New Releases by Timothy Zahn

Hugo Award-winning author Timothy Zahn makes his triumphant return to the Star Wars(r) universe in this first of an epic new two-volume series in which the New Republic must face its most dangerous enemy yet--a dead Imperial warlord. The Empire stands at the brink of total collapse. But they have saved their most heinous plan for last. First a plot is hatched that could destroy the New Republic in a bloodbath of genocide and civil war. Then comes the shocking news that Grand Admiral Thrawn--the most cunning and ruthless warlord in history--has apparently returned from the dead to lead the Empire to a long-prophesied victory. Facing incredible odds, Han and Leia begin a desperate race against time to prevent the New Republic from unraveling in the face of two inexplicable threats--one from within and one from without. Meanwhile, Luke teams up with Mara Jade, using the Force to track down a mysterious pirate ship with a crew of clones. Yet, perhaps most dangerous of all, are those who lurk in the shadows, orchestrating a dark plan that will turn the New Republic and the Empire into their playthings. Features a bonus section following the novel that includes a primer on the Star Wars expanded universe, and over half a dozen excerpts from some of the most popular Star Wars books of the last thirty years!

On an epic voyage far beyond the Republic, the Jedi will confront their most extraordinary enemy—and test the limits of honor and sacrifice against their most devastating challenge. The Clone Wars have yet to erupt when Jedi Master Jorus C’baoth petitions the Senate for support of a singularly ambitious undertaking: the dream of Outbound Flight. Six Jedi Masters, twelve Jedi Knights, and fifty thousand men, women, and children will embark—aboard a gargantuan vessel, equipped for years of travel—on a mission to contact intelligent life and colonize undiscovered worlds beyond the known galaxy. Unknown to the famed Jedi Master, the launch of the mission is secretly being orchestrated by an unlikely ally: the evil Sith Lord Darth Sidious, who has his own reasons for wanting Outbound Flight to move forward. Yet Darth Sidious is not the mission’s most dangerous challenge. Once underway, the starship crosses paths at the edge of Unknown Space with the forces of the alien Chiss Ascendancy and a brilliant mastermind named Thrawn. Even Jedi knight Obi-Wan Kenobi, aboard Outbound Flight with his young Padawan student Anakin Skywalker, cannot help to avert disaster. What begins as a peaceful Jedi mission is violently transformed into an all-out war for survival against staggering odds—and the most diabolical of adversaries.

Never before has the incendiary mix of action, politics, and intrigue that has become Timothy Zahn’s trademark, been mmore evident that in this new Star Wars epic. On the heels of the stunning events chronicled in Star Wars: A New Hope, the newly minted heroes of the Rebellion–fledgling Jedi Luke Skywalker, smuggler turned reluctant freedom-fighter Han Solo, and Princess Leia Organa, a bold leader with a world to avenge–must face the harsh realities of the cataclysmic conflict into which they have so bravely plunged. From this point forward, legends will grow, treachery will abound, and lives will be irrevocably altered, in the long, hard fight to counter the fist of tyranny and restore hope to a galaxy too long in darkness. The destruction of the Death Star by the Rebel Alliance was a decisive blow against the Empire, but Palpatine and his monstrous enforcer, Darth Vader, are no less of a threat. The brutal extermination of Alderaan not only demonstrated the magnitude of their murderous power, but served as a chilling testament to their resolve to crush the Rebel uprising. Standing against them, Skywalker, Solo, and the Princess remain uncertain opponents. Luke is gifted and brave, but unschooled in the power he possesses. Han has doubts about waging someone else’s war–and his contentiousness is one more burden for Leia to bear as she struggles to help keep the Rebellion alive. The three have been sent to mediate a dispute between Rebel Alliance factions in Shelsha Sector–agitating matters by forcing Han to deal not only with pirates, but with his more dreaded enemy, politics. At the same time, Mara Jade–all of eighteen and years away from her fateful meeting with Luke–is serving her evil master, Palpatine, well in her role as the Emperor’s Hand: tracking suspected treachery in the Empire to what may be high places–while trying to stay out of Darth Vader’s way. But the Rebels will prove to be only one of the Empire’s concerns. For Imperial Stormtrooper Daric LaRone, his faith in the Empire shaken by the wanton destruction of Alderaan, will commit a sudden and violent act of defiance, and take four other enforcers with him, in a desperate bid to elude their masters’ wrath. Each of these fateful actions, whether sanctioned, secret, or scandalous, will expose brutality and corruption, spur upheavals destined to shake the Empire to its core, and shape momentous events yet to come. Features a bonus section following the novel that includes a primer on the Star Wars expanded universe, and over half a dozen excerpts from some of the most popular Star Wars books of the last thirty years!

From the author of the all-time bestselling "Star Wars" novel, "Heir to the Empire," comes this thrilling, fast-paced space adventure.

Framed for a crime he did not commit, Jack Morgan seeks refuge on a distant planet, accompanied by the virtual presence of his late Uncle Virge, a con man, until a battle forces Jack into a symbiotic relationship with the sole survivor, the dragon-like K''da, and the two must track down those responsible for Jack''s frame-up and the threatened destruction of the K''da. Reprint.

Dragon and Judge, the fifth Dragonback adventure from beloved author Timothy Zahn Orphaned at the age of three, brought up by his Uncle Virgil, a con man, Jack Morgan has done things that are unusual even in the future in space. But when he rescued Draycos, a dragon-like symbiont, from certain death, his life became a series of breathtaking adventures. With the help of Draycos, who can leap onto Jack''s back and become what looks like a tattoo, Jack has been doing everything he can to find out who ambushed the scout-fleet of Draycos''s people, the K''da and Shontine, leaving Draycos the sole survivor. Now Jack thinks he may finally be on the trail of the information he needs. But before he can act on what he knows, he''s kidnapped by aliens, who ask him to be a judge for them, as, they reveal to him, his parents had once been. Jack''s friend Alison Kayna and her newly acquired K''da symbiont are also kidnapped, by the people trying to ambush the K''da/Shontine fleet. Her captors will do almost anything to learn from Alison where the fleet will rendezvous. Jack and Draycos must rescue her before Alison is hurt--or worse. Using every trick in the book, Jack and Draycos race to her aid, but they aren''t able to eliminate the threat to the endangered fleet...and precious time is running out! At the Publisher''s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

In this exciting space adventure, fourteen-year-old Jack Morgan and Draycos, a poet/warrior K''da dragon who can hide himself as a tattoo on Jack''s back, have their backs to the wall. Brought together by a twist of fate, these two have been through a lot of scrapes, risking death and imprisonment on worlds far and wide, seeking justice for Jack and information that might save Draycos''s people from a genocidal ambush. But now, Neverlin, the man who killed Jack''s parents and destroyed the scout fleet of which Draycos was the sole survivor, is about to ambush millions of K''da refugees, and kill them with a Death weapon that kills any living being within its range. To prevent Neverlin from eradicating the K''da race, Jack and Draycos must somehow disable the Death. But for Jack and Draycos, things never seem to go the way they should. When Jack''s friend Alison is captured, Jack gives himself up to keep her from being harmed. Neverlin, with Jack and Draycos as his prisoners, holds all the cards. But desperate times call for desperate measures, as time is running out, not just for our young heroes, but also for the millions of K''da who face annihilation, and resourceful Jack and his remarkable ally will fine a way . . . or die trying. Dragon and Liberator is the powerful, thrilling conclusion to this terrific Young Adult six-book series from award-winning author Timothy Zahn. Fun for readers 10 and older. At the Publisher''s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Dragon and Thief, the first novel in the Dragonback series from Timothy Zahn, was named an American Library Association Best Book For Young Adults. The second novel, Dragon and Soldier is another fast-paced, compulsively readable SF adventure featuring an odd couple of reluctant partners on an unusual quest. Draycos, a golden-scaled draconic K''da poet-warrior, was on a scout fleet ship when it was attacked, with him the lone survivor. Forced to find a new symbiotic humanoid host, he found Jack Morgan. Jack has been on his own, making his way by shipping interstellar cargo on the ship he''s inherited from his Uncle Virgil, a con-man and thief who met with a fatal accident. Draycos has vowed to uncover those behind a vast conspiracy to wipe out his people, while Jack is determined to find out who framed him for a crime he didn''t commit. Virgil, who survives as "Uncle Virge" in the ship''s computer, is against their plan. But Draycos once saved Jack''s life, so Jack feels an obligation to this strange creature who can slip onto the boy''s skin, pressing against it like a living tattoo. Knowing that mercenaries were involved in the ambush that killed Draycos''s fleet, Jack enlists in a mercenary outfit that practically enslaves adolescent recruits. But the soldier''s life isn''t exactly what Jack had bargained for, especially when a mysterious girl is recruited into his group. Strange things are happening, and people and events are not always as they seem. At the Publisher''s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Fast-paced, suspenseful space adventure by a master of military hard science fiction

The fourth exciting Dragonback adventure

Office messenger Graham Smith, an obsessive-compulsive mute with a unique talent for seeing things that others cannot in the world around him, meets Analise Mercado, a young woman who hears voices warning her about the men out to kill Graham, in the story of two people whose lives are fragmented across alternate realities and who hold the key to the future of a billion planets.

The specter of the menacing Grand Admiral Thrawn looms over Luke and Mara Jade Skywalker as they embark on a journey to recover an important piece of Jedi history. Sometimes it seems a Jedi’s work is never done, and Luke and Mara Jade Skywalker know this only too well. Despite the bond they share in the Force, the Jedi Master and his wife are still learning the ropes of being a couple after three years of marriage—and struggling to find time together between the constant demands of duty. But all that will change when they’re united on an unexpected mission: They must pool their exceptional skills to combat an insidious enemy and salvage a part of Jedi history. Whatever may await, the Skywalkers will not face it alone. Joining them on the strange and solemn journey are an officer of the post-Palpatine Empire escorted by a detachment of Imperial stormtroopers; a party of diplomats from a gentle alien species that reveres the fallen Jedi for saving them from bloodthirsty conquerors; and a New Republic ambassador who harbors his own mysterious agenda. Soon enough, suspicion, secrecy, and an unknown saboteur run rampant aboard the isolated ship. But the gravest danger lies within the derelict walls of Outbound Flight, buried for half a century on a desolate planetoid. As the marooned hulk yields up stunning revelations and unexpected terrors to its visitors, Luke and Mara find all that they stand for—and their very existence—brutally challenged. The ultimate test will be surviving the deathtrap carefully laid by foes who are legendary for their ruthlessness, and determined to complete the job Thrawn began: exterminating the Jedi.

In this brilliant epic sci-fi adventure from the bestsellilng author of "Angelmass," a recently crippled quadriplegic is transformed into a space-dwelling, manta/dolphin-like animal and becomes the herd''s last hope for survival.

Hugo Award-winner and #1 New York Times bestselling author Timothy Zahn returns to complete his original, acclaimed SF trilogy. As both humans and the alien Zhirrzh prepare for all-out galactic war, a handful of individuals from both sides are stunned to discover that the explosive catalyst for the impending battle is a misunderstanding both tragic and profound. Determined to avoid mutual extinction for both their races, this band now becomes the focus of the subtle and dangerous force whose goal it is to annihilate and destroy.

Heir to the Empire))Dark Force Rising))The Last Command))3

With Luke trapped by the Dark Jedi, Han pursuing a missing battle fleet, and Princess Leia occupied with influencing an alien race heretofore loyal to Thrawn, the fate of the Republic is threatened. 250,000 first printing.

A high-powered tale about a young woman thrust into the responsibility of foiling a plot that would devastate a high-pressure colony world in the far future

In the sequel to "Cobra," Justin Moreau joins his father in the ranks of the Cobras, an elite corps whose weapons are surgically implanted in their neurologically enhanced bodies