Book Review: 'Star Wars: X-Wing: The Bacta War'
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| (C) 1997 Bantam Spectra and Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL) |
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away....
It is a period of turmoil in the galaxy. Three years after the deaths of Emperor Palpatine and Lord Darth Vader at the Battle of Endor, the recently declared New Republic is locked in a life-or-death struggle with the remnants of the evil Galactic Empire.
Although Ysanne Isard, the Empire's new leader, has been forced to flee from the capital world, Coruscant, she and her sinister agents have unleashed the Krytos Virus, a bio-weapon engineered to specifically harm non-humans in a bid to divide the Rebellion by sowing fear, anger and mistrust in what she perceives to be a fragile coalition between humans and aliens.
With her Super Star Destroyer and strong Imperial fleet units, Isard has made her way to the planet Thyferra and manipulated events to take control of that world and its precious supply of bacta, the "miracle fluid" used throughout the galaxy to treat various wounds and diseases. Only a small and seemingly isolated squadron of Rebel fighters stands between Isard and total control of the galaxy.....
In February of 1997, right around the same time that movie-goers were flocking to theaters to watch the 20th Anniversary Special Edition re-release of the original Star Wars Trilogy, Bantam Spectra published Michael A. Stackpole's Star Wars - X-Wing: The Bacta War, the fourth book of a continuing series of stories based not only on characters and situations created by George Lucas, but also on the best-selling X-Wing series of computer flight simulators published in the late 1990s by LucasArts Games.
Set between the film Star Wars - Episode VI: Return of the Jedi and Timothy Zahn's Heir to the Empire, Stackpole's The Bacta War continues to chronicle the efforts of Commander Wedge Antilles and the elite unit of X-Wing pilots designated "Rogue Squadron." Formed by Wedge's predecessor and friend Luke Skywalker after the Battle of Yavin, Rogue Squadron has been the tip of the Rebellion's spear in the Galactic Civil War. Its pilots are not among the best in the Alliance...they are the best.
But even though Rogue Squadron has been instrumental in the campaign to liberate Coruscant and force Ysanne Isard, a.k.a "Iceheart," to flee from her seat of power at the heart of the galaxy, its reputation has made it a target for Imperial intrigue and revenge. Already, Captain Tycho Celchu has been framed and tried for the murder of fellow pilot Corran Horn, who had been captured and held prisoner by Iceheart in the bowels of her prison ship, the Super Star Destroyer Lusankya. Only Horn's escape and return to duty saved Tycho's life, but the Empire's forces, coupled with the actions of a traitor within Rogue Squadron's ranks, pose a deadly threat to a war-weary Wedge and the pilots under his command.
With the Rebellion still reeling from Isard's dastardly use of the Krytos virus on Coruscant and Wedge's unit isolated from the rest of the Alliance, Rogue Squadron faces its biggest battle yet as Isard, helped by a Thyferran woman who had once been one of the unit's best pilots, takes control of the Bacta Cartel and the planet Thyferra itself. Can Wedge, Tycho, Aril Numb, Corran and the other Rogues recover from the hammer blows inflicted on them by Iceheart and her fellow Imperials and prevent the Empire from gaining a stranglehold on the galaxy's supply of bacta? Will Corran stay with the unit and continue his blossoming romance with Mirax Terrik, or will he take Luke Skywalker's offer to train him as a Jedi and follow in his late grandfather Nejaa Halcyon's footsteps?
Stackpole, who takes elements from the Classic Trilogy of films and other Expanded Universe sources (Brian Daley's Radio Dramas, Timothy Zahn's Thrawn Trilogy, Kathy Tyers' The Truce at Bakura, and the X-Wing and TIE Fighter computer games), does an excellent job at writing stories set in the Star Wars galaxy. His style is rich with detail and the characters are all carefully conceived and depicted. Moreover, the pace is good, never moving so fast that the reader goes huh? at the end of a chapter, but it also doesn't slow down to a snail's crawl, even at the new romantic situations in which Corran Horn and various other Rogues find themselves in. Also appealing is the fighter pilots' slang, which includes terms like "eyeball" (the standard TIE fighter), "dupes" (TIE Bombers), and "squints" (TIE Interceptors), which gives the novel's protagonists a certain sense that these are combat pilots, with all their strengths, weaknesses, and even their jargon.
Ooryl triggered a double burst of fire, sending two scarlet bursts lancing through the lead Die-wing's ball cockpit. Nothing exploded, though leaking atmosphere did combust and flare for a moment. The Die-wing hurtled on through space, but began to level out from the looping climb in which it had been engaged. That move invited a second shot, but the first had clearly killed the pilot, leaving the ship to fly on with no intelligence at the controls.
Unfortunately for him, the Die-wing's wingman failed to notice his partner had died. Flying in perfect formation, he began to level out, too. Ooryl's sideslip dropped him square on that fighter's aft. Before the pilot could begin to maneuver, Ooryl fired two laser burst at him. The first shredded the port nacelle, lacing it with fire before ripping it apart. The second shot weakened the link between the remaining nacelle and the cockpit. The engine ripped free, rocketing off toward Chorax's sun, while the ball flew out of control.
For both long-time fans and casual readers, The Bacta War is a fun and exciting reading experience, filled with both wonderful and engaging characters and exciting battle sequences full of action, drama and adventure worthy of the Star Wars name.
It is a period of turmoil in the galaxy. Three years after the deaths of Emperor Palpatine and Lord Darth Vader at the Battle of Endor, the recently declared New Republic is locked in a life-or-death struggle with the remnants of the evil Galactic Empire.
Although Ysanne Isard, the Empire's new leader, has been forced to flee from the capital world, Coruscant, she and her sinister agents have unleashed the Krytos Virus, a bio-weapon engineered to specifically harm non-humans in a bid to divide the Rebellion by sowing fear, anger and mistrust in what she perceives to be a fragile coalition between humans and aliens.
With her Super Star Destroyer and strong Imperial fleet units, Isard has made her way to the planet Thyferra and manipulated events to take control of that world and its precious supply of bacta, the "miracle fluid" used throughout the galaxy to treat various wounds and diseases. Only a small and seemingly isolated squadron of Rebel fighters stands between Isard and total control of the galaxy.....
In February of 1997, right around the same time that movie-goers were flocking to theaters to watch the 20th Anniversary Special Edition re-release of the original Star Wars Trilogy, Bantam Spectra published Michael A. Stackpole's Star Wars - X-Wing: The Bacta War, the fourth book of a continuing series of stories based not only on characters and situations created by George Lucas, but also on the best-selling X-Wing series of computer flight simulators published in the late 1990s by LucasArts Games.
Set between the film Star Wars - Episode VI: Return of the Jedi and Timothy Zahn's Heir to the Empire, Stackpole's The Bacta War continues to chronicle the efforts of Commander Wedge Antilles and the elite unit of X-Wing pilots designated "Rogue Squadron." Formed by Wedge's predecessor and friend Luke Skywalker after the Battle of Yavin, Rogue Squadron has been the tip of the Rebellion's spear in the Galactic Civil War. Its pilots are not among the best in the Alliance...they are the best.
But even though Rogue Squadron has been instrumental in the campaign to liberate Coruscant and force Ysanne Isard, a.k.a "Iceheart," to flee from her seat of power at the heart of the galaxy, its reputation has made it a target for Imperial intrigue and revenge. Already, Captain Tycho Celchu has been framed and tried for the murder of fellow pilot Corran Horn, who had been captured and held prisoner by Iceheart in the bowels of her prison ship, the Super Star Destroyer Lusankya. Only Horn's escape and return to duty saved Tycho's life, but the Empire's forces, coupled with the actions of a traitor within Rogue Squadron's ranks, pose a deadly threat to a war-weary Wedge and the pilots under his command.
With the Rebellion still reeling from Isard's dastardly use of the Krytos virus on Coruscant and Wedge's unit isolated from the rest of the Alliance, Rogue Squadron faces its biggest battle yet as Isard, helped by a Thyferran woman who had once been one of the unit's best pilots, takes control of the Bacta Cartel and the planet Thyferra itself. Can Wedge, Tycho, Aril Numb, Corran and the other Rogues recover from the hammer blows inflicted on them by Iceheart and her fellow Imperials and prevent the Empire from gaining a stranglehold on the galaxy's supply of bacta? Will Corran stay with the unit and continue his blossoming romance with Mirax Terrik, or will he take Luke Skywalker's offer to train him as a Jedi and follow in his late grandfather Nejaa Halcyon's footsteps?
Stackpole, who takes elements from the Classic Trilogy of films and other Expanded Universe sources (Brian Daley's Radio Dramas, Timothy Zahn's Thrawn Trilogy, Kathy Tyers' The Truce at Bakura, and the X-Wing and TIE Fighter computer games), does an excellent job at writing stories set in the Star Wars galaxy. His style is rich with detail and the characters are all carefully conceived and depicted. Moreover, the pace is good, never moving so fast that the reader goes huh? at the end of a chapter, but it also doesn't slow down to a snail's crawl, even at the new romantic situations in which Corran Horn and various other Rogues find themselves in. Also appealing is the fighter pilots' slang, which includes terms like "eyeball" (the standard TIE fighter), "dupes" (TIE Bombers), and "squints" (TIE Interceptors), which gives the novel's protagonists a certain sense that these are combat pilots, with all their strengths, weaknesses, and even their jargon.
Ooryl triggered a double burst of fire, sending two scarlet bursts lancing through the lead Die-wing's ball cockpit. Nothing exploded, though leaking atmosphere did combust and flare for a moment. The Die-wing hurtled on through space, but began to level out from the looping climb in which it had been engaged. That move invited a second shot, but the first had clearly killed the pilot, leaving the ship to fly on with no intelligence at the controls.
Unfortunately for him, the Die-wing's wingman failed to notice his partner had died. Flying in perfect formation, he began to level out, too. Ooryl's sideslip dropped him square on that fighter's aft. Before the pilot could begin to maneuver, Ooryl fired two laser burst at him. The first shredded the port nacelle, lacing it with fire before ripping it apart. The second shot weakened the link between the remaining nacelle and the cockpit. The engine ripped free, rocketing off toward Chorax's sun, while the ball flew out of control.
For both long-time fans and casual readers, The Bacta War is a fun and exciting reading experience, filled with both wonderful and engaging characters and exciting battle sequences full of action, drama and adventure worthy of the Star Wars name.
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