Shadowhawk reviews the second Star Wars X-wing novel featuring the infamous Rogue Squadron by the talented Michael Stackpole.“A promising novel in concept that regrettably suffers in the execution of that idea.” ~The Founding FieldsLike I mentioned earlier, the X-wing novels are some of my favourite novels in the Star Wars Expanded Universe (SWEU). However, as is common for any series, there are some good ones and some bad ones and a few average ones. The first novel in the series, Rogue Squadron is about as good as they come and is one of the best in the entire series, start to finish. Wedge's Gamble, the second novel in the series, however is nowhere near as good and is more in the average range. For a variety of reasons too.What made Rogue Squadron so great and Wedge's Gamble merely average is that the latter, while it is about the elite Rogue Squadron as it should be, is not so much about thrilling, tension-ridden starfighter combat. In space. Given the events of the previous novel, the Alliance forces now have the job of going for Coruscant itself, Imperial Center. And as such, Rogue Squadron gets the unenviable job of going in all black ops style to set up the way for the rest of the fleet. Concept-wise it is a great idea and the strengths of some of the members of the squadron are played up in their latest mission, but given the name of the series - X-wing - it doesn't work as well for me. This has to do with the very few starfighter combats in the novel. And X-wings don't feature in the novel that much either, at least not in any significant combat roles.And that's really what does it for me.The name of the series and the characters the series is about pretty much says it all and together, those two things inform my expectations of every novel in the series. There is a very distinct lack of pure starfighter combat in the novel and what there is, is rather straightforward and unexciting. I went in expecting a novel about what Rogue Squadron does best, flying space superiority starfighters and NOT being pseudo-commandos in the most heavily defended planet in the galaxy. As such, the novel suffers greatly all through to the end and even the eventual build-up of the climax is (unintentionally) downplayed to a great degree.This is rather surprising since in Rogue Squadron, Michael Stackpole had a really good handle on portraying his starfighter dogfights very vividly and hooking the reader right into the heavily militaristic feel of his novel. Most of that is lost here because the action almost always happens on the ground and not in space. What little starfighter combat there is, is primarily atmospheric.Therefore, most of the excitement of the reading experience itself and the novel is just lost on me.Wedge's Gamble is also quite different to its predecessor in a lot of ways. Most alarmingly, the characters dissect their situations too much. Corran Horn is a particular example of this since he is continually portrayed throughout the novel as someone who does a lot of his talking through monologues in which he over-analyses his feelings and the events around him. It makes for a really tiring read. This could have been really toned down to a great degree because the approach just gives the relevant scenes the feel of being info-dumps. Info-dumps are not fun to read, especially when they are so analytical. At times I just wanted to pick up a hydrospanner and smack Corran and a couple others on the head with it a few times.Another thing is that the plot itself lacks any kind of dynamism and realism. Things are way too fantastical and events play out almost by the numbers. There just isn't much of a twist to any of it. Except for the ending. That scared the living daylights out of me. That was pure brilliance but it doesn't make up for the rest of the novel. Part of this is the whole sub-plot regarding an apparent traitor in the squadron. The whole mystery of it is hyped too much and there are almost no breadcrumbs for people to pick up and try to figure out who the traitor is.It also doesn't help that the narrative gets bogged down occasionally when the events play out on Coruscant. Too many side-plots regarding uninteresting characters and situations, especially xenophobia, mostly ruin the novel for me. I get that this is all to make the novel more relative and all, but it just doesn't work for me. I actually skipped a lot of the scenes because they were nothing more than reader-fodder for me.Additionally, the novel is titled Wedge's Gamble, but it is never really clear just what this gamble really is. It could refer to at least three-four separate instances in the narrative but none of them are really that spectacular or anything. I might just be splitting hairs but this was one of the downsides for me and one I feel rates a mention.I am also not getting much of a vibe from Kirtan Loor who is being set up as Corran's big nemesis. He doesn't seem to be doing much other than just offering one excuse after another to Ysanne Isard, the new "ruler" of the Empire. He lacks a certain panache, a sophistication that he IS a major threat to the series' main protagonist. Its like he is just so much filler content rather than something truly credible. There are also too many callbacks to his ineptitude when he worked with the Corellian Security Forces for my liking. More a paper-tiger than anything, Loor has so far been a wasted opportunity which is somewhat tragic since he actually has a lot of potential to be a major threat to Rogue Squadron, especially since he is essentially the second man in the Empire with Isard in control.The final thing is that the female characters, bar none, are all some of the most undeveloped characters ever. Most of them are now in their second novel and we have yet to see any of them be anything other than simplistic foils to the male characters or just be stereotypical in their dialogue and mannerisms and everything else. Isard comes across as a little more threatening than Loor but not by much. Iella Wessiri shows some promise and has quite the interesting backstory but she is left entirely to the sidelines. Mirax Terrik is once again a savior of sorts like she was in Rogue Squadron but she appears to be nothing more than a plot device to get the narrative moving forward. As Corran's potential love interest, she is squandered potential. And finally Erisi, still the starstruck and apparently-miffed lover who is even more wasted than Mirax!All in all, none of the female characters have stepped up from Rogue Squadron which is a real shame.So far in this review, I have mostly ranted about the weaknesses and flaws in the novel, of which there are many. I'd really like to do a more favourable review of the novel but its just that the flaws and weaknesses really bring it down and it all makes Wedge's Gamble a real slog to get through.I've already mentioned the ending of the novel, which I think was really well-done and there are some other good points in the narrative that make it a bit more palatable than it actually is. One of these was seeing Gavin and Tycho get a bit more relevant screen-time in character growth. These two definitely deserve it and along with Wedge, they are both among my favourite pilots ever. Given the ending of the novel, Tycho is also about to become more of a major character in the series, which is smashing and quite welcome.We get some brief screen-time with Leia Organa, which was quite delightful indeed. As one of the original characters of the whole franchise, I do have a soft spot for the princess and it was nice to see her make a brief cameo in the novel. And its a good thing that it was just a cameo and not a full-on appearance because that would take away the charm of the series itself, that being that these novels are focused on secondary and unknown characters of the franchise rather than any of the big names.And well, the cover is good though! I like it more than the cover for the previous novel!Now I'm struggling to name any other upsides of the novel so I guess that means that's it for the review. Overall, I wouldn't really recommend this novel to readers, but it does have a critical point in the series so it is worth a read at least. Just be prepared to complete it in a LOT of sittings. Its not an easy book to get through so it will take time.Verdict: Be careful!
Roque Squadron kembali beraksi! Misi ahli-ahli Roque Squadron kali ini adalah untuk merampas sebuah planet yang bernama Coruscant (planet ini juga dikenali sebagai Imperial Center). Planet yang begitu strategik dan penting ini perlu ditawan oleh pihak New Republic kerana Coruscant merupakan pusat utama pentadbiran perang Imperial High Command yang tidak mahu tunduk kepada New Republic. Coruscant ini berada di bawah penguasaan Ysanne "Iceheart" Isard. Penawanan planet tersebut juga penting dilakukan dari sudut simbolik dan moral untuk meningkatkan perjuangan New Republic membebaskan planet-planet lain yang masih berada di dalam penguasaan Imperial High Commmand.Namun,untuk menawan Coruscant ini bukanlah suatu tugas yang mudah. Sistem pertahanannya yang kukuh menyukarkan usaha New Republic merampasnya. Untuk itu,ahli-ahli elit Roque Squadron dihantar ke Coruscant untuk melakukan misi risikan dan melumpuhkan sistem pertahanan planet tersebut. Mampukah mereka melakukannya?Novel Star Wars: Wedge's Gamble ini merupakan novel bersiri yang menampilkan juruterbang-juruterbang elit Roque Squadron sebagai watak utama,di samping beberapa watak lain. Plot cerita novel ini agak berbeza. Hal ini kerana fokus aksi secara keseluruhannya tertumpu di daratan. Berbanding novel pertama,babak pertempuran lebih tertumpu kepada aksi pertempuran udara (dogfight) antara Roque Squadron yang menggunakan pesawat X-Wing menentang pesawat musuh TIE Fighter dan Tie Bomber milik Imperial High Command. Namun,pada masa yang sama,saya beranggapan,plot dan perkembangan cerita novel kedua ini lebih matang dan agak kompleks daripada novel pertama. Perkembangan ciri-ciri watak-watak yang terdapat di dalam novel juga diketengahkan dan hubungan dan kedinamikan antara watak-watak juga semakin jelasDari segi bahasa,apa yang mungkin agak menyukarkan (terutamanya kepada para pembaca yang kurang meminati buku bergenre sains-fiksyen dan filem Star Wars) adalah wujudnya jargon dan istilah yang agak sukar difahami dan memerlukan rujukan kamus atau mencari maklumatnya di Internet. Menyulitkan keadaan,tiada glosari khusus yang membincangkan jargon atau istilah yang terdapat di dalam novel.Novel ini saya sarankan kepada para peminat tegar Star Wars untuk membacanya!
What do You think about Wedge's Gamble (1996)?
The second book in the X-Wing series picks up a short time after the first one left off. The Rebel Alliance has decided that they need to accelerate their plans to take Coruscant and to do that they need intelligence from the surface of the Imperial capitol.Rogue Squadron is enlisted first to go to Kessel, where they release a number of prisoners from the nasty criminal organization Black Sun (first encountered in "Shadows of the Empire") and deliver them to Coruscant to create a distraction for Imperial forces. Then, the various members of the Rogue Squadron go undercover to gather intelligence amongst the highways and byways of the planet. Thus, this book serves much more as a "cloak and dagger" tale than the previous one, which was much more about hotshot pilots and direct military action.I won't go too much further in to the plot except to note that the Rogues are eventually asked to take down the planetary shield generators in preparation for a Rebel attack. And Ysanne Isard, the military commander in charge of the remnants of the Empire decides to accelerate her plan to release a deadly virus on the planet so that even if the Rebels take it, they will have nothing but disease on their hands. Unlike the previous volume, the books ends on a cliffhanger.This book is reasonably entertaining, but I did find it a bit overstuffed at times. Stackpole has a list of characters in the front, and to my surprised, I needed to refer to it several times to keep up with the breakneck plot and myriad groups of action. Stackpole switches back and forth between his various groups, setting up various sub-plots and character arcs, not all of which seem entirely necessary. I often felt that less would be more.Nonetheless, I look forward to continuing the series. There are several large plot devices that have been set in motion that will clearly take several books to work out - and I think that that will be fun to watch. The characters of Corran Horn and Wedge remain interesting and some of the others have potential - if Stackpole doesn't kill them off too quickly.
—Mark Oppenlander
What ever you do, NEVER look up any of the names of characters! You will learn things you don't want to know yet! Go ahead and verify types of ships and alien types.I would recommend reading this series in order. Also, you will meet Winter in Timothy Zahn's book, Scoundrels, so you may want to read that first...Although I enjoy catching up on what happened after the movies, there is much lacking. I am not a fan of this author. He makes things more complicated than they need to be. I can't tell you how many times I fell asleep during an "exciting" part, And would love to see more commas in use so I don't have to reread sentences to figure out what is trying to be said,
—Gretchen Fatouros
The downgrade of a rating here may seem not in keeping with my practice, especially as regards Star Wars novels and some of my favorite authors--but I assure you, I had good cause.Wedge's Gamble is a great second installment--but it reads like a second installment, as part of a larger whole. Much of the book is laying the groundwork for the two novels to follow. Yes, it's true, the target of the book is to capture Coruscant, and Rogue Squadron makes that happen--but it's anticlimactic. We know t
—Nathaniel Turner
