“The way we rebuild the galaxy is by making lives better one at a time”The New Republic is hot off the battle with Thrawn. Admiral Ackbar forces Wedge Antilles to accept a promotion to General so they can deal with the remnants of the Empire and the Prince-Admiral, Krennel, and rescue the remaining Lusankya prisoners. Little do they know that Isard is back and wants revenge.NOTE: Listened to audiobook.I Liked:I don’t know if this audiobook was better edited, or I was paying attention better or the book was just better, but I definitely have been better involved with this book than my other forays into the X-Wing series.I love how Stackpole seamlessly wove his narrative into so many sources. Zahn’s Thrawn trilogy; Allston’s Wraith Squadron books, and, of course, his own novels. I think it was cool to have Stackpole write the ending of the Thrawn trilogy from a new point of view. I like the consistency of Luke encouraging Corran to train as a Jedi. And I enjoy seeing how our characters end (Gavin and Asyr, the budding relationship between Wedge and Iella, Mirax and Corran).The characters are good. Wedge, Mirax, Booster, Corran, Wes Janson, Iella, and many more return in their brilliance. Stackpole also deftly uses Talon Karrde, something that many other authors have been unable to do. I love this little conversation Gavin and Asyr have...where I got my quote, in fact. How change is made on an individual, personal level. It was very insightful, almost a key to what the Star Wars galaxy needed (and only a few authors, unfortunately, tried to show).The story is good. While I typically don’t like the clone scenario (see below), I do like having Isard return to give Rogue Squadron one final run for their money. I felt her “death” in Bacta War was just not quite right. I also liked how Iella and Mirax went investigating with each other. Corran’s partner in CorSec and his wife. It just seemed cool, and I liked how they didn’t have to dress up sexy or act like courtesans or some other stereotypical “sexy woman” thing in order to investigate Commenor.I Didn’t Like:I do not like the convention of bringing back a character using the “clone” excuse. “Oh, so-and-so had a clone and that clone died.” Overused. Silly. And almost like a person has run out of ideas (“Dang, can’t think of a new enemy…wait! I’ll have a clone made of my best enemy and he/she can come back!”).Coupled with this is the other cliché Stackpole is fond of: “returning from the dead” sequences. Stackpole did this with Corran, but somehow, I didn’t mind it. Here, there are two people who return from the dead…stretching credibility (I was actually looking forward to one of the deaths, it was a real heart-tugger).And then the other stereotypical Star Wars cliché…yes, you know it’s coming! Superweapons! Dum dum dummmmmmmmmmm! Fortunately, this proto-Death Star is much smaller scale, and Ackbar mentions scoping out the rest of the superweapons quickly. I am just keeping my fingers crossed that this is the last of these stupid superweapons.Also, more than a little tired of New Republic = Good, Empire = Bad. The villains are competent, don’t get me wrong, but could we please have a wee bit more balance?Dialogue/Sexual Situations/Violence:“Sithspawn” is about as harsh as it gets.Gavin mentions to Asyr that Bothans and humans aren’t compatible.Isard has scars from when she was blown up. Dogfights, Wedge stuns people while under cover, Corran gets to use his lightsaber…you know the drill.Overall:I was scared listening to this audiobook. The previous X-Wing novels just seemed lacking. So I was afraid I wouldn’t like this book as well. Fortunately, I was proven wrong.However, I was a little disappointed with Stackpole. Superweapons, near-death experiences, and clones? Were they really necessary?Ah, well, I had a good time, and that’s more than I can ask for. Four stars.
I can’t even begin to figure out a way to write this review spoiler free. I myself don’t believe in spoilers, especially for books that were published in the 90s, but for the sake of preserving the surprises I got when I read this — knowing zero about it — I’ll tell you up front, this is one spoilery review.(view spoiler)[ The last shot in the last battle is fired — somewhat inexplicably. Grand Admiral Thrawn’s fleet has gone into sudden retreat long before they should have, and Corran Horn is perplexed. They say GA Thrawn is dead, but the former CorSec officer, now crack pilot with Rogue Squadron has a hard time believing it. Pretty easy and convenient, if you ask him.Still, there’s other things Corran ought to be more focused on — like other people whose deaths were perhaps a smidge too convenient and easy. As it turns out, “Isard’s revenge” isn’t a metaphorical term for some contingency plan she set up . . . oh, no, Iceheart is back and she’s grooming likely Imperial powers for a new assault on the young Republic.For said young Republic, though, things look good: Warlord Zsinj is out of the picture; Thrawn’s dead; the Emperor reborn and the retaking of Coruscant has yet to come on the horizon. Corran thinks he’s finally found the perfect time to find his former fellow prisoners on board the Lusankya, whom he promised to rescue but who instead were scattered by Isard out of his reach. Instead he finds it’s a perfect time to get blindsided and brought to the edge of another major conflict that could be the coup de grace for the struggling Alliance government.I love Corran Horn. There can be no secret about this. Stackpole need do no more than begin typing, and I’m on the edge of my seat ready to laugh, cry, or do both at once. More delicious foreshadowing about the events of I, Jedi, with two references made to a possibility of Mirax disappearing. Corran dispenses profound life advice with a casualness that makes it easy to overlook the fact that he’s wiser than Yoda — and Whistler proves himself way more awesome than Artoo in a chapter dedicated to his own daring escape from enemy hands.A deft twist that keeps the rebels vs. empire from turning stale, Stackpole masterfully makes the Rogues go rogue again, this time to fly TIEs wing-in-wing with the Imps they were previously fighting. Enemies become allies, and allies become enemies as once again, Borsk Fey’lya proves just how much he NEEDS TO JUST DIE OH MY GOSH.Again, I could complain about Stackpole’s habit of faking out at least one death once per book, but it’s so beautifully done in Isard’s Revenge that I’m not going to complain: some deaths are faked, some are not faked, and the reader is never quite sure until the bittersweet and heartbreaking end. (hide spoiler)]
What do You think about Isard's Revenge (1999)?
This book is especially hard to read after coming off Wraith Squadron's adventures. Character growth! Humor! Dialog! Pranks! Now it's back to Rogue Squadron, where everyone is perfectly logical, the humor is forced or refers back to something we've forgotten, and we'll rehash the first three books' plots.There is no character development in this book. The dialog doesn't sound like any kind of real conversation; it's like everyone is just a floating plot point. It's very stilted, and even butler and maid at points. Gavin and Asyr's conversation about adopting was particularly painful and pretty much came out of nowhere. Every time we meet a new pilot, they open up and tell their entire backstory and motives, and then never talk again. I shouldn't be blindsided by dialog and monologue that comes out of nowhere. That's lazy. We don't care. Make us care about these people. And for heaven's sake, SHOW, don't TELL.Instead there's just... plot. And it's hard to follow plot when you don't care about the characters that should be driving the plot. Furthermore, there's plot points here and there that are unrealistic and seem like a pretty big stretch. It breaks immersion, which would really help make up for this book's flaws.The good? The story actually gets pretty cool when you hit page 200. That's 200 pages of slogging through all the stuff I just mentioned, but everything gets more interesting, the characters start to solidify, and the plot picks up the pace. It's still not perfect, but it gets much better. The action shines here.Okay, I think I'm done now. This book might be worth skipping if you've made it this far in the X-Wing series.
—Daniel
About a year ago, I embarked on a quest to re-read all of the X-wing novels, start to finish (as well as Stackpole's I Jedi, since it re-uses many of the characters and situations). I loved these books back when I was in middle school, and I wanted to see if they stood the test of time.Spoiler alert: They don't.Or rather, the first four novels in the series are still great reads, and Allston's Wraith Squadron series is passable, but by the time Isard's Revenge has come around, the formulaic plots and characters have become a bit stale. Stackpole lost some of the charm and excitement of the first four novels in Isard's Revenge. I actually started reading this back in March, but took a six-month hiatus from it—partly because I was busy, but partly because this novel just didn't capture my attention. The plot is utterly predictable, and borrows heavily from other tried-and-true-and-now-stale Star Wars elements. I mean, seriously: (view spoiler)[a clone? Really? That was already done in the comic books and in Zahn's Thrawn trilogy—which takes place around the same time as this novel! (hide spoiler)]
—Michael
X-Wing - Isard's Revenge: Clinging to the PastBefore I get into this novel, I have to say that I have a natural distaste for authors who feel that they can only cling to material they've previously created. I thought that Allston did a great job of expanding this series of novels by adding new faces (pun intended) and plots. With Stackpole's anticipated return to the series, he really just ignored most of what Allston did and dove right back to where he left off with Rogue Squadron's story. To me, that has always seemed like a lazy approach. I've seen it time and again with other writers within the EU - even Zahn who is often so highly regarded by the fanbase (Thrawn, Thrawn, Thrawn - lather/rinse/repeat). Having said all of that, I thought that this novel was a rather interesting read. It had plenty of action and intrigue that we've come to expect from the X-Wing series, plus it contained several side-plots. I enjoyed the Mirax/Iella investigation as well as the little story of Whistler leading the bold escape with Gate and their unlikely travels (reminiscent of an R2/3P0 escapade). The only fault I give to the story is that it felt like it was trying to be too clever. The constant uncertainty about Isard's true motivations and intentions throughout the novel made it difficult for me to keep the narrative straight in my head. I was constantly warring with myself to the tune of "Is this what's really going down or is this just what she wants us to think? She said THIS to Krennel but told Antilles THAT so which is the truth, which is the lie, and who is being played against who?" Of course, the book on Isard is trust nothing so I believed nothing, but it turned out that at least some of the lies were half-truths. I guess I tend to like my books with easy-to-grasp twists. This is why I don't tend to enjoy spy thrillers. I can handle the twists if you spell them out for me clearly and stick to it. In the end, though, it was a pleasurable read with familiar faces and it does a nice job of filling in some timeline gaps. I felt that the foreshadowing of "I Jedi" was a bit blatant (and slightly obnoxious) but you can't blame Stackpole for the marketing ploy.
—Tom Ferratt
