In May of 1991, Timothy Zahn’s novel Star Wars: Heir to the Empire premiered at the top of The New York Times bestseller list. Set five years after Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (1983), this first book in what would become known as the Thrawn Trilogy reintroduced the world to the heroes of the original film trilogy, and to a mysterious new villain that quickly established himself in the pantheon of ultimate Star Wars bad guys. In Star Wars Insider #202, Zahn talks to Brandon Wainerdi about the phone call that spawned Heir to the Empire and introduced the world to the Chiss tactician; check out StarWars.com’s exclusive excerpt of the interview below and look for the magazine in stores and digital this week!