Star Wars: Rogue Squadron, was written by New York Times Bestselling Author, Michael A Stackpole.
This novel is part of the Expanded Universe , aka, Legends timeline. This tale takes place during the New Republic Era, seven years after the battle of Yavin, in the A New Hope.
SUMMARY: Years after the death of the Emperor & Darth Vader, many worlds remain loyal to the Empire, back when the Senate was dissolved and world powers handed over to Moffs, some Imperial factions stay true to the cause, some fend for themselves, and others join the Rebel Alliance to end the tyranny.
Rogue Squadron has been reformed, commanded by Wedge Antilles. Corran Horn is one of the best pilots in the Squadron, but things don’t come easy for him. The Squadron is not just to possess the best pilots, but have the courage and skill to operate independently and accomplish operations that would typically require a much larger head count. Some within the Squadron have blurred the line between justice & revenge against the Empire.
Rogue Squadron sets its sights on Coruscant, but has other missions it must accomplish on that road to the Empire’s ruling fortress.
Characters: There is a heafty amount of characters to talk about, but I’ll mention two leading characters.
Corran Horn: He’s a great pilot, but he struggles with pride. His journey consists of humbling himself and learning to operate with a team. His past haunts him, and has him marked for death by the Empire. The man seems desperate to be a hero, taking big risks. Sometimes I felt that Corran was a rip off of Solo, some lines from Han from the films were repeated by Horn.
Wedge Antilles: He’s the Squad leader of Rogue Squadron. He’s somewhat of a downer, always downplaying everything, even the victories they have. It’s like he’s stuck in the past.
OVERALL THOUGHTS: During the first briefing of Rouge Squadron, Wedge Antilles tells them that most of them will die within the first five battles. That their job will be dull and boring, with brief sparks of sheer action & terror. This sets a grim tone as well as foreshadowing that we will certainly loose characters … but who?
I was confused at one point, when Corran is revealing some history about his time in CorSec, he was tasked with killing rebel smugglers, his team made up some names and blamed Corran for executing them, then when he escaped the Empire, the deaths of those fake folks marked Corran with a death warrant wasn’t that his job?
I’ve never been a big fan of stories that have several characters on the same team that always nag and compete against each other. I can see a few moments where it may be entertaining but it seems like Corran is always pushing everyone’s buttons, and he has to prove himself… to himself and/or Wedge.
Wedge mentions that the Bothans are too cocky, they celebrate their bravery and “victory” of getting/obtaining the plans to the second Death Star, the Emperor lured them all there as a trap. Those are some pretty harsh words coming from Wedge, the Bothans died as heroes in my heart, had they not had those plans, the trap would have been successful! Yet, the Rebels won that day… thanks to the Bothans.
There are good moments in this story, then there are parts that I just get lost on. There’s so much going on it’s hard to keep focused and remember exactly who’s who and where we are. I’m not a big fan of the book. There’s so many different names and places being tossed around I couldn’t contain all the details. Some characters are written well, but not written in a way that makes me feel invested in the characters. Some deaths occurred and I could care less.
There is a cool thing in the Epilogue with Isard and Kirtan Loor. She let out info where Loor was located, this will lure Corran Horn for revenge, but also this makes Loor nervous, he’s seen Corran in action.
Do I recommend you pick up Star Wars: Rogue Squadron? If your’re a Wedge Antilles and or military warfare fan, yes. If you’re more into Jedi wizardry, probably not.
RATING: I give this book a C+ I think it could have been better, especially the character development.