Mercy Kill

Star Wars: Wraith Squadron - Legends

by Aaron Allston

The intrepid spies, pilots, and sharpshooters of Wraith Squadron are back in an all-new Star Wars adventure, which transpires just after the events of the Fate of the Jedi series!

Three decades have passed since Wraith Squadron carried out its last mission. Taking on the most dangerous and daring operations, the rogues and misfits of the elite X-Wing unit became legends of the Rebellion and the Second Galactic Civil War, before breaking up and going their separate ways. Now their singular skills are back in vital demand—for a tailor-made Wraith Squadron mission.

A powerful general in the Galactic Alliance Army, once renowned for his valor, is suspected of participating in the infamous Lecersen Conspiracy, which nearly toppled the Alliance back into the merciless hands of the Empire. With orders to expose and apprehend the traitor—and license to do so by any and all means—the Wraiths will become thieves, pirates, impostors, forgers . . . and targets, as they put their guts, their guns, and their riskiest game plan to the test against the most lethal of adversaries.

Features a bonus section following the novel that includes a primer on the Star Wars expanded universe, and more than half a dozen excerpts from some of the most popular Star Wars books of the last thirty years!Book 10 in the Star Wars: X-wing series. Will involve Wraith Squadron.

Genres: Star Wars, Science Fiction, Fiction, Space Opera, Audiobook, Fantasy, Science Fiction Fantasy

416 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2012

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

[Mitch · Rating 1 out of 5]

Star Wars and I parted ways after New Jedi Order but I came back for X-Wing. The original books by Michael Stackpole were some of my favorites, though I did stick around when Aaron Allston took over the series. It's been thirteen years since the last book, Starfighters of Adumar, and with all the history, I wanted to like Mercy Kill, I really did. Instead, I get a book that's almost unrecognizable. WTF is this?

Whatever it is, it's more like a horrible parody of the first nine books than a X-Wing sequel. I think the only thing Allston does right is writing this as a standalone, skipping over the background laid out by the most recent books. I haven't read Legacy of the Force or Fate of the Jedi (nor do I ever intend to), but I found Mercy Kill still extremely easy to get into. Unfortunately, that's about all the praise I can muster. Honestly, I miss the Rogue Squadron crew, and beyond a blink and you miss it cameo by Wedge and Tycho (forget the fact that it doesn't even make much sense), it's all Wraith Squadron's next generation. Oh, and Piggy, who gets the only semi-decent character development in the entire book thanks to a couple of flashback scenes. Yeah, of course Corran's probably not gonna be available for this book, but the crew Face of all people assembles seems rather ... unmemorable in comparison - to any of the casts of the previous books.

Or maybe it's because the (new) Wraith Squadron gets one of the lamest, most inane Star Wars villains ever. This is the series that spawned Ysanne Isard, Madame Director of Imperial Intelligence, someone who I'd say is on Grand Admiral Thrawn's level of awesomeness in the Star Wars expanded universe. Crooked General Thaal by comparison is almost laughable. How this weirdly written serial womanizer has been getting away with what he's been doing apparently for years now shows more incompetence on the part of the Galactic Alliance than skill on the part of the Wraiths. And honestly, I don't even have any idea what the intention of this book even is, it is supposed to have some sort of impact on the bigger expanded universe, like every single X-Wing book before it? Or is it supposed to be some sort of forgettable behind the scenes filler, maybe set up another X-Wing down the road like the story suggests?

Speaking of story, I really didn't expect Allston to lose sight of what X-Wing is all about, a bunch of fighter pilots with special skills doing covert missions for, well it was the New Republic then, but this is more like a horrible Ocean's Eleven ripoff, down to the carefully laid scams that lead to an overly complex, convoluted, nearly nonsensical trap that brings General Thaal down. A parody of Rogue Squadron using black market resources against the Empire of earlier books. I have almost no words for how awful it is (it even involves the General's ex-wife!!), except that more imaginative does not automatically equal better story, the first flashback mission with Admiral Teradoc was miles better by comparison. Oh, and X-Wings are flown for maybe three pages, a new record low.

I can't believe I ended my decade long break from Star Wars for this horrible book. I give up. Seriously.

[Sam Shantz · Rating 2 out of 5]

The original X-Wing novels were a breath of fresh air. Instead of beating the dead horse that was the rapidly tiring saga of Luke, Han and Leia, Michael A. Stackpole (and subsequently Aaron Allston) abandoned the 'big three' for the hitherto unsung starfighter pilots of Rogue and Wraith Squadron, and in many ways revitalized a stagnating genre. The cocky Rogues and misfit Wraiths allowed for humour and humanity to be (re)injected into Star Wars, creating a series that was just plain fun and enjoyable. The novels were somewhat superficial, and never truly probed (or attempted to probe) the limits of the genre, but they were Star Wars as it was meant to be; a series that didn't reject, but reveled in its pulp, and all its cheesy goodness.

X-Wing: Mercy Kill promised a return to this happy go lucky brand of Star Wars, a return 12 years in the making, over which time 31 years had passed in the galaxy far far away, and at first, it appeared to deliver. A promise left unfulfilled. Seemingly picking up where X-Wing: Solo Command left off, Mercy Kill opens to a Wraith operation that features many of the original characters doing what they do best before it jumps to the post-Fate of the Jedi: Apocalypse present. A present in which the Wraiths have been disbanded. Piggy (now going by his given name - Voort) is mathematics professor, while Face is retired and trying to 'get the band back together' (by which he means create a completely new band with the addition of a former member, or two, and still call it Guns & Roses... I mean Wraith Squadron).

As the story progresses, it becomes obvious that the first chapter (which is also the free preview that can be found online) is nothing but a flashback (one that will have both an anticlimactic and almost inconsequential effect on the narrative, but I'm getting ahead of myself), and that whatever magic previously permeated the series has somehow been lost. Face and Voort are the only original Wraiths to return, and Face's 'behind the scenes' role as master puppeteer effectively removes one of Allston's better characters from much of the novel. This also thrusts Voort into the spotlight, a role it would appear, he was never meant to enjoy. Piggy was a great supporting character in the earlier X-Wing novels, and had a good turn as a member of Twin Suns Squadron in Allston's contributions to the New Jedi Order, but he isn't up to challenge of the role of 'main character Voort', and both his character and the narrative sufferer accordingly.

Bhindi Drayson and Sharr Latt return as representatives of the 'New Wraiths' introduced in Rebel Dream & Rebel Stand. However, both characters were never anything much more than forgettable in the first place, and they both pretty much pick up where they left off, serving more to elicit questions of 'who?' rather then enforcing any sense of continuity. And then we have 'The Offspring' (this is actually fairly pertinent, as there are in fact (spoiler alert) two bands!); Jesmin Tainer daughter of Kell Tainer and Tyria Sarkin, and Myri Antiles scion of Wraith Squadron founder Wedge. While this continuing legacy does enhance the nostalgia, and both Jesmin and Myri are strong enough characters in their own rights, neither are capable of replacing, or of living up to, their forebears. Wedge is pretty much Luke, Han and Leia's second fiddle (a position once occupied by a suave gentleman played by Billy D. Williams, or maybe, more accurately occupied by a not-so-recently deceased walking carpet), Myri? Well, she's more of a Tycho Celchu (who is mentioned in the novel, and is therefore relevant). While Tainer was a goofball whose advances towards Sarkin where all the more entertaining due to her initial rejection and eventual acceptance of them. Jesmin can't embody both her mother and father, and none of the new male Wraiths are able to step up either, and when the loses of Janson and Wedge are added to Face's reduced role, a lack of strong male characters becomes quite evident. As a result, there is also a lack of sexual tension, once a lynchpin of the series. In fact, there is a disconcerting lack of tension at all among the Wraiths.

The only real source of tension in the novel can be found in the conflict between Voort and Scut. Two aliens raised by humans, they are foils for one another and butt heads from the get go because Scut is Yuuzhan Vong: fanatical, genocidal, extra-galactic invaders who had brought the New Republic to its knees 15 years ago. Voort's seemingly racist views clash with Scut's belief that the Gamorrean is unfit to be a Wraith. However, this tension never reaches much of a climax. The squabblers simply sit down, hash out their differences, and agree to disagree; then a couple chapters later they sit down, acknowledge the factors behind their disagreement, and everything is hunky-dory. Not only does the antagonism between the characters never get a chance to have much of an effect on the narrative, the resolution is so contrived that it is incomprehensible that a large chunk of the novel was actually built around said conflict. Furthermore, how is it that none of the other Wraiths appear to have any problem with working with the Yuuzhan Vong? The idea that Voort is the only Wraith unable to immediately accept a Yuuzhan Vong as a best friend is ridiculous; almost as ridiculous as the fact that if Scut's extra-galactic origins were never mentioned, he would be next to impossible to identify as Yuuzhan Vong. I understand that he was raised by humans, and the message of racial equality is commendable, but what is the point of including alien races if there are no characteristics to differentiate them from humans, or for that matter, any other alien races?

These many small problems prevent a plot, which at first appeared to have potential, from ever really taking off. An overabundance of ill introduced characters confuse the plot, which is weighed down by becoming overly complicated instead of complex. There are too many tangents that don't tie in, too many possibilities that are ignored; what could have been a streamlined clash of master-plans augmented by a couple twist/surprises is instead a choppy series of operations and predictable outcomes. There are flashes of brilliance, and glimpses of what once made the series so enjoyable, but in the end the potential of the plot doesn't translate into a strong narrative as opportunities are missed, and imagination appears to be lacking.

The promise simply adds to the disappointment as expectations remain unmet. To be blunt, Mercy Kill just doesn't belong in the X-Wing series; it's jokes are flatter, it's characters - flatter, and it's narrative? You guessed it: flatter. They are all simply pale imitations of the simple, yet well executed concepts that made the nine previous novels enjoyable reads, and in the end, that's all Star Wars X-Wing: Mercy Kill is: a pale imitation of an X-Wing book. What was once a breath of fresh air has now become as stagnant as the adventures it originally broke away from.

sdtshantz.wordpress.com

[Janine Spendlove · Rating 5 out of 5]

Words can't even begin to express how much I loved this book.

Only Aaron Allston can make you laugh and cry in the same paragraph and also make you wish you could bleach from your mind the vision of a Gamorrean doing an exotic strip tease (hence the laughing and crying). And that's just the opening pages...

I didn't really know what to expect going into it, I didn't know if it was going to be "another Wraith adventure" or something new. It turned out to be a bit of both and I highly approve! People who've never read the Wraith books will not be lost, and I think they'll enjoy the caper.

Loyal fans of the Wraith books will feel well rewarded for their years of loyalty and patience (I especially liked his dedication).

For me it was like coming home. When I first read the X-Wing books I was nerdy high school girl, obsessed with Star Wars & I couldn't get my hands on a new Star Wars book fast enough. These (the X-Wing books) were my favorites, and I think I can blame Aaron Allston and Mike Stackpole for subtly instilling a love for flying in me. Reading Mercy Kill took me back to that teenage girl who thought she could conquer the world and whose biggest problem was making the tape deck in her old VW van work.

I felt like a kid again, I laughed out loud a lot, and wanted to cry at times.

I waited 13 years for this book, and it was worth every second!

Bravo, Mr. Allston, bravo!

I can't wait to read it again!

*2 MILD SPOILERS BELOW*

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I really hope we get more Wraith books. I want to find more out about this younger generation.

A wookiee and a gamorrean waltzing into the sunset was a perfect ending. :)

[Jonathan Koan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Despite me being a big fan of Aaron Allston's books, his final novel was a big swing and a miss for me. He does try to do something unique, but I think he just missed the magic of his previous X-Wing books.

Piggy's return is fun in and of itself, but it's not enough to carry the full book.

The new cast in this book was not particularly memorable, nor was their mission. I thought the mission itself lacked stakes and also just took too long to get going.

We do get to see a handful of returning faces, but most of them are either present for 1 or 2 chapters or they're killed off or something, and as such the new characters are forced to carry the book, and it just doesn't work.

That being said, there is an interaction thorughout the book between Piggy and a Yuuzhan Vong character that I thought was excellent. Really added some great depth to the book.

Overall, just a whimper of an ending for the X-Wing series. I wish I liked it more. 3.5 out of 10.

[Jeff Jellets · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank the Force! Wraith Squadron is back!

Aaron Allston is one of my favorite Star Wars writers and Wraith Squadron one of my favorite properties in the expanded universe. While noble Jedi and daredevil Corellian pilots abound in the Star Wars galaxy, Allston’s espionage squad is distinguishably sneaky – more apt to plot a trap, hoax, or ruse to snare the bad guys than to use the Force. More importantly, Allston has always been able to develop good characters, from former child star Garik Loran to the cyborg medic Ton Phanon, and since none of his creations are tied to the Lucas-canon, the author has always been able to keep readers guessing whether their favorite Wraith would survive the team’s latest mission. Here’s a spoiler – they often don’t!

So when Allston got the green light to bring back the Wraiths in a new book (after more than ten years!), there was much rejoicing! Mercy Kill is very much a “getting the band back together” book and, if you were a fan of the old series, everything that was good about past books is here again – from complex plots, elaborate tricks, heists, humor, to the occasional X-Wing battle. Where the book slips slightly (and feels a bit like the original Wraith Squadron book with its focus on Kell Tainer) is that this tale is really Voort “Piggy” SaBinring’s story, the talking Gamorrean and fan favorite from the original series.

That’s not to say that other characters don’t get the chance to shine, but the spotlight is clearly on Voort. It’s actually a clever move on the part of Allston, because with much of the original Wraiths in retirement (or dead), it’s time for new blood, leading to sometimes bewildering number of new faces taking the stage. Voort, like the reader, has to cope with the new team – and to Allston’s credit, by the novel’s end, these new faces do indeed feel like the Wraiths of old.

Perhaps my only other quibble is that while I’m a sucker for clever continuity (and Allston uses -- and wraps up -- a number of loose ends from other books), the gap between the original series and this book has left a lot of fog in my head about Wraith Squadron history. While the list of dramatis persona always helps, I found myself wishing there was a glossary of past Wraiths in the back of the book to help jog my memory on some of these characters. For example, neither Bhindi Drayson nor Sharr Latt rang any bells with me – and a line or two somewhere about their history might have helped a lot.

Regardless, this is good stuff. With the Disney-backed Star Wars sequels in the offing, I’m not sure if this is the last hurrah for the Wraiths. But it’d be a shame if it was since this corner of the Star Wars universe has been one of the most consistently entertaining.

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I did like this, I don't think this newer Star Wars is for me. I just wasn't that in to it. It was still a light read for an afternoon, but I have so many of those already. This isn't really my "go to" kind of book.

Since I did the audio, I did like all the sound effects. They seem to make the story fun. So 3 stars for this one.

[DiscoSpacePanther · Rating 5 out of 5]

Aaron Allston's (sadly) last contribution to the X-Wing arc is a fitting send-off for the Wraiths. Plotwise it is a much more infiltration and deception based story, with almost zero X-Wing -based starfighter battles, than the previous novels in the series. Which doesn't mean to say that it lacks action - it has it in spades.
Told from the POV of Voort "Piggy" saBinring, the Gamorrean mathematician, Mercy Kill is a much deeper psychological study than before (although it is still a Star Wars novel!) We see the return of old favourite characters, and the introduction of a new and devious opponent.
I enjoyed every page, and it's unfortunate that this entire series is no longer canon to the Star Wars universe.

[Meggie · Rating 3 out of 5]

For 2023, I decided to reread the post-NJO books set after the Dark Nest trilogy, especially as I abandoned the Legacy of the Force series after Sacrifice all the way back in 2007. This shakes out to the nine books of the Legacy of the Force series, the nine books of the Fate of the Jedi series, three standalone novels, and five short stories.

This week’s focus: after thirteen years, a surprise tenth X-Wing novel! Mercy Kill by Aaron Allston.

SOME HISTORY:

Fans had been asking for more X-Wing books after the release of the ninth volume, Starfighters of Adumar, in 1999. But when Shelly Shapiro at Del Rey asked Aaron Allston if he would write a tenth novel in 2010, he was taken by surprise but happily accepted. X-Wing: Mercy Kill was released in August of 2012, and serves as a (decades-later) sequel to the Wraith Squadron books. Set after the conclusion of the Fate of the Jedi series, it deals with one of the series’ loose ends: the fallout of the “Lecersen Conspiracy,” as the pro-Imperial conspiracy led by Senator Treen and others comes to be called.

MY RECOLLECTION OF THE BOOK:

Back in 2012, I hadn't read any of the Fate of the Jedi books, but when they announced that Aaron Allston was going to be writing a new Wraith Squadron book I was all in In its favor, I don’t think Mercy Kill really requires you to have read the Fate of the Jedi series.

A BRIEF SUMMARY:

Following the end of the second Galactic Civil War, Wraith Squadron was disbanded and all the members forcibly retired. But Face Loran contacts Voort “Piggy” saBinring about one final job: discovering if General Stavin Thal is a traitor, and part of the pro-Imperial Lecersen Conspiracy that ran rampant during the events of the Fate of the Jedi series. Voort joins Wraiths old and new, and they will tackle any task and assume any role to find out the truth about Stavin Thaal…

THE PLOT:

Mercy Kill is (initially and comparatively) pretty simple: the Gamorrean formerly known as Piggy retired towards the end of the Yuuzhan Vong conflict for reasons that are revealed later in the book. Voort now works as a mathematics professor but doesn’t really enjoy it, so when Face Loran shows up and talks about reforming Wraith Squadron for one unofficial assignment, he’s reluctantly intrigued and decides to rejoin Wraith Squadron version 2. The new group is led by Bhindi Drayson, and includes new members like Trey the electronics guy and Scut the Yuuzhan Vong biochemist, as well as the offspring of OG Wraiths like Myri Antilles and Jesmin Tainer.

The Wraiths quickly uncover evidence that General Stavin Thaal is a bad dude and has been stealing stuff from the Galactic Alliance, but they also uncover the existence of a second Wraith Squadron—and during that encounter, things end badly for Bhindi Drayson. Voort ends up taking command of both Wraith Squadrons, and it’s a race to the climax as the Wraiths prove that Thaal is a traitor—with many hijinks along the way.

CHARACTERS:

The past Wraith Squadron books were definitely ensemble stories, where characters would come to prominence in one book then become more of background characters in the next. Mercy Kill takes a different approach by focusing heavily on Piggy’s emotional journey. As the book opens, he’s discarded the nickname Piggy and now goes by Voort, and has turned his back on his Wraith Squadron past. In flashback moments, we learn that Shalla Nelprin left the Wraiths after the peace agreement between the Empire and the New Republic, and that Runt was fatally wounded by an amphistaff at the tail end of the Yuuzhan Vong invasion—and Piggy had to kill his best friend, with Runt’s blessing, because they couldn’t risk their knowledge being leaked to the Vong. This is what causes Piggy to leave Wraith Squadron, because while the information was important it wasn’t going to change the course of the war.

Piggy leaves a group of close friends, and he’s not able to work through his grief over the next fifteen (!!) years. This was heartbreaking to me, because I love Piggy and it’s so sad to see him closed off emotionally and never coming to terms with his losses. Piggy’s arc in Mercy Kill is about realizing he can be a leader—he takes command of both Wraith Squadron after Bhindi’s death—but also realizing that he can still enjoy life as well. When Piggy’s final scheme to catch General Thaal isn’t going as planned, he starts dancing in a public square: a very nice callback to the first flashback mission, where he’s in disguise as part of a Gamorrean dance troupe. Runt may be gone, but Piggy’s career with the Wraiths and joy in his work doesn’t need to end.

This also leads to Piggy having very strong prejudices against the Yuuzhan Vong. I found this completely understandable, and I was interested when Allston brought this up. We hardly ever see the Vong again after the New Jedi Order (in the end of The Unifying Force, they agree to resettle on Zonama Sekot in the Unknown Regions) and while the Bothans are still carrying out their vendetta against Vong tech in the Legacy of the Force series, that’s the only depiction of Anti-Vong sentiment after their invasion. Piggy’s interactions with Scut, a Yuuzhan Vong Shamed One, feel realistic to me. He’s not trusting or welcoming towards any Vong because his best friend was basically killed by the Vong, and they caused the destruction of worlds and death and suffering for innumerable people throughout the galaxy. Even though Scut was a child during the conflict, Piggy’s response to his presence in Wraith Squadron is overwhelmingly negative. (Scut, meanwhile, has grown up hero-worshiping the Wraiths and Piggy thanks to their involvement in his adoptive father’s rescue, so he’s distrustful of Piggy’s motives after their initial meeting.) They have some issues to work through!

(My only thought here is that I was surprised Piggy was the only Wraith with an issue with Scut; I would have expected maybe other people who lived through the Yuuzhan Vong invasion to show the same prejudice towards Scut, like maybe Sharr Latt? but Piggy’s the only one.)

We do have other older Wraiths show up in the story. Face Loran recruits Piggy, Bhindi Drayson, and Sharr Latt, runs a little bit of interference between the Wraiths and Galactic Alliance Security and the Wraiths and other bad guys, and then seems to be killed in a speeder explosion halfway through the story. Allston’s not afraid of killing characters, but I didn’t think Face was dead and expected him to pop back up at the end. Face is married to Dia Passik, and adopted her daughter. Kirney Slane transports the Wraiths off Vandoor-3, and yells at Piggy to not recruit her children. (Lara and Myn!!!!) Sharr Latt and Bhindi Drayson were both Wraiths during the Enemy Lines duology, and head up two separate Wraith Squadrons.

Bhindi’s plot line ends tragically because she’s not willing to take risks with others. She’s so concerned about losing the young members of Wraith Squadron that she runs away from scenarios that don’t turn out as she planned, assigns every member to an intrusion mission that really only needed two people, loses the ability to think strategically when they’re in danger, and ultimately assigns herself to a role that’s just not in her skill set. She’s fatally shot, and her final words to Piggy were about saving the “kids.”

Both Wraith Squadrons end up an amalgamation of completely new characters, and descendents of OG Wraiths. Jesmin Tainer is the daughter of Tyria Sarkin-Tainer and Kell Tainer; she spent most of her life with family members on Toprawa, trained as an Antarian Ranger, and has some Force skills even if she’s not an official Jedi. Myri Antilles the younger daughter of Wedge Antilles and Iella Wessiri: she’s a talented gambler with past experience working for Galactic Alliance Security. Myri also loves a good disguise. She’s dealing with the legacy of being the daughter of one of the most famous pilots of all time, but she still has a great relationship with her dad and calls him for help when the Wraiths need to be bailed out of a tight spot. Scut ends up being the adopted son of a scientist that the Wraiths rescued decades ago. Wran Narcassian from the other Wraith Squadron turns out to be the nephew of Shalla Nelprin and a very talented sniper. (This got me hyped up that we’d see Shalla! But alas, she only appears in the Vision of the Future-era flashback.) I liked that Allston roped in these second gen characters who have some similarities to their famous parents but—especially in Myri’s case—end up unique characters in their own right.

But the other Wraiths are completely new. Trey is the big bulky tech guy, there’s a Devaronian medic and a very competent Wookiee, plus a curly-haired guy who keeps flirting with Myri. My favorite was Turman the Clawdite actor. He’s a shapeshifter; he has to wear gross ooglith cloakers; he gets drugged at one point and monologues for hours! Unfortunately, other than Turman and Trey I did not retain their names in the end because they’re not super fleshed out.

On the baddie front is General Stavin Thaal and his Pop Dogs minions. Thaal was an Imperial from Carida who defected to the New Republic, and after Coruscant fell during the Yuuzhan Vong invasion he and his forces holed up on Vandoor-3. He has a heroic past, but he’s a thief and a traitor and definitely part of the Lecersen Conspiracy. He has this escape plan that involves changing his entire identity, and the Wraiths are racing against time to prevent that. I liked that not all the Pop Dogs were Bad—that only the inner circle knew what Thaal had planned, and most were just following orders—but I do have some issues with Thaal’s character. More about that in the Issues!

ISSUES:

A personal complaint: I am an old fogie who loved Paul Youll’s artwork for the original nine books, so Mike Bryan’s computer-generated cover art isn’t my favorite. Once you read the book you know what scene it’s referencing (Piggy and Myri shooting down Thaal’s E-wings), but I don’t like the big Rebel symbol or the action scene. Additionally, the hardcover is too big to shelve with the original series and the mass market paperback doesn’t match—which do you choose?!

There were a few editing errors, but Allston also got in a dig at typographical errors! The flashback scene with Runt’s death says that Piggy can’t contact New Republic Intelligence, but by that point of the Yuuzhan Vong conflict they had become the Galactic Alliance. The back cover says “Imperial General gone rogue,” which is very wrong--Thaal was originally an Imperial, but by this point in time he’s a Galactic Alliance General. However, Piggy at one point complains about a misplaced apostrophe in a sign (“Eat’s) which amused me.

Not an issue: I loved the general level of hijinks going on in Mercy Kill, where they’re stealing stuff and subverting droids and pretending to be Imperials and setting up cons. Totally an issue: the hijinks in the first half of the book were confusing. This was probably intentional, because Piggy is not the leader yet and Bhindi is only telling them things as they happen so they come as a surprise to both Piggy and the reader. I get that they’re trying to figure out if Thaal is a traitor, but the way the Wraiths went about uncovering that did not make a lot of sense to me. They bounce from scheme to scheme, but for a fair bit of the book I didn’t see how all those schemes fit together.

My major two issues with Mercy Kill, though, was that the new Wraiths aren’t as memorable as the original group from the Wraith Squadron/Iron Fist/Solo Command trio. Mercy Kill is just one book, after all, and can’t achieve three-book character arcs like Allston’s original novel did with Face and Lara and Donos. But I feel like there was so much (well done) emphasis on Piggy that the other Wraith ended up like skeletally-fleshed out archetypes. Trey is the big guy, Jesmin is the tracker girl, the Wookiee is…the Wookiee. We have the flirty one, the sniper one, and the over-the-top actor one. Besides Piggy and maybe Myri, they never cohered into distinctive characters for me. Maybe if we had gotten more Wraith Squadron 2.0 books after Mercy Kill, they would have started to come into their own, but the development of non-Piggy Wraiths was one of the novel’s weaker points.

The weakest point is the villain. Stavin Thaal can’t measure up to Zsinj, or Isard, or even the backstabbing NR Intelligence guy from Starfighters of Adumar. He gave off a sense of menace in Conviction and especially Ascension, but not so much in Mercy Kill. He’s motivated by greed, he desires wealth and recognition, but he’s not smart enough to face off against the Wraiths—and the final uncovering of his villainy fell flat for me as a result.

IN CONCLUSION:

Mercy Kill is a fun return to the X-Wing series, with hijinks and schemes galore as well as a really deep dive into Piggy’s character. Piggy has suffered grief and loss, but by the end of the novel he’s also realized that he still has a life to live and that he can have a lot of fun along the way. Unfortunately, the new Wraiths didn’t grab my attention in the same way that Piggy did, and General Thaal was the weakest of the X-Wing series villains. Still, Mercy Kill was an enjoyable return to form, setting up future Wraith Squadron adventures that we never got due to the Disney buyout and Aaron Allston’s death.


Next up: a short story about Jagged Fel and Jaina Solo’s honeymoon: Getaway by Christie Golden.

My YouTube review: https://youtu.be/p41j79cuYDU

“Attack Positions!” from Star Wars Insider 135 (August 2012): https://archive.org/details/starwarsi...

[Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't remember the other X-Wing books being quite this slapsticky/adventurey, but I do remember there being that kind of loose banter that comes along with lighter military stories. In the end, this felt like "The A-Team" in the EU.

At first, I thought the book contained some nice thematic inclusion of dead names, but in the end, it was more about a character's journey of self, and they went back to their original name. It was actually a bit of a let-down, given how much weight I had put into that connection.

[Ian Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

What to say...

The wait was long (two years after announcement!). The wait was torturous (leaked pages and hints and searchable on Amazon!). The wait was full of Fate of the Jedi (which...wasn't really satisfying).

The wait was completely worth it.

Allston managed to convince me that Piggy - or Voort, as he goes by in this book - was the correct character to go with in three short chapters - even as he developed the relationships and history he'd left at Solo Command well over a decade ago. Over forty years in-universe have passed - with too-brief cameos and development in the Enemy Lines novels (which cameos provide fodder for many of the non-legacy characters that make up the Wraiths here) - and the GFFA is a much darker, much harder place to live in. Voort's heartbreak, revealed in a familiar but not frustrating way through a few well-chosen flashbacks and dreams, provides the fan with a comparable journey to that which anyone who has followed the post-NJO era with increasing sadness and despair.

But despite these dark moments and somber backgrounds, Mercy Kill delivers much of Allston's trademark wit, and manages to pack the emotional punch that reach, for me, the level of scenes like Ton Phanan's death in Iron Fist, the journey of Myn and Lara in Solo Command, and Wedge's final discovery of a future in Starfighters of Adumar. Those scenes come from a surprising place - Voort's interaction with a Yuuzhan Vong recruit, dealing with the fallout of his own bioengineered background and his tragic Vong War history - and I admit when one of these scenes was finished, I had to put the book down and just breathe for a few moments.

Mercy Kill isn't perfect. Many characters have intense promise but remain hard to engage with because they simply don't have many relationships that are shown in action. Bhindi Drayson, one of the intriguing cameos from the Enemy Lines Wraiths, is a big example of these, as is her fellow Sharr Latt. Even Myri Antilles, younger daughter of one of my favorite characters of all time, has to stay in the shadow of Voort's development - which is fair. Allston has utilized a pattern of rotating the point of view characters in his books, particularly his X-Wing books, to develop a large cast of characters, and given the chance to write more in this universe, I've no doubt he will continue to work through the cast and give them their own moments.

Many reviews and comments I've read have noted that the villain lacks punch or real menace - and that's definitely true. But for me, the real conflict in the book was not the villain - it was Voort's own personal struggle and past that were the real evil in the book, and that struggle was perfectly paced and handled. The caper is brilliant, sparkly fun, and comes to a perfect photo finish - but what will stay with me is Allston's brilliant, invigorating portrait of a family coming back together, and telling Star Wars fans that we can come back home without wincing or grimacing anymore.

The Wraiths are back. And long may they stay.

[Alison Richards · Rating 4 out of 5]

My review is based as a reader who hasn't kept up with the Star Wars EU since the NJO time period. It was a bit confusing coming back into the Star Wars world in this book not knowing a lot of the political changes that had happened since the Vong Wars, and it does make it a bit hard to follow what is going in the first parts of the book with the focus on bringing down a possible traitor in the government.

Beyond that, I loved the book. It was great to see a new generation of Wraiths starting up in a completely different fashion from the original Wraiths, with just enough influence from the original set as well as the characters that were introduced in Allston's NJO duet of books. Three generations of Wraiths in one book = three times the chaos.

I was expecting a bit more from some of the characters that had once been essential to the series - aka Face Loran - but the roles that were played are perfect to fit with the reveal that comes at the end. There are plenty of moments where you have to stop because of the plot whiplash that the Wraith novels are famous for with the best one coming at page 257. There is also a wonderful guest star moment that will have any original Rogue/Wraith squadron fan squeal with joy.

If you are coming in expecting the typical Wraith craziness, you may feel that the beginning is slow - I know I did. However, this isn't the same world that the original stories were placed in, and the setting of the universe brings in influences that change how the group needs to work to be successful.

This book makes me want to go back to read the years of novels that I have not had time to get at if only to understand these characters more and come back and read again to see what I may have missed. You will need to at least know the summaries of the NJO on to the Fate of the Jedi series to understand the world it's set in, so do your research before you start this one to be able to get the full flavor of the world and the characters in it.

[Josh · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have met Aaron Allston a couple of times, and once interviewed him for my Star Wars fan club and fanfiction plot line, The New Imperium (www.newimperium.org). He's a great guy, and is one of the best writers for SW books out there, because he can combine action, intrigue, humor, and sheer innovation together into a great story.

After reading so much high-quality sci fi and fantasy, every time I go back to a SW book I am shocked by how poor the quality is. Was I settling for these kinds of books all those years? Or has the quality just dropped that far? I don't know.

This book is far from Allston's best - it may be his worst, actually. I found the plot extremely difficult to follow. There were too many new characters introduced that it was hard to keep up with, plus they just didn't mesh well together. It was like casting a bunch of actors that just didn't "click" - the dialogue seems off, the humor forced, and the relationships pointless.

Further, the main character is a talking Gamorrean savant - an extremely odd choice. The problem is that Allston writes him just like a human character. I realize that aliens in SW aren't really very "alien" at all.

Finally, the scope of the story was just too small, and didn't make any sense to me, really. I don't know why this book was written or published.

The narration is excellent though, and a special treat for Star Wars audiobooks are the music, ambient and special effects that are weaved throughout the story. You don't get that in most books, and it really helps you feel "in" the Star Wars universe. I did find it a bit distracting sometimes during some of the harder-to-follow dialogue and infodumps.

[Joy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading this made me very nostalgic for my early twenties, when I read through a HUGE chunk of Star Wars novels in a gulp. The X-Wing books by Allston were my favorites...so of course I enjoyed this one. Piggy's storyline was by far the most effective--both the glimpses to his early days in the Wraiths and his dillusioned present. However, I didn't find the young Wraiths particularly interesting or engaging: Myri and Jesmin were both wholly forgettable, and I think an oldtimer cameo at the end of the book was a mistake--it made the young characters even less interesting to me. Ah well.

[Josh Harms · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story and execution were fairly entertaining, but I gave this 2 stars because it was a novel in the X-Wing series.

I love the X-Wing Series. Each book in he series leading up to this, the final book, were amazing. Mercy Kill had none of the elements that made me like the rest of the series: intense dogfights, expansion of key characters, and Wedge Antilles as a focal character.

If it was not an X-Wing book, I would probably have Mercy Kill 3 stars. But as a finale to one of my favorite series in recent memories... not so much.

[Matt · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not as good as the other X-Wing books.

[Sander · Rating 1 out of 5]

More Wraith Squadron than Rogue. The goal they try to achieve is to find out something about Stavin Thaal. Who cares about this guy anyway.

[Mark Oppenlander · Rating 3 out of 5]

The late Aaron Allston was one of the more consistent writers in the Star Wars Legends era. He wrote solid, action-driven military stories, with a modicum of humor and character development. His books might not have been brilliant in the way that Zahn's sometimes are, but they were usually worth the investment of time. In this novel, his last in the Star Wars series, he returns to the world of Wraith Squadron after a number of years and the results are . . . OK.

The story begins with a prelude set in the original Wraith Squadron period (approximately 13 ABY), which describes a successful Wraith mission, setting up some of the backstory and characters. We then move forward to 44 ABY. Piggy, the genius Gamorrean, has retired from service and is teaching mathematics at a University on an obscure planet. Garik "Face" Loran comes to recruit him for a mission that will allow the Galactic Alliance to prove that one of their Generals, Stavin Thaal, is corrupt and was also part of the Lecersen Conspiracy. Piggy, now going by his given name of Voort, reluctantly agrees to join Face's team of young Wraiths on their mission, leading to a series of misadventures across the galaxy.

Someone once described the Wraith adventures as akin to Ocean's 11 in space, but I think a closer analogy is actually The A-Team. Most of the rag-tag Wraith crew are misfits, with emotional and psychological issues (not to mention occasional legal problems). They bicker among themselves until it's time to get down to business, at which point they prove their specialized skills really are unique and proceed to kick some ass.

The story here is remarkably mundane, and the philandering Thaal is not a particularly memorable villain. Nonetheless, there are a few intriguing set pieces and the cloak-and-dagger action is nearly non-stop. What keeps the book from being truly pedestrian however, is Allston's development of Voort's character. Voort left Wraith Squadron after the loss of his close friend Hohass Ekwesh during the Yuuzhan Vong war, a death for which he feels guilt and some responsibility. This puts him in conflict with one of the new members of the team, Viull "Scut" Gorsat, an Extolled member of the Yuuzhan Vong. Scut and Voort refuse to trust each other, digging into their biases and personal history with the other species. As a reader, we know that this conflict will be resolved somehow, but the "how" of the journey is enjoyable and becomes one of the best elements of the novel.

There's nothing really wrong with this novel, but it's also not a place where I would encourage a fan new to the Star Wars EU/Legends books to begin. It requires knowledge not only of the previous X-Wing novels, but also of the New Jedi Order series and the Fate of the Jedi timeline. That's a lot of context to try to digest. So only read this one if, like me, you've been reading all of the Legends novels in order anyway.

[Khurram · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. Fast paced, revelation twist and turns come at light speed. This is one of these book once you start you cannot put it down till it is finished. The only criticism I have for this book is that it is finished. I would not have minded another 100 pages even if it was simply for character development. There are a couple of family names dependents of famous Star Wars characters, but in true spy fashion we are not given too many details about the most of the characters, this would make a great series (really hoping). Hint!!!

The original Wraith Squadron was started by Wedge Antilles. This was a crack squadron of X-Wing aces. Doing the fate of the Jedi, the remains of this Squadron was disbanded, or people moved on. This new generation is more black ops, recruiting people of not just for their fighter piloting skills, mostly with shady pasts and some characters you might never expect to work for the Galactic Alliance unless you have read the Star Wars Legacy comics. In fact very little of this story takes place in the cop pit of an X-Wing. The story is set immediately after the fate of the Jedi series, the Wraiths are brought together to take down the remaining stragglers of the Lacersen Conspiracy.

The main character we do get to know quite well is Voort "Piggy" saBinring a war veteran and a member of the original Wraith Squadron. For the last 15 year he has left the military, over Survivor’s Guilt, and works a maths teacher till he is approached and reluctantly accepts a position in the new Wraiths.

The great thing about this book is it is completely self-contained all the information you need to know in this story is given to you in this book. As I said I would love another book in this series as it was that good. Also it is good to have a Star Wars book that is not just about the Jedi or the Sith, (though I do love the Jedi). Force users do make up a very small proportion of the SW universe. Also we are meet another version sect of force user.

[Matt aka · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mercy Kill is a Star Wars book that involves a group of spies called the Wraith Squadron that plan to bring down a corrupt Galactic Alliance general.

This was a decent Star Wars audio book with the usual well-done audio effects but it doesn't live up to many other Star Wars stories. The team have an odd assortment of characters of different races and backgrounds but I didn’t feel I got to know many of them well in the story. I also felt that the end of the story was original but not very satisfying. That is why I give this book three out of five stars.

[Book Nerd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Piggy was my favorite Wraith. I liked him being the main character.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I miss the Star Wars EU, I just kind of don't care about Disney's new canon at all? And the Rogue Squadron/Wraith Squadron books were always some of my favorite EU books. This one has the added bonus of having the central protagonist be not only a Gamorrean of enhanced intelligence, but having said Gamorrean use his sex appeal to disguise himself as a dancer not once but TWICE. It feels like Allston wrote this thing for me.

[Jordan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do you remember fondly the Star Wars novels of the 90s? Are you into Star Wars but a newcomer to the Expanded Universe? Do you enjoy your Star Wars with an undertone of comedy, so long as a certain floppy-eared terror is nowhere in sight? If so, X-Wing: Mercy Kill may be a good book for you to check out.

Unlike most of the books being released set in the "modern" era of the Star Wars universe (44 ABY--i.e., 44 Years post-Episode IV), Mercy Kill lets you jump right in, more or less without knowing the situation to that point. A lot of the others you could read cold, but they wouldn't make much sense. Mercy Kill, however, has little to do with the ongoing plot of the Expanded Universe. It's rooted in recent events, but the setup is very simple and easily grasped. It would pay to know the characters from the X-Wing novels of the 90s, but even that is not really necessary. You could check out three or four articles on Wookiepedia and be fine--I did, just to refresh my memory.

So....here's what you need to know. In the 90s, they published a series of comics and then novels based around Rogue Squadron, led by Wedge Antilles and a number of the X-Wing pilots from the films along with some new faces. These comics and the first four novels were written by Michael Stackpole, but after the fourth he dropped out for a while citing other commitments he had to work on. So they hired in Aaron Allston to continue the series. Allston decided to let the Rogues go off on their own adventures while he created a new team for his novels--Wraith Squadron, a team of X-Wing pilots who would work equally well as a ground-based commando team. The result was a cross between The A-Team and The Dirty Dozen, with some aerial action thrown in. For the purposes of this new novel, notable characters included Garik "Face" Loran, a child star turned soldier and the eventual commander of the Wraiths; and Voort "Piggy" SaBinring, a genetically-modified Gamorrean. There are a few other returning faces, but these were the better developed and you can probably get by just knowing them.

The Star Wars publishing event of the early 2000s was the New Jedi Order series, in which a race of extra-galactic aliens called the Yuuzhan Vong invaded the Galaxy Far, Far Away and sought to subjugate its people. They almost did it, and they changed the way Star Wars novels worked in the process. Characters--MAIN CHARACTERS--died. Chewbacca, Han and Leia's youngest son Anakin Solo, and countless others fell to the military might of the invaders. There have been other upheavals since, most notably a second Galactic Civil War when Han and Leia's oldest son Jacen Solo fell to the Dark Side. In the aftermath of that war, a conspiracy was formed to take over both the Galactic Alliance and the Empire and merge them together once again, recapturing the glory of the height of the Old Empire. This conspiracy failed, but it may not have been completely rooted out.....

In this book, Garik Loran is called out of retirement by the head of the Alliance military. He wants Loran to quietly look into rumors that an up-and-coming officer may have been connected to the Lecerson Conspiracy. Wraith Squadron is back in business! The resulting adventure is a fun trip, dealing both in nostalgia for those of us who read the adventures of the original Wraiths long ago and in action that newer fans can get into, all the while serving up Allston's signature undertone of humor mixed with heart. I heartily recommend it. The one caveat I will mention for fans of the original books is that there is comparatively little aerial combat in this book. The plot doesn't call for it, and I certainly didn't really miss it too much, but some may be disappointed by that.

If you want more reading suggestions, the X-Wing: Rogue Squadron comics and X-Wing novels are quite good. If you wanted to enhance your experience with this book, I would have you read at least the novels, but you may not have the patience for all nine of the previous books. If not, I won't hold it against you.

[Johnny · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you’re looking for Oceans 11, Mission: Impossible and The A Team rolled into one, X-Wing Mercy Kill is a major success. The truth is, I procrastinated reading this book, even though the author is an acquaintance whom I’ve respected for a long time, because the set-up just seemed so lame. “Getting the band back together” with regard to the Wraith Squadron and their “A-Team” style of action seemed like an obtrusive and tiresome idea that would keep me from experiencing the proper suspension of disbelief throughout the novel. But, as soon as the … let’s euphemistically call it an extraction … of the first scene began to play out, I was hooked. The pacing is tight, the action is described with vivid descriptions better than some special effects in film. It seems like there is another twist, feint, surprise, or scam every few pages and those little delights kept me in orbit around the book once I had started it. I couldn’t gain enough escape velocity to get free of its story (lame as I originally thought the set-up was), even if I had wanted to.

When you look at the Dramatis Personae, you can’t help but notice all the “retired” designations next to the job descriptions of the protagonists. That’s probably jarring to most readers because one doesn’t expect “retired” personnel to have interesting adventures. One expects the “retired” personnel to have more mundane lives like the ones several of these protagonists appear to have had before “Face” decided to “get the band back together.” One’s first impression (like mine of the set-up) would be wrong, and that’s a good thing in this case!

In its simplest form, one could call X-Wing Mercy Kill a sting operation. That would be a vast oversimplification. It follows the vision of the old Israelite prophet, Ezekiel, in that there are wheels within wheels as the plot moves on. Indeed, one is two-thirds of the way through the book before one sees the X-Wings one would expect from the title and the cover image. Even then, these aren’t your father’s X-Wings (or perhaps, judging from the way things unfold, these ARE your father’s X-Wings). Such a cryptic observation well illustrates how Allston masterfully interweaves plot elements, twists, reveals, and action. But, there is a modicum of X-Wing action from the Wraiths (retired Wraiths?) as the operation nears its close.

I really enjoyed this novel because it restricted the focus to a basic team. You knew what they wanted to do and could keep your eye on the objective even when the author’s equivalent of a funhouse rolling barrel was taking place. Remember those barrels that would knock you down if you looked at the turning walls, but couldn’t knock you down if you were focused on something stable beyond the rolling barrel? That was the way I felt in reading this novel. There was plenty of collateral excitement and there were potential distractions to keep me alert (and in suspense), but I always felt I was moving forward.

X-Wing Mercy Kill didn’t sound like it was going into my favorites list of Star Wars novels, but Allston pulled me in with enough stealth and sting action that I don’t plan to miss the next episode.

[Sesana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I see divided responses on this. I loved it almost unreservedly. I think that if you read the previous X-Wing books and loved the Wraiths the best, you'll enjoy Mercy Kill much more than if you were more of a Rogue fan.

I don't feel able to write a decent review, (too emotionally attached) so instead a few points, things I loved and things I didn't.

This is Wraiths: The Next Generation. So there's a decided lack of beloved characters in leading roles. Wedge, for example, shows up in literally just a few paragraphs, and Tycho is only mentioned. Face has an important, but brief part to play, and Piggy is the only former Rogue or previous Wraith with a big part. No Wes or Hobbie. I am semi-devastated by this.

That said, the new Wraiths are pretty awesome, even if they don't have the same character development that Piggy (now going by Voort) gets. I'm especially fond of Myri Antilles (daughter of Wedge, of course) and Jesmin Tainer (daughter of Kell). Jesmin is her father's daughter, and Myri shows every sign of having spent too much time with Aunt Mirax as a child.

The tone is, for the most part, exactly as I'd expect from an Allston X-Wing novel. You call in the Wraiths when you want hilarious explosions, and they deliver. They have, however, switched from being a fighter pilot unit to being intelligence, so they're a bit more Leverage-y now. On one hand, it makes the X-Wing tag essentially a lie, on the other, it makes sense for the skillsets.

That said, I wish this had been set decades earlier, so I could've seen the original Wraiths transitioning from pilots to intelligence. There's a few brief flashbacks to that effect, and it only makes me want to see that book more. But the EU seems to have transitioned to almost entirely NJO and later or Clones War era material. SIGH.

Speaking of the EU... If you haven't been keeping up with the last several years of Star Wars books (I haven't) and have intention of doing so (not likely) I'd suggest a visit to Wookiepedia to do a quick read about Jacen Solo, the Yuuzhan Vong, and the Yuuzhan Vong War. You don't need to know all of this, and the book does an admirable job of explaining what's necessary, but I think you'll get more out of the book if you have that background knowledge in advance.

Finally, the villain her is far less compelling than Isard. Don't go in expecting a worthy successor to her, because you won't get one. Given that it's been thirteen years since the prior X-Wing book and there's likely no guarantee of another ever seeing print, I wonder if Allston was hesitant to put that much effort into the opposition.

To sum it up... If you read and loved the X-Wing books, especially the Wraith ones, read this now. If you haven't read the other X-Wing books, why not? They're among the best Star Wars novels, and just about the only thing that could break my decade-long avoidance of the EU was a new installment.

[Bernd Velling · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well what to say ? I have to admit it took me a while to pick this up and read it. I read the X Wing novels when the series started 20(has it really been that long??)years ago the main reason that this rates "only"four stars is that a detective story with some action just doesn't compare to the hunt for an SSD and its commanding war lord other then that it was nice to see "old friends" again like the man himself Wedge Antilles.
Must read for die hard EU ppl like me , not recommend for SW beginners

[Timothy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I stopped reading Star Wars EU novels around the beginning of the New Jedi Order series. While I was glad that the approach of using long, multiple-author series would lead to bolder storytelling, I just didn't feel up to the task of sticking with any series for so long. A few years ago I resumed reading a few stand-alone titles in the EU. I was excited to hear that Aaron Allston was writing a new Wraith Squadron novel, because for me his earlier entries were the best books in the EU. This turned out to be a disappointment, although not a train-wreck by any means.

I know that Allston worked the Wraiths into his installments of the New Jedi Order and probably other series, but I didn't read those. The cast of characters from his original novels are mostly not in force here: some of them show up in flashbacks or cameos, others have children in the current team. Mostly this is the story of an old and grouchy Voort saBinring, the genius Gamorrean, getting his groove back. Face Loran, who has been pretty thoroughly developed as a character by this point, is wisely left in the background.

Allston's trademark humor is here, but the novel wasn't as much fun for me as its predecessors. The villain never really registers as worth caring about, and the plot all centers around one elaborately contrived "heist" scenario. In the previous Wraith Squadron novels, the cons were simpler and needed to be adjusted organically in the face of setbacks. This feels more like Ocean's 11, where the audience is supposed to revel in the audacity and complexity of the scheme, much of which is only revealed in the end. It felt like cheaper, more manipulative storytelling to me, and it is also frequently disorienting. Throughout much of the first half, I didn't have any clue to the significance of what I was reading.

On the good side, the novel does pick up a lot at about the half-way mark, and Allston's characterization is still fun. I was surprised that I cared about what was mostly a new cast of characters. This was an enjoyable encore for a much-loved series, but also a case of diminishing returns.

[Ethan I. Solomon · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well, not all of them can be home-runs. My fiancee asked me if there wasn't a single nice thing I could say about this book. I don't think there is. To start with, I could never really get into the Wraith X-Wing books, I preferred the Rogue Squadron books. Nevertheless, I put those prejudices aside in the hopes that after such a long break, the series might come back with a roar.

In case you couldn't tell by now, I never found that roar. The writing was mediocre, the large majority of the characters were utterly and completely forgettable. The worst thing of all though was the story-line, in which nothing of interest happens.

Without spoiling anything, I will say that the book tries to "open with a bang", you know, that cool action sequence that lets you know what kind of book your in for. Unfortunately, the book NEVER progresses beyond that feel, it is simply one action trope after another. Nothing affecting the Star Wars Expanded Universe actually happens, a recent trend I don't like seeing in the Star Wars novels.

I'd only recommend this book to absolute die hard Wraith Squadron fans.

[Tom Taylor · Rating 2 out of 5]

I listened to the audio version of this book. The Star Wars audios have high production values. The added special effects and the music really make for a good listening experience.
I read most of the X-wing novels back in the day, but that was a long time ago...
This novel does stand alone fairly well, so prior knowledge of the characters is not necessary. Indeed, I had forgotten most of them anyway. The problem, is that the book was hard to follow. I was never quite sure what exactly the Wraith Squadron was trying to achieve. That might be partly because of the intrigue aspects of the book or partly because of the fact that I listened to the audio. And while I did enjoy some of this book, I found myself glad that this was over, so I could move on to another audio.

[Gabriel Vidrine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Weak. I spent most of the book trying to remember the characters, because they pretty much get zero introduction. The book is difficult to follow because of the almost-ridiculous convoluted plan to catch the laughable "if-it-wasn't-for-you-meddling-kids" villain Thaal. And the fact that every few chapters or so you have to learn completely new names for all of the characters--oh, and there are a bunch of other characters that we suddenly have to know about half way through the book, and they don't get much of an intro either--because of their insistence on using code names, ones that are imaginative as "Drug Boy" and "Ranger Girl." Oh, and Pop-Dogs. Really? Skip this one unless you must read it for completeness.

[DC · Rating 4 out of 5]

Been so long since I read this that I remembered very little about it. Probably too few X-wings for it to really be called part of this series, and the newer characters didn't come to life for me in the same way Allston made me instantly care about the original Wraiths. STILL a very fun visit to a GFFA - exactly the kind of Legends romp to soothe my jagged innards.


Pretty good foray with some favorite characters and some new ones. Smacked too much of sequel at times, but so far above FOTJ series in quality it's hard to complain too much about another X-wing novel.

I enjoyed overall and was eager to continue with the story while reading it.