Heir to the Empire

Heir to the Empire is the first entry in the Thrawn Trilogy, written by Timothy Zahn, published by Bantam Spectra in June 1991. It takes place in 9 ABY. Heir to the Empire was adapted into a comic in 1995 by Dark Horse comics. The narration for the audio book was provided by Denis Lawson, the actor who portrayed Wedge Antilles.

American

 * ISBN 0553073273; June 1991, Bantam Spectra, 361-page hardcover
 * ISBN 0553073273; June 1991, Bantam Spectra, Signed "300 copies with Gold edge on pages in a Slip Cover" 361-page hardcover
 * ISBN 0553745085; June 1991, Bantam Doubleday Dell Audio Publishing, Audio cassette
 * ISBN 0553296124; June 1992, Bantam Spectra, 432-page paperback
 * ISBN 0553634852; October 1994, Bantam Spectra, ?-page paperback
 * ISBN 0739316621; October 12, 2004, Random House Audio, Abridged cassette

Foreign

 * ISBN 80-7033-285-9; 1993, Olympia, 280-page Czech hardcover (Dědic Impéria).
 * ISBN 80-7214-320-4; 2000, Baronet a.s., 376-page Czech hardcover (Dědic Říše).
 * ISBN 978-80-252-1340-7; January 26, 2010, EGMONT ČR, 392-page Czech hardcover (Dědic Impéria).
 * ISBN 954-528-215-0; 2001, Trud, 405-page Bulgarian paperback (Наследникът на Империята)

Back cover
It is a time of renewal, five years after the destruction of the Death Star and the defeat of Darth Vader and the Empire.

''But with the war seemingly won, strains are beginning to show in the Rebel Alliance. New challenges to galactic peace have arisen. And Luke Skywalker hears a voice from his past. A voice with a warning.''

Beware the dark side&hellip;.

Inside flap
Here is the science fiction publishing event of the year: the exciting continuation of the legendary Star Wars'' saga. Picking up where the movie trilogy left off, Heir to the Empire reveals the tumultuous events that take place after the most popular series in motion-picture history—masterfully told by Hugo Award-winning author Timothy Zahn.''

In spring 1977 a film called Star Wars'' was released—and a cultural phenomenon was born. Its epic story, about a young man named Luke Skywalker, whose destiny was to save the galaxy from conquest, caught the imaginations of millions and broke all box-office records. Today Star Wars and its sequels, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, are acknowledged as the most popular series in movie history, and rank among the top ten films of all time.''

The three Star Wars'' films form a spectacular saga of bold imaginations and high adventure. But the stories of its characters did not end there. Now for the first time, Lucasfilm Ltd., producer of the Star Wars movies, has authorized the continuation of this beloved story. In an astounding three-book cycle, Timothy Zahn continues the tale of Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo, and the other characters made world famous by Star Wars, as he brilliantly expands upon George Lucas's stunning vision, "a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away."''

Heir to the Empire begins five years after the end of Return of the Jedi'': the Rebel Alliance has destroyed the Death Star, defeated Darth Vader and the Emperor, and driven the remnants of the old Imperial Starfleet back into barely a quarter of the territory that they once controlled. Leia and Han are married and have shouldered heavy burdens in the government of the new Republic. And Luke Skywalker is the first in a hoped-for new line of Jedi Knights.''

''But thousands of light years away, where a few skirmishes are still taking place, the last of the Emperor's warlords has taken command of the remains of the Imperial fleet. He has made two vital discoveries that could destroy the fragile new Republic—built with such cost to the Rebel Alliance. The tale that emerges is a towering epic of action, invention, mystery, and spectacle on a galactic scale—in short, a story that is worthy of the name ''Star Wars.

Paperback
It's five years after Return of the Jedi: the Rebel Alliance has destroyed the Death Star,'' defeated Darth Vader and the Emperor, and driven the remnants of the old Imperial Starfleet to a distant corner of the galaxy. Princess Leia and Han Solo are married and expecting Jedi twins. And Luke Skywalker has become the first in a long-awaited line of Jedi Knights.''

''But thousands of light-years away, the last of the Emperor's warlords has taken command of the shattered Imperial fleet, readied it for war, and pointed it at the fragile heart of the New Republic. For this dark warrior has made two vital discoveries that could destroy everything the courageous men and women of the Rebel Alliance fought so hard to build. The explosive confrontation that results is a towering epic of action, invention, mystery, and spectacle on a galactic scale&mdash;in short, a story worthy of the name'' Star Wars.

Plot summary
As the New Republic holds a fragile foothold in control, a new threat emerges from the far side of the Galaxy. Having been posted so far away from action, Grand Admiral Thrawn, a cunning and intelligent alien commander, begins to gather his Imperial forces for a strategic attack on the New Republic. With the aid of Captain Pellaeon and Thrawn's personal bodyguard Rukh, they begin to set in motion an almost unbeatable plan. They enlist the aid of a mad clone of a powerful Jedi Master and use the Emperor's hidden weapons vault which he guards. The chain of events caused major unrest in the New Republic.

Meanwhile, Luke Skywalker encounters Talon Karrde and his gang of smugglers. The smugglers capture him but do not turn him over to the Imperials (who would be extremely happy to receive him). The smugglers took him in just as Han Solo and Lando came to see Talon Karrde on the New Republic's interest to hire smugglers as traders. Then, as if it could not be worse, Grand Admiral Thrawn came to visit Karrde just as Luke escaped. Mara chased Luke deep into the forest, where both ships crashed. Mara attempts to kill Luke, but finds out that she needed him if she was to survive. Then, Thrawn himself, decided to interfere with Karrde's rescue attempts and tries to catch Luke and Mara first. The result is a firefight between Imperial troops and Karrde's men. In the end, Karrde won, but had to evacuate his base. Han Solo and Lando headed to the shipyards at Sluis Van.

As the mad clone Joruus C'baoth comes out of isolation and learns about the Skywalker twins and Leia's unborn children, he decides he will train them in the ways of the Force. Basically, they will join him or die. Thus, they are both pursued across the galaxy. Princess Leia was repeatedly hunted down by a species of aliens known as the Noghri. In order to keep her safe from more kidnap attempts and to give her a break from all the work in the New Republic, Han Solo sends Princess Leia and Chewbacca to the Planet of Kashyyyk, where the Wookiees can protect her. But the Grand Admiral was too smart, and deduced the fact. Princess Leia was again hunted down by the Noghri. She manages to negotiate with a captured Noghri to meet with the other Noghri people. But she was to go, alone.

Also, there is a spy hidden amidst the New Republic and it was leaking out lots of information on the New Republic's actions and plans to the Imperials. It is only known as Delta Source. &hellip;Who could it be?

Just as Han and Lando reached the shipyards, Thrawn launched his planned assault on the location. With a cloaking device Thrawn was able to give an element of surprise as his mole miners (stolen from Lando) attempted to bore into the hulls of ships at Sluis Van, and steal them. But so happens is that Rogue squadron was at the scene. They fought off the TIE fighters while Han and Lando hatched a brilliant plan to stop the theft of ships. After the epic battle, Thrawn was defeated in his first major offensive.

The Imperials retreated and order was restored, for now...

Behind the scenes

 * This was the first Star Wars book to refer to the galactic capital as Coruscant. George Lucas would later use this name as the official galactic capital.
 * Timothy Zahn's working title for the book was Wild Card. Bantam vetoed this because it would have interfered with an unrelated Bantam series, "Wild Cards."  Zahn then chose The Emperor's Hand, vetoed for unknown reasons.  Lou Aronica eventually suggested the current title.
 * After Zahn had already began work on the novel, Lucas Licensing contacted him, requiring him to incorporate some of the West End Games material into his work, as well as keep continuity with it.
 * All of Timothy Zahn's books after Return of the Jedi begin the same way as the Original Trilogy: with a Star Destroyer streaking across space.
 * For some unknown reason, the Russian cover depicts events and characters from Dark Empire, such as the resurrected Palpatine, rather than characters from Heir to the Empire.
 * Heir to the Empire was responsible for the introduction of two major species: the Noghri and the Chiss. Both species frequently appeared in the New Jedi Order.
 * In addition to requiring changes in the novel's title, some of Zahn's original story elements were also vetoed by Lucasfilm. Most significantly, the evil clone C'baoth was first intended to be a Dark Jedi clone of Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Cover gallery
This is a gallery of the different cover variations of Heir to the Empire.