Essential Legends Audiobooks Return With ‘Star Wars: Survivor’s Quest’ & ‘Outbound Flight’ (Review)
Star Wars: The Essential Legends Collection serves two vital purposes. First and foremost, it introduces a new generation of Star Wars readers to the stories of the Expanded Universe. While not canon, these stories still heavily influence Star Wars storytelling today. The second is that it provides an opportunity to correct accessibility options that weren’t necessarily available when these books were first published. Many prefer to consume novels via audiobooks, but one look into the Star Wars Legends catalog indicates a grave concern. Several iconic titles to this day only have an abridged version, and in some cases, none at all. Thus, the value of the unabridged audiobook line grew.
Unfortunately, Penguin Random House Audio had to pause production for about a year even as new waves of Essential Legends books were still being released. That time is now over! New audiobooks are coming over the next few months, kicking off with Timothy Zahn’s Survivor’s Quest and Outbound Flight. Available now and narrated by the one and only Marc Thompson, these two audiobooks add much to the lore and legend of Grand Admiral Thrawn.
The common denominator of each story is the Outbound Flight Project, a mission led by Jedi Master Jorus C’baoth to explore the Unknown Regions. That’s where the chaos begins. What was Thrawn’s role in the apparent destruction of the project, and why does it matter in the age of the New Republic? Survivor’s Quest follows Luke and Mara Jade Skywalker as they learn that the wreckage of Outbound Flight actually remained intact all this time. And in case it wasn’t obvious, Outbound Flight follows that doomed expedition and a young Thrawn, answering the lingering questions Survivor’s Quest set up while providing its own compelling tale.
These two books go hand-in-hand, and their respective audiobooks are a fresh and rewarding way to experience them, whether it’s your first or 27th time.
Star Wars: Survivor’s Quest (Nate’s thoughts)
Released back in February 2004, Timothy Zahn’s Survivor’s Quest follows the events of The Hand of Thrawn duology. The days of the Empire are no more, and the New Republic is in control of the galaxy. Luke and Mara Jade Skywalker are enjoying married life when they receive a peculiar message. Soon, we meet Chiss Aristocra Chaf’orm’bintrano, or Formbi, who shares the news that the Outbound Flight Project somehow survived Thrawn’s decimation in the Clone Wars era.
The Chiss Ascendancy wishes to return it to the New Republic as a sign of good faith. Joining the party are a supposed New Republic ambassador, stormtroopers from the 501st (yes, that 501st), and an alien species called the Geroon. All have their own motives and goals for this journey, but things start going awry. Who’s trying to sabotage it all? And what will they find when they get to the remains of Outbound Flight? Is Thrawn’s legacy too vast to rid the galaxy of?
This was my first time reading Survivor’s Quest. I won’t pretend I was the most invested in its story. It spends too much of its time on the mystery thriller elements instead of developing characters, to the point where it sometimes feels like you’re just reading Scooby-Doo with lightsabers. (I say that like it’s a bad thing.) It gets more interesting when they finally reach Outbound Flight, but that only goes so far. This is where a good audiobook can save the day.
If you’ve never listened to your standard Star Wars audiobook, it’s a wholly unique experience. When Penguin Random House has the wheel, you are constantly brought into the story by the repurposed use of John Williams’ score, classic sound effects like the swooshing of a lightsaber, and excellent narration. Handling Survivor’s Quest is Marc Thompson, who has a long career in voice acting. He is one of the stalwart performers on many Star Wars audiobooks, and he brings it every single time.
Survivor’s Quest is arguably Star Wars‘ first exposure to everything the Chiss culture is. Zahn does a good job writing it, but Thompson sells it. Whether it’s Formbi, General Drask, or a few others, Thompson draws you into their world. Quite frankly, it made me want to finally make time for the behemoth that is Zahn’s Thrawn Ascendancy trilogy. And if that isn’t exactly why these books are being re-released, I don’t know why we’re here.
Admittedly, Thompson’s performance for Luke and Mara isn’t the best. There isn’t much “character” in the voice, but his tone still captures Luke’s calmness and Mara’s ferocity. You can forgive most things when your orator can make your skin crawl, channeling their inner “Shining” girl in an otherwise innocuous scene on the page.
“They’ll be alright… They’ll be brought through right behind us.”
Are you sure Evlyn? Are you sure about that? Complimenting that line read perfectly is the macabre choice of John Williams’ “Han Solo Returns” from Return of the Jedi to add to the realization that all is not well on Outbound Flight.
Star Wars: Outbound Flight (Sydney’s thoughts)
The second release, initially published in 2006, is Outbound Flight, another novel written by Timothy Zahn and voiced by Marc Thompson. This novel re-introduces the inimitable Thrawn. In a move much like the mention of the Clone Wars in A New Hope, Zahn returns 15 years after the release of Heir to the Empire to tell the story of the briefly mentioned Outbound Flight Project.
I really enjoyed this audiobook and, like Nate, I’m a proponent of exploring the massive collection of Star Wars Legends novels in audiobook format. When I first delved into Star Wars books, I was faced with an overwhelming amount of choices and didn’t know where to start. I also feared, slightly, that shifting from the big screen or television to books would feel jarring without the colorful display of space battles and lightsabers that I was used to, or the familiar faces of beloved actors. And while I love reading physical books, I felt for Star Wars specifically, it might be more approachable to begin my reading journey with audiobooks instead. This turned out to be true, and nowadays, I read Star Wars novels in both physical and audiobook formats.
A major reason why Penguin Random House Star Wars audiobooks are so approachable and entertaining to listen to is Marc Thompson, who does an excellent job with a challenging task, voicing the characters whose actors’ voices are already firmly entrenched in our minds. Although I will say, his Anakin is not his strongest voice.
Another reason why these audiobooks shine is the sound mixing. It’s a seamless experience imagining a chase scene when they’ve put John Williams’ “Zam the Assassin” from Attack of the Clones in the background, to name one example. It sets the stage and makes you feel like you’re right back in the galaxy. Likewise, the lightsaber sounds, airlocks hissing, distant explosions, crashes, traffic, cantina, or diner crowd sounds all flesh out the auditory world of Star Wars. It makes for an enjoyable, immersive, and accessible experience.
While this review is primarily aimed at the experience of the audiobook, I do also recommend the story. Particularly for those fans who enjoy the latest Zahn releases. Outbound Flight is the first novel where Zahn explores the multidimensional and really quite likable, militaristic genius of Thrawn that we know in publishing today. The real villain in this book is Jedi Master Jorus C’baoth, whose clone you may remember from the original Thrawn trilogy. Unfortunately, the real C’baoth is not much nicer and spends the entire book alienating everyone until his ultimate fall to the dark side. He’s unredeemable enough and Thrawn is written to be so reasonable, that even Thrawn’s decision to destroy the deep space exploration vessel, Outbound Flight, along with the majority of its innocent passengers, seems an understandable choice made when his hand was forced by the power-hungry C’baoth.
Do I think this novel is critical to your Star Wars Legends reading log? No. However, the beauty of audiobooks is that you can listen to this story while cooking dinner, doing laundry, or traveling to school or work. And each book you complete informs your enjoyment of the wider Legends collection — a win-win all around.
Star Wars: Survivor’s Quest and Star Wars: Outbound Flight are available now as an unabridged audiobook as well as in a physical and digital format. Thank you to Penguin Random House Audio for the copies used in this review.
When she isn't watching her friends and family's eyes glaze over at the mention of The Clone Wars, she's at the park with her dog, Melvin, or on the couch with a book in one hand and a drink in the other. Physically, she lives in Ohio; spiritually, she lives in Naboo.
Nate uses his love for Star Wars and movies in general as a way to cope with the pain of being a Minnesota sports fan. When he's not at the theater, you can usually find Nate reading a comic, listening to an audiobook, or playing a Mario video game for the 1,000th time.
