I actually listened to the abridged audiobook of Outbound Flight in the run-up to Thrawn, because I never actually finished it the first time around and I ran out of time for a full reading. The abridged version cuts out almost all of the non-Thrawn/Car’das material, which eliminates a lot of the prequelisms. Really, though, more than any PT references, I found myself most fed up with C’baoth. I understand that the whole point of the character is that he’s a pompous ass, but god damn does it get tiresome to read.