Title: Outbound Flight
Author: Timothy Zahn
Pages: 420
Time: 27 BBY

Introduction
You cannot begin to imagine how happy I was to find out that "Outbound Flight" was finally available in paperback. I had hoped it would become available before I started with the Thrawn trilogy and it did. In additions I was looking forward to reading more about Thrawn ever since I finished my TIE-Fighter video game back in the late nineties, this craving was amplyfied by the popularity of Thrawn and Mr. Zahn's novels. So I took the novel with me on my holiday and hoped that it would live up to my expectations.

Novel quality
This novel plays right before AOTC and tells the story about a very ambitious Republican project: Outbound Flight. This is a mission aimed eploring the unkown regions of space. Jedi Master Jorus C'Baoth, the mastermind of the plan, thinks this is a great way to ensure the survival of the Jedi, as he feels that things are going very wrong in the Republic.
In addition to this storyline, we are also introduced to a group of smugglers who run into trouble with a Hutt and have to run to the unknown regions. They soon find that they have invaded the territory of a previously unknown race known as the Chiss. After a short battle thay have to surrender and are introduced to the commander of the Chiss fleet. Mitth'raw'nuruodo a.k.a. Thrawn. Somehow the group of smugglers gets caught up in everything and unknowingly become witness to a series of event that will eventually have a great impact on the galaxy. The two storylines are written so that they will meet up in the end for one big and interesting end scene, with some rather immense implications.

The great thing is that both sides of the story have an immensely interesting character in it. On the side of the Republic we have Jorus C'Baoth, a poweful Jedi Master with a rather short temper and an excess of self confidence. The great thing about his character is its tragedy. He is one of the few Jedi that actually feel that the Jedi Order is on its way down, but his forced ways of creating a future are also the essence of what will eventually cause the very downfall he sought to avoid. His actions and the way his apprentice Loriana looks at him are really interesting and provide for some great reading. On the " alien" side we have Thrawn, the strategical masterming with a very interesting personality. Thrawn is quite simply one of the best Star Wars characters ever. His great tactics, his great manners and his sense of right and wrong make every scene he appears in a joy to read. It is also great to see how his character is formed by the events in the novel and the added short story 'Mist Encounter'. I simply do not have enough space to write about all the reasons why Thrawn is such a cool character, you'll just have to trust me on it.

"Outbound Flight" is the best novel I've read since "Revenge of the Sith" . The characters are deep and immensely interesting. The story is very well written and paints a perfect picture of the situation in the galaxy at the time. The results of what happens in this novel are very far reaching. Thrawn's choices in the future will influence a lot of people's lives. Add to that the actions of the puppet-master Sidious and the opinion Anakin has of C'Baoth and we are left with quite simply a brilliant novel. Anybody even remotely interested in reading a Star Wars novel, should put this very high his or hers ' to-read' list. It's an absolute joy to read.
Rating: 93/100

Personal tilt
Wow! That is, in one word, what I think of this novel. Great characters, great storyline, great philosphy. Forget about any other EU-character you know so far, Thrawn is by far the most interesting. For me he even rivals the characters from the movies. I can't wait to read the Thrawn trilogy and get more information about him. Mr. Zahn, I would like to personally thank you for writing this novel. It is really one of those novels that help you remember why Star Wars is so great. Two thumbs and a foot up! Any more of these novels and I'll become a genuine fanboy
Rating: 94/100

Overall rating: 93.4/100

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