And more! In Brandon Wainerdi about the phone call that spawned Heir to the Empire and introduced the world to Grand Admiral Thrawn. “It was a chance to jumpstart my career in a way that I’d never thought possible, but it was also a chance for me to fall flat on my face in front of millions of Star Wars fans (laughs). On top of that, I had never written a trilogy before: a single story told in three volumes, in 300,000 words. But by the next morning, I had enough of a germ of an idea that I thought it could be possible. The big question was whether I could capture the atmosphere of Star Wars, but I knew I needed to at least try. I went ahead and said yes, and it seems to be working out so far.”