Vision of the Future is the second book in Timothy Zahn's Hand of Thrawn duology, and this one is definitely a page turner. The first time I read this book, I had problems putting it down because I was so anxious to find out what happened next.
The biggest draw for me was, by far, Luke and Mara. I delighted in watching these two interact. I enjoyed seeing Mara tell Luke some things that had been needing to be said for quite some time, and even more the fact that he was starting to come to some of those conclusions on his own, and was therefore able to take them seriously. And of course, I was practically dancing around the room when he finally popped the question to her.
Another thing I found totally fascinating is that, for the first time ever, I found myself cheering for an Imperial Officer. Tierce and his group of cronies kept trying to manipulate Pellaeon the entire book, and Pellaeon was able to figure things out every time. I just knew that the second he walked through that door and saw "Grand Admiral Thrawn," the jig would be up, and I eagerly anticipated that scene. I also admired how he was able to see that peace was the only alternative left to them, and that he was able to stick by that determination, even when it seemed that everyone else in the Empire didn't seem to agree with his assessment.
Another bonus that this book had was the use of Elegos A'Kla, my favorite Caasmasi. Okay, so he's the only Caamasi we really know. Anyway, I was excited to see him pop up again in this book, and thought his scenes with Leia were nicely done. It was also interesting to see him interact with Han. I had forgotten that he and Han had met in this book.
And how could I forget our dear Baron Soontir Fel. Anyone who has read the X-Wing comics has been wondering what had happened to Fel, and especially what happened to his wife. That question is answered somewhat in this book. I do remember, though, that on my first read, I was left wondering who this Fel was and why they were making such a big deal out of him. I figured it was simply because they needed to establish a formidable character after which to mold the clones. All I carried away from the book that time was he was an excellent pilot who couldn't make up his mind which side he wanted to be on. Now, after reading the comics, I get a lot more excited, and definitely have no problems figuring out why Fel showed up in this book.
There were a few characters that played a large role in this book that, while they did help move the story forward, also didn't do much for me personally. The first of these characters is Shada D'ukal, the Mistryl. I didn't mind that she hooked up with Karrde, and I think that they will be a good team together, but I am still forced to ask, "So?" Although she chooses to stay with him at the end, she is never heard about again. Then again, Karrde himself isn't heard from all that much, but at least he shows up in Union.
The other ones that just never grabbed me are the Qom Qae and the Qom Jha. Don't get me wrong, they were okay, but they just didn't do much for me. I guess it's hard to write it without them, since someone had to show Luke and Mara how to get into the fortress, but that's about the only role they play.
Now this brings me to Corran. I have heard many people complain about the subplot that has Corran and Wedge on Bothawui. Personally, I didn't mind it, and no, it's not just because Corran is in it. Having them there, trying to stop the planetary shields from being knocked out, did add some suspense to that part of the story. We knew that, were those shields not there, some of the ships orbiting above would take full advantage of that and do their best to destroy the planet. It was paramount that those shields remain up, and Corran and Wedge were sent to achieve just that. Now, based on their past successes, how many people honestly believed they were going to fail?
Okay, but they got called away before they were able to achieve their goal. So why not have Moranda Savich introduced on her own and have her do what she ended up doing anyway? One, it would be hard to get us to be interested in her, unless we knew her a little bit. Watching her interact with two people we already know helps us establish Moranda better in our minds. I suppose it would've worked had we seen her talking with Karrde, except Karrde was already off to find Car'das.
So, I didn't have too big of a problem with them being on Bothawui itself. The problem I had was with how Corran's Force ability was portrayed. In I, Jedi, we see him develop a basic understanding and control of the Force. He was able to do pretty much anything with it except anything relating to telekinesis. Without debating just how powerful he was in the Force in I, Jedi, or exactly how much control he had, it is logical to assume that, even though he was no longer at Yavin by the time of Vision, he is still using some of those basic abilities when with Rogue Squadron.
So why, then, when he and Wedge entered that shop where the Imperials were working, could Corran not pick up the fear that at least one of the Imps had to be radiating? One of the Imps made a faint choking noise when Wedge, Corran, and Moranda entered the shop. To me, that indicates that he was freaked for at least a few seconds. Wouldn't that fear, no matter how short-lived, be strong enough to permeate the shop? I mean, just because they might not show it on their faces does not mean that they weren't feeling it inside. Although Corran's actual mind-reading ability may be weaker than some of his other abilities, he still should've been able to pick this up to a point where it would do more than slightly bother him. I would think this is something that Deanna Troi could pick up, so I would expect Corran to be able to do so as well.
Here's an example to back me up. Later on, in what is perhaps the best use of Corran's abilities in the entire book, he is on the Errant Venture standing by Wedge. Bel Iblis and Booster are talking about the importance of getting the Caamasi document out, more or less saying that the EV was doomed. Wedge was utterly shocked when Booster agreed to this, and seemed to think that Booster was suicidal. He couldn't figure out why Booster was doing this. Corran then answers that Booster is thinking about Mirax and Valin.
I realize that this statement does hint at him using some more of the mind-reading aspects of the Force, but keep in mind that he does know Booster pretty well. In this case, not only is he able to determine that Booster's feelings are not suicidal, but is able to read his mind and determine exactly what Booster's motives are. In other books, even completely untrained, he is able to pick up on people's feelings, hence the comments throughout the X-Wing novels about how he was good at reading people when he was in CorSec. Obviously, quitting his formal Jedi training and being both flyboy and daddy has screwed with his Force ability so he can't even tell when somebody's afraid of his presence.
Overall, I really liked this book. It succeeds in bringing Star Wars and its major characters back into what it should be, not what some certain other authors had perverted it to be. It makes sure that certain mistakes can never be made again (like Luke not being with Mara), and also introduces a few elements that will hopefully show up in the New Jedi Order series. All in all, a nice way to wind up the Bantam run of Star Wars novels.
Reviewed August 18, 2000 by Kelly M. Grosskreutz.
Back to the Book Reviews page.