the Empire, and although the period between Episodes III and IV is well traversed territory at this point, the focus on that transition is always interesting to witness, especially though the eyes of someone who advocated that transition during the Clone Wars themselves.

If you're familiar with Zahn's work, then you'll know that the writer's reputation precedes him. As far as Star Wars novels go, Thrawn is certainly up there.