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beeker006's review
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
heychomy's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
cyris_reads's review
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
brian9teen's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
3.75
theemeraldflame's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
bocephus85's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
sarahellen's review
5.0
My favorite of the X-Wing series thus far. I enjoyed the plot development and character development.
fisk42's review
5.0
Should you read this review?
Probably only if you yourself also read lots of Star Wars novels, and probably even then only if you read them years ago.
What does this review encompass?
I'm grouping all four of the original Michael A. Stackpole X-Wing novels in my comments here.
Why did I read this?
Last fall I began a re-read of the entire post-ROTJ EU. These books were a massive part of my childhood, but by the time I graduated high school in 2004 I had drastically scaled back my reading of Star Wars novels. I didn't read much of the prequel companion books coming out at the time and I'm pretty sure The Unifying Force, published in 2003, was the last post-ROTJ book I ever read. (Side note: I did go back and listen to an abridged version of the Dark Nest trilogy a couple years ago but they were not great and probably suffered from having a lot of context chopped out.)
So for several reasons I wanted to start a re-read of all post-ROTJ novels. 1. Nostalgia: It's always fun to go back over books you loved growing up. It's like reading a warm fuzzy blanket. That was coupled with a strong desire to revisit my childhood friends after having seen the direction Disney has taken. 2: Re-evaluation: I'd like to see how well some of these books hold up. 3: Completionism: I never read anything after the NJO so there are a couple dozen books that I haven't read.
The review!
So these books easily get 5 out of 5 for me. (Yes, I am grading on my own personal curve, take it up with management if you don't like it.)
First off, these books by Stackpole do something very well that almost no other books before or since have done. They didn't rely on The Big 3 (Han, Luke, Leia) at all. Too many Star Wars books use The 3 as a crutch, and not only does Stackpole not do that here but he created a cast of characters that you feel real camaraderie with. Each of the characters feels fully fleshed out and gets their own character moments and develop throughout the series.
Secondly, these books do really well to plot out some of the major post-ROTJ events and they fully make sense in the context of the universe. I don't want to do this review as a comparison piece to all the novels put out by Disney, but they are majorly lacking in this department. The 'world building' is fully fleshed out of a galaxy still at massive war (that will drag on for decades) and a Rebellion struggling to find its place after having killed The Emperor. To this end there are many great moments like the overthrowing of Coruscant that are show in this book.
Other things these books do well are the combat sequences. I normally get pretty bored with that kind of stuff as words often make it difficult to imagine how the combat is happening. Stackpole does a very good job of not having an obnoxious amount of combat scenes while also keeping them very accessibly descriptive.. Also Stackpole manages to mix up the sub genres in some of the books they're not all straight military sci-fi. The Kryotos Trap contains a lot of courtroom drama coupled with a lot of 'jail' sequences. The Bacta War features a lot of trading and guerilla warfare.
How does this book hold up?
Very well. The Trawn trilogy is often recommended as the first stop for Star Wars EU, and rightly so, this series serves as a very good second stop.
Probably only if you yourself also read lots of Star Wars novels, and probably even then only if you read them years ago.
What does this review encompass?
I'm grouping all four of the original Michael A. Stackpole X-Wing novels in my comments here.
Why did I read this?
Last fall I began a re-read of the entire post-ROTJ EU. These books were a massive part of my childhood, but by the time I graduated high school in 2004 I had drastically scaled back my reading of Star Wars novels. I didn't read much of the prequel companion books coming out at the time and I'm pretty sure The Unifying Force, published in 2003, was the last post-ROTJ book I ever read. (Side note: I did go back and listen to an abridged version of the Dark Nest trilogy a couple years ago but they were not great and probably suffered from having a lot of context chopped out.)
So for several reasons I wanted to start a re-read of all post-ROTJ novels. 1. Nostalgia: It's always fun to go back over books you loved growing up. It's like reading a warm fuzzy blanket. That was coupled with a strong desire to revisit my childhood friends after having seen the direction Disney has taken. 2: Re-evaluation: I'd like to see how well some of these books hold up. 3: Completionism: I never read anything after the NJO so there are a couple dozen books that I haven't read.
The review!
So these books easily get 5 out of 5 for me. (Yes, I am grading on my own personal curve, take it up with management if you don't like it.)
First off, these books by Stackpole do something very well that almost no other books before or since have done. They didn't rely on The Big 3 (Han, Luke, Leia) at all. Too many Star Wars books use The 3 as a crutch, and not only does Stackpole not do that here but he created a cast of characters that you feel real camaraderie with. Each of the characters feels fully fleshed out and gets their own character moments and develop throughout the series.
Secondly, these books do really well to plot out some of the major post-ROTJ events and they fully make sense in the context of the universe. I don't want to do this review as a comparison piece to all the novels put out by Disney, but they are majorly lacking in this department. The 'world building' is fully fleshed out of a galaxy still at massive war (that will drag on for decades) and a Rebellion struggling to find its place after having killed The Emperor. To this end there are many great moments like the overthrowing of Coruscant that are show in this book.
Other things these books do well are the combat sequences. I normally get pretty bored with that kind of stuff as words often make it difficult to imagine how the combat is happening. Stackpole does a very good job of not having an obnoxious amount of combat scenes while also keeping them very accessibly descriptive.. Also Stackpole manages to mix up the sub genres in some of the books they're not all straight military sci-fi. The Kryotos Trap contains a lot of courtroom drama coupled with a lot of 'jail' sequences. The Bacta War features a lot of trading and guerilla warfare.
How does this book hold up?
Very well. The Trawn trilogy is often recommended as the first stop for Star Wars EU, and rightly so, this series serves as a very good second stop.
houseofmancakes's review
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
kb_208's review
4.0
The conclusion to Stackpole's first 4 entries into the X-Wing series. He wraps it up pretty nicely with an engaging and exciting story. So far they've all been pretty consistent and enjoyable. This one deals with the Rogues attempting to take back the planet Thyferra, which produces all the galaxy's bacta, which is an essential medical product that the New Republic needs to survive. The rogues play a series of hits and pirating of the Empire's ships and eventually lead to a confrontation with the series main villain, Isard. It's a good one, and I hope that Allston continues the quality of the series after this.