A trilogy is a set of three distinct works that are connected and can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature , film , and video games . Three-part works that are considered components of a larger work also exist, such as the triptych or the three-movement sonata , but they are not commonly referred to with the term "trilogy".
34-499: Thrawn Ascendancy , also known as Thrawn: The Ascendancy Trilogy or simply The Ascendancy Trilogy , is a trilogy series of Star Wars novels by Timothy Zahn . The books Chaos Rising (2020), Greater Good (2021), and Lesser Evil (2021), follow Thrawn as he rises through the ranks of the Chiss Expansionary Defense Fleet as war brews between the various Chiss families throughout
68-626: A child, where he developed a lifelong interest in drama. He spent his formative years in Renfrew, Ontario (and renamed it as "Blairlogie", in his novel What's Bred in the Bone ); many of the novel's characters are named after families he knew there. He attended Upper Canada College in Toronto from 1926 to 1932 and while there attended services at the Church of St. Mary Magdalene . He would later leave
102-466: A degree, because he was unable to pass the mathematics component of Queen's entrance exam. At Queen's he wrote for the student paper, The Queen's Journal , where he wrote a literary column. He left Canada to study at Balliol College, Oxford , where he received a BLitt degree in 1938. The next year he published his thesis, Shakespeare's Boy Actors , and embarked on an acting career outside London. In 1940, he played small roles and did literary work for
136-459: A friend and colleague of the American novelist John Irving that Irving gave one of the scripture readings at Davies's funeral in the chapel of Trinity College, Toronto . He also wrote in support of Salman Rushdie when the latter was threatened by a fatwā from Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini of Iran in reaction to supposed anti-Islam expression in his novel The Satanic Verses . Davies
170-502: A major figure in the literary world: Murther and Walking Spirits (1991) and The Cunning Man (1994). A third novel in what would have been a further trilogy – the Toronto Trilogy – was in progress at the time of Davies's death. He also realized a long-held dream when he penned the libretto to Randolph Peters ' opera: The Golden Ass , based on The Metamorphoses of Lucius Apuleius , just like that written by one of
204-529: A play), Leaven of Malice (1954, also the basis of the unsuccessful play Love and Libel ) which won the Stephen Leacock Award for Humour , and A Mixture of Frailties (1958). These novels explored the difficulty of sustaining a cultural life in Canada, and life on a small-town newspaper, subjects of which Davies had first-hand knowledge. In a 1959 essay on Nabokov's Lolita, he wrote that she
238-789: A standalone story and ends on a disappointingly limp note." Chaos Rising debuted at number 9 on the New York Times Best Seller list for Hardcover Fiction in the week of September 20, 2020. Greater Good debuted at number 10 during the week of May 16, 2021. Trilogy Most trilogies are works of fiction involving the same characters or setting, such as The Deptford Trilogy of novels by Robertson Davies , The Apu Trilogy of films by Satyajit Ray , The Kingdom Trilogy of television miniseries from 1994 to 2022 by Lars von Trier . Other fiction trilogies are connected only by theme: for example, each film of Krzysztof Kieślowski 's Three Colours trilogy explores one of
272-577: A three-act play, in 1950. Meanwhile, Davies was writing humorous essays in the Examiner under the pseudonym Samuel Marchbanks . Some of these were collected and published in The Diary of Samuel Marchbanks (1947), The Table Talk of Samuel Marchbanks (1949), and later in Samuel Marchbanks' Almanack (1967). An omnibus edition of the three Marchbanks books, with new notes by the author,
306-447: A total of 18 books, produced several of his own plays, and wrote articles for various journals. Davies set out his theory of acting in his Shakespeare for Young Players (1947), and then put theory into practice when he wrote Eros at Breakfast , a one-act play which was named best Canadian play of the year by the 1948 Dominion Drama Festival . Eros at Breakfast was followed by Fortune, My Foe in 1949 and At My Heart's Core ,
340-464: A tradition of writing and telling ghost stories at the yearly Christmas celebrations. These stories were later collected in the book High Spirits (1982). Davies drew on his interest in Jungian psychology to create Fifth Business (1970), a novel that relies heavily on Davies's own experiences, his love of myth and magic , and his knowledge of small-town mores . The narrator, like Davies,
374-399: Is a remastered and remixed collection of his 2011 mixtapes House of Balloons , Thursday , and Echoes of Silence . Creators of trilogies may later add more works. In such a case, the original three works may or may not keep the title "trilogy". Robertson Davies William Robertson Davies CC OOnt FRSL FRSC (28 August 1913 – 2 December 1995)
SECTION 10
#1732779687454408-573: Is less often applied to music. One example is the Berlin Trilogy of David Bowie , which is linked together by musical sound and lyrical themes, all having been recorded at least partly in Berlin, Germany. Another example can be found in the Guns N' Roses songs " November Rain ", " Don't Cry " and " Estranged ", whose videos are considered a trilogy. The Weeknd 's 2012 compilation album Trilogy
442-626: Is of immigrant Canadian background, with a father who runs the town paper. The book's characters act in roles that roughly correspond to Jungian archetypes according to Davies's belief in the predominance of spirit over the things of the world. Davies built on the success of Fifth Business with two more novels: The Manticore (1972), a novel cast largely in the form of a Jungian analysis (for which he received that year's Governor General's Literary Award ), and World of Wonders (1975). Together these three books came to be known as The Deptford Trilogy . When Davies retired from his position at
476-604: The Presbyterian Church and join Anglicanism over objections to Calvinist theology. Davies later used his experience of the ceremonial of High Mass at St. Mary Magdalene's in his novel The Cunning Man . After Upper Canada College, he studied at Queen's University at Kingston , Ontario, from 1932 until 1935. According to the Queen's University Journal Davies enrolled as a special student not working towards
510-575: The Wayfarers trilogy by Knut Hamsun , the Cairo Trilogy by Naguib Mahfouz , The Border Trilogy by Cormac McCarthy , and His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman . A pivotal example is J. R. R. Tolkien 's The Lord of the Rings (1954–1955), which was written as a three-volume novel but published (for economic reasons) as a trilogy, thus helping to popularize the trilogy format. The term
544-651: The Ascendancy. The first novel explores Thrawn and his companion Ar'alani's backstory set against the present day several years into the Clone Wars where Thrawn, a controversial figure in the Ascendancy, is tasked with tracking down a threat by the Nikardun Destiny led by Yiv the Benevolent. The second novel takes place several months after Chaos Rising and sees Thrawn's fleet continuing to track
578-742: The Chiss Ascendancy, an oligarchic autocracy residing deep in the Unknown Regions of the galaxy. The system is headed by the Nine Ruling Families: Boadil, Chaf, Clarr, Dasklo, Irizi, Mitth, Obbic, Plikh, and the Ufsa and is overseen by a ruling body named the Syndicure. Due to their heavily isolationist belief systems, the Ascendancy was not involved in any external affairs and kept their presence hidden to
612-645: The Nikardun threat when a mysterious figure called the Magys seeks his help to save her planet from extinction. The resulting expedition leads Thrawn, Ar'alani, and their compatriots to discover a new threat that has been quietly brewing. Flashbacks show Haplif, an Agbui spy, infiltrating Chiss society at the behalf of Jixtus (eventually revealed to be a Grysk) in order to sow discord between the Mitth and Irizi families. The final novel, Lesser Evil , follows Thrawn exploring
646-696: The Unknown Regions. The trilogy is a prequel to Thrawn's exploits in Thrawn (2017) and the TV series Star Wars Rebels (2014–2018). According to the timeline of the books, the events in Thrawn Ascendancy occur after the 2002 film Attack of the Clones and before the events of the 2015 novel Dark Disciple: A Clone Wars Novel and the 2005 film Revenge of the Sith . Thrawn Ascendancy takes place in
680-551: The characters and situations which later appeared in his plays and novels. Davies, along with family members William Rupert Davies and Arthur Davies, purchased several media outlets. Along with the Examiner newspaper, they owned the Kingston Whig-Standard newspaper, CHEX-AM , CKWS-AM , CHEX-TV , and CKWS-TV . During his tenure as editor of the Examiner , which lasted from 1942 to 1955 (he subsequently served as publisher from 1955 to 1965), Davies published
714-852: The characters in Davies's 1958 A Mixture of Frailties . The opera was performed by the Canadian Opera Company at the Hummingbird Centre in Toronto, in April 1999, several years after Davies's death. In its obituary, The Times wrote: "Davies encompassed all the great elements of life ... His novels combined deep seriousness and psychological inquiry with fantasy and exuberant mirth." He remained close friends with John Kenneth Galbraith , attending Galbraith's eighty-fifth birthday party in Boston in 1993, and became so close
SECTION 20
#1732779687454748-652: The director at the Old Vic Repertory Company in London. Also that year, Davies married Australian Brenda Mathews , whom he had met at Oxford, and who was then working as stage manager for the theatre. They spent their honeymoon in the Welsh countryside at Fronfraith Hall , Abermule , Montgomery , the family house owned by Rupert Davies. Davies's early life provided him with themes and material to which he would often return in his later work, including
782-586: The festival in Athens in 458 BC. The three Theban plays , or Oedipus cycle, by Sophocles , originating in 5th century BC, is not a true example of a trilogy because the plays were written at separate times and with different themes/purposes. Technical changes in printing and film in the mid-to-late 20th century made the creation of trilogies more feasible, while the development of mass media and modern global distribution networks has made them more likely to be lucrative. Examples of trilogies in modern fiction include
816-516: The legal status of Native Americans under U.S. law. Trilogies—and series in general—are common in speculative fiction . Trilogies ( ‹See Tfd› Greek : τριλογία trilogia ) date back to ancient times. In the Dionysia festivals of ancient Greece , for example, trilogies of plays were performed followed by a fourth satyr play . The Oresteia is the only surviving trilogy of these ancient Greek plays, originally performed at
850-457: The legend of the Starflash, a mythic weapon from ancient Chiss history and having to make a difficult decision in his quest for the Ascendancy's salvation as the tides of war continue to grow within and without the Ascendancy. Gizmodo said of Chaos Rising : "[it is] a Star Wars book quite unlike anything we’ve experienced so far in the last six years—in ways that are good and bad," calling
884-509: The political ideals of the French Republic ( liberty, equality, fraternity ). Trilogies can also be connected in less obvious ways, such as The Nova Trilogy of novels by William S. Burroughs , each written using cut-up technique . The term is seldom applied outside media. One example is the " Marshall Trilogy ", a common term for three rulings written by U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall from 1823 to 1832 concerning
918-637: The rest of the galaxy except in fairy tales heard from inhabitants in the Outer Rim. Their focus is primarily on research and exploration rather than expansion into the Galactic Empire , but Thrawn's eventual rise to power in the Empire went against their primary desires. The Chiss Expansionary Defense Fleet composes the Ascendancy's military fleet and monitored the rise of the Grysk forces as enemies of
952-487: The theme of Canadians returning to England to finish their education, and the theatre. Davies and his new bride returned to Canada in 1940, where he took the position of literary editor at Saturday Night magazine. Two years later, he became editor of the Peterborough Examiner in the small city of Peterborough , Ontario, northeast of Toronto. Again he was able to mine his experiences here for many of
986-473: The third son of William Rupert Davies and Florence Sheppard McKay. Growing up, Davies was surrounded by books and lively language. His father, a member of the Canadian Senate from 1942 to his death in 1967, was a newspaperman from Welshpool , Wales , and both parents were voracious readers. He followed in their footsteps and read everything he could. He also participated in theatrical productions as
1020-484: The university, his seventh novel, a satire of academic life, The Rebel Angels (1981), was published, followed by What's Bred in the Bone (1985) which was short-listed for the Booker Prize for fiction in 1986. The Lyre of Orpheus (1988) follows these two books in what became known as The Cornish Trilogy . During his retirement from academe he continued to write novels which further established him as
1054-497: The world "fascinatingly fleshed out" and the novel a "treat worth sinking your teeth into, although it may prove to be a little too rich for its own good at times." Star Wars News Net stated that the novel "will make you look at Thrawn in a completely new light...My faith in Star Wars feels very strong after finishing Chaos Rising ." CNET reviewed Greater Good : "It becomes more engaging as it goes along, but fails to satisfy as
Thrawn Ascendancy - Misplaced Pages Continue
1088-521: Was a Canadian novelist, playwright, critic, journalist, and professor. He was one of Canada's best known and most popular authors and one of its most distinguished " men of letters ", a term Davies gladly accepted for himself. Davies was the founding Master of Massey College , a graduate residential college associated with the University of Toronto . Davies was born in Thamesville, Ontario,
1122-718: Was a corrupt child taking advantage of a weak adult. In 1960, Davies joined Trinity College at the University of Toronto, where he would teach literature until 1981. The following year he published a collection of essays on literature, A Voice From the Attic , and was awarded the Lorne Pierce Medal for his literary achievements. In 1963, he became the Master of Massey College , the University of Toronto's new graduate college. During his stint as Master, he initiated
1156-789: Was published under the title The Papers of Samuel Marchbanks in 1985. During the 1950s, Davies played a major role in launching the Stratford Shakespearean Festival of Canada . He served on the Festival's board of governors, and collaborated with the Festival's director, Sir Tyrone Guthrie , in publishing three books about the Festival's early years. Although his first love was drama and he had achieved some success with his occasional humorous essays, Davies found his greatest success in fiction. His first three novels, which later became known as The Salterton Trilogy , were Tempest-Tost (1951, originally conceived as
#453546