Star Wars: Isard’s Revenge was written by Bestselling Author, Michael A. Stackpole. This Expanded Universe tale takes place during the New Republic Era, nine ABY (9 years after the battle of Yavin).
SUMMARY: Wedge Antilles finally accepts a promotion. He and Rogue Squadron.
Somehow… Isard has returned. Turns out the Isard that was believed to have been killed, was a clone. With Thrawn out of the way, the real Isard is ready to establish herself as the successor to the Emperor.
OVERALL THOUHTS
I really hate to say it, but this book was such a boring read. After the excitement and thrills I experienced with the three Wraith Squadron books by Aaron Allston, this one was a sad let down. The book wasn’t horrible, but it wasn’t near as fun as the Wraith Squadron trilogy. Corran Horn believed the hard battles would be over, that the New Republic just had some mopping up to do to snuff out the Empire, but he was wrong. The arrival of Thrawn had disrupted everything! I like getting into Rogue Squadron’s thoughts of Thrawn and how they aren’t buying into the belief that he’s truly dead.
This book pivots back to Stackpole’s take/vision of the New Republic X-Wing squadrons. We spend too much time with boring characters and get a deeper look into the strange lifestyle choices of two, with their interspecies relationship. It’s pretty gross and really stupid, the Bothans view relationships with non-Bothans is the Emperor winning.
Somehow… Isard has returned. With this book taking place after the Thrawn trilogy, where Timothy Zahn brings in the use of cloning, Stackpole jumps on the coat-tails of that idea and uses it as a way to reintroduce us to an enemy that was already defeated. However, that does seem to be a recurring issue in Star Wars… the dead enemy is resurrected. I believe that sort of thing can work, when handled appropriately, such as Palpatine in Dark Empire.
This book just feels like “things happen” and “more things happen.” Just to get us to the back cover. The previous three books felt like a real structured story with satisfying arcs and conclusions. By the end of this book I was just tired with the characters.
Do I recommend you read this X-Wing book? No, too boring.
RATING
I give Star Wars: X-Wing” Isard’s Revenge, a D.