What Lucas creates Lucas destroys. What Lucas destroys Zahn fixes. And thus do we find an apt description for what Outbound Flight is. A fix to Lucas's playing with the Star Wars continuum (now re-engineered further by the Mickey Mouse consortium).

In 1991 Zahn relaunched the entire Star Wars saga with his Heir To The Empire novel. Within it the eponymous antagonist Admiral Thrawn of the Chiss Ascendancy assembles his Imperial Naval forces to attack the New Republic and succeed Palpatine as Emperor of a new galactic Empire. In this maniac scheme he is aided by the insane clone of the mysterious Jedi Master Joruus C' Baoth.

Who is Baoth? Luke Skywalker learns of his Outbound Flight endeavor, a mission to chart the furthest distances of the galaxy for the pre-Empire Republic which ended in catastrophe. Can the clone reveal the secrets of Jedi which Luke is hunting for? Only if Thrawn can be taken out of the mix.

In Outbound Flight Zahn ties in the legend of Anakin Skywalker with that of Baoth. We observe an arrogant Baoth; a conniving Sidious and a young Thrawn, preparing to confront a species of savage warmongering Aliens whose existence is known only to Palpatine.

A spectacular novel which restores the franchise's glory though one cannot help but wonder how far Lucas influenced it given that Zahn initially had no conception of the Skywalker mythos interrelating with Outbound. ( )

I have always loved the Star Wars universe and especially the novels that were written about it. Timothy Zahn definitely writes my favorite books about it. His stories fit quite well within the framework of the existing Star Wars world while adding something new and extra to it. I like his writing style and characterizations a great deal. ( )

Timothy Zahn’s Star Wars: Outbound Flight works akin to Greg Bear’s Star Wars: Rogue Planet in reconciling elements of the Prequel Era with the New Jedi Order series. Further, Zahn helps to reconcile his portrayal of the Clone Wars from his Heir to the Empire trilogy with that in Attack of the Clones and the subsequent Clone Wars series, specifically in relation to Jedi Master Jorus C’baoth.

Zahn, ever a master storyteller, balances several narratives along the course of the novel. First, the Chiss and Commander Thrawn are learning about the Republic while remaining in the shadows. Second, Jorus C’baoth is campaigning for his Outbound Flight program to explore the Unknown Regions and other galaxies, contacting possible Force-sensitive individuals while also creating Jedi enclaves free of the growing turmoil in the Republic. Third, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine is balancing his official role of trying to foster stability within the Republic while, in his identity as Darth Sidious, he pursues his own agenda. Sidious has become aware of a group called the “Far Outsiders” (the Yuuzhan Vong) who are establishing a foothold in the galaxy preparatory to a full-scale invasion. He worries that, should they encounter Outbound Flight, it will provide tactical information that could hasten the invasion before he can establish the power necessary to repel them (pgs. 318-319). Finally, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker are involved in negotiations and the Outbound Flight project in order to keep an eye on C’baoth and his growing paranoia. The Jedi Council also hopes the Outbound Flight program will help to determine what happened to the missing Jedi, Vergere (pg. 50), who first appeared in Greg Bear’s novel, Rogue Planet, which released six years prior to Outbound Flight and similarly linked the Prequel Trilogy with the New Jedi Order.

These various narratives might leave a lesser writer mired in confusion, but due to Zahn’s skills as a writer, it’s easy to follow everything and see how the narrative threads begin to connect. The novel neatly incorporates elements from both the Prequel era and the New Jedi Order era while working as a successful standalone story. Readers of the Expanded Universe will find Zahn’s deft weaving of all these elements from Star Wars chronology most impressive. ( )

Surprisingly good! Keeps the prequelness to a relative minimum while tying things together neatly. Thrawn is amazing as always, and I love a good origin story. ( )

details the infamous Outbound Flight, headed by Jorus C’baoth, which ended in the death of many Jedi. Before Episode II. Finally, Zahn does a prequel. Meet Thrawn and get some of his background. Very enjoyable. ( )