Well I suppose due to my name I’m legally required to post my thoughts. I prefer Outbound Flight, it’s was one of my favorites in the old EU. Not my actual favorite which might be counterintuitive, but hey, the name “OutboundFlight” is much slicker than “HeirToTheEmpire”.
I’ve also found Thrawn one of SW’s most interesting characters, despite him never appearing in any movies (yet). There really aren’t many “smart” SW characters besides him. He’s the opposite of the Jedi - the Jedi have wisdom and the force, Thrawn has intelligence and battleplans. His death is perfect, dying at the hands of the one people he underestimated - largely due to their connection with a force user.
Thrawn is almost too good in the original Zahn trilogy…but yeah, I like the moral point - that deception eventually blows up in your face…he is too practical, overriding his original moral sensibilities. Thrawn kind of fell to the darkside himself in service to the Empire.
Vision of the Future was the perfect sendoff to Star Wars for me…leave the future adventures of Luke, Han, Mara, Lando, Leia, Wedge and all the rest up to our imaginations. The duology is my canon SSD (Sequel-Sequel-Duology). Of course, it was last book written before the PT ideas infected/defecated on SW.
His books after Vision of the Future were significant drop-offs in quality - I never even bothered to finish Allegiance.