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blacksentai's review against another edition
2.0
So, this human supremacy storyline that appears in so many of these star wars books is so plebeian.
garfunkleha345's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
rey's review against another edition
3.0
It was...alright? I didn't hate it but I didn't love it THAT much but it was still enjoyable. The curse of second books, this one too had a hard time keeping the hype from the first one and moving it to the next one. Though it was nice, the plot felt flat and I kept waiting "when will the action actually start?". But I'm still excited about the third book since the last books are usually the most fun and action ones. I love the story of the trilogy in general and I hope it won't be a waste. It is going good, it just needs to get more alive.
blancwene's review against another edition
2.0
For 2020, I decided to reread (in publication order) all the Bantam-era Star Wars books that were released between 1991 and 1999; that shakes out to 38 adult novels and 5 anthologies of short stories & novellas.
This week’s focus: the second book in the Corellian trilogy, Assault at Selonia by Roger MacBride Allen.
SOME HISTORY:
After the release of [b:Children of the Jedi|555313|Children of the Jedi (Star Wars The Callista Trilogy, #1)|Barbara Hambly|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327008546l/555313._SY75_.jpg|1230005] in spring 1995, Bantam jumped back to Allen’s Corellian trilogy with Assault at Selonia. The title, though, is a little perplexing--no one gets to Selonia until the very end, and it’s not much of an assault. I suppose when you want all your titles to feature an action word + a Corellian place, you’re limited in selection. Assault at Selonia made it to number nine on the New York Times paperback bestseller list for the week of July 2, 1995, and was on the NYT list for four weeks.
MY RECOLLECTION OF THE BOOK:
I didn’t remember a lot of what happened in this book, but to be fair: not a lot does happen here. If the first book was an awful lot of plot setup, this second book continued the trend of being chock full of filler.
PRINCESS LEIA COSTUME CHANGE COUNT:
Nothing. I presume that Leia’s wearing a jumpsuit or something, but since she spends most of the time locked up or escaping, there’s not really any opportunities for fancy dress or complicated hairstyles.
A BRIEF SUMMARY:
Princess Leia, Mara Jade, and Han Solo are all trying to escape from imprisonment at the hands of the Human League. Chewbacca and the Solo children head to Drall and make a startling discovery. And Belindi Kalenda meets up with Luke Skywalker and Lando, and they all head to Bakura in hopes of organizing a fleet to send to the Corellian system.
THE CHARACTERS:
Leia is the most interesting character here, mostly because she has the most exciting plot line. Her escape from Corona House was legitimately thrilling to read--it’s a pity, then, that after Mara Jade and she escape in the Jade’s Fire, they don’t really have anything to do. I appreciate when Leia’s given action scenes, because usually she’s banished to the more boring political plot threads.
Han’s a little grumbly here, and his escape is not as thrilling as Leia’s. He’s constantly asking Dracmus questions about where they’re going, and who’s in charge, and complaining about having to crawl in the tunnels. Shut up Han!
I had to appreciate that while Han was completely distrustful of Mara Jade, Leia didn’t really have any issues with her. She’s not in league with the bad guys, Han! She hates the Empire now!
Lando doesn’t have much to do in this book, so Luke comes into the forefront here. I liked that he met Gaeriel Captison again, and she had moved on--she got married, she had a child, she became Prime Minister, she lost her husband. They behave like grown ups in their encounter, and acknowledge that while he really liked her years ago, it wouldn’t have worked out and they’re at different places in their life.
After having loads to do in [b:Ambush at Corellia|513173|Ambush at Corellia (Star Wars The Corellian Trilogy, #1)|Roger MacBride Allen|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327008224l/513173._SY75_.jpg|863933], Belindi Kalenda is just along for the ride here. Hopefully she’ll have a more prominent role in the third book.
Tendra doesn’t have much to do either. She heads out in her ship, trying to alert Lando about the fleet massing on Sacorria. And that’s it. She flies, and sends messages to Lando, and flies, and sends messages to Lando. At the end she finally gets a message back! She just seems stuck in limbo.
Chewbacca and the Solo children make it to Drall, and are taken in by Ebrihim’s Aunt Marcha. They discover another underground chamber like on Corellia. And that’s it for them.
Wedge has a short POV section in the last chapter, to remind us of the Starbuster threat (I hate that name), and there’s a throwaway line about how he’s so glad to be flying again after doing everything but. I did not understand Wedge’s job(s) in the Jedi Academy trilogy, so that definitely made me laugh.
ISSUES:
It’s unclear, at this point, who exactly are the true bad guys here. Thrackan is a puppet or a figurehead, making threats that he can’t back up. I’m assuming that the true villains are the Triad from Sacorria, but there’s been no confirmation of that yet.
Han told the children in the first book that there was a legend that the Corellian system was created by unknown people, each planet moved into place. That legend is confirmed as fact during the Solo children’s time on Drall, when they discover that the secret underground room is actually a planet-sized repulsor! All the planets of the Corellian system were moved into place! The repulsors can also be used as weapons, and Selonia’s repulsor is used to destroy one of the Bakuran ships!
That sounds like something from a Marvel comic, but OK.
The Starbuster plot continues to loom over everything, even if I felt like our characters had sort of forgotten about it until the second star blew up. (I thought Star Crusher was a bad name, but Starbuster is far worse.)
The back cover blurb is also pretty inaccurate for the story as it’s presented, but that’s a minor issue.
Most egregious: like the first book, there’s just not an awful lot going on in Assault at Selonia. Most of the book feels like setup, or Allen maneuvering everyone into the proper position for the conclusion. Han and Leia separately escape from prison, then get off planet, then….slowly start heading for Selonia. Luke and co. travel to Bakura, talk the Bakurans into providing a fleet, and then don’t arrive until the end. The Solo children find the planet-sized repulsor on Drall, then camp out. Having now read Ambush and Assault, I agree that these could have been merged into one book. I mean, if Han is crawling through a tunnel for more than one chapter, that is entirely too many tunnel-crawling chapters.
IN CONCLUSION:
Is Assault at Selonia exciting? Only in parts. Is it essential? Meh. At this point, I’m hoping that [b:Showdown at Centerpoint|424587|Showdown at Centerpoint (Star Wars The Corellian Trilogy, #3)|Roger MacBride Allen|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327869044l/424587._SY75_.jpg|1177758] is hugely thrilling and action-filled, because I’ve had to wade through a lot of filler in the first two books.
Next up: the first of the short story collections, [b:Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina|353479|Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina (Star Wars)|Kevin J. Anderson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1383261295l/353479._SY75_.jpg|343687], edited by Kevin J. Anderson.
My YouTube review: https://youtu.be/ZmGPTow7Qd0
This week’s focus: the second book in the Corellian trilogy, Assault at Selonia by Roger MacBride Allen.
SOME HISTORY:
After the release of [b:Children of the Jedi|555313|Children of the Jedi (Star Wars The Callista Trilogy, #1)|Barbara Hambly|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327008546l/555313._SY75_.jpg|1230005] in spring 1995, Bantam jumped back to Allen’s Corellian trilogy with Assault at Selonia. The title, though, is a little perplexing--no one gets to Selonia until the very end, and it’s not much of an assault. I suppose when you want all your titles to feature an action word + a Corellian place, you’re limited in selection. Assault at Selonia made it to number nine on the New York Times paperback bestseller list for the week of July 2, 1995, and was on the NYT list for four weeks.
MY RECOLLECTION OF THE BOOK:
I didn’t remember a lot of what happened in this book, but to be fair: not a lot does happen here. If the first book was an awful lot of plot setup, this second book continued the trend of being chock full of filler.
PRINCESS LEIA COSTUME CHANGE COUNT:
Nothing. I presume that Leia’s wearing a jumpsuit or something, but since she spends most of the time locked up or escaping, there’s not really any opportunities for fancy dress or complicated hairstyles.
A BRIEF SUMMARY:
Princess Leia, Mara Jade, and Han Solo are all trying to escape from imprisonment at the hands of the Human League. Chewbacca and the Solo children head to Drall and make a startling discovery. And Belindi Kalenda meets up with Luke Skywalker and Lando, and they all head to Bakura in hopes of organizing a fleet to send to the Corellian system.
THE CHARACTERS:
Leia is the most interesting character here, mostly because she has the most exciting plot line. Her escape from Corona House was legitimately thrilling to read--it’s a pity, then, that after Mara Jade and she escape in the Jade’s Fire, they don’t really have anything to do. I appreciate when Leia’s given action scenes, because usually she’s banished to the more boring political plot threads.
Han’s a little grumbly here, and his escape is not as thrilling as Leia’s. He’s constantly asking Dracmus questions about where they’re going, and who’s in charge, and complaining about having to crawl in the tunnels. Shut up Han!
I had to appreciate that while Han was completely distrustful of Mara Jade, Leia didn’t really have any issues with her. She’s not in league with the bad guys, Han! She hates the Empire now!
Lando doesn’t have much to do in this book, so Luke comes into the forefront here. I liked that he met Gaeriel Captison again, and she had moved on--she got married, she had a child, she became Prime Minister, she lost her husband. They behave like grown ups in their encounter, and acknowledge that while he really liked her years ago, it wouldn’t have worked out and they’re at different places in their life.
After having loads to do in [b:Ambush at Corellia|513173|Ambush at Corellia (Star Wars The Corellian Trilogy, #1)|Roger MacBride Allen|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327008224l/513173._SY75_.jpg|863933], Belindi Kalenda is just along for the ride here. Hopefully she’ll have a more prominent role in the third book.
Tendra doesn’t have much to do either. She heads out in her ship, trying to alert Lando about the fleet massing on Sacorria. And that’s it. She flies, and sends messages to Lando, and flies, and sends messages to Lando. At the end she finally gets a message back! She just seems stuck in limbo.
Chewbacca and the Solo children make it to Drall, and are taken in by Ebrihim’s Aunt Marcha. They discover another underground chamber like on Corellia. And that’s it for them.
Wedge has a short POV section in the last chapter, to remind us of the Starbuster threat (I hate that name), and there’s a throwaway line about how he’s so glad to be flying again after doing everything but. I did not understand Wedge’s job(s) in the Jedi Academy trilogy, so that definitely made me laugh.
ISSUES:
It’s unclear, at this point, who exactly are the true bad guys here. Thrackan is a puppet or a figurehead, making threats that he can’t back up. I’m assuming that the true villains are the Triad from Sacorria, but there’s been no confirmation of that yet.
Han told the children in the first book that there was a legend that the Corellian system was created by unknown people, each planet moved into place. That legend is confirmed as fact during the Solo children’s time on Drall, when they discover that the secret underground room is actually a planet-sized repulsor! All the planets of the Corellian system were moved into place! The repulsors can also be used as weapons, and Selonia’s repulsor is used to destroy one of the Bakuran ships!
That sounds like something from a Marvel comic, but OK.
The Starbuster plot continues to loom over everything, even if I felt like our characters had sort of forgotten about it until the second star blew up. (I thought Star Crusher was a bad name, but Starbuster is far worse.)
The back cover blurb is also pretty inaccurate for the story as it’s presented, but that’s a minor issue.
Most egregious: like the first book, there’s just not an awful lot going on in Assault at Selonia. Most of the book feels like setup, or Allen maneuvering everyone into the proper position for the conclusion. Han and Leia separately escape from prison, then get off planet, then….slowly start heading for Selonia. Luke and co. travel to Bakura, talk the Bakurans into providing a fleet, and then don’t arrive until the end. The Solo children find the planet-sized repulsor on Drall, then camp out. Having now read Ambush and Assault, I agree that these could have been merged into one book. I mean, if Han is crawling through a tunnel for more than one chapter, that is entirely too many tunnel-crawling chapters.
IN CONCLUSION:
Is Assault at Selonia exciting? Only in parts. Is it essential? Meh. At this point, I’m hoping that [b:Showdown at Centerpoint|424587|Showdown at Centerpoint (Star Wars The Corellian Trilogy, #3)|Roger MacBride Allen|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327869044l/424587._SY75_.jpg|1177758] is hugely thrilling and action-filled, because I’ve had to wade through a lot of filler in the first two books.
Next up: the first of the short story collections, [b:Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina|353479|Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina (Star Wars)|Kevin J. Anderson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1383261295l/353479._SY75_.jpg|343687], edited by Kevin J. Anderson.
My YouTube review: https://youtu.be/ZmGPTow7Qd0
delliomellidom's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
elzirm's review against another edition
2.75
It’s always exciting to see Leia and Mara have scenes together… if only Mara felt more in character and their relationship felt more like it flowed organically from the Thrawn Trilogy.
verkisto's review against another edition
3.0
This is a fine, serviceable book, which seems to be the standard in the EU. It tells a tale, has some drama, and features some familiar characters. Allen at least captures the characters of Luke, Leia, and Han, though he seems to go a bit overboard with Wedge. Being the second book in a trilogy, it ends on a cliffhanger of sorts, and like the first book, it doesn't feel like it has a self-contained story.
internpepper's review against another edition
2.0
Good characterization is bogged down by a bad story. Giant weapon that blows up stars has already been done and if there's a huge space station that Corellians know about, why does Han think the Death Star is too big to be a space station in the movie? I want to like this, but there's too many flaws.