Solo Command: Star Wars Legends

Star Wars: X-Wing #7

by Aaron Allston

The Rebel Alliance’s elite strike force must join together with Han Solo to take down their old foe, the warlord Zsinj.

Wraith Squadron: they are the Rebel Alliance’s ultimate strike force. Sleek, swift, and deadly, they are the first in battle, the last line of defense. Now they must find and destroy a wily enemy more powerful than the Empire itself.

Their covert mission has been a success. The enemy has been vanquished. Or so they thought. The Super Star Destroyer Iron Fist somehow escaped destruction and with it the New Republic’s greatest threat, the infamous warlord Zsinj. To defeat him, Wraith Squadron must join a combat task force led by the only man crafty enough to beat Zsinj at his own game: Han Solo.

But Zsinj knows the X-wing fighters’ indomitable courage is both their greatest strength–and their greatest weakness. For even against the most overwhelming odds, the Rebels will fight to the death. And that will leave Zsinj the galaxy’s unchallenged master!

Genres: Star Wars, Science Fiction, Fiction, Fantasy, Space Opera, Science Fiction Fantasy, Media Tie In

341 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published February 1, 1999

About the author

Aaron Dale Allston was an American game designer and author of many science fiction books, notably Star Wars novels. His works as a game designer include game supplements for role-playing games, several of which served to establish the basis for products and subsequent development of TSR's Dungeons & Dragons game setting Mystara. His later works as a novelist include those of the X-Wing series: Wraith Squadron, Iron Fist, Solo Command, Starfighters of Adumar, and Mercy Kill. He wrote two entries in the New Jedi Order series: Enemy Lines I: Rebel Dream and Enemy Lines II: Rebel Stand. Allston wrote three of the nine Legacy of the Force novels: Betrayal, Exile, and Fury, and three of the nine Fate of the Jedi novels: Outcast, Backlash, and Conviction.

Reviews

[Ian Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

When people ask me what my favorite Star Wars book is, I usually say either Vision of the Future by Timothy Zahn, or Starfighters of Adumar by Aaron Allston.

But sometimes, I say Solo Command.

It's tricky, naming this as a favorite. It's the third in a trilogy, seventh in a series, and greatly dependent on all that has come before for its emotional impact.

But that emotional impact is so heavy, and so satisfying, that some days, I just don't care.

It's my favorite on those days. The slow thawing of Myn Donos's heart from survivor's guilt, PTSD, and rigid self-discipline, the redemption of Lara Notsil from her past as an Imperial spy, the trials of Wedge and Face as they lead the galaxy's best fighter pilots in a desperate battle, and, of course, the brilliance and humanity of Han Solo as he commands his fleet to free space of a vicious tyrant - all of these things are amazing, well done, and make me laugh, cry, and sigh at the end, wishing for more.

Which we got, two years later, with Starfighters, and then again, 15 years later, with Mercy Kill.

[Ross · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has been a series that's hit or miss for me. Some entries are very good while others are just average while still others are just awful. My main complaint with the ones I didn't really enjoy is that there's just too much talking and not enough action. Well, this one tells me to put all of my preconceptions of the series aside and take this book for what it advertises: Solo Command.

Yes, Han Solo is a general, just as he was in Return of the Jedi, but now he's working directly with Wedge Antilles to undermine the Imperial Remnant.

And.

It's.

AWESOME.

The book is a masterful balance of character development, action, suspense, intrigue and twists that, HOLY CRAP, I DID NOT SEE COMING. Disney really needs to make this series into a TV show and follow it to the letter. It would be very popular with fans and it would change very little if anything in their own canon.

It's entries like this that remind me how good the Expanded Universe was. Disney, take notes.

[Ian Reay · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my second re-read of the epic novel "Solo Command" is the seventh volume in the X-Wing series and is the concluding book of Aaron Allston's trilogy about exploits of the Wraith Squadron founded by Wedge Antilles. To give a quick refresher, Wraith Squadron was formed because Wedge's Rogue Squadron was so well known as being the best that anytime the Rogues were dispatched on a mission any chance of covertness was eliminated. While the Rogues were the best of the best, a Star Wars Top Gun squadron, the Wraiths were chosen from the dregs of the New Republic. These are the pilots who, for one reason or another, were going to wash out. This isn't to say that these pilots can't fly an X-Wing, because they can, but rather it was often behavioral issues that caused the problem. But Wedge didn't form the Wraiths to be an elite unit like Rogue Squadron. Wraith Squadron is to be a unit designed to get the pilots in close and do insurgency missions, often on the ground. The primary mission of the Wraiths has been against the Warlord Zsinj, a former Imperial turned criminal who is the largest threat to both the New Republic and the vestiges of the Empire.

Finally the New Republic and the Wraiths will be going after Zsinj directly. The plan is to attempt to lure Zsinj into a battle where his flagship, the Iron Fist, can be captured or destroyed. To do this, the Wraiths are using Han Solo and the Millennium Falcon as bait...or a decoy of the Falcon. The Wraiths, the Republic, and even an officer in the Empire are working together to attack the businesses of Zsinj so that he will be forced into combat.

Meanwhile, Zsinj is working against the New Republic by activating a project of his to install fear and distrust between humans and non-humans in the Republic, and it was this original mixing of the races that proved so strong for the New Republic in light of the anti-alien stance of the Empire. But now this is being threatened and the Council of the New Republic has no evidence that the events are anything other than attacks by the individual races.

"Solo Command" is quite possibly the best of the three Wraith novels and is as good as some of the Rogue books. It still features a rather large amount of humor and jokes and pranks with the Wraith pilots, but features a faster moving plot that actually seems to be going somewhere. The previous two Wraith books didn't really seem to advance any sort of storyline. Something else that I liked here was that the Rogue Squadron was included on the main mission here, so there was intermingling between the two X-Wing squadrons that Wedge commands. Han Solo also makes a guest starring appearance here and it was nice to see how he fits into all of this (thus far in the chronology he hasn't had a lot to do, though I know he's been busy and will get a larger role in future novels).

All told this was a satisfying conclusion to the Wraith trilogy and it leads into the storyline of "The Courtship of Princess Leia". "Solo Command" features excellent action scenes and space battle sequences with the X-Wings. Fast paced, fun, and exciting. It's exactly what Star Wars should be.

[Meggie · Rating 4 out of 5]

For 2020, I decided to reread (in publication order) all the Bantam-era Star Wars books that were released between 1991 and 1999; that shakes out to 38 adult novels and 5 anthologies of short stories & novellas.

This week’s focus: the third of Aaron Allston’s X-Wing books, Solo Command.

SOME HISTORY:

In the FAQs on his former website, Allston explained that while he didn’t have a clear favorite character, a few stood out to him: Lara Notsil for purposes of dramatic potential, and Wes Janson for the humor potential. It should surprise no one, then, that both characters feature prominently in Solo Command. And like with the previous book in the series, I couldn’t find any data that Solo Command made the New York Times paperback bestseller list for any of the weeks after its release.

MY RECOLLECTION OF THE BOOK:

I mistakenly thought that the Wraiths would be masquerading as Hawkbats again in this book, but I was wrong! While their pretense wasn’t discovered (thanks to Shalla on Saffalore), they never assumed those roles again. Otherwise, my memories were pretty accurate here.

A BRIEF SUMMARY:

Wraith Squadron’s covert mission posing as pirates has been a success, but Warlord Zsinj is still on the loose. To defeat him, they must join a combat task force led by General Solo, the only man crafty enough to beat Zsinj at his own game...

THE CHARACTERS:

Up till now, the X-Wing books have not prominently featured any of the main trio: Luke and Leia both made brief appearances in Stackpole’s books, and Wraith Squadron is nominally attached to Han’s fleet group in Iron Fist. Solo Command makes Han a viewpoint character, and I found him a welcome addition to the cast. Other than the Black Fleet Crisis trilogy, we don’t get many glimpses into Han’s military career, so I enjoyed seeing Han in command. He’s pretty good at it! We also see how depressed and tired he’s become by the beginning of The Courtship of Princess Leia, because the search for Zsinj was a long, exhausting campaign.

Similarly, I love that Wedge has become such a good boss. He transfers back to Rogue Squadron, leaving Face as Wraith One, to take command of Mon Remonda’s entire starfighter complement: the Rogues, the Wraiths, the A-Wing Polearm Squadron, and the B-Wing Nova Squadron. He deals with everyone in his squadron, but particularly Myn Donos, in a thoughtful and compassionate manner.

Face Loran is promoted to Brevet Captain and put in charge of the Wraiths. He does fairly well, which shows you how much progress he’s made since Iron Fist. However, I did take issue with his handling of the Lara Notsil situation. Face chooses to confront her before the raid on Kidriff 5, when they’re already in their starfighters--and on an open communication channel. While he was reacting instinctively to the information he’d just read and processed, it would have been much better if he confronted her afterwards, back on the Mon Remonda. Of course, then Donos wouldn’t have attempted to fire on her, and Lara wouldn’t have been able to escape in her X-Wing...

Wes remains comic relief, except for a brief time when they run into the trap on Saffalore. Don’t piss Wes Janson off, because then he becomes an utterly silent, ruthless killing machine. (Also, don’t play too many pranks on Wedge Antilles, or like Wes, you may find yourself wandering around naked covered in Ewok food.)

I really like Lara and Donos’ plotline, because they’re two very damaged people who have to learn to cope with trauma in different ways.

Lara rejected her Imperial upbringing in Iron Fist, but wasn’t willing to look critically at what she had done. She knows that she needs to confess her past to Wedge, but keeps putting off that talk. She starts a relationship with Donos, the sole survivor from Talon Squadron (and the action that eats at her the most). And then the floor falls out from under her, because Face is really good at spotting a fellow actor.

She leaves the Wraiths, ingratiates her way onto the Iron Fist, and plots to bring Zsinj down from the inside (using mouse droids!). She can’t be Lara Notsil anymore, doesn’t want to return to Gara Petothel, and ultimately remakes herself as Kirney Slane (the only one of her adopted personas that had been happy).She plays a key role in the New Republic’s triumph at the Battle of Selaggis, even if few people will ever know her complete contribution to the battle.

Myn Donos likewise had a ton of issues in Wraith Squadron, pulled through the worst of them--only to realize in Solo Command that he’s still an absolute mess. Donos frequently considers quitting Starfighter Command so he can hunt down everyone responsible for the destruction of Talon Squadron. He’s finding it very difficult to forgive himself for letting his pilots die.

Of course, finding out that the woman he (maybe) loves caused their deaths doesn't help at all. He tries to kill Lara, tries to resign his commission, is ordered by Wedge to get medical and psychiatric treatment, and comes out of his tailspin. He transfers to Rogue Squadron in the end, and gets another chance with Kirney. I think he’ll be OK. (And in his FAQs, Allston said that he believed they reconnected during the events in The Courtship of Princess Leia, and “Donoslane Expeditions” exists in Legacy of the Force Betrayal and Mercy Kill.)

I’m still impressed with how Allston has developed Zsinj. In The Courtship of Princess Leia, he was angry and fat. Allston’s Zsinj is much more complex. He throws temper tantrums, but (for the most part) they’re just an act. The only time we see him legitimately furious is when he learns that the Wraiths have captured Dr. Gast. (And he’s so upset, primarily because he wasn’t able to foresee that outcome.) As the New Republic takes down his companies and harries his allies, he’s increasingly worn down by the end but not defeated.

And then we meet Dr. Edda Gast, a truly awful scientist from the Binring Lab. I love how she got her comeuppance: arrested for sedition on Coruscant because she was carrying half a million Imperial credits.

ISSUES:

I’m not crazy about the brainwashing subplot. It seemed a little too similar at times to Isard’s ploy in the Rogue Squadron books, and I’m not sure I bought the timeline here. Jart Eyan was away for one week, but Tal’dira was also brainwashed, and had only been unaccounted for one day at most.

I love the Millennium Falsehood; how they acquire a YT-1300 freighter, Han and Chewie take one look at it, and immediately declare that it looks nothing like the Falcon! I wish we could have seen a few more of the Falsehood’s outings--as it is, we only see the raid on Kidriff 5 and on Comkin Five in any detail. And speaking of the Comkin Five raid, it took me far too long to figure out what they were doing. I had to read that section again to realize that they were actively trying to look like a YT-2400, even though the Falsehood itself is a YT-1300.

While I feel like Allston did adequately foreshadow the conclusion of the “why is Fel working for Zsinj” mystery, I wasn’t crazy about that subplot overall. Wedge still doesn’t know anything about the fate of Fel or his sister, and pretending that Tetran Cowall is Baron Fel only works if no one sees him in person. (How deep did the conspiracy run??)

I love Lara and Myn but Allston is not good at writing romance, so some of their scenes are unnecessarily awkward. Also, timeline issues again: the amount of time they spend together before Face leaks Lara’s identity doesn’t seem long enough to me. Their relationship might have felt more realistic to me if it had started after Myn accompanied Lara to Zsinj’s trap on Aldivy in Iron Fist; because in Solo Command, they’re barely seeing each other before she has to leave.

Allston masterfully sets things up for The Courtship of Princess Leia, but that’s the problem--we don’t actually get any resolution on Zsinj at this point. We get the first hint of Zsinj’s Nightcloak satellite, we get a perfectly logical explanation for why Han thought that he destroyed the Iron Fist before the beginning of TCoPL, and there’s a nice farewell to all the Wraiths. But Zsinj is still out there, and I just didn’t find the final resolution of his plotline satisfying at all.

IN CONCLUSION:

I absolutely loved Solo Command. I thought it was a great conclusion to the Wraith Squadron arc--it had funny moments, exciting space battles, and Allston really fleshed out the conflict between Han and Zsinj. (And I am 100% the kind of person who goes looking for Myn Donos/Kirney Slane fanfiction afterwards.)

Comkin Five was a green-blue world circling a yellow star. As the Falsehood neared the planet’s surface, blotches of color resolved themselves into blue sea, deep green tropics, and bands of cloud cover, with only the smallest patches of arctic ice.

“Pretty,” Donos said. “What do we blow up first?”

Wedge, ahead of him in the pilot’s chair, turned to glance at him. “Write that down,” he said. “That ought to be the Wraith Squadron slogan.”

Next up: Michael A. Stackpole’s final X-Wing book, Isard’s Revenge.

My YouTube review: https://youtu.be/F_oypMfhf-A

Aaron Allston SW FAQs: https://web.archive.org/web/200710131...

Vintage Allston interview from 2000: https://www.fanthatracks.com/intervie...

[Joshua Bishop · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think that this was a really great conclusion to the Wraith Squadron trilogy of X-Wing novels. While I think Stackpoles inclusions may have been better individual books, Allston's series was the better, more rounded series as a whole.

Solo Command takes everything that has happened in the previous two books in the WS series and brings it to an almost perfect and almost complete ending. Furthermore, it expands on the first four books written by Stackpole by having substantial interaction between the characters in the two arcs of this mega-series.

There is a lot of satisfying intrigue and suspense in this book as we figure out if the conflict between the New Republic and Zsinj are going to come to a climactic end. In particular, the character arc ofs of Myn and Lara/Gara were feats of incredible writing that really created great reading.

It was also very gut-wrenching reading about the number of times the seemingly "good-guys" were back stabbing each other due to brainwashing or being an emotional wreck. I think back specifically to reading the line where Tycho nearing killed Myn after his mental lapse. This really felt like a wartime read that drug you into the fight.

A particular bright spot of this novel was seeing both the military prowess of Solo as a general as opposed to a one-man-army. It filled in a lot of context about how he has the "pull" he has with the military in other books.

More than any other legends novel, two quotes stick with me after reading. One, that I think applies to my actual life, "you can't look dignified while having fun". The other? "Yub yup, commander".

If I had to think of one fault is that the conclusion to this doesn't happen in an X-Wing novel, but rather in "The Courtship of Princess Leia".

Do yourself a favor and read this.

[Darth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nareszcie!!! Czekałam na to od trzech lub czterech tomów i doczekałam się!! 🥳🥳 Wątek porucznika Kettcha był tak świetnie napisany, że nie mogę doczekać się spotkania Eskadry Widm z ich nowym pilotem 😅
Relacje Wedge'a, Hana i Chewiego (oraz Skrzypka) były świetnie przedstawione. Co chwilę się śmiałam. A "Zmyłka Millenum" to po prostu hit 😂
Rozumiem, dlaczego seria X-wingi jest oceniana jako jedna z najlepszych w świecie Star Wars 🤩

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The only nice thing I have to say about men on reddit is that I'm grateful they insisted on reading this series

[Herdis Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5 stars

This was a fun read. Probably my favourite in the X-wing series so far. Allston continues to prove a better writer than Stackpole, for which I am exceedingly grateful.

"Solo Command" was, more than most of the other books in this series, an entertaining read. It's exciting, with a fast-paced, interesting plot, and it's also actually funny. The dialogue flows well and is full of humour.

It continues to be frustrating to me that almost all female characters are described more or less in terms of fuckability, but other than that, characterisation is also decent in this instalment.

I do wish, however, that both Allston and Stackpole would stop trying to make the romance angle work for them. The Lara Notsil-Donos "relationship" is occasionally so awkwardly written that it's painful to read, and the reader is expected to believe a very intense attachment has formed in pretty much no time at all. It is clearly only there to add an extra emotional dimension to Lara's former deception, and present plight, and had this particular story line been developed more, and written by a more steady hand at romance, this might have worked. As it stands, it's simply, as mentioned, rather embarrassing reading.

Still, though. I did enjoy this.

Also, Han Solo.

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three stars is about as good as I can do here...a well written novel about a corner of the Lucasverse that doesn't really call to me. It's solid for what it is, but it's also a bit anti-climactic...mostly due to being a prequel to the events of "The Courtship of Princess Leia". Now there's a book a really enjoyed...much more my speed. But more rabid fans of the Rogues than myself will be satisfied with this tale.

[Amy]

Less satisfying ending, but at the same time that's not a bad thing... Just means i want to read more of my SWEU collection. Onward!

[Griffin Honeycutt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this one quite a bit. One of my biggest problems with Iron Fist was the slow start, but Solo Command solves that problem handily with an attempted assassination within the first six pages, and it only ramps up from there.

The terror attacks from brainwashed aliens was a very smart plot, one that really kept striking at the soul of the New Republic. That's something the X-Wing books always do really well, addressing the very real problems a fledgling government would have. This plot also allowed us to have a very emotional scene that showed us Piggy's perspective on his creation and how it continues to affect him.

Lara's story is certainly one of the highlights of the book for me. Of course her secret had to be discovered eventually, and it's a very tense and narratively satisfying moment when that happens, especially the way it advances Donos' story as well. Her attempt at redemption through secretly working independently as a double agent and sabotaging Iron Fist for the New Republic is awesome. The New Republic obviously couldn't take her in no questions asked after what she did, but her heart did change in a very convincing way, and I liked that she got her somewhat happy ending, maybe even with Donos, another character who continues to be very well-written.

For a book called Solo Command, I was really expecting more Solo. True, the Millennium Falsehood plan (which was very cool) wouldn't have been possible without him around, but I expected him to be working more closely with Rogue and Wraith Squadrons, rather than just overseeing their operations generally. Still, I liked what we got, and it finally showed off why Han was made a general in the first place. Speaking of Rogue and Wraith Squadrons, I loved their bits of interaction. It felt like a crossover episode.

The ending was a little frustrating to me. To see that the heroes had defeated Zsinj, seemingly destroying Iron Fist, only to reveal that it had escaped, was a little anticlimactic, but I suppose that the Courtship of Princess Leia (which came out before these books) set it up to appear there, so I understand why the decision was made. Still, after the journey we've been on with these characters, I wanted the killing blow to come from them. A really solid X-Wing book, and I'm very glad it's not the last.

[Dalton Sherrod · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are stories with emotional stakes, and then there are stories with real heart. The characters of Wraith Squadron are some of the most deep, interesting and likable you’ll find in the world of Star Wars. Each member has a full, and sometimes downright moving, character arc that feels real, earned and extremely well written. Speaking of writing, Aaron (RIP) may just be my favorite Star Wars author now (Sorry Stover). His sense of humor and whimsy are second to none. While Stackpole may be superior in his writing of starfighter combat, Aaron Allston is (to me by far) the more talented writer, who took a band of misfits and washouts and made them even more interesting to read about than the endless talented Rogue Squadron of the first 4 X-Wing Books. The only sour note after finishing “Solo Command” is the fact that I’ll have to miss the characters of Wraith Squadron and Allston’s writing for a long long time (until I get to Starfighters of Adamar). The biggest shame of all is that the world will never again get an Aaron Allston novel, and the world of literature is one very bright star darker because of it.

[Mikhael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Continues book 7 in series featuring both rogue squadron and wraith squadron.
Wraith squadron resumes both espionage and sabotage missions facing off against rouge warlord Zsinj flagship super star destroyer iron fist causing havoc for both the rebels and imperials who unexpectedly ally together against the warlord.
Assassination attempts on admiral ackbar and mon mothma use of secret brainwashing to control some rebel pilots.
Upon capturing warlords biomedical doctor secrets revealed about targeting specific species within the rebels trying to cause divisions in the ranks.
Lara Nostril x wing pilots hidden past both spying on rebels and then working for Zsinj whilst onboard iron fist starts sabotaging ship sending secret messages to the rebels.
Zsinj playing his own game of tricks and conceals iron fist to fight another day while solo pilots the millennium falsehood and wedge sucked into battle with ace pilot believed to be Baron Fel.
Good read of good series lots of twists and trickery in this book.
Warlord Zsinj story also continues in the courtship of Princess Leia.

[Jeffrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Almost gave it 5 stars, but 1 or 2 other books in the X-Wing series have a stronger claim on that rating. Loved the presence of Han Solo as general, the droid subplot, and Squeaky’s scenes with Wedge and Chewie. I did not care for the biomedical infiltration chapter or the assassination subplot. Still, it was a great mix of both interesting plot and strong character development—sometimes with Star Wars books you only get one or the other.

[Eric Fritz · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun story but it's a shame there's no real ending until you read Courtship of Princess Leia. Still, great to see some Han and Chewie scenes, and the Wraiths are always fun.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

idk not sure anything actually happened in this book

[Jared · Rating 4 out of 5]

Star Wars Legends Project #330

Background: Iron Fist was written by Aaron Allston and published in February of 1999. It is the seventh of the X-Wing series of novels, and the third of Allston's "Wraith Squadron trilogy," which picks up where Michael Stackpole's "Rogue Squadron" books left off. Allston went on to write two more X-Wing novels, along with several others.

Solo Command takes place three years after the Battle of Endor (7 years after the battle of Yavin), and begins shortly after Iron Fist (my review). The main characters are Wedge, Wes Janson, and the rest of Wraith Squadron, including Garik "Face" Loran, Kell Tainer, Myn Donos, Lara Notsil, and Voort saBinring. The squadron joins the fleet led by Han Solo to hunt recurring antagonist Warlord Zsinj, and Chewbacca plays a major role as well, along with members of Rogue Squadron like Corran Horn and Nawara Ven. The story takes place almost entirely in space, particularly aboard Mon Remonda and Iron Fist, but major events also happen on and around Coruscant, and around Selaggis and Vahaba.

Summary: The time has finally come for Wraith Squadron to join the Han Solo's task force and hunt for Warlord Zsinj in earnest. However, he continues to prove himself an unusually slippery target. Solo fears that if he can't force Zsinj into a decisive confrontation soon, his command will be deemed a failure and Zsinj will remain an ever-more potent threat to the fledgling New Republic. Meanwhile, the Wraiths are stunned by a series of devastating attacks that seem to originate from within their own forces, and Lara Notsil's dangerous double-life comes to a head, forcing her down a path she is desperate to avoid.

Review: This is the Wraith Squadron novel that I remember enjoying the most, and even with my renewed appreciation for the first 2, I think that still holds true (though Wraith Squadron itself is a strong contender). Solo Command is checking a lot of boxes . . . It's the culmination of several character arcs set up by the previous novels, and it has various narrative loose ends to tie up as well. In addition, Allston is juggling a LOT of characters, AND he's working invisibly in the background to shore up another author's screw-ups in such a way that readers might never know those errors existed to begin with. What's magical about this book is that it accomplishes all of these tasks seemingly effortlessly, without feeling overstuffed or rushed in any way.

None of that was really what stood out in my memory about this book (because, remember, none of that is drawing attention to itself). See, there is a pretty funny joke in Wraith Squadron that seems like a throwaway bit, and then in Iron Fist it becomes a full-blown subplot. That recurring gag reaches its culmination in this book in a scene that had teenage me gasping with laughter, and that I still found quite funny even now, and it also has a small coda that's very satisfying on a dramatic level.

In my previous reviews I've kind of mentioned a few reasons that this trilogy didn't really land with me like the Rogue Squadron books had, but how much more I appreciate them now. Most of these things had to do with the main characters, and the thing I noticed with this book was no exception. The Rogue Squadron books, for good or for ill, are pretty much The Corran Horn Show. I remembered them as more of an ensemble than they are, but they really succeed or fail on his merits as a compelling character, and (while I still really like him as a character) I've cooled on him a bit over time.

Instead, it's the Wraith Squadron books that are a true ensemble story . . . So much so that characters who felt like the Corran-style protagonists of the first book have completed their arcs and cycled to the background by the end of the series, to be replaced by characters who used to be more minor (or who hadn't even been introduced yet). I think that probably made me feel a bit less invested the first time I read it, but it's one of the things I really appreciate about the series now.

One final note: There's a reveal at the end of this book that makes it seem like the story isn't over yet, and will be concluded in The Courtship of Princess Leia (see above re: fixing other author's screw-ups). In some ways, this trilogy IS a prequel to that book, but that doesn't mean it isn't complete without reading Courtship. I'm not even sure I'd recommend . . . but I'll get to that in my next review! Instead I'll say that I do highly recommend the Wraith Squadron trilogy!

A-

[Jacob · Rating 4 out of 5]

You know, it’s hard to remember a year where I read fifteen books cover-to-cover let alone a time when I’ve done so in four months time. At this rate I’ll have read sixty novels by the end of the year. That’s not the entirety of the expanded universe but it’s gettig there. By my calculations I should be able to get through the New Jedi Order series by December.

But today I’m finishing up the main chunk of the X-Wing series, with Solo Command, which I will say is a step up from the previous book but still suffers from a fatal flaw in that it ends with zero resolution to the main story of the battle against Warlord Zsinj. The problem is that this book was written in 1999 and leads into The Courtship of Princess Leia which was written in 1994. Allston couldn’t give a proper ending because his job was effectively to get us to a point in the timeline that had already been fleshed out years before. It’s frustrating but it’s a continual part of the Star Wars reading experience. Newer books handling older parts of the timeline is an evil that has to be endured in order to get the whole picture.

But as for the book itself, it’s more engaging than Iron Fist was and I think part of that is the level of tension generated by Lara/Gara’s undercover situation finally reaching a boiling point as well as the fact that Han Solo is back in the mix as a major character for the first time in a while. While this is still very much about Wedge and his X-Wing squadrons, pulling out a big gun like Han adds some measure of importance to the proceedings and the book gains greatly from his presence. The novel is well constructed and as an individual piece of the puzzle it does very well and is only hindered by the fact that it feels incomplete due to leading into another story written several years prior. But that’s just my individual gripe.

I’m moving on to The Courtship of Princess Leia now and it seems like it should be a quick read. I’m sad to leave behind the X-Wing series as I’ve enjoyed the majority of it and actually look forward to the one-off, Isard’s Revenge which is coming up a few books down the road.

[CS · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Zsinj…kiss my Wookiee!”
The Wraiths grow ever closer to destroying Warlord Zsinj’s diabolical reign of terror. But when it appears Twi’Leks and other species are sabotaging the inner workings of the New Republic, the Wraiths realize this could mean the end of the New Republic. So Han Solo, the Rogues, and the Wraiths team up to figure out what is wrong…and how to send Zsinj back from where he came.

I Liked:
I really enjoyed how Allston pulled out Han and Chewie and tied them into the Wraith’s quest against Zsinj. And Allston portrays Han perfectly (the review title may not be exactly what Han says, but it is the essence of what he tells Zsinj).
I love how Allston brings up Baron Fell and how Wedge’s sister is married to him. This gives Wedge great character—a loving brother.
Also, I thought it was smart how Allston mentions the alien segregation will tear apart the New Republic, destroy all its ideals. And the Millennium Falsehood was a neat ploy.
And then, we have humor. The Ewok pilot returns for a humorous crescendo.

I Didn’t Like:
I didn’t like Lara Notsil in the last book, and I certainly don’t like her here. There is too much time spent on her and her “story” (“Oh, I was an Imperial for years, but I became a Wraith and I mean it, why don’t you believe me?”) almost to the extent where the book should have been renamed: “Lara Command”. And then how everyone “believes” her when she sends a message saying that she is working near Zsinj to help the Wraiths…oh, please.
Again, the audiobook makes this novel particularly confusing. I felt like there were some scenes missing that would have made things easier to understand.

Dialogue/Sexual Situations/Violence:
Star Wars curse words or mild da** & he**.
The Wraith pilots pair up.
Dogfights are common (duh, it’s an X-Wing novel).

Overall:
A decent “prequel” to the Courtship of Princess Leia, I found myself confused and disgusted at some of the characters. Still a lot better than many of the other Star Wars novels from this period.

[Daniel Greear · Rating 4 out of 5]

Star Wars: Solo Command (X Wing #7, Wraith Squadron # 3)

Seven down in the series, and this book is one of my favorite ones. I definitely would have liked these books more when I was younger but they’re still very enjoyable, especially the Wraith Squadron trilogy by Aaron Allston. These books are good, pure entertainment. They’re not great works of literature but they’re definitely fun to read and an excellent escape.

Where this entry comes up short is that the villain, Warlord Zsinj, escapes in the end and his flagship Iron Fist is not destroyed. This is a letdown for me. I was expecting a grand finale. I don’t know when this plot line will be resolved as Michael Stackpole takes up the next book. I also don’t think Zsinj was as good of a villain as Isard in books one through four. As a result, I give it a four out of five.

But what this book does do well is tell a story. Allston is a much better writer than Stackpole. His descriptions of combat scenes are good, his character development is even better, and the jokes in this trilogy of books are funny. One can easily feel a lot of connection to the heroes.

I’ve got a backlog of Star Wars novels, including the remainder of this series, but I’m going to take a break for a while.

[Ron · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid four, if not, more. A rousing story, well told. He actually involved iconic SW character in his story, not just as walk-on cameos.

Allston not only brings his trilogy to a satisfying conclusion, but bridges the gap between books written before his own series.

The Millennium Falsehood was a nice touch.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

In many ways this is the equal of the previous two instalments of the series, but the fact that the Zsinj storyline requires a sidestep into a completely different novel is somewhat aggravating, which loses this one a star. Otherwise, a very satisfying resolution to certain plot strands and a very enjoyable read.

[Zan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book feels oddly disjointed, and leaves behind so many of the things that make Allston's writing fun by the end. Plots appear and disappear, Less focus on the characters in the team, way more goofy humor and the compounding contrivances in the end... I mean it's still a fun little X-wing adventure, but certainly the least of Allston's run.

[Lindsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great ending to the Wraith trilogy, I would be happy to see these characters come back in more books. Allston writes a good character story with great action scenes.

[Catherine Fitzsimmons · Rating 3 out of 5]

What can I say? More fluff. Nicely written escapism. 3.5 stars.

[Ian · Rating 5 out of 5]

The resolution of the Myn Donos/Gara Petothel arc. The resolution of the Trilogy at large. Ah, how I love and hate a good ending..
Exceptional book.

[Keith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stars: 2.5
Re-read? Leaning yes
Recommend to: People who liked the X-Wing series once it transferred over to Wraith Squadron in book 5. The characters/plot may be important to future books, so this book is potentially important to those. I'll try to remember to come back and update this. If only reading the X-wing series, I would stop after the Bacta War.

I'm really not a fan of the choices Allston made since he took over the X-Wing series. The plot he comes up with is generally very solid if you look at it from a macro level, but things always fall apart when he gets specific about anything. He often damages characters with throw-away lines that have no consequence to the plot. Like in the previous book when Solo, in charge of the fleet, hadn't considered that his opponent might try to trick him. By far though, the major problem with Allston's writing is that he makes everything silly. He'll have a good idea for the plot, but then he'll come up with an absurd method of getting there. In a previous book, they have one guy in a smuggling container navigate his way onto a ship with a stripped down x-wing laser, where he single-handedly takes over the cruiser which was full of stormtroopers. It is much the same when it comes to character building. His character writing is the like episode of a detective series where the serious detective has to go undercover as a clown to catch the killer. Everyone is quippy and snarky, which would be even more unbelievable if they all didn't have insane plot armor.

There are two major problems with this book, and both could have easily been positives if implemented more competently.
- Problem #1 The Plot:
The plot essentially boils down to the task force led by Han Solo trying to destroy Warlord Zsinj. Their focus is attempting to lure Zsinj out and trapping him so he and the Iron Fist can be destroyed. One method of luring him out is having a fake Millennium Falcon flying around looking like it was fomenting rebellion on worlds under Zsinj's control. This is all pretty good so far. It completely falls apart though when they take an absolutely insane approach to do this. I'll just call the fake falcon the falcon to save time. They take the Falcon in to various enemy held planets along with an x-wing or two. They intentionally get spotted while they are leaving. The wraiths or rogue squadron show up and take care of their pursuers each time. But the ridiculous part is that they will be overtaken and attacked every single time before their reinforcements get there. This is so insane. Allston explicitly calls it out in one instance as the Falcon, one x-wing, and four TIE Interceptors against 24 TIE fighters. And that is a plan that went as expected. A successful plan has them fighting for minutes against 3-1 odds. But nothing bad ever happens to them. Not a single on dies or is captured. The Interceptors don't even have shields, but they all escape unscathed. And they do this over and over and over again and never lose a single ship. The stupidity of this plan is incredible. They should all be dead.

- Problem #2 The Main Character:
I kind of like how Allston switches up who the primary focus of the story is on. This story has Lara Notsil as the main protagonist. I really like her character as a rough outline. She is a former Imperial and former Zsinj intelligence official. Her work led to the destruction of Talon Squadron which was run by Myn Donos (now a Wraith). It got really silly in the previous book when she was able to join Wraith Squadron, but it stilled worked in terms of her being an interesting character. Her budding romance between her and Myn was too much, but I liked the idea of her becoming friends with him and being conflicted about that while living in fear of being discovered. But Face gets suspicious of her, and the problem is that it isn't because of the reasons he should be suspicious. He doesn't care that she was allegedly a nobody on a nothing planet that inexplicably is an elite pilot, a talented slicer, and possesses knowledge regarding top Zsinj officials that she shouldn't know. That's all normal to every single person in the New Republic. Face gets suspiscious because someone sees Lara flirt in a manner that is specific to Coruscanti people, particularly Imperials. That gets him thinking about how some senile old man had thought he recognized her ina a museum on Coruscant. So Face requests intelligence to look up the name the old man had called her. It happened to be the name of Gara Petothel's mother. This lets him know that she is an imperial spy. For dumb reasons, he doesn't get this information until they are on a mission. The mission is basically routine, but he immediately acts completely different around her and doesn't let her fight. She knows this means that she is busted, and Face admits this over the squadron comms channel (on accident). So her prospective boyfriend, Myn, tries to kill her and she escapes. Luckily for the plot, this all leads to her being welcomed back to the Iron First where she can ludicrously sabotage the SSD. Allston took what could have been a very interesting character and made her story so ridiculous that you couldn't enjoy her.

Another ridiculously silly character is Myn Donos. He spent the previous two books being completely reserved. His squadron was destroyed with him being the only survivor. He was having mental breakdowns trying to deal with it (all while insanely being allowed to be on active duty). He kind of began to finally come out of it when he became interested in Falynn, but she was killed. He starts to get interested in Lara, until he finds out that she is responsible for the deaths of all of his former squad mates of Talon Squadron, and she runs. He attempts to kill her against orders. He fires a torpedo against an ally and almost kills him. Wedge covers for him (absurd), and tells
him to go talk to someone. He literally talks to Wes a single time. It's like a page and a half, and then Myn is cured. Wes jumps up and down on his bed and tells him he needs to be silly. Myn goes and builds a silly hover machine for a quarter of a scene and he is suddenly a brand new man. He knows to open up now instead of closing people off, and he immediately implements this brand-new outlook on life. I'm pretty sure that this is mere months after Talon Squadron was destroyed. So within a few months he: Loses his entire squadron. Joins a new squadron and is completely closed off, nearly catatonic. Has a mental breakdown when his droid dies. Begins like Falynn, but she dies. He begins liking Lara, but then she is revealed to be responsible for the death of all his friends. He tries to kill her, and fires a torpedo at his commanding officer who is shielding her (he detonates it at the last possible second). He has one talk with Wes, builds a rough hover machine, and is cured. Wedge invites him to join Rogue Squadron. . This is a character that could have worked, but it was botched.

Other things:
- Why isn't Piggy in command of a fleet? He is a genius and can track/give orders in real time while flying in a battle. He should be in charge of a fleet dominating battles. There is no way a military would allow someone of his abilities to have such a low impact on battles.
- I understand that the New Republic is going through financial issues, but it seems unlikely that the second most successful squadron in the military would have trouble getting parts for x-wings to the point they can't utilize a full squadron.
- In this book, Zsinj utilizes some massive fleets. This seems absurd that he didn't do thsi in the previous book when he went after stealing a second SSD. He already is one of the most feared forces in the galaxy because he has the Iron Fist. It wasn't worth pulling extra resources to ensure you can have the first and second most powerful ships in the galaxy while also depriving your opponents? I guess not. There really isn't a valid reason. It would be worth losing systems to obtain a weapon of this magnitude..
- There is a scene where the Wraiths are going to infiltrate a research laboratory. The problem is that the enemy knew they were coming and set up elaborate traps. Luckily for the Wraiths, Zsinj and his minions are complete morons. Zsinj allows a researcher at the place to be in charge instead of one of his top military minds. They set up traps with infrared cameras on the roof, but they don't have motion detectors. They also don't have anyone watching the cameras. The Wraiths are only spotted because they recognize it is a trap and send a comm signal. How could their trap be so pathetic? Then, they send like 6 troopers and two TIEs to the roof to kill the two Wraiths there. Why so few? You knew your greatest opponent was coming. Why not 30? Why not two squadrons of TIEs? The group inside is even worse. The floor goes out beneath them and they are in a pit. They are surrounded by troopers above them, completely helpless. Should the troopers shoot and kill them all with ease? Obviously not. They think they are Bond villains, so the plan is to let them die in the incinerator they are trapped in. They leave, and the Wraiths blow up a wall and escape the incinerator. Then, they fight the handful of stormtroopers, capture the scientist who knows all of the details on some of Zsinj's major plans, and escape. The scientist then reveals hwo Zsinj is brainwashing aliens to commit acts of terrorism aimed at tearing the New Republic apart. This legitimate threat to the biggest government in the galaxy is neutralized completely because Zsinj sends the scientist to be in charge of orchestrating the trap to catch the Wraiths.. I'm not sure what to even say to all of that.
- The plot armor is insane. I already detailed the plot armor on Lara. Every Rogue or Wraith to get shot is able to eject without issue or injury. They never get killed when repeatedly outnumbered on their horrifically planned missions. When the enemy is able to set up elaborate traps within a facility with the foreknowledge they are going to be coming, they still aren't able to kill a single Wraith. Not one. Zsinj has mind-warped people to his bidding. Aliens that are completely trustworthy will, upon hearing a code phrase, attack and kill whomever Zsinj wants. Zsinj sends people against Mon Mothma, Admiral Ackbar, Wedge Antilles, and Han Solo. Not a single one dies. And these are assassin's that are extremely close to the targets, but they still all fail.
- A new pilot is a Devaronian. He wears a TIE helmet in a scene. How does a species with horns where a helmet made for a human?
- Allston specifies that there is no higher classification in the military than "secret". Face gets this intel on Lara, which is "secret", emailed to him. First, he is just a temporary captain. Is it likely he can just get secret intel? I don't think so. They certainly wouldn't email it to him. Then, he forwards it to his x-wing so he can read it when bored. This is obviously just because Allston wanted him to find this information out while on a mission which would facilitate the ending of the book and he was just too lazy to think up a realistic way to make that happen.
- More silliness from Allston. After attempting to kill Lara against orders and firing upon a friend, almost killing him, Myn wants to resign. Wedge wants to know why he did what he did. Myn starts to respond, but Wedge interrupts telling him to take off his boot. He eventually does, and Wedge tells him to put his feet on the desk while telling him the reason. You end up learning that he wants Myn to feel silly so he can't give his rehearsed description or something dumb like that, but it's just more silliness from Allston in what should be a tremendously serious moment. Myn's entire life has repeatedly fallen apart in the last six months or so. He finally saw a light at the end of the tunnel in Lara, and he finds out she is a spy and got his friends killed. Then he almost murdered his fellow pilot. And Wedge is like, take your shoe off and put your feet up. Then he talks to Wes, who jumps on his bed, and Myn is cured.
- This silliness (not a spoiler) is probably a good barometer of whether or not you'll like Allston's writing. "The turbolift doors opened and they entered the shallow car, turning to face the hall. Wedge held his hand against the side of the entryway, preventing the doors from closing. 'Roof,' Wedges said.
Janson looked confused. 'Roof? Not the personal vehicles hangar?'
'Roof.' Then Wedge took a deep breath and bellowed, 'About face! Forward march!'
By reflex, the two pilots spun. Wedge stepped back out into the hall and heard Janson and Hobbie thud into the wall at the rea of the turbolift. Then the turbolift doors closed and the car carried his pilots up and far away."
If you read that and think, "Classic Allston. That is hilarious!", then you'll probably love this book. If you are like me, and you think it is absurd that yelling about face and march would cause these pilots to turn around and involuntarily walk into a wall, then you'll probably find the writing tedious.
- How in the world does Myn keep his job? They say it was an accidental fire, but they would obviously have records that he pulled the trigger. Even if they did away with that somehow, they would have communication records of his squad-mates begging him not to fire. The dude would get court-martialed for sure, not promoted to Rogue Squadron.
- There is quite a bit of absurdity towards the end of the book. Why would Lara be stationed on the bridge of the Iron Fist? She has questionable loyalty. She is a pilot, spy, and possibly sort of an intelligence agent. Are they normally given a terminal on the bridge? She doesn't even really do anything during the battles other than sabotage things anyway. Speaking of that, she performs her sabotage out in the open on the bridge. She is taking down things within the Iron Fist with the use of her R2 droid that they inexplicably let her keep. She is wearing goggles (suspicious) and conveying her orders to it in a whisper. She is on the bridge whispering orders like "sabotage the hyperdrive" and nobody is even remotely curious. Zsinj has a woman on the bridge he at best thinks he has even odds that she is loyal to him. His ship is being sabotaged. She is wearing goggles for no reason and whispering to herself. Is none of this reason to believe something is off?
Possibly even worse, Wedge gets multiple pilots killed (no Rogues or Wraiths obviously) when he falls for a trap Zsinj cooked up. Zsinj lures them into an asteroid field. When they get close, he shoots the easy to hit asteroids near them which blow up and destroy nearby ships. Myn tells to stop the attack, which Wedge is angry about, because he knows the trap. He tells them that this was a trap previously done by Zsinj. You're telling me that Wedge wouldn't know this? They wouldn't have studied the tactics of the enemy they have been pursuing? Wedge also wouldn't be aware of what would be a standard tactic to destroy ships in an asteroid field?
- An editor should have caught how many times Allston describes a space battle and metions how the pilot felt the G-forces despite the inertial compensator. I'm guessing he says it 8-10 times in this book.
- Of course, the person impersonating Baron Fel is Face's old rival from when they were child actors. Allston did a better job of setting this reveal up, but it was still ridiculous.
- I laughed out loud when they entrapped the scientist who betrayed Zsinj when she was captured. It was so ludicrous. She bargained to get a new identity and a half a million credits. Nawara Ven asks her if she wants them in New Republic or Imperial credits. She says Imperial. They go and land on Coruscant, and she is arrested because you aren't allowed to bring Imperial credits in. If you bring in that many, it is assumed that you are overthrowing the government and it is an act of sedition. So she is immediately arrested. This entrapment is so absurd it would immediately thrown out in any court, but Allston writes it like this was a plan of legal brilliance.
- It is apparently impossible for Lara to return to the squadron or the New Republic after the events of the book. It doesn't matter that she ultimately sided with the Wraiths and saved countless lives by sabotaging Zsinj's forces. She was originally an Imperial spy, so she would be executed if she returned. Does Allston know how many rebels were originally Imperials? Should Han Solo be put to death. There are even characters Allston created that were former imperials, who have killed rebels and innocents, who are welcomed into the New Republic when they decide to switch sides.
- It is laughable that nobody wonders about the strange disappearance of Iron Fist at the end of the battle. They observe something that blocks their sensors as well as their sight. They can't even see the stars. Then it is gone and there are pieces of an SSD. They don't wonder what caused that for long. They see a piece of debris labeled Iron Fist and start patting each other on the back. It seems doubtful that there would be enough debris to justify thinking the Iron Fist blew up there, especially with the suspicious circumstances.


First Reads: 2001/2007 5 Stars

[TheGeeksAttic · Rating 4 out of 5]

Star Wars: Solo Command, book seven in the X-Wing Series, was written by Bestselling Author, Aaron Allston. This Expanded Universe tale takes place during the New Republic Era, seven ABY (7 years after the battle of Yavin).

SUMMARY
The mission to eliminate Imperial Warlord Zsinj continues under the command of General Han Solo. Wraith and Rogue Squadron work close together in many space battles that result in a cat and mouse chase with Zsinj.

A new tactic of the Empire against the Republic, is to build distrust against a race of people, by inserting secret assassins to bring chaos and death to the New Republic.

Wraith Squadron will face many challenges on the hunt for Zsinj, not only from external forces, but from those internally as well.

OVERALL THOUGHTS
Another great X-Wing story written by Aaron Allston! The characters he writes and the situations they get into are so fun to read. One thing that I find funny about our main villain, Warlord Zsinj, is that he's always talking, even just thinking out loud. The drama that unfolds with who Wraith Squadron knows as Lara Notsil was intense! Such heartache and anger throughout the story, and it isn't cheesy or cringy at all.

The concept of dividing the different alien races against one another was already a plan devised in a previous X-Wing book with the creation of the Krytos Virus. Luckily the route taken in this novel was sparse, more of a side issue that was taking place.

Han Solo is present pretty often in this novel, the title is a bit of a dead giveaway. Yet, the book doesn't lean on Solo, the story doesn't revolve around him, he's not a crutch for the book to lean on. General Solo's flagship during his quest to end Zsinj, is the Mon Calamari ship, Mon Remonda. Han doesn't really enjoy the job too much, but he's doing his best.

The Wraith mission at the Binring Biomedical facility was intense. I thought Allston did a nice job giving us that commando action which was teased in book five - Wraith Squadron. Taking Piggy back to the laboratory he was experimented on was harsh, but great.

One negative, I don't like how the missions on both sides were paralleled in a few cases... It's way to convenient! The setup for the missions were disappointing - Zsinj wants to set a trap at a specific place, meanwhile, Wraith Squadron is getting ready to investigate said place.

I’m not quite sure how I feel about how this book ended. Wraith Squadron, decommissioned as an X-Wing unit. I’m looking forward to seeing more of these characters in future books.

Do I recommend you read this novel? Absolutely, no need to skip this book! I’m surprised by how much I’m enjoying the X-Wing series.

RATING
I will give Star Wars: X-Wing: Solo Command, a B+.

[Max · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another really strong entry, one that makes me sad that I'm not going to get another Aaron Allston book for a while in my post RotJ reading. And that's not something I expected when I started the X-Wing books. After the first one, I was expecting to slog through them but thankfully the Wraith Squadron books have been really fun.

This one continues the story arc of fighting Admiral Zsinj, though it does have the oddity that unlike how the Rogue Squadron books wrapped up the Isard story (for now) this doesn't actually represent the end of Zsinj, which instead comes in Courtship of Princess Leia, a book from five years earlier. All along the X-Wing books have effectively been prequels to other stuff, but I am curious to see how things go when that really comes home next book.

Fortunately while this book doesn't wrap up the Zsinj arc, it does in a way wrap things up for the Wraiths and definitely brings a satisfying conclusion to many of their personal character arcs. Definitely a highlight here is Lara/Gara, the one-time Imperial intelligence agent who at first faked her allegiance to the New Republic, only to slowly come to realize she should be fighting for them for real. I feel like often traitor characters in Star Wars don't get a lot of subtlety or fleshing out, so I've appreciated how well Lara's character is developed. And here she gets to deal with her inevitable unmasking and the fallout of that. Plus she spends a lot of time figuring out how to take down a Super Star Destroyer armed only with an astromech and a supply of mouse droids, which feels like the culmination of the Wraith's tendency for zany plans.

I also enjoyed seeing more of Zsinj's whole plan of uplifting nonhumans such as Gamorreans, and I'm curious how much of an impact this has in the long run on the Star Wars universe. It was especially nice to see the Ewok pilot jokes come full circle. And there's also just a lot of good action and plenty of clever plans on both sides. I'm a little worried how Zsinj will be portrayed in the next book, but in these Wraith books I've found him a surprisingly enjoyable and clever villain. He's not quite at the level of Thrawn, but he's doing a good job of coming in second.

I'm glad I decided to read all the Legends books in the New Republic era and not just do a quick reread of some of my favorites from when I was a kid. Because if I'd skipped things I would've missed out on these really enjoyable Wraith Squadron books. I can definitely imagine revisiting them at some point - they've joined my personal list of favorites. Now I just have to hope the next two books are at least okay and don't prove to be a slog before I get to revisit Thrawn.

[Tibbs · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the eighteenth book on my read-through of the Star Wars Legends books.

I don't think I'll have much to say about this book -- it did what needed to be done. This book doesn't have as many standout moments as the last two Wraith Squadron book, nor does it come close in terms of character development, twists, or humor. Instead, it takes the setup of the last two books and the destination already set in stone by The Courtship of Princess Leia and...throws itself a party.

A large portion of this book is basically one giant action scene where the two relatively equal sides pummel each other for all they've got, and it rules. I could not stop reading it, even though I knew where it would end up. It is a pure, unrelenting experience.

The last two books had a very jokey tone, but when it came time for business, you knew the stakes were real and people could die. Without spoiling anything, this book adopts a more pulpy tone where characters sometimes survive situations they shouldn't and things occasionally work out a bit too conveniently. But you know what -- these guys have been through enough. Like I said, this book is one big party.

When this book does go for those heart-warming group bonding moments or bits of humor, it feels like it's going through the motions. There's a new "wildcard" type member who really falls flat and doesn't get a chance to shine. In fact, most of the old crew don't get much of a chance to shine, except for some blink-and-you'll-miss-it moments during battle. A scene where the crew "cuts loose" similarly fell flat.

The big exception is Lara -- her story goes exactly where you think it's going to go, but it does so in a very satisfying way.

If I sound negative, it's only in comparison to the last two sublime Wrath Squadron books. This is still a 9/10 for me and cements Wraith Squadron as one of the best series in the Star Wars EU.