The second installment of the Black Fleet Crisis trilogy is one of my all time favorite Star Wars books. I think what I like most about the book is the set-up. It is basically three novella in one novel, with each novella following a major character whose name starts with "L," Luke, Leia, and Lando. Yeah, it's different from other books. You're stuck with one major character for 5 straight chapters before jumping to another character, and you get no "ping-pong" effect of jumping from one character's story to another and then back.
Michael P. Kube-McDowell succeeds where other SW writers have failed, though, in that he can describe a planet better than most writers. The planets that Luke and Akanah visit actually feel real, and not so alien. Throughout this series, Kube-McDowell also makes Luke confront his past, like the fact that, by blowing up the first Death Star, Luke killed nearly a million people. That's not an angle you get from your run-of-the-mill Star Wars story.
Leia's troubles with Nil Spaar and the xenophobic Yevetha continue. The Yevetha actually wipe out all other life in the Star Cluster they live in. Leia is forced to react in an undiplomatic way when Nil Spaar reveals that he's captured Han Solo.
Luke's search for the Fallanasi continues, and Akanah begins to teach him about the White Current. We also get a little more Force insight from Luke, concerning differnt abilities that he has, such as casting Force illusions to fool weaker-minded individuals. This ability will come into play later on in future Star Wars novels.
Lando is still stuck on the vagabond, trying to unravel it's mysteries.
Re-readability: 9.1
Final Grade: A-
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