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![[Rise of the Empire]](images/banner.jpg) |
Events that occur between 67 years
and up to 2 years before the Battle of Yavin. |
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Outbound Flight |
BOOK STORY |
Timothy Zahn |
Del Rey [US] Arrow
Books [UK] |
Story published as:
Hardcover Novel (2006)
Audio Book (2006, 2007)
Paperback Novel (2007)
e-Book (2011) |
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Rating:
If you have read this book, please
rate it:
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Reviews:
3 reviews [Average Review
Score: 3.5 / 5] |
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Synopsis
Outbound Flight was an ambitious project that sent an
expeditionary mission of six Jedi Masters, 12 Jedi
Knights and 50,000 men, women and children beyond the
borders of known space to make contact with intelligent
life. It was the brainchild of Jorus C'baoth, but even
so influential a Jedi Master had to navigate the
cumbersome Republic bureaucracy to get this monumental
proposal approved.
With the foiling of a murderous plot, C'baoth gained the
influence he needed to get Outbound Flight underway. In
truth, this turn of fortune was carefully engineered by
Darth Sidious, the shadowy Sith Lord who wants Outbound
Flight to begin, and ultimately, to fail.
The mission is doomed from the start, for lurking within
Unknown Space is the Chiss Ascendancy, and the brilliant
alien mastermind who will someday become Grand
Admiral Thrawn. Not even the presence of Obi-Wan
Kenobi and his young Padawan learner, Anakin Skywalker,
aboard the gargantuan vessel can avert disaster.
The paperback edition also includes
the short story Mist
Encounter.
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Chronology:
This story occurs approximately 27 years before the
Battle of Yavin. |
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Related Stories (in
chronological order):
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Reviews: |
Review
by Darth Kondorr, Poland, 2014:
"The book is a delight to read, a true page turner... almost. "It
all starts really intriguing... (an alien force kidnaps republic
citizens (which of course are smugglers), C'Baoth tries to get
Outbound Flight free of political obstacles), only to be slowed
down by an overly long, not to necessary side quest, which is meant
to introduce some characters and give the main story a jump start.
But once you get through it, Outbound Flight flies...
"Timothy Zahn really knows how to make you want to keep reading,
even though C'Boath's rule is to fast accepted and Obi Wan is
reduced to a helpless bystander at times. The author also tends to
overuse the phrase "his/her's throat/stomach/whatever tightened"
every time someone feels kinda threatened... "Still, the book has
a lot going for it, especially some revelations hinted at in the
book Rogue Planet, but spelled out
completely here, connecting this book not only with the other Zahn
books, but also to the invasion from the
New Jedi Order series . "Maybe not a perfect book, but
definitely worthy of a Star Wars fan's time. "Reading it I felt
like being that teenage boy again having
Heir
to the Empire in my hands for the first time."
Rating: 4 / 5
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Review
by A-Oz, UK, 2006:
"It's a good jumping-on point for anyone coming straight from
the films, however anyone who's read Zahn's earlier books will
recognize how he's filling in his own back story, setting up
characters and species who first appeared in Heir
to the Empire and Zahn's other sequels. Lucas's back-to-front
storytelling has got a lot to answer for...
"It is clumsily structured at times, with Obi-Wan Kenobi and
Anakin Skywalker feeling rather misplaced, even in their restricted
supporting roles. They're there to pull in the fans, but the book
would have done better to drop them altogether and focus more on the
relationship between the female Jedi Lorana and her overbearing
master.
"However, parts of the book are truly dramatic, with a flurry
of late reversals, and the best scenes going to the sort of
shades-of-gray characters whose presence would have livened the
prequel films."
Rating: 3.5 / 5
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Review
by Ewan, Star Wars Books & Comics, 2006:
"Zahn finally completes his Outbound Flight story arc after
letting us wait more than ten years. Unfortunately, Outbound
Flight is not one of Zahn's best Star Wars books, just as in Survivor's
Quest, Zahn 'sneaks' in plotlines and story arcs that he didn't
initially raise in his own books and attempts to supplant them as
being original to the larger EU story arc, eg Sidious' fear of the
Far Outsiders (Yuuzhan Vong) as a reason for his plan to liquidate
the Jedi. He has also used this book to give some form of closure to
many of the characters that he created.
"The inclusion of Obi-Wan and Anakin Skywalker is a mistake,
their roles on Outbound Flight are totally superfluous to the
overall story and Zahn is quite capable of good storytelling without
the need to include two leading Star Wars prequel characters (of
course their inclusion helps sell to a new Star Wars audience and
removing Obi-Wan and Anakin would require a rewrite of Survivor's
Quest).
"Where Zahn excels is with Thrawn's story and his relationship
with his 'alien prisoners', his family and the Chiss hegemony. We
get a rather beautiful insight into the background of the mastermind
that would eventually threaten the New
Republic in Heir to the
Empire. Thrawn is portrayed as a more sympathetic character
(than he would later become) and the reader is more readily able to
identify with this younger Thrawn."
Rating: 2.5 / 5
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