5/5 Rancors - Starfighters of Adumar by Aaron Allston is great fun to read. It is the conclusion to the nine-book X-wing series. We have some of our favorite X-wing pilots, an interesting story, and great action scenes. Our heroes are led by Wedge Antilles and include pilots Tycho Celchu, Wes Janson, and Hobbie Klivian along with Iella Wessiri from New Republic Intelligence. The pilots have been put into a difficult position. Wedge has been selected to lead a diplomatic mission to the planet of Adumar and the others are part of the team. None of them are true diplomats, but the pilots' presence has been requested by the citizens of Adumar because of their admiration for legendary pilots.
Adumar is a neutral planet that has decided to pick between the New Republic and the Empire. The decision apparently will be based primarily on the military skills exhibited by the two opposing teams of pilots. The outcome is important because of a missile manufacturing plant located on Adumar. However, things become complicated very quickly. The code of honor on Adumar is very different from that of the New Republic pilots, and the respect for the sanctity of life among the Adumaris is not high. Throw in a rogue New Republic intelligence agent and the situation becomes slightly chaotic for a while.I particularly enjoyed a section of the book in which Wedge basically decides what to do with the rest of his life. He has no family and no particular prospects of gaining one. The military has been his whole life, but it can’t go on forever. He has to weigh the pros and cons of a decision on which he basically has to stake his entire military career. Following his thought process as his works through this decision is extremely interesting. Such introspection is usually hard to find in Star Wars characters. I also got a great kick out of the interplay and the camaraderie among the four X-wing pilots. Their senses of humor and obvious respect for each other make for an entertaining book.
3 comments:
Although it's very distinct from the other X-Wing novels this one was a marked departure in tone (as well as X-wings!). I always felt that Allston had managed to contain himself in the original novels by using Kell Tainer as his protagonist. I think Stackpole did as well with Corran Horn but it made less of a difference as his characterisation on the whole wasn't as good as Allston's.
Tainer on the otherhand seemed to be perpetually playing the straight man and you could tell that Allston really wanted to right about Janson, Face and Phannon. He finally got a chance to really focus on a few characters and totally reinvents them whilst at the same time staying well within the original parameters. Aside from knowing that he was "noble" very little came out in all the other X-wing novels about Tycho Celchu- yet here he's a well envisaged character (albeit one who gets shot down... a lot). Wedge's emotional mid-life crisis which we've seen looming finally comes to fruition as he realises that maybe he is just career right now and is he really happy about that. Janson gets his comeuppance and whilst he always had fun with the Wraiths you could always tell that he was senior. Here we see him with his contemporaries and he certainly relaxes.
If there was a weak point to the novel I'd say it was Tomer Darpen on the surface who seemed to have very poor motives as well as Iella not really doing much despite the fact at times she's been a personal confidant of Cracken. It just didn't quite ring true.
Anyways- keep up the good work guys- always interested in reading your reviews and whilst it's been a little while since I bought a star wars book (got a little bit jaded- I kept up with the EU till about this book but lost it when they released so many New Jedi Order books over a short span...)
Thank you for the comment and for reading our blog. I agree with what you said. The four pilots were great. They actually seemed to be in somewhat of a relaxed state most of the time, and I loved the banter and comments they exchanged back and forth. Tomer Darpen was a weak character. I kept waiting for Wedge to just smack him.
One of the reasons I really enjoyed this book was that the previous EU book I read was Planet of Twilight by Barbara Hambly. I had to force myself to wade through it. Allston's books are fun to read.
I have not yet read any of the New Jedi Order books. We are going through the EU books in an orderly fashion. I will get to the New Jedi Order in a few months.
Thanks again for reading our blog. We have a good time with it.
The tighter focus on the cast really benefits this book. The pilots have plenty of room to breathe as developed characters, and per your point, Bryn R, the story especially shines a light on Tycho and on the mid-life crisis Wedge is undergoing. This stretch of the EU (Callista Trilogy, Crystal Star, etc.) has some rough patches and this book was like fresh air.
Thanks for checking out our reviews - glad to have your feedback!
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