The first book in this series seemed a little hard to follow for me. We meet Mara Jade and Thrawn for the first time but after all the hype I had heard about Mara I was disappointed to find that she was really only in the last third of the book. By the time I finished the second book the plot seemed to fall into place better and we got much more of Mara and understanding her past, what motivated her and how complex she is as a character. Then I read the third book and was blown away! I now understand why this is such a beloved series for EU fans and loved how each subplot kept me on the edge of my seat. This is a series that you’ll need to read more than once just to be able to fully understand how each choice a character makes falls into the plot as a whole and to pick up the little details you may have missed while reading it for the first time.