The Thrawn trilogy, also known as the Heir to the Empire trilogy, is a trilogy of novels set in the Star Wars universe, written by Timothy Zahn between 1991 and 1993. The first book marked the end of the notable drought of new Star Wars material during a four-year period from the tenth anniversary of the original 1977 film's release to the release of Heir to the Empire in 1991.Set approximately five years after the events depicted in Return of the Jedi, the trilogy details the offensive campaigns of military genius Grand Admiral Thrawn as he attempts to bring down the recently founded New Republic in a bid to restore the Galactic Empire to power. In addition to Thrawn, the trilogy introduced several notable characters, including Mara Jade and Talon Karrde. The Thrawn Trilogy sold a combined total of 15 million copies, with Heir to the Empire reaching #1 on the New York Times Best Seller list. The trilogy has been met with critical acclaim, and its success is credited to the creation of the Star Wars Expanded Universe (EU), with the planet Coruscant from the trilogy later being adapted by George Lucas to his prequel trilogy of Star Wars films. On the EU's 2014 reboot, characters and concepts from the Thrawn trilogy were adapted to canon media, with Thrawn appearing in the television series Star Wars Rebels and Ahsoka, portrayed by Lars Mikkelsen, Rukh appearing the former series voiced by Warwick Davis, and Gilad Pellaeon appearing in the third season of The Mandalorian portrayed by Xander Berkeley. Zahn would also write two new alternate Thrawn trilogies in the new canon: Thrawn (2017–2019) and Thrawn Ascendancy (2020–2021), as well as consulting on Ahsoka. Source: Wikipedia (en)