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4.03 AVERAGE
4.03 AVERAGE
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
I loved it just as much as the other X-Wing books, until after Jesmin's death when I feel like all the decisions by Allston and Characters alike just became really stupid. However it did redeem itself with the final battle
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I have a pretty storied background with Star Wars, so I tend to let that do the talking for me in a lot of instances where I don't want to get into petty online fandom discourse about the current state of Disney-owned Star Wars. Suffice it to say I have been feeling really bleak lately, particularly with the snobbish cancellation of The Acolyte, about Star Wars. I've been wanting to get back more into books lately, and I was hoping something out there would rekindle my love of Star Wars. Something that was unconcerned with the Skywalkers, unburdened by the inscrutable weight of this nebulous garbage we're all arguing about called Star Wars Canon.
Guys this book was it and it's really fucking cool.
Not only did Allston manage to kind of wrangle the junky, duct-taped cassette futurism of Star Wars into a compelling military science fiction story about a bunch of freaks, he did it with STYLE! Some of the stuff that happens here, just from a conceptual situational standpoint, is just COOL. Sometimes, and often with Star Wars, that's really all I ever want to be worried about. Is this cool. Yes.
To open the floor to other things about Star Wars that are important to me and check them off--
Is this ideologically consistent with the way Star Wars has at least attempted to paint itself despite the heavy washing of Disney horseshit? Yes.
Does this care at all about the increasingly mary sue retention of Skywalker legacy gobbledeygook? No.
Is the prose unbearably cornholey to the point where you're not sure if you're having a character be described to you or listening to someone paint a luscious nude in the next room? No!
I'll be moving onto the next books when my holds release on them. Very excited!
Guys this book was it and it's really fucking cool.
Not only did Allston manage to kind of wrangle the junky, duct-taped cassette futurism of Star Wars into a compelling military science fiction story about a bunch of freaks, he did it with STYLE! Some of the stuff that happens here, just from a conceptual situational standpoint, is just COOL. Sometimes, and often with Star Wars, that's really all I ever want to be worried about. Is this cool. Yes.
To open the floor to other things about Star Wars that are important to me and check them off--
Is this ideologically consistent with the way Star Wars has at least attempted to paint itself despite the heavy washing of Disney horseshit? Yes.
Does this care at all about the increasingly mary sue retention of Skywalker legacy gobbledeygook? No.
Is the prose unbearably cornholey to the point where you're not sure if you're having a character be described to you or listening to someone paint a luscious nude in the next room? No!
I'll be moving onto the next books when my holds release on them. Very excited!
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
I really like this one for it's, "let's crack the emotional shell on some of these characters, shall we?" approach to introducing the new squadron. There's still some weird stuff about women and even more dubious statement about a sentient species that gave me pause.
How best to describe 'X-Wing: Wraith Squadron', the fifth book in the Star Wars series of books (loosely) based on the old video-games? I think the following exchange from the early part of the novel sums it up best (with Wedge speaking):
' " .. I'd originally thought that Rogue Squadron would be used opportunistically: a strike mission would reveal a ground-based weakness, and we'd have the training and supplies ot go down and perform the necessary ground mission. The way it turned out, we keep landing full-fledged commando missions. So I think we need another Commando X-Wing squadron, one where we choose pilots so as to have a full range of intrusion and subversion skills. Rogue Sqaudron was designed as a fighter unit first, commando unit second; this time, I want to go the other way around."
...
"I want pilots no one else want. Washouts. Pilots staring court-martials in the face. Trouble-makers and screw-ups." '
The rest of the novel deals, primarily, with the formation of that unit and their first mission, concentrating in particular on two members of that unit and their own internal battle against themselves.
While not the strongest of spin-off novels (and, maybe, slightly longer than it needs to be), this is still an enjoyable enough diversion for a couple of days light reading.
' " .. I'd originally thought that Rogue Squadron would be used opportunistically: a strike mission would reveal a ground-based weakness, and we'd have the training and supplies ot go down and perform the necessary ground mission. The way it turned out, we keep landing full-fledged commando missions. So I think we need another Commando X-Wing squadron, one where we choose pilots so as to have a full range of intrusion and subversion skills. Rogue Sqaudron was designed as a fighter unit first, commando unit second; this time, I want to go the other way around."
...
"I want pilots no one else want. Washouts. Pilots staring court-martials in the face. Trouble-makers and screw-ups." '
The rest of the novel deals, primarily, with the formation of that unit and their first mission, concentrating in particular on two members of that unit and their own internal battle against themselves.
While not the strongest of spin-off novels (and, maybe, slightly longer than it needs to be), this is still an enjoyable enough diversion for a couple of days light reading.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
medium-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:
Complicated
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
tense
fast-paced
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
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:
Yes