Vision of the Future – Timothy Zahn (Star Wars; Hand of Thrawn, Book 2)

Title: Vision of the Future

Series: Star Wars; Hand of Thrawn, Book 2

Author: Timothy Zahn

Genre: Science Fiction

Vision of the Future is the sequel to Specter of the Past, both of which form a little mini-series in the Star Wars universe of books called “The Hand of Thrawn.” It picks up right where Specter of the Past left off, without much re-hashing at all – so definitely read Specter first. That said, if you enjoyed Zahn’s previous Thrawn Trilogy of the Star Wars universe, then you’ll probably love this little series. It is kind of a sequel to that trilogy, sort of…

Zahn does an incredible job weaving all the different people involved in a Star Wars story into a cohesive and coherent plot. There is just a lot of stuff going on! But he works it very well, most of the groundwork being laid in Specter of the Past so that he can just build and climax for most of this book. Zahn is an incredible writer, and here he does another excellent job of weaving an intriguing story with beloved characters, all the while making it believable and the characters seeming real.

As is usual in most Star Wars books, at least at this point in series, though there are some more mature social and political situations, the voilence and inferred sexuality would barely rate a PG-13 rating in a movie. So I would feel pretty comfortable allowing a middle-school aged child read this (though I would probably point him/her towards the Young Jedi series first…).

Good book, excellent pacing, and a page-turner to boot!

Worldview: Secular

Age Recommendation: a mature middle school aged child should be fine reading this, though high school age would be more appropriate.