Review on the X-Wing Series

     Ah, the X-Wings. Those workhorses of the Rebel Alliance, the 'lightsaber of the Rebel pilot' as Wedge Antilles once put it. Loaded, fast, well-built. Don't they just make you sick?
     All Imperial loyalties aside, the X-Wing series by Michael A. Stackpole is a well-written, interesting collection of books based on the daily lives of those valiant, yet oft-stupid Rebel pilots.
     The series started in 1996, when Mike was approached to write the books to tie-in with the Dark Horse comic series Rogue Squadron, set in the years immediately following Endor. The novels and comics were inspired by the game 'X-Wing' which I'm sure most self-respecting pilots in the TIE Corps have played, or at least heard of. The game's influence shows in the first book, 'Rogue Squadron', in a scene where Lieutenant Corran Horn (not related to any of the countless Corran's in the TC) is flying a simulator mission which is an exact replica of one of the missions in X-Wing. The scene has a rather nostalgic feel about it, and I know when I was reading it I jumped up and down and said 'I flew that mission! I flew that mission!' and then some dudes in white coats came and gave me an injection and I was sane again.
     Much of the first book is basically getting to know the Rebel scum.. I mean pilots.. and their way of life. There are a few of the obligatory battles along the way, and nothing really interesting happens other than the announcement of the Rebels' intention to take away our pride and glory-Coruscant!
     The second book in the series, 'Wedge's Gamble', details the Rebels usurping of the Imperial influence from Coruscant, removing Ysanne Isard from power with their typical underhanded tactics such as recruiting aliens to their cause and destroying planetary shield generators, putting innocent Imperial citizens' lives at risk. During this struggle, Lieutenant Corran Horn is captured and imprisoned in the Lusankya prison, a buried SSD on Coruscant. Yeah, the Empire just has dozens of SSDs we can throw around like that..
     After the battle for Coruscant, Ms. Isard, former director of Imperial Intelligence and self-fancied 'Empress', goes into hiding on Thyferra in book #3, 'The Krytos Trap'. There she restricts the bacta trade and gains a monopoly on the galactic bacta market. In other words, the Rebels aren't going to be regenerating any lost limbs through the wonders of prosthetics for a while.
     The rest of the third book deals with a virulent disease left on Coruscant by Isard and one of her servants, General Evir Derricote. This virus targets alien races such as Sullustans, Twi'leks, and all those other Rebel loving heathens. The Alliance has to race against time to find a cure for this disease, but without bacta there is a slight problem. And so we are taken into book #4.. 'The Bacta War'.
     Without going into too much detail, this book is probably the best in the first arc of the series, as it has all the action one could want, plus a lot of backstory expansion for the die-hard Star Wars enthusiast. It's also the first book to go back to Alderaan and explore the asteroid Graveyard.
     So there you have it. The first arc of the X-Wing series, in one page. Where was the EH throughout all of this, you ask? Well, where else.. hanging around outside the Minos Cluster, strengthening our forces until we are big enough to go back and reclaim Coruscant from those traitorous Rebel elements!
     I hope this small tidbit of the X-Wing series will inspire you to plonk down your cash and buy the books to read, if you haven't already, because after all.. the more money we fans spend on merchandise, the better Episodes 2 and 3 will be, because Uncle George will have more money to use on the production! In all seriousness, though, these books are well worth your time, a good read.
     Next time, I will look at the second arc of the series, the Wraith Squadron era, written by the hilarious Aaron Allston. Stay tuned!

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