• Star Wars: Outbound Flight

  • By: Timothy Zahn
  • Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
  • Length: 6 hrs and 18 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (3,142 ratings)

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Star Wars: Outbound Flight  By  cover art

Star Wars: Outbound Flight

By: Timothy Zahn
Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
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Publisher's summary

It began as the ultimate voyage of discovery - only to become the stuff of lost Republic legend...and a dark chapter in Jedi history. Now, at last, acclaimed author Timothy Zahn returns to tell the whole extraordinary story of the remarkable - and doomed - Outbound Flight Project.

The Clone Wars have yet to erupt when Jedi Master Jorus C'baoth petitions the Senate for support of a singularly ambitious undertaking. Six Jedi Masters, 12 Jedi Knights, and 50,000 men, women, and children, will embark - aboard a gargantuan vessel, equipped for years of travel - on a mission to contact intelligent life and colonize undiscovered worlds beyond the known galaxy. The government bureaucracy threatens to scuttle the expedition before it can even start - until Master C’baoth foils a murderous conspiracy plot, winning him the political capital he needs to set in motion the dream of Outbound Flight.

Or so it would seem. For unknown to the famed Jedi Master, successful launch of the mission is secretly being orchestrated by an unlikely ally: the evil Sith Lord Darth Sidious, who has his own reasons for wanting Outbound Flight to move forward...and, ultimately, to fail.

Yet Darth Sidious is not the mission's most dangerous challenge. Once underway, the starship crosses paths at the edge of Unknown Space with the forces of the alien Chiss Ascendancy and the brilliant mastermind best known as “Thrawn”. Even Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi, aboard Outbound Flight with his young Padawan student, Anakin Skywalker, cannot help avert disaster. Thus what begins as a peaceful Jedi mission is violently transformed into an all-out war for survival against staggering odds and the most diabolical of adversaries.

Timothy Zahn's unique mix of espionage, political gamesmanship, and deadly interstellar combat breathes electrifying life into a Star Wars legend.

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©2005 Lucasfilm Ltd. and TM. Random House Audio, a division of Random House Inc. (P)2005 Lucasfilm Ltd. and TM. Random House Audio, a division of Random House Inc.

Critic reviews

"An enthralling page-turner." (Publishers Weekly)

"Davis' range is astounding. He captures numerous well-known voices...with perfection." (AudioFile)

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What listeners say about Star Wars: Outbound Flight

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1,961
  • 4 Stars
    787
  • 3 Stars
    284
  • 2 Stars
    74
  • 1 Stars
    37
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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    1,929
  • 4 Stars
    576
  • 3 Stars
    196
  • 2 Stars
    37
  • 1 Stars
    14
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1,737
  • 4 Stars
    633
  • 3 Stars
    276
  • 2 Stars
    66
  • 1 Stars
    26

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Great story, enlightening for fans.HATE ABRIDGED

Would you consider the audio edition of Star Wars to be better than the print version?

For driving in a car and "reading" a book at the same time, yes.

Has Star Wars turned you off from other books in this genre?

no, still love 'em.

What about Jonathan Davis’s performance did you like?

Pretty good character variation, Mr. Davis is a great reader and his voice keeps me interested. That said, the sound effects can be too loud or add to the confusion instead of clarifying. I say spend more time getting the book's tension and arc flowing better instead of adding the lame song at the beginning and all those sound effects. I want the whole book. I hate to have it abridged. If you focus on the voice and characters coming from it, I will sit through the 11-15 hrs it takes, feel cheated by the 4-6 abridged gives us.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No, but usually every day or every other day I'd get a good chunk out of it.

Any additional comments?

Abridging a book sucks! A lot! There are dozens of them! I hate this! Make less books that would have the whole thing in there, cover to cover, instead of throwing tons of half (assed) books on our digital shelves. Want whole story! Can't exactly read the paper copy, want whole audio books!

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116 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Too many missing parts....

Three stars is generous for this one. Far too many details are left out of this abridged version. I am a definite fan of Zahn's previous SW titles and this one just felt incomplete. Buy the paperback!

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90 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

would love to listen to the unabridged version

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

yes, tons of action. Nice, thick plot.

What other book might you compare Star Wars to and why?

any of Zahn's other books.

Have you listened to any of Jonathan Davis’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

not sure...

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

when Thrawn destroyed outbound flight

Any additional comments?

would have liked the unabridged version, but that's not available.

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28 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Good but abridged

I decided to get this audiobook because I didnt really have time to read my hard copy. I was thrilled to have finally finished it but disappointed that it was abridged.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Why would you abridge this?

Seriously, so much of this outstanding story is lost by abridging it. Audiboe needs to redo this and every other Star Wars novel that's only available in abridged editions so that the full story is available.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great read

I loved it!!! Only wished it was the unabridged addition bc I feel like there was so much more that was said. Not that I noticed much but as soon as I read other reviews saying that I kept wondering :) going to buy the book and read it now :)

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

It's a good book

There were some minor plot points left unresolved, but other than that Outbound Flight is a good listen. The narrator does a good job with the reading and distinguishing of voices. The integrated sound effects and music add a nice touch to make it feel like you are listening to a Star Wars book. True, the paperback gives the complete story, but that didn't stop me from enjoying this abridged audio version.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

A must listen if you enjoyed the Thrawn series

This is a good book that takes you back to the Outbound Flight project and gives some background into one of Zahn's best characters... Thrawn. It definitely gives you a different perspective on this character. The only complaint I would have is that I do not like abridged books very much. They tend to leave things out and I wonder what I missed in this book so that is the reason for the 4 stars instead of 5.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Decent Story

I enjoyed the story however Thrawn just isn't the same without Marc Thomson. Davis is a great narrator and I really enjoy his work, but Thrawn is as much a creation of Marc as it is of Timothy Zahn.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

solid and enjoyable

If you enjoy the other Thrawn novels, you'll find he's still at his best here. The overall story is a little sparse, however, and feels a little more like a checklist of continuity events rather than a dramatic arc. Solid, brisk reading by Davis with a good take on younger Thrawn.

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3 people found this helpful