Rating: 
Summary: Great ending to a so-so trilogy
Review: I was pleasingly surprised by Zahn's ability as a writer. The first book I thought was horribly written. The second was much better, but still lacked something. This third is by far the best of the 3. I am glad I waded through 'Heir to the Empire' in order to get to this book.
The plot is insightful and cunning; the characters become more animated and believable; his descriptions of scenery is far better. Zahn gave this third book the story line and subplots deserving of the Star Wars name.
Rating:
Summary: the series that revived the Star Wars empire [no spoilers]
Review: "The Last Command" is the third and final novel in The Thrawn Trilogy approximately five years following "Return of the Jedi". The originality and creativity in the series is deep, filled with strange creatures and compelling heroes and villains.Grand Admiral Thrawn is an ingenious, calculating and efficient villain, someone the New Republic should fear. The creative ways he uses items at his disposal are amazing. Although he is with the Empire, his charisma and composure has me cheering to succeed whenever engaged in combat. Conversely, the spontaneous ravings of insane Jedi Master Joruus C'baoth form a scary image compared with the serene Emperor. Smuggler Talon Karrde reminds me of a pre-Rebellion Han Solo but with a Jabba the Hutt sphere of influence. While Star Wars hasn't been overly political, politics play a minor part in the developments and brings more depth to an otherwise action oriented plot. Action fills the concluding novel, with surprises and well-timed heroics. I highly recommend this series above all others to any fan of the Star Wars universe. Thank you.
Rating:
Summary: Thrawn, a really bad guy?
Review: The Last Command is the final book in Timothy Zahn's Thrawn Trilogy. The New Republic has been struck hard by the master warlord Thrawn, but now they face a war on 2 fronts. Dark Jedi C'Boath, with visions of himself as Emperor, has arisen to challenge Thrawn and seduce Luke Skywalker to his side. As Leia gives birth to Jedi twins, Han Solo, Lando Calrissian and Luke Skywalker follow Mara Jade, former Emperor's Hand on a quest to destroy Thrawn's cloning facilities. It is a journey fraught with peril as that will only end when first Mara defeats Skywalker in a dual to the death and stands against C'Boath. Filled with powerful prose, roaring action sequences, humor and fun, The Last Command is the perfect ending to the Thrawn Trilogy. It also perfectly sets up these characters for ensuing books, although lesser talents served to make hash out of them. Enjoyable and eminantely readable, The Last Command is an excellent addition to any fiction collection.
Rating:
Summary: An absolutely PERFECT ending to this Trilogy...
Review: This series started out perfectly with 'Heir to the Empire' and continued perfectly with 'Dark Force Rising' and 'The Last Command' brought it all together, well, perfectly. Timothy Zahn has absolutely NO equal when it comes to writing Star Wars novels. He captured the very essence of what made Star Wars so wonderful in the first place. Great stories with Fantastic characters and wonderfully drawn bad guys & aliens. All of that continues with 'The Last Command'. Every time Han, Leia or Luke speak, it sounds as if it were something the REAL characters would've said had this series been made into movies by George Lucas. But just as important as all of the old characters are developed, Zahn's new creations are just as essential and intricate to the story. Everyone from Mara Jade to Talon Karrde and his band of smugglers, and possibly the best bad guy created in the Star Wars Universe, Grand Admiral Thrawn. He's so good at being bad you almost root for the guy--ALMOST. ALL the loose ends are tied up nicely in this last book. The Nohgri make critical revelations that will turn the tide on the success of the Empire, Mara Jade discovers a way to end her maddening dreams of fighting Luke Skywalker, and how will the Alliance handle a new threat of clones to man the Dark Force of ships recovered at the end of book 2? Sure, it takes YEARS to amass a number of clones, right? Or has Thrawn figured a way around that, too? Discover for yourself why Timothy Zahn has the best reviewed Star Wars books here at amazon.com. There is a reason why people love his books. If you are a true Star Wars fan, you should find out for yourself. I also recommend the Hand of Thrawn 2-book series that Zahn wrote a few years later, and while head & shoulders above the average and even above-average Star Wars fare out there, they too fall short of his original trilogy. I think I'm going to go out and re-read this series yet again.
| 
