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Mazrim · 10-27-2021, 11:57 AM

I finished re-reading all the X-Wing books, including my first read of Mercy Kill (Book 10) which was released in 2012 and takes place 35 years after the rest of the X-Wing books. Overall I'd say they hold up really well considering their age and target demographic. I'd love to see nods to the books in the upcoming X-Wing movie but I won't hold my breath.

When I first started re-reading the books I assumed that Starfighters of Adumar (Book 9) would be my least favorite of the ones I've read, but it ended up being Isard's Revenge (Book 8). The premise of Isard's Revenge and how it all goes down was largely just an attempt for Stackpole to write his favorite characters one more time but there didn't appear to be a great reason for any of it to go down. Very little was accomplished and there was almost no character growth. The other issue is that Stackpole and Allston were...afraid to really use each other's characters? I dunno, the lack of continuity was a bit jarring at times.

If you read the back cover of Starfighters of Adumar, it reads as a pretty bad premise, but somehow it works. Allston has that way of writing fun characters that keep you engaged, and he fleshed out the Adumar setting enough to make it stand out despite the lack of connection to the other books.

The first half of Mercy Kill is a mess. The pacing is strange, the purpose for reforming the Wraiths isn't interesting, and they jump to new locations so frequently that you're not able to really track what they're doing at that place. Once the book slows down a bit it starts to come together, and the last 1/4 of the book feels like it fits right in with the old Wraith Squadron novels. Thankfully, the book is written in a way that you don't need to know what happened in the 35 years between Book 9 and 10 to follow the current events.

I'm planning to start reading through the Legacy of the Force books based on Captain Crunch's previous recommendations. Maybe someday I'll try to tackle the Yuuzhan Vong War books again, but it's a pretty daunting task at 19 books.

10-27-2021, 11:57 AM	#1208
Mazrim CP Gamemaster Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: The Gary Exp:	I finished re-reading all the X-Wing books, including my first read of Mercy Kill (Book 10) which was released in 2012 and takes place 35 years after the rest of the X-Wing books. Overall I'd say they hold up really well considering their age and target demographic. I'd love to see nods to the books in the upcoming X-Wing movie but I won't hold my breath. When I first started re-reading the books I assumed that Starfighters of Adumar (Book 9) would be my least favorite of the ones I've read, but it ended up being Isard's Revenge (Book 8). The premise of Isard's Revenge and how it all goes down was largely just an attempt for Stackpole to write his favorite characters one more time but there didn't appear to be a great reason for any of it to go down. Very little was accomplished and there was almost no character growth. The other issue is that Stackpole and Allston were...afraid to really use each other's characters? I dunno, the lack of continuity was a bit jarring at times. If you read the back cover of Starfighters of Adumar, it reads as a pretty bad premise, but somehow it works. Allston has that way of writing fun characters that keep you engaged, and he fleshed out the Adumar setting enough to make it stand out despite the lack of connection to the other books. The first half of Mercy Kill is a mess. The pacing is strange, the purpose for reforming the Wraiths isn't interesting, and they jump to new locations so frequently that you're not able to really track what they're doing at that place. Once the book slows down a bit it starts to come together, and the last 1/4 of the book feels like it fits right in with the old Wraith Squadron novels. Thankfully, the book is written in a way that you don't need to know what happened in the 35 years between Book 9 and 10 to follow the current events. I'm planning to start reading through the Legacy of the Force books based on Captain Crunch's previous recommendations. Maybe someday I'll try to tackle the Yuuzhan Vong War books again, but it's a pretty daunting task at 19 books.