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A review by colinmcev
Shield of Lies by Michael P. Kube-McDowell
3.0
Although I'm giving this one the same star rating as the first book in this series, Before the Storm, I enjoyed that one more than this second entry. Like that first book, there are three main subplots in Shield of Lies: Lando Calrissian investigating a mysterious phantom spacecraft, Luke Skywalker searching for clues about his long-lost mother, and Princess Leia grappling with the threat posed by the Yevetha species. In Before the Storm, however, these three stories are interspersed with each other, with the action switching back and forth between them with each chapter. By contrast, Shield of Lies breaks each story into individual sections of the book – first Lando, then Luke, then Leia – and we don't leave one plotline until it is finished. I think the book suffers as a result, especially because I found myself so uninterested in the Luke subplot that that particular third of the book was a bit of a slog to get through, and had me considering giving Shield of Lies a two-star rating instead of three stars.
Ultimately, though, the Lando and Leia stories were interesting enough for me to enjoy Shield of Lies overall. Leia's storyline, which has the largest consequences on a galactic scale, was again the most engaging to me. I continued to enjoy the Yevetha as an antagonist species, and it was interesting to learn more about their death-obsessed culture and caste system. I also enjoyed the political aspect of Leia's story, as I did in Before the Storm, as she was forced to cope with political in-fighting and machinations as well as dealing with the threat from external enemies. In fact, if there's one area where Shield of Lies improves upon the first book, it's in the portrayal of Leia as a character. Whereas in the first one, Leia seems uncharacteristically weak and lacking in confidence, lacking foresight and allowing an enemy to undercut her right beneath her nose, she is much more assertive and shrewd in this one, understanding the threat before her and refusing to cave in to the political pressure around her. It was nice to see Princess Leia acting like Princess Leia again.
With the exception of one major battle scene and some reconnaissance missions, the Leia subplot here feels in some ways (again, much like in Before the Storm) more like build-up than action, presumably setting the stage for a final showdown in the final book in the series. I can understand why this could turn off some readers, who might find themselves losing patience with all the politics and eager to get to the fighting already. But for regular readers of Star Wars novels, who have been watching this fictional universe expand further and further with each novel, this will probably be less of a complaint. (I will say, though, that a very significant event at the very end of the book, which I won't spoil here, feels a bit rushed.)
I also once again enjoyed Lando's storyline. As in the first book, it's interesting to see Lando (and his trusty sidekicks Lobot, C-3PO and R2-D2) attempting to interact with and understand a long-extinct species and technology of which they have practically no prior knowledge or understanding. Not to mention the fact that they are cut off from the rest of the universe, and running out of time before their life support fails them. It was intriguing the resourcefulness of this unlikely foursome as they attempted to solve this seemingly impossible puzzle, and the four make for quite an interesting team, especially when Lando's roguish personality clashes with the more stiff, robotic temperaments of the other three. I will be interested, however, to see how this subplot ultimately fits into the others (or at least the Leia/Yevetha one), because so far it's not at all clear how or if it will.
That leaves us with Luke's subplot, which is where the book mostly lost me. Again, as with Before the Storm, this storyline just isn't doing it for me. Part of it, I'm sure, is that I know whatever Luke discovers about his mother will ultimately be rendered moot by the prequels. Another part of it, perhaps, was that I was anxious to get back to the other, more interesting subplots. Nevertheless, I feel like the Fallanassi should be a lot more interesting than they are proving to be for me, and much of the chapters with Luke and Akanah felt redundant to me: they're traveling painfully slowly in a ship, they land on a planet, they investigate, they get back on the ship, and repeat.
But my biggest complaint, by far, is the handling of the Luke Skywalker character. Much like Leia in Before the Storm, only even worse in this case, I just didn't feel like Luke sounded or acted much like the character that has become well-established throughout the novels by this point. He refers to an old person as "some gray hair." He sarcastically says to a robot, "Whoa, stop right there, Chuckles." When Anikah asks if he can make the ship move faster, he says "How? Get out and push?" These all sound like things Han Solo or Lando might say, but not Luke. He even at one point says "The truth is that, most of the time, the Force is no substitute for a tech droid or a tool kit," which sounds nothing like Luke Skywalker to me.
Worse yet, at one point, after Luke is justifying having killed two enemies to protect Anikah, he says "The truth is that, at the moment, I wasn’t particularly worried about whether I killed him or not." I'm sorry, but there is no way Luke would say something like this at this point in the evolution of his character, where he has come to such a profound understanding of the Force and developed such an appreciation for all forms of life. That he would act so out-of-character throughout this novel is particularly strange because he seemed more like Luke even in the first book of this same series, when he was on the verge of entering an indefinite hermitude and trying to develop an even deeper connection with the Force. For his personality to take such a complete 180 from the first book to the second is truly bizarre.
All that being said, I ultimately liked more of Shield of Lies than I disliked, and I look forward to seeing how the series concludes in Tyrant's Test.
Ultimately, though, the Lando and Leia stories were interesting enough for me to enjoy Shield of Lies overall. Leia's storyline, which has the largest consequences on a galactic scale, was again the most engaging to me. I continued to enjoy the Yevetha as an antagonist species, and it was interesting to learn more about their death-obsessed culture and caste system. I also enjoyed the political aspect of Leia's story, as I did in Before the Storm, as she was forced to cope with political in-fighting and machinations as well as dealing with the threat from external enemies. In fact, if there's one area where Shield of Lies improves upon the first book, it's in the portrayal of Leia as a character. Whereas in the first one, Leia seems uncharacteristically weak and lacking in confidence, lacking foresight and allowing an enemy to undercut her right beneath her nose, she is much more assertive and shrewd in this one, understanding the threat before her and refusing to cave in to the political pressure around her. It was nice to see Princess Leia acting like Princess Leia again.
With the exception of one major battle scene and some reconnaissance missions, the Leia subplot here feels in some ways (again, much like in Before the Storm) more like build-up than action, presumably setting the stage for a final showdown in the final book in the series. I can understand why this could turn off some readers, who might find themselves losing patience with all the politics and eager to get to the fighting already. But for regular readers of Star Wars novels, who have been watching this fictional universe expand further and further with each novel, this will probably be less of a complaint. (I will say, though, that a very significant event at the very end of the book, which I won't spoil here, feels a bit rushed.)
I also once again enjoyed Lando's storyline. As in the first book, it's interesting to see Lando (and his trusty sidekicks Lobot, C-3PO and R2-D2) attempting to interact with and understand a long-extinct species and technology of which they have practically no prior knowledge or understanding. Not to mention the fact that they are cut off from the rest of the universe, and running out of time before their life support fails them. It was intriguing the resourcefulness of this unlikely foursome as they attempted to solve this seemingly impossible puzzle, and the four make for quite an interesting team, especially when Lando's roguish personality clashes with the more stiff, robotic temperaments of the other three. I will be interested, however, to see how this subplot ultimately fits into the others (or at least the Leia/Yevetha one), because so far it's not at all clear how or if it will.
That leaves us with Luke's subplot, which is where the book mostly lost me. Again, as with Before the Storm, this storyline just isn't doing it for me. Part of it, I'm sure, is that I know whatever Luke discovers about his mother will ultimately be rendered moot by the prequels. Another part of it, perhaps, was that I was anxious to get back to the other, more interesting subplots. Nevertheless, I feel like the Fallanassi should be a lot more interesting than they are proving to be for me, and much of the chapters with Luke and Akanah felt redundant to me: they're traveling painfully slowly in a ship, they land on a planet, they investigate, they get back on the ship, and repeat.
But my biggest complaint, by far, is the handling of the Luke Skywalker character. Much like Leia in Before the Storm, only even worse in this case, I just didn't feel like Luke sounded or acted much like the character that has become well-established throughout the novels by this point. He refers to an old person as "some gray hair." He sarcastically says to a robot, "Whoa, stop right there, Chuckles." When Anikah asks if he can make the ship move faster, he says "How? Get out and push?" These all sound like things Han Solo or Lando might say, but not Luke. He even at one point says "The truth is that, most of the time, the Force is no substitute for a tech droid or a tool kit," which sounds nothing like Luke Skywalker to me.
Worse yet, at one point, after Luke is justifying having killed two enemies to protect Anikah, he says "The truth is that, at the moment, I wasn’t particularly worried about whether I killed him or not." I'm sorry, but there is no way Luke would say something like this at this point in the evolution of his character, where he has come to such a profound understanding of the Force and developed such an appreciation for all forms of life. That he would act so out-of-character throughout this novel is particularly strange because he seemed more like Luke even in the first book of this same series, when he was on the verge of entering an indefinite hermitude and trying to develop an even deeper connection with the Force. For his personality to take such a complete 180 from the first book to the second is truly bizarre.
All that being said, I ultimately liked more of Shield of Lies than I disliked, and I look forward to seeing how the series concludes in Tyrant's Test.