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4.03 AVERAGE
4.03 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Wraith Squadron was always one of my least favorite novels in the X-wing series. I wanted badly to like it, since the concept is cool: Wraith Squadron is basically the Dirty Dozen of the Star Warsuniverse. But the novel always felt bland, unrealistic, and rushed, a feeling that persists in my most recent rereading.
Allston’s major problem is with characterization: he doesn’t develop enough of an attachment to any of his characters. This is mostly evident in the fact that it’s difficult to keep them straight, especially when their call signs are being used instead of their names. They mostly feel like stock characters: they literally fill a role within the squadron itself (demolitions, communications, sniper support, and so on), and their individual personalities are mostly templates or standard archetypes. Kell Tainer is the big strong military muscle, Tyria Sarkin is the pretty damsel, Ton Phanan is the class clown…you get the idea. The problem with archetypes is while they’re recognizable, the reader never really knows them.
Certainly Stackpole’s first four X-wing novels had issues with characterization. Many of his background characters were stock (and tended to die quickly), Corran Horn was a Mary Sue, and Mirax Terrik was probably his vision of the ideal space babe. But they at least had somedefining personality characteristics—Corran, for example, had issues surrounding his father’s death, as well as his own ego. In Wraith Squadron, all the characters are pretty flat and bland.
Moreover, all the characters are screw-ups, and Allston tries way too hard to push the fact that they’re failures, to the point that what little distinctive personality traits they have become farcical, or at least melodramatic. There’s the ridiculous storyline in which Kell’s father was killed by Wes Janson—which is, in and of itself, unrealistic, but what’s more realistic is that Kell turns out to have the same tendency, almost as if it’s genetic. And even though he knows he doesn’t handle stress and fear well, at key moments he just happens to go off the deep end without realizing anything is amiss. Kell’s fear seems forced, and isn’t dealt with consistently throughout the book. It’s a plot device, when it should be a defining character trait.
And most of the other characters’ flaws are equally unrealistic. Ton Phanan gets shot down in almost every engagement, and yet he’s still a pilot? Why? It’s not established that he’s a great doctor, the Doogie Houser of Star Wars, either, so why keep him around? Because he’s funny? Because someone feels bad for him? That’s not how the military works.
As a result, even the handful of deaths in the book are more melodramatic than gut-wrenching. Falynn dies because she’s arrogant…big deal. Grinder’s death is thrown in right afterwards, almost as an afterthought. No one mourns either of the deceased, because we didn’t really know or even like them.
In fact, that’s true of almost the entire cast (save for the big names, like Wedge Antilles and Wes Janson). Most of the time, the characters are so emotionally stunted that we don’t feel like we’re dealing with adults, but rather middle school kids learning to fly X-wings. Look, I get that they’re failures, but they don’t have to handle it like they're twelve years old.
Even the action of Wraith Squadron was a bit lackluster. It feels like Allston never settled on one character, so he jumps around quite a bit—often times within a single scene, making the prose choppy and taking the reader out of the element. Stackpole’s novels certainly featured several characters, but he mostly focused on Corran Horn, and Kirtan Loor to a lesser extent. Allston tells his story alternately from the perspectives of Wedge Antilles, Kell Tainer, and Face Loran, and even throws in perspectives from Falynn, Grinder, and a couple other Wraiths, as well as an Imperial Intelligence operative, making the entire story muddled. There’s not really a single main character or protagonist to root for, nor is there a single antagonist to root against.
I’d suggest skipping this novel, but you can’t since it’s part of the series, and sets up the next two novels. And if I recall from earlier readings, Iron Fist, the next novel in the series, is much more readable than Wraith Squadron.
Allston’s major problem is with characterization: he doesn’t develop enough of an attachment to any of his characters. This is mostly evident in the fact that it’s difficult to keep them straight, especially when their call signs are being used instead of their names. They mostly feel like stock characters: they literally fill a role within the squadron itself (demolitions, communications, sniper support, and so on), and their individual personalities are mostly templates or standard archetypes. Kell Tainer is the big strong military muscle, Tyria Sarkin is the pretty damsel, Ton Phanan is the class clown…you get the idea. The problem with archetypes is while they’re recognizable, the reader never really knows them.
Certainly Stackpole’s first four X-wing novels had issues with characterization. Many of his background characters were stock (and tended to die quickly), Corran Horn was a Mary Sue, and Mirax Terrik was probably his vision of the ideal space babe. But they at least had somedefining personality characteristics—Corran, for example, had issues surrounding his father’s death, as well as his own ego. In Wraith Squadron, all the characters are pretty flat and bland.
Moreover, all the characters are screw-ups, and Allston tries way too hard to push the fact that they’re failures, to the point that what little distinctive personality traits they have become farcical, or at least melodramatic. There’s the ridiculous storyline in which Kell’s father was killed by Wes Janson—which is, in and of itself, unrealistic, but what’s more realistic is that Kell turns out to have the same tendency, almost as if it’s genetic. And even though he knows he doesn’t handle stress and fear well, at key moments he just happens to go off the deep end without realizing anything is amiss. Kell’s fear seems forced, and isn’t dealt with consistently throughout the book. It’s a plot device, when it should be a defining character trait.
And most of the other characters’ flaws are equally unrealistic. Ton Phanan gets shot down in almost every engagement, and yet he’s still a pilot? Why? It’s not established that he’s a great doctor, the Doogie Houser of Star Wars, either, so why keep him around? Because he’s funny? Because someone feels bad for him? That’s not how the military works.
As a result, even the handful of deaths in the book are more melodramatic than gut-wrenching. Falynn dies because she’s arrogant…big deal. Grinder’s death is thrown in right afterwards, almost as an afterthought. No one mourns either of the deceased, because we didn’t really know or even like them.
In fact, that’s true of almost the entire cast (save for the big names, like Wedge Antilles and Wes Janson). Most of the time, the characters are so emotionally stunted that we don’t feel like we’re dealing with adults, but rather middle school kids learning to fly X-wings. Look, I get that they’re failures, but they don’t have to handle it like they're twelve years old.
Even the action of Wraith Squadron was a bit lackluster. It feels like Allston never settled on one character, so he jumps around quite a bit—often times within a single scene, making the prose choppy and taking the reader out of the element. Stackpole’s novels certainly featured several characters, but he mostly focused on Corran Horn, and Kirtan Loor to a lesser extent. Allston tells his story alternately from the perspectives of Wedge Antilles, Kell Tainer, and Face Loran, and even throws in perspectives from Falynn, Grinder, and a couple other Wraiths, as well as an Imperial Intelligence operative, making the entire story muddled. There’s not really a single main character or protagonist to root for, nor is there a single antagonist to root against.
I’d suggest skipping this novel, but you can’t since it’s part of the series, and sets up the next two novels. And if I recall from earlier readings, Iron Fist, the next novel in the series, is much more readable than Wraith Squadron.
Surprisingly easy to read and cool—a totally different take on the X-Wing book as I came to be familiar with. I like how they mix it up by introducing new characters to the series, and bringing in some faces from the films (Janson, Hobbie). Solo’s cameo, I hope, is a promise of what is to come in the seventh story, and I like how the buildup to catch Zsinj is so smooth. The ending left plenty of questions to keep me interested in reading the sixth and seventh X-Wing novels.
adventurous
emotional
funny
fast-paced
It was a enjoyable book, but not as much as the other X-Wing books. Maybe it was the new author or the fact that it wasn't Rogue Squadron
And now we get to book 5 of the X-Wing series and this is where I really start loving it. Honestly, the other Rogue books are fine, but the Wraith books are so much more fun. The characters are all "screw-ups" who are supposed to be on their last chance in Starfighter Command...and so they have their flaws, but they're also a lot looser and just more fun to read about than the slightly more stiff and proper Rogues. This first Wraith book shows the formation of the squadron, introducing a ton of new characters...and in most books, it'd be a challenge to remember who everyone is, but Allston does such a brilliant job in creating unique three-dimensional characters that I had no trouble keeping track of everyone and immediately feeling at home with the new squadron. Yes, there's some old standbys (hello again, Wedge!) but the new characters of Kell, Runt, Tyria, Face, Ton Phanan (and lots more) are just so much fun - lots of laugh-out-loud moments. Yes, there's your classic Star Wars action but for me the highlight is the characters. These Wraith books are great comfort reads.
Star Wars Book Club read for July - I enjoyed the 'found family' vibe and the putting together of a new squadron. The switching back and forth between name and call number was a bit confusing, but I've learned that I like WATCHING space battles more than READING about them, so I was able to move along. ;)
adventurous
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
funny
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:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Grief, War
Moderate: Sexism, Xenophobia, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
funny
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
I love the wraiths 🥺