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A review by twilliamson
Shield of Lies by Michael P. Kube-McDowell
2.0
In Before the Storm, Michael P. Kube-McDowell set the scene for some big ideas. Centered largely on the question of power and justice--and whether violence could ever be just--the novel focused primarily on dealings of the New Republic and the trouble that comes with organized government and politicking. If Star Wars was an allegory for the Vietnam War and British-American imperialism, Kube-McDowell set out to continue exploring that allegory for the EU. And Before the Storm was a damn fine book, on par with Ambush at Corellia for the most interesting first novel in a new Star Wars trilogy.
There's no mistaking that Shield of Lies is thematically much better than the Corellian Trilogy's second novel; Kube-McDowell continues exploring the same set of ideas he introduced in the previous book. This novel is divided into thirds, with each portion exploring the adventures of Lando, Luke, and Leia separately as the New Republic deals with its new crisis. Each third focuses tightly on expanding the central conversation Kube-McDowell wants to have: Lando's trip through a vagrant starship reveals startling news of how war destroyed an entire advanced civilization; Luke's travels with his companion Akanah questions the utility of violence and the ethics of wielding power; and Leia's dealings with the Duskhan League and Nil Spaar center largely on how a government is meant to respond to foreign aggression.
In every thematic sense, Kube-McDowell has crafted one of the most philosophically compelling second novels in a Star Wars EU trilogy, and the complex ideas his novels grapple with are truly excellent. The book feels thematically unified, an extension of the first novel's serious questions about relationships of human governments and power, and an excellent contemplation of how easy power is to abuse when the wrong people assume its mantle.
But if Kube-McDowell forgot anything in this novel, it's to make it fun. Shield of Lies is so concerned with its philosophical questions that it absolutely forgets to be fun in even the slightest sense. The book is studiously boring, and Lando and Luke's portions of the book especially cry out as being insufferably dull. Leia's third of the book--the last portion--is genuinely good and compelling, but it also rushes through some major plot developments because it comes so late in the story. I know why each of these sections exists thematically, but they're just so gob-smackingly boring to read that I honestly am unsure if I wouldn't have just preferred another Corellian Trilogy fiasco.
Kube-McDowell has the most ambitious vision of any '90s-era Star Wars writer I have yet read, and it is a genuine credit to his imagination that he can have such a bold and complex conversation with a fantasy-action franchise like this one. Nevertheless, I do show up to this fantasy-action franchise for fantasy action, and for a book to have so little movement is just a huge bummer. Reading Star Wars shouldn't feel like a chore; this book did.
There's no mistaking that Shield of Lies is thematically much better than the Corellian Trilogy's second novel; Kube-McDowell continues exploring the same set of ideas he introduced in the previous book. This novel is divided into thirds, with each portion exploring the adventures of Lando, Luke, and Leia separately as the New Republic deals with its new crisis. Each third focuses tightly on expanding the central conversation Kube-McDowell wants to have: Lando's trip through a vagrant starship reveals startling news of how war destroyed an entire advanced civilization; Luke's travels with his companion Akanah questions the utility of violence and the ethics of wielding power; and Leia's dealings with the Duskhan League and Nil Spaar center largely on how a government is meant to respond to foreign aggression.
In every thematic sense, Kube-McDowell has crafted one of the most philosophically compelling second novels in a Star Wars EU trilogy, and the complex ideas his novels grapple with are truly excellent. The book feels thematically unified, an extension of the first novel's serious questions about relationships of human governments and power, and an excellent contemplation of how easy power is to abuse when the wrong people assume its mantle.
But if Kube-McDowell forgot anything in this novel, it's to make it fun. Shield of Lies is so concerned with its philosophical questions that it absolutely forgets to be fun in even the slightest sense. The book is studiously boring, and Lando and Luke's portions of the book especially cry out as being insufferably dull. Leia's third of the book--the last portion--is genuinely good and compelling, but it also rushes through some major plot developments because it comes so late in the story. I know why each of these sections exists thematically, but they're just so gob-smackingly boring to read that I honestly am unsure if I wouldn't have just preferred another Corellian Trilogy fiasco.
Kube-McDowell has the most ambitious vision of any '90s-era Star Wars writer I have yet read, and it is a genuine credit to his imagination that he can have such a bold and complex conversation with a fantasy-action franchise like this one. Nevertheless, I do show up to this fantasy-action franchise for fantasy action, and for a book to have so little movement is just a huge bummer. Reading Star Wars shouldn't feel like a chore; this book did.