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A review by colinmcev
Tyrant's Test by Michael P. Kube-McDowell
3.0
I basically feel about Tyrant’s Test the way I feel about the entire Black Fleet Crisis series: not without flaws, and there are certain aspects of the story I would have handled differently, but overall it was enjoyable enough and there’s more that I liked than there is that I didn’t.
So let me focus first on what I liked. There have essentially been three major subplots throughout this series: Lando Calrissian investigating (and being trapped upon) a mysterious phantom spacecraft, Luke Skywalker travelling with a mysterious woman and trying to learn about his long-lost mother, and Princess Leia trying to grapple with the threat of both the evil Yevethan species, as well as political foes attempting to remove her from power, not to mention the kidnapping of her husband Han Solo.
Throughout the series, Princess Leia’s chapters have been the most interesting to me, while Luke’s subplot has been the least interesting, and indeed, I thought Leia’s story arc wrapped up nicely in Tyrant’s Test. While in the first book of this series I found that author Michael P. Kobe-McDowell had made her character far too uncertain and weak-willed, in this final novel she seems much more like the Leia we all know and love. In the face of moral dilemma over whether to do what she believes is right for the New Republic or to throw that all aside to save her husband’s life, the way she ultimately handles that decision feels truly in character for her, and it is a triumphant moment. (And it was nice to see Mon Mothma reemerge in a chapter to provide her some morale support!)
What surprised me, however, was how much I enjoyed Luke’s storyline in this one as well. For the first two books (and especially the second one), I found myself extremely uninterested, and felt that Kobe-McDowell (as with Leia in the first book) handled Luke’s character and personality entirely incorrectly in the second novel. In Tyrant’s Test, however, he took what had previously seemed to me to be an unnecessary tangent from the main storyline and tied it surprisingly well back into the book’s major conflict with the Yevetha. The Luke B-plot didn’t sustain my interest for most of the series, but it won me back in a big way here.
On the flip side, the Lando subplot, which I have otherwise enjoyed for most of the season, kind of sputtered into its final chapters. The surprise revelation of what exactly this ship is was not a bad one in and of itself, but I was surprised that it ultimately had nothing to do with the main plotline of the series. The Luke story seemed that way for the first two books as well, but it ultimately tied back into it. Lando’s story never did.
As with the other books, I also enjoyed the Yevetha (and especially its leader, Nil Spaar) as an antagonist, but I was disappointed with how the conflict between the Yevetha and New Republic came to an end. After three books of developing this species’ culture and building up to a war between the two, they are ultimately felled in large part due to an unexpected betrayal by a character who had not even appeared in the series until the very end. It felt very unrewarding and a bit like a deus ex machina.
But again, there was enough to enjoy in Tyrant’s Test to let me forgive its shortcomings. We also get Chewbacca back in the fold, after he had gone missing since the first book, and his side quest to recapture Han Solo along with fellow Wookie family members is good fun, not to mention a nice little coming-of-age story for Chewie’s son, Lumpawaroo. And Kobe-McDowell does a good job of developing little minor characters who will never be seen again after this series and making us root for them all the same, like Esege Tuketu and Skids (a pilot and bomber duo who we first saw in the first chapter of the first book, and who play a brief but important role in ths one) and Plat Millar (the sole survivor of a deadly Yevethan raid who becomes a New Republic pilot and is desperate to contribute to strike a blow against them).
So yeah, in the end, Tyrant’s Test and the Black Fleet Crisis may not be the best Star Wars books around, but if you like Star Wars books, you’ll probably like them.
So let me focus first on what I liked. There have essentially been three major subplots throughout this series: Lando Calrissian investigating (and being trapped upon) a mysterious phantom spacecraft, Luke Skywalker travelling with a mysterious woman and trying to learn about his long-lost mother, and Princess Leia trying to grapple with the threat of both the evil Yevethan species, as well as political foes attempting to remove her from power, not to mention the kidnapping of her husband Han Solo.
Throughout the series, Princess Leia’s chapters have been the most interesting to me, while Luke’s subplot has been the least interesting, and indeed, I thought Leia’s story arc wrapped up nicely in Tyrant’s Test. While in the first book of this series I found that author Michael P. Kobe-McDowell had made her character far too uncertain and weak-willed, in this final novel she seems much more like the Leia we all know and love. In the face of moral dilemma over whether to do what she believes is right for the New Republic or to throw that all aside to save her husband’s life, the way she ultimately handles that decision feels truly in character for her, and it is a triumphant moment. (And it was nice to see Mon Mothma reemerge in a chapter to provide her some morale support!)
What surprised me, however, was how much I enjoyed Luke’s storyline in this one as well. For the first two books (and especially the second one), I found myself extremely uninterested, and felt that Kobe-McDowell (as with Leia in the first book) handled Luke’s character and personality entirely incorrectly in the second novel. In Tyrant’s Test, however, he took what had previously seemed to me to be an unnecessary tangent from the main storyline and tied it surprisingly well back into the book’s major conflict with the Yevetha. The Luke B-plot didn’t sustain my interest for most of the series, but it won me back in a big way here.
On the flip side, the Lando subplot, which I have otherwise enjoyed for most of the season, kind of sputtered into its final chapters. The surprise revelation of what exactly this ship is was not a bad one in and of itself, but I was surprised that it ultimately had nothing to do with the main plotline of the series. The Luke story seemed that way for the first two books as well, but it ultimately tied back into it. Lando’s story never did.
As with the other books, I also enjoyed the Yevetha (and especially its leader, Nil Spaar) as an antagonist, but I was disappointed with how the conflict between the Yevetha and New Republic came to an end. After three books of developing this species’ culture and building up to a war between the two, they are ultimately felled in large part due to an unexpected betrayal by a character who had not even appeared in the series until the very end. It felt very unrewarding and a bit like a deus ex machina.
But again, there was enough to enjoy in Tyrant’s Test to let me forgive its shortcomings. We also get Chewbacca back in the fold, after he had gone missing since the first book, and his side quest to recapture Han Solo along with fellow Wookie family members is good fun, not to mention a nice little coming-of-age story for Chewie’s son, Lumpawaroo. And Kobe-McDowell does a good job of developing little minor characters who will never be seen again after this series and making us root for them all the same, like Esege Tuketu and Skids (a pilot and bomber duo who we first saw in the first chapter of the first book, and who play a brief but important role in ths one) and Plat Millar (the sole survivor of a deadly Yevethan raid who becomes a New Republic pilot and is desperate to contribute to strike a blow against them).
So yeah, in the end, Tyrant’s Test and the Black Fleet Crisis may not be the best Star Wars books around, but if you like Star Wars books, you’ll probably like them.