Timothy Zahn is a science fiction author which is best known for his work on The Thrawn Trilogy, a series of novels following the events of Return of the Jedi, introducing various characters such as Grand Admiral Thrawn and Mara Jade Skywalker. In addition to numerous short stories, he also wrote other novels focusing on Thrawn's character, such as Outbound Flight and The Hand of Thrawn Duology in the Star Wars Legends continuity and the Thrawn and The Ascendancy Trilogy novel series in the current canon continuity.
Timothy Zahn's first book in the Star Wars franchise was Heir to the Empire, which followed the events after Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi. He later released Dark Force Rising as a sequel to the former, and later concluded the trilogy with The Last Command. He later wrote a duology which consisted of Specter of the Past and Vision of the Future.
Zahn also wrote various standalone novels, such as Outbound Flight, which told one of Thrawn's first victories, which gained him the respect of Darth Sidious. Scoundrels, Survivor's Quest, Allegiance and Choices of One. He also contributed to the script of several comics and short stories such as Star Wars: Mara Jade – By the Emperor's Hand.
Talon Karrde (portrayed by Zahn, right) with Mara Jade (portrayed by Shannon McRandle) and Corran Horn (portrayed by Michael Stackpole).
Zahn later portrayed Talon Karrde from The Thrawn Trilogy, for the Star Wars Customizable Card Game. As Karrde had much more hair than his creator, Zahn needed to use hair extensions. He was also involved in the writing of Copero flashpoint in Star Wars: The Old Republic.
Before Zahn was hired to write a ninth Star Wars novel, Zahn had planned a number of ideas including stories of the Skywalker family, more adventures of the Hand of Judgment and more of Thrawn's and Mara Jade Skywalker's backstories. At Celebration III, Zahn said he would like to write a novel set after Star Wars: Legacy of the Force, featuring Luke Skywalker, Mara Jade Skywalker, and a teenager Ben. But the possibility of that novel in that time period vanished when Mara died in Legacy of the Force: Sacrifice. However in a later interview with TheForce.net. Zahn said he still wanted to do a novel about the Skywalker family with Mara, Ben and Luke or to tell more tales. But it would have had to be before Star Wars: Legacy of the Force.
Zahn answered a fan's question at Celebration III, he shared that he would be interested in working more with Thrawn if it involved a new threat that only a clone of the grand admiral could solve. The clone would become unsure of himself due to the people expecting him to be as good as the original Chiss. Zahn stated at a book signing in Philadelphia that he would like the clone of Thrawn to team up with Ben Skywalker. Zahn stated through a Facebook Q&A in 2013, that he had a trilogy project to share with Lucasfilm, with one book featuring Thrawn and the Chiss species, the second involved Jade preventing an assassination attempt on Darth Vader, and the third book would be the third book in the Hand of Judgment series. The proposed title for the trilogy was The Maestro Trilogy.
Timothy Zahn explored the Chiss Ascendancy on a new trilogy
The announcement of the new continuity, Canon, in April 25, 2014 made all of Zahn's works Legends instead of canon. Zahn hadn't been involved in Star Wars, however, as Thrawn was reintroduced into the saga through Star Wars Rebels Season Three, through the episode Star Wars Rebels: Steps Into Shadow created by Dave Filoni. He was chosen to write Thrawn, a novel which focused on Mitth'raw'nuruodo, Thrawns rise through the Galactic Empire's ranks. From Lieutenant Commander to Grand Admiral. Which released on April 11, 2017.
The novel received a follow up, Thrawn: Alliances, which told the story of how Anakin Skywalker and the Chiss defeated the Separatists on Mokivj and how Darth Vader and the Grand Admiral discovered a major threat for the Empire, the Grysk Hegemony. It was released on June 26, 2018. He later released Thrawn: Treason, the final installment in the trilogy, where Thrawn defeated the Grysk Hegemony with the help of Admiral Ar'alani, and where he defeated Balanhai Savit. It was released on July 23, 2019
On September 1, 2020, Zahn released Thrawn Ascendancy: Chaos Rising the first book in the Star Wars: The Ascendancy Trilogy which was about Thrawn when he was a member of the Chiss Ascendancy. On April 27, 2021, Thrawn Ascendancy: Greater Good was released. Being the second book in the Ascendancy Trilogy. Later, on November 16, 2021, Thrawn Ascendancy: Lesser Evil was released, which ended the Ascendancy Trilogy.
For Thrawn's appearance in Ahsoka the Disney+ series, Zahn was regularly consulted by Filoni and other creatives to ensure the character was written perfectly.