DarkFather said:Until then, I'm interested in everyone's opinions of these two central EU villains and their tales.
So far I see a trend of Thrawn Trilogy being almost universally accepted as great, while Shadows seems to be more of a mixed back.
In many ways Thrawn is the more compelling villain. Right off the bat, he's the central antagonist in a galaxy spanning trilogy, comparted to Xixor, who's the baddie of a much smaller story sandwiched between 'Empire' and 'Jedi.'
Thrawn avoids any comparison with Vader because he's basically an anti-Vader. Cool, calculatuting, and a good manager. I also think this is a weakness dramatically. Zahn goes so out of his way to show what a swell guy Thrawn is, you find yourself wondering why you're rooting against him. He gives polite pep talks, and is very forgiving. (Zahn does a similar thing with Talon Kardde. He's the nicest most kidnest most honest crime lord in the galaxy, and even Mara Jade is a great person minus her one character flaw of being obsessed with killing Luke). In fact, Thrawn is so perfect and brilliant, when he dies it feels like one of the least satisfying endings ever. "How did THAT happen?!?!" you'll ask yourself. It feels like if at the end of ROTJ Palpatine had tripped on his own robe and died falling down the stairs.
Xixor spends his novel playing opposite Vader, and frankly NO ONE looks cool when compared to Big Black. However, as a sinister crime lord he's a good villain. He's a little 'Fu Manchu' with his elegant robes and evil scheme. His plan to chemically seduce Leia is at least unique, and the battle at his Skyhook palace is a major setpiece that felt very in line with the action of the OT.
If you like Thrawn, STOP at 'The Last Command." In Zahn's other books, Zahn bends over backwards explaining that not only is Thrawn the greatest person ever born, he's also completely ethical, moral, and always right. The universe would have been a better place if stupid Luke and the gang hadn't stopped old Thrawny. Stupid heroes.
I can not imagine any feasible plot where Xixor would have been in the slighest bit reasonable to make a play for being the Emperor. He's a criminal and an alien who lives in the shadows. Any plot where he thought he could take over the entire Empire would have strained credibility to the breaking point. I found his goal to take personal vengeance on Vader and in the process make himself the second most powerful man in the galaxy a pretty solid plot.
I'd say Thrawn is the more interesting, but hampered by a plot I don't care for, and I think text-book Mary Sueism (A new character who completely overshadows the real characters while showing how brilliant the author is). Prince Xixor is a fine villian for his role, which is a smaller story in every respect which is hampered as it seems designed to set up minutia for ROTJ rather than just cut loose.
Regardless, the Thrawn Trilogy and SOTE are two of my favorite EUs.