1/24/2009

Review #24: Star Wars: X-Wing: Rogue Squadron


Michael Stackpole’s X-Wing: Rogue Squadron, takes us back to a time a mere two-and-a-half years after Return of the Jedi. The books follow Wedge Antilles and the legendary X-wing squadron. None of the normal heroes are in this book.

Wedge builds the squadron on Commenor and they eventually move to another planet for staging purposes. The book centers around the assault on Borleias, a planet central to the Alliance’s plan to take Coruscant away from the Empire, now controlled by former Intelligence director Ysanne Isard, or “Iceheart.”

The only gripe with this book is the speed with which Stackpole introduces his characters. The reader is given about twenty characters in the space of about fifteen pages, all with the hope that you can sort out who is who. Thankfully these books hold true to the Star Wars name, and the attrition rate is rather high. Corran Horn is first introduced in this series, as is Gavin Darklighter, ousin of Biggs Darklighter, who was one of Luke Skywalker’s best friends on Tatooine.

The Alliance finally takes Borleias, setting the stage for the invasion of Coruscant.

Stackpole was quoted as saying he could complete an X-wing novel in about 400 hours, which is rather quick, all things considered. His writing is very much styled after a video game, or so it would seem.

Re-readability: 9.3
Final Grade: A-

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