Star Wars: Cobalt Squadron

Written by Elizabeth Wein

SPOILER FREE

Star Wars: Cobalt Squadron, was written by Elizabeth Wein. This junior novel takes place before The Force Awakens.

SUMMARY: Rose and Paige Tico, sisters from the ice planet, Hays Minor. They join the Resistance after the First Order does some heavy damage to Hays Minor. Like the Empire, the First Order is out taking the resources it needs to expand and thrive in the galaxy. Like most of these junior novels, it starts off with the main characters being sent out on a mission to gather intelligence.

The Cobalt Squadron is sent out to drop probe droids on a planet to see whats going on with the First Order. The mission quickly goes sideways once a small ship crash lands into the bomb bay of the resistance bomber with our stars of the book, Rose and Paige. The story then turns into the humanitarian efforts of Cobalt Squadron.

CHARACTERS: I’ll mention one character… Rose. Why not her sister Paige? Because there’s really nothing to talk about… too dull.

Rose: Her world was torn apart by the First Order, so she joins the Resistance. She’s very whiny and too dependent on her older sister Paige. She suffers separation anxiety, understandable, but she’s a grown adult. She created a device used to cover energy signatures from the First Order. We see how useful that was in The Last Jedi… ha! I really dislike this character. Her line in The Last Jedi was flat out stupid. Paraphrasing here, “You win by saving the ones you love, not fighting who you hate.” Umm, in war you destroy your enemies… that’s how you win, moron.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: I thought this book was awful. It’s super boring and very forgettable; I did not like this book at all. This book may keep me away from the jr novels moving forward.

After Paige shoots and destroys a few TIE-Fighters, Rose says, “Are you a Jedi or something?” So… is it now common knowledge that Jedi were marksmen or pilots of star-fighters? The statement threw me off. Were Jedi flying around heroically before Kylo Ren or Snoke killed them all off again? Did the history of the Jedi come back to the history books?

So, do I recommend you read Star Wars: Cobalt Squadron? No, stay away from it.

RATING: I will give this book an F. It was dreadfully boring and offered nothing special. I dislike Rose even more as a character.