NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Grand Admiral Thrawn faces the ultimate test of his loyalty to the Empire in this epic Star Wars novel from bestselling author Timothy Zahn. “If I were to serve the Empire, you would command my allegiance.” Such was the promise Grand Admiral Thrawn made to Emperor Palpatine at their first meeting. Since then, Thrawn has been one of the Empire’s most effective instruments, pursuing its enemies to the very edges of the known galaxy. But as keen a weapon as Thrawn has become, the Emperor dreams of something far more destructive. Now, as Thrawn’s TIE defender program is halted in favor of Director Krennic’s secret Death Star project, he realizes that the balance of power in the Empire is measured by more than just military acumen or tactical efficiency. Even the greatest intellect can hardly compete with the power to annihilate entire planets. As Thrawn works to secure his place in the Imperial hierarchy, his former protégé Eli Vanto returns with a dire warning about Thrawn’s homeworld. Thrawn’s mastery of strategy must guide him through an impossible choice: duty to the Chiss Ascendancy, or fealty to the Empire he has sworn to serve. Even if the right choice means committing treason. Praise for Thrawn: Treason “Another excellent addition to the new canon . . . Thrawn: Treason will reward you thoroughly for your time.” -- GeekMom “If you’ve ever enjoyed a Thrawn story--whether that was Heir to the Empire and its sequels or Zahn’s new novels--you’ll find more of what you enjoy in Treason .” -- Dork Side of the Force

Praise for Timothy Zahn’s Thrawn
 
“The origin story of one of the greatest Star Wars villains . . . a book that fans have wanted for decades.”—The Verge

“A satisfying tale of political intrigue . . . Thrawn’s observations and tactical thinking are utterly captivating.”—New York Daily News

“Quite the page-turner.”—Flickering Myth
 
Thrawn: Alliances
 
“It’s a science fiction beach read in the best way, brisk and amusing, with some cool additions to the Star Wars galaxy.”—Den of Geek
 
“Like all of Zahn’s novels set in a galaxy far, far away, it’s an essential read for anyone looking for an artistically done adventure.”—CNET

Autorentext
Timothy Zahn is the author of more than fifty novels, more than a hundred short stories and novelettes, and five short-fiction collections. In 1984, he won the Hugo Award for Best Novella. Zahn is best known for his Star Wars novels (Thrawn, Thrawn: Alliances, Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, The Last Command, Specter of the Past, Vision of the Future, Survivor’s Quest, Outbound Flight, Allegiance, Choices of One, and Scoundrels), with more than eight million copies of his books in print. His other books include StarCraft: Evolution, the Cobra series, the Quadrail series, and the young adult Dragonback series. Zahn has a B.S. in physics from Michigan State University and an M.S. from the University of Illinois. He lives with his family on the Oregon coast.

Zusammenfassung
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Grand Admiral Thrawn faces the ultimate test of his loyalty to the Empire in this epic Star Wars novel from bestselling author Timothy Zahn.

“If I were to serve the Empire, you would command my allegiance.”

Such was the promise Grand Admiral Thrawn made to Emperor Palpatine at their first meeting. Since then, Thrawn has been one of the Empire’s most effective instruments, pursuing its enemies to the very edges of the known galaxy. But as keen a weapon as Thrawn has become, the Emperor dreams of something far more destructive.

Now, as Thrawn’s TIE defender program is halted in favor of Director Krennic’s secret Death Star project, he realizes that the balance of power in the Empire is measured by more than just military acumen or tactical efficiency. Even the greatest intellect can hardly compete with the power to annihilate entire planets. 

As Thrawn works to secure his place in the Imperial hierarchy, his former protégé, Eli Vanto, returns with a dire warning about Thrawn’s homeworld. Thrawn’s mastery of strategy must guide him through an impossible choice: duty to the Chiss Ascendancy, or fealty to the Empire he has sworn to serve. Even if the right choice means committing treason.

Praise for Thrawn: Treason

“Another excellent addition to the new canon . . . Thrawn: Treason will reward you thoroughly for your time.”—GeekMom

“If you’ve ever enjoyed a Thrawn story—whether that was Heir to the Empire and its sequels or Zahn’s new novels—you’ll find more of what you enjoy in Treason.”—Dork Side of the Force

Leseprobe
Chapter 1

Communications to and from a Star Destroyer like the ISD Chimaera came from many directions, and at many different status and security levels. Each message carried a numerical code specifying the degree of importance, and those codes defined how and by whom each was to be handled.

Commodore Karyn Faro knew all of those codes. But somehow, in a still-youthful corner of her mind that years of Imperial military regulation and order hadn t quite eradicated, those codes also somehow ended up as colors.

Identification signals from nearby ships or status reports from mid-distant bases, routine matters handled by junior officers, came in shades of green or blue. The small percentage of more significant orders and reports from Coruscant which was better known by the bureaucracy these days as Imperial Center were pictured in shades of yellow or orange. Those were screened by the Chimaera s more senior officers. The rare handful of vital or top-secret messages coming from the senior admirals of High Command, all of which were handled by Faro personally, moved into the range of darker shades of red or purple.

And the few the very few that came from outside the official navy chain of command, the ones that went directly to Grand Admiral Thrawn himself, were an unremittent black.

And they were never good news.

Your TIE Defender program is at risk, Grand Moff Tarkin intoned.

Standing just inside Thrawn s office, with the image from the desk holoprojector facing away from her, Faro couldn t see Tarkin s expression. But she could see Thrawn s, and the subtle hardening of those facial muscles sent a small shiver up her back.

Orson Krennic has been quite persuasive, Tarkin continued, about diverting the funding to his own project: Stardust.

The Emperor has assured me that he supports my project, Thrawn replied. His face was back under control now, Faro noted, and his voice its usual calm.

But there was an edge there that Faro had heard before. The Emperor and Thrawn had a special relationship that dated all the way back to Thrawn s first arrival on Coruscant. Rumor had it that especially in those early years the two men had sometimes disappeared for hours into the palace s strategic planning center, closeted with a few top admirals and trusted moffs, for conversations on still-unknown topics. If Krennic was playing fast and loose with one of the Emperor s favorites, he was treading on dangerous ground.

On top of the ridiculous political maneuvering, Krennic was risking the Empire s very survival. The TIE Defender assembly line Thrawn had established on the Outer Rim world of Lothal was poised to turn out the best starfighters the galaxy had ever seen: fast, maneuverable, heavily armed, and in a radical departure from the rest of …