Rating: 
Summary: Rogue Squadron returns for an encore
Review: After Allston's three-book cycle, Stackpole returns with another X-Wing book to tie up the loose ends from his previous novel, The Bacta War. While Isard's Revenge is an excellent read, I have to say that it's biggest strength is Stackpole's excellent writing style. His plot threads for this one are slightly lacking.Isard's Revenge covers everything Stackpole has ever written on Rogue Squadron. This includes the novels AND the comics, for those who think Krennel was a one-shot character. While it's not really necessary to read the comics, they do supplement the book rather nicely. In fact, halfway through I actually went out and picked up the comics. The book picks up at the very end of Zahn's novel "The Last Command" (in fact, Tycho's dialogue is pulled word-for-word.) After the battle, the New Republic decides to go after the remaining Imperials, and choose Krennel as their target. Through a series of plot twists, Rogue Squadron is assumed dead, and teams up with Isard to destroy Krennel. Stackpole's biggest problem has always been character development. He gets Corran, Gavin, and Wedge down just fine, but long-standing characters such as Inryi Forge and Ooryl are still releatively underdeveloped. Especially lacking is Hobbie; one would think that after been left out of seven X-Wing books, he would finally get some decent dialogue. Also, you can immediately pick out from the Dramatis Personne who dies and who lives. Stackpole has written himself into a corner in that he doesn't have any characters he's willing to sacrifice. The plot and various sub-plots don't really kick in till halfway through the novel when Isard shows up. With that said, there's some really good stuff here, including Asyr and Borsk, the mini-adventure the droids have, and seeing Wedge finally get promoted to general. Stackpole has also learned to tighten his dogfight scenes, though the amount of description he puts into each and every exploding TIE Fighter can be overkill. There are times when simply stating "the TIE Fighter exploded in his viewport" will sufficed. Isard's Revenge comes recommended because of Stackpole's writing style and the fact that it ties up the X-Wing series nicely. It may not quite be up to the standards of the previous books in the X-Wing series, especially when compared to the character development of Allston, but it is still superior to most Star Wars novels.
Rating: 
Summary: Stackpole's Final X-Wing Book is the Finale of A Master
Review: Isard's Revenge is the 5th and final X-Wing novel written by Michael Stackpole. Beginning with one of the final scenes from Tim Zahn's The Last Command, Isard's Revenge segues seamlessly into the expanded universe. With the Imperials once again in retreat, the New Republic looks to liberate some worlds from a psychopathic Warlord named Krennal. Wedge Antilles, now a general, and the rest of Rogue Squadron are thrust into a espionage ladden maze full of double crosses and unexpected allies. Not only is danger lurking around every corner but an old enemy arises to give Antilles, Horn and Celchu the ultimate plan to bring down Krennal, but what is the cost of this information? At times Isard's Revenge is a rip-roaring space saga, at others it does fade a bit, yet overall it's a great read and a compelling comclusion to Stackpole's X-Wing books.
Rating:
Summary: Series entry has clear case of sequel fatigue.
Review: Perhaps they needed a new writer to create a new story because Stackpole's return to the X-Wing line is a tired affair, its plot having that stale 'one sequel too many' flavor that overplayed franchises tend to get after awhile. This entry skips ahead several years to the climax of the Thrawn Trilogy (which I have yet to read - having all the books characters and plots be connected is both a blessing and a curse, it is almost impossible to figure out where to start without worrying about spoilers for other books) and the weakened New Republic sets its eyes on a war criminal warlord named Krennel. But so has Ysanne Isard, didn't one of the Wraith's say they suspected she was still alive? The enemy of my enemy is my ally, right? Maybe. There is plenty of action, but it lacks the emotional investment that Allston managed to put into the fun, exciting, and, most surpisingly, funny (but the right kind of funny) Wraith Squadron series, and the book did not grip my attention the way the far superior Solo Command did. So it goes.
Rating: 
Summary: A good bad guy is hard to find...
Review: Well, though Stackpole is a marvelous writer and I enjoy reading his various descriptions of X-wings and other fighter craft, this book suffers from the same problems that snag every Star Wars book except ones by Timothy Zahn: a lack of a realistic villain. For some reason, almost every SW author makes the Imperials out to be a joke, incapable of shooting a bantha if it was standing right next to them! Sorry, but a Galactic Empire that conquered most of the galaxy would have troops at least as capable, if not more so, than the New Republic. Every Imp character since Grand Admiral Thrawn (the best baddie since Vader) has been a joke. To make it worse, no one in the X-wing squadron ever dies, either. Well, some do in earilier books, but not enough to make it convincing. Again, TIE pilots can't be THAT bad. If so, they wouldn't have stricken fear into the entire galaxy just on their sight alone. If you want a good X-wing book, try the beginning of the series. After the first few, they're all pretty much the same...kinda like the rest of the Star Wars series.
Rating:
Summary: Weakest edition of the 10 rogue books.
Review: This is still a strong book, just seemed a little more convoluted than the rest. I guess stackpole was trying to move on when he wrote this, even though he did one NJO book to "kill off" his creation, Corran Horn.
Rating: 
Summary: Stackpole's return!
Review: I enjoy stackpole's x-wing books better than allston's. Both are capable writers, but stackpole's style foregoes much of the absurd *humor* allston slips into his books. A must read for those that have read the first 7 books.
Rating:
Summary: Star Wars
Review: This is a good series of books. Even though it is not centered around the major movie characters it is still interesting. There are a few known characters that have major roles in this series too. For example, Wedge Antilles and Corran Horn.
Rating:
Summary: Good, begins to wrap things up...
Review: Stackpole returns to the series in this book, to at last wrap up the whole Isard storyline that's been going on since the beginning of the series. It takes place right at the end of the Thrawn trilogy, and gets us reintroduced to characters such as Corran and Mirax, now married, Iella, who's become totally cool in the last few books, and Isard herself, thought dead, but truly alive, and commanding the Imperial fleets once again in Thrawn's permanant absence. Thankfully, however, the main focus centers around Wedge rather than the insufferably arrogant Corran. Wedge is finally forced to accept the general's commision he's turned down three times, but Ackbar makes it so he can still command his beloved Rogue Squadron, and even fly with them most of the time. If you've been following the series, this one is a must, otherwise, you won't get most of what is going on.
Rating:
Summary: Good book, but not the best of the series
Review: First things first. Read the X-wing comics. I don't care what you think of the idea of comics in general, but half the plot is dependent on the X-wing comics. At the very least read 'Mandatory Retirement'. not only is it quite good, but its essentially the partner story to 'Isard's Revenge'. If you ask yourself where the clone came from ,apy attention to the second-last scene in MR. If you want Krennel's background, you'll get it in MR. (You'll also know why both Isard and the Republic hate him so, considering how he humiliated them both.) Like most of Stackpole's works, it simply can't be viewed as a single piece. Its all history, and history doesn't get told in one book. That said, its a pretty good book. Nice combat, as usual. An overall strong plot (if you know the background, of course.) Nice to see good ol' Nrin, too. He was one of my favorite Rogues from the comics, and its nice to see him after his experiecnes in MR. I liked the tie-in with 'The Last Command' on the Zahn novels, adding a bit more of that perspective I love so much in the SW universe. (The Bantham books anyway. Check my 'Vector Prime' review if you want to see me moan about the NJO series.) Nice to see little things like the Lusankya in there again. (Granted, an SSD isn't little, but that's beside the point.) Granted, the 'coming back from the dead' complaint has validity, although what's so bad about Janson or Asyr surviving? Just because their ship gets his doesn't mean they get killed. That's why they give X-wing pilots vac suits and ejection seats, after all. In any case, its another logical piece of history, filling in the gaps, so to speak. While it's not the best X-wing novel, its a good read nonetheless, as long as you know the background. Provided the previous requierments are fulfilled, it is reccomended. Even then, buy it for the simple pleasure of having Booster Terrik slam Borsk Fey'lyas up against the wall and yell at him. That was a long time coming.
Rating:
Summary: Pretty good one but not the best
Review: Stackpole is one of the best writers in the Xwing series, the only problem with this book is that it lacks the inminent doom for rogue squadron and the succes over insurmountable odds that permeate all of the books in the series. Character development is great and the plotline is efficient, not amazing, but just eficient. I can say this is the lousiest book in the Xwing series,, but that does not mean it is a bad book, just not up to the great standards setted by previous books.
|
