Tag Archives: rogue squadron

X-Wing Series – Michael A. Stackpole / Aaron Allston

It’s been a while since I posted. It’s not that I wasn’t reading, but that I couldn’t quite find the energy to post. And then I procrastinated. But enough about that.

I’ve been re-reading the X-Wing series recently. All but two of the books, but that’s because I’m missing my copy of The Krytos Trap and reading The Bacta War without it doesn’t quite seem right.

Wraith Squadron

I have the utmost respect for Aaron Allston as a writer; the Wraith Squadron books are – in my opinion – by far the best books in the series. He brings in a new squadron of rejects, shapes them into an elite unit and weaves their own story that fits beautifully into the universe. My only real regret is that there’s no real mention of Wraith Squadron after those four books other than a cursory mention in the New Jedi Order series.

Stackpole on the other hand… At one point, I had him listed as my favourite author in the Star Wars universe. In hindsight, I think this is due to the same youthful infatuation that causes Twilight to be so popular. Stackpole’s X-Wing books are less about Rogue Squadron and more about how awesome Corran Horn is.

Where Allston switches perspective regularly between core characters such as Wedge Antilles, Garik ‘Face’ Loran, Kell Tainer and Lara Notsil (aka Gara Petothel aka Kirney Slane), Stackpole tends to relate stories only from the perspectives of Corran Horn (recollecting his tales of emo woe) and Wedge (with the exception of cases where neither is involved), and even then focusing on Corran except where Corran’s not involved.

The idea has occurred that Stackpole mostly wrote the X-Wing books to give credence to his epic “I, Jedi” that would follow them. I just find it a shame that the Rogue Squadron books seem so focused on Corran that it skews my enjoyment of the books. Especially since I’ve always enjoyed reading the series.

If you haven’t read them, I would recommend them. They’re worth the read – especially the Wraith Squadron books. Just watch out for Stackpole’s obsession with Corran.