David's Review of The Black Fleet Crisis Book 3: Tyrant's Test

4/5 Rancors - Tyrant’s Test is the third book in The Black Fleet Crisis, a trilogy by Michael P. Kube-McDowell. It picks up where Shield of Lies left off. The New Republic is in a tough situation. The Yevethan have turned out to be a real threat. They have continued their campaign of genocide, and now they have Han Solo as a hostage. As Chief of State, Leia has to convince the Senate to approve a war against the Yevethan. At the same time, as a wife and mother, she has to deal with having her husband being brutally tortured by Nil Spaar, the leader of the Yevethan. None of the solutions that are open to her appear to be ideal.

As was true in the first two books, we have three main stories going on. Lando, Lobot, R2, and Threepio are aboard the Teljkon vagabond and are trying to understand why such a mysterious craft is just moving aimlessly through space. Luke continues his mystical journey with Akanah in search of the Fallanassi. This section remains by far the weakest of the storylines in the trilogy, even though Luke and his new friends do play a major role in the conclusion of the book. It was refreshing to see that he finally got something useful to do, and his story does tie in with Leia’s. Leia continues to have the best storyline. All of the political maneuvering is interesting, and her efforts to defeat the Yevethan and save her husband are strong.

One new storyline in this third book brings Chewbacca into the action, and he is a welcome addition. Chewie learns of Han’s capture by the Yevethan, and he immediately springs into action. Chewie, his son Lumpawarrump, and some other Wookies head for the Koornacht Cluster to rescue Han. Nothing seems to hamper their efforts and they have a wonderful sequence on the Yevethan flagship as they work their way to Han.

Mr. Kube-McDowell is capable of writing an interesting story. He loves to introduce new alien species, and his descriptions of political maneuvering are excellent. However, he may have spread himself a little thin in making The Black Fleet Crisis a trilogy. He could have omitted a lot of Luke’s story throughout the three books and obtained a stronger result. The Black Fleet Crisis is fun to read, but it is not a top-notch effort.