Customer Reviews

The Bacta War (Star Wars: X-Wing Series, Book 4)

5 star:		(86)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

(And that goes for ALL of the X-wing books) I'm ashamed to say that when I first heard about the X-wing books, I decided not to read them because I figured there would be too many battles, and I hate reading battles, so I assumed the novels would be boring to me. But during a severe case of Star Wars withdrawal when I was ready to kill for something new, I figured, what the heck?

Boy was I wrong! The whole series (and especially this book specifically) was so incredible. The best thing about it was that it took us far away from the typical cut-and-dry Star Wars book formula. Wedge Antilles is the unsung hero who clearly proves something I've always thought important: you do not need the force to be heroic (I realize that Han already proved this, but he's in Luke's shadow all the time.)

The battles were honestly not that bad! I didn't understand the technical X-wing terms, but I like how all the characters worked together, and after a while I did get pretty knowledgeable about some things (like the difference between a squint and an eyeball).

Also the romance. I've always thought that Star Wars could use a little more romance, and not just Luke gets dumped by another girl because they just can't live with him. Stackpole not only put romance in the books, but he wrote it very well. Not mushy gushy, but real, open and honest, with realistic obstacles. For instance, Corran and Mirax learning to admit they were wrong in their prejudice about each other and learn to become friends.

My favorite is Pash Cracken. I don't know why, I just like hime a lot. I've also always liked A-wings.

The Bacta War was my favorite mostly because I have a tendency to like the last book in a set of books the best. Honestly I tend to think of trilogies and the like more as one great big book in volumes.

Read this book. Read the whole series!

The Bacta War is almost certainly the best book of the X-Wing series, so if you are one of those people who loved their earlier books than this is a great addition to your collection. Unfortunately, it is still smarting from some of the problems that authors of this series refuse to correct. It still has too many characters, presented to early to keep track of properly. In fact, at some points even late in the book I could not remember what species a character was! Its battles seem either too fast or too slow, like when a Star Destroyer is reduced to ash in just a few short pages, or when dogfights that should have lasted a few seconds at the most drag on for quite some time. This problem, however, is not exactly the author's fault, as the amount of information required to track multiple ships in three dimensions is often difficult to compress. The major enemies are still failing flight school, Isard included, and the Rebels often inflict enormous casualties at very little cost thanks to impractical scheming, luck, or a combinations of both. Even so, the plot was by far the best from the X-Wing series, and compared to say, Wedge's Gambit, the other problems don't show up as often.

The Bacta War by Michael Stackpole is the fourth book in the X-wing series and it brings the first major story arc to its conclusion. The stage set at the climax of the third book, The Krytos Trap, has Ysanne Isard escaping Coruscant and taking over the government of Thyferra, the primary producer of bacta in the galaxy. With the Krytos virus running rampant through the New Republic's alien populations, it is critical that access to Thyferra's bacta is restored and it is distributed as fairly as possible.

Unfortunately, since Isard is the legitimate head of the Thyferran government, the New Republic cannot overthrow her directly. In light of this, Wedge and the Rogues resign and take matters into their own hands, acquiring a new squadron of X-wings and making weapons deals with Huff Darklighter and Talon Karrde along the way. The task before the Rogues is to find a way using their limited resources to topple Isard from power and bring Thyferra back into the New Republic.

As always, Stackpole does an excellent job of managing a large cast of characters. Corran Horn continues as the primary focus of the story. Corran is grappling with revelations concerning his Jedi heritage and is unsure of how his potential ability with the Force jives with his service to the military. In this book Stackpole does a good job of not overly deifying Corran; he is confident of his pilot abilities but he is humanized by his fledgling explorations into the Force and his burgeoning relationship with Mirax Terrik. The introduction of Mirax's father Booster into the storyline is an immediately welcome addition.

Isard and her partners-in-crime Fliry Vorru and the traitorous pilot Erisi Dlarit spend many of their chapters plotting in Isard's office. Some of their dialogue is a bit too much in the mustache-twirling, stereotypically evil villain vein, but that was the case in parts of the prior books as well. The shifting alliances and power struggles in their group are engaging as they try to consolidate their power and take on the indomitable Rogues.

The methods Rogue Squadron use to take on Isard and her followers are quite cleverly written and thought out. Since the New Republic cannot officially back the effort, Wedge takes on the comfortable role he always had in the Rebellion, leading a small, scrappy group against seemingly insurmountable odds. The varied minor actions the Rogues take throughout the book build to a gripping climatic sequence starting at the Yag'Dhul space station they have been using as a base of operations and ending, of course, at Thyferra where Isard has made her lair.

Kudos to Stackpole for such a satisfying four-book storyline. He introduces a host of characters and plot points and does an admirable job of differentiating them enough to be easily memorable and of bringing them to solid conclusions at the end. Being free of the chains of using the primary Star Wars film characters has really paid off in this series, and the sense of danger is much higher when characters may actually die (and do). These four books are highly recommended.

Michael Stackpole finishes what he started with this, the fourth and final book in the first storyline of the X-Wing series. Taking what he has learned from the first three books, Stackpole improves on his previous work in many areas. Unfortunatly, he falls short in others, and a few of the faults which define all of his work still remain.

In the plus column, this is possibly the fastest paced of Stackpole's X-Wing books. Very little of the slow, largly uninteresting scenes which plagued the previous three, especially Rogue Squadron. Also, characters other than Corran Horn get some real attention in this book. Iella Wessiri, in particular, recieves the treatment she deserves. Booster is a good addition, even if he occasionally seems to derive some of his traits from Talon Karrde, who makes a welcome cameo here. Mirax is also a great character, tough and independent (note to other males out there: women who can take care of themselves are much more fun than brainless bimbos. Sorry, personal opinion). Gavin is also getting some further devolpment.

On the downside, this books suffers, perhaps worse than the previous three, from what I call "Rebels Always Win Syndrome." Throughout the book, the Rogues suffer no serious losses in their battles. Not one of the main characters dies. Furthermore, it seems like they are having no problems wiping out Star Destroyers left and right with little more than a squadron of X-Wings.

Another issue, one which seems to be ongoing with Stackpole, is the characterization of the Imperials. Honestly, Ysanne Isard, Fliry Vorru and Erisi Dlarit never once seem threatening. Isard is possibly at her lowest point in the series. While she has never been Grand Admiral Thrawn, she showed promise in books one and two of becoming a very dangerous and cunning adversary. Here, she is a joke, and it is a shame that Stackpole squandered her initial promise.

Still, despite the fact that I tend to hit on the negatives more than the positives (I'm a born critic, what can I say?), the combination of action, interesting characters and character interaction, and quality writing combine to make this an above average entry into the world of Star Wars literature.

Well that's not sayin' a lot-- I love 'em all!!! I rank it inthe top 5 books I've read. (Among them: Vision of the Future, t. Zahn,and I, Jedi, m. Stackpole-- by the way I know they brainstormed ideas on that together!!) I laughed so hard when I read this my parents honestly thought I was going insane. Who knows? maybe I was!

The Bacta War is the fourth book in the X-wing series. Mr. Stackpole has done an admirable job with the first three, and he continues to do so with this one. All of these books are great fun to read. The characters grab your attention, and the action sequences are outstanding. The reader also should be entitled to credit for continuing education in the Star Wars realm because the mechanics of actually flying an X-wing fighter are described in some detail. Read these books and then watch the films again. See if you don't have a finer appreciation for what the pilots are doing and a better understanding of the challenges they face.

In this fourth episode the Alliance Fleet has mounted a major campaign against a deadly warlord. Our old friend Ysanne Isard, the Director of Imperial Intelligence and wanna-be leader of the Empire, is still on the scene as she has moved to Thyferra with the intention of controlling the galaxy's production of bacta. If successful, she could destabilize and destroy the New Republic. Of course it falls to our heroes in Rogue Squadron to take her on even though they have resigned their positions in the Rebel Fleet and must act as a rag-tag band of stalwart adventurers without official assistance from the Alliance. One of the major problems facing the Squadron is that Isard has at her disposal the Lusankya, two Imperial Star Destroyers, and a Victory Star Destroyer. Against such overwhelming forces, the Squadron relies on plans developed by Wedge Antilles involving a hunt-and-peck strategy with much bluffing to battle Isard's forces.

As in his previous Rogue Squadron books, Mr. Stackpole carries us through an excellent tale and leaves us wanting more. On to Book 5 of the X-wing series - Wraith Squadron by Aaron Allston.

X-Wing: The Bacta War picks up from where the Krytos Trap left off. Wedge, Corran, and the other members of Rogue Squadron have chosen to leave the New Republic so they can run Iceheart to ground on Thyferra (the planet famous for generating Bacta). To do this, Wedge and company occupy a space station that was "destroyed" by the New Republic and use this for a base of operation against Isard and her forces. The action is quick and sharp. Rogue Squadron leads with their strength (raiding) and bring in some new capabilities in the form of smugglers (we learn a little bit about Karrde and Booster).
The Good:
Mr. Stackpole put together a winner here! I was a little let down in The Krytos Trap because we went from space combat in snubfighters to fighter jocks acting as commandos and saboteurs; instead we get space action that fits what you expect from Rogue Squadron! Snubfighters ambushing freighters, engaging Star Destroyers, and smugglers working to help Rogue Squadron fight the Empire. The characters are strong, their dialog is good (Mr. Stackpole could do better by reading about dogfights or listening to dialog from the History Channel, but really not much), and most importantly they behave like I'd expect real people to behave. There's no seam going from The Krytos Trap to The Bacta Wars, and for me, I loved the fact that they had specialist working on the ground rather than fighter jocks (since when do you put highly trained fighter jocks doing Special Forces work). The head games between Isard and Wedge are realistic, as are those between Corran and Booster.
The Bad:
There's not many. A big weakness is that the story follows the tried and true of the Star Wars saga. Meaning Rebel (New Republic) forces engage in hit and run tactics till the Empire screws up and then they kill them. Mr. Stackpole covers for this by implying Isard is off her game, something I find a little hard to believe (she set the Krytos trap up herself). We're also told of great fracturing of the Empire's forces than we were lead to believe in the earlier books. Mr. Stackpole does play a little bit with Corran's "Jedi" powers, but not enough to disturb the story. The biggest weakness is the lack of losses for Rogue Squadron (especially considering what they're engaging).
Bottomline:
This is a solid 4 star book for any lover of Star Wars (actually, I can see a Star Wars lover rating it 5 stars, however 4 from me). It's everything you look for with good writing to boot! Mr. Stackpoles X-Wing series is nicely put together with good flow and The Bacta War delivers nicely. If you're not a Star Wars fan I believe you'll enjoy the story, I do recommend starting with Rogue Squadron though and working your way to The Bacta War (however you could do the Star Wars thing and just start with this story). A good read, I look forward to reading more in the series and by Mr. Stackpole.

To begin, I'd like to say that I'd actually rate this book five- and-a-half stars.It is great! There is plenty of action, pilot personalities really start to come out, and there is a dash of humor as well. The plot is this: Without the Rebel support, the Rogue pilots, including Wedge, have quit and gone off to defeat Ysanne Isard. They prepare for their assault on her base world of Thyferra by doing some deals with Talon Karrde, Gavin Darklighter's uncle, Mirax Terrik's father, and others. But Isard still has a Super Star Destroyer on her side! Will the Rogues do justice, defeat Isard, and rescue the prisoners on Lusankya? You'll just have to read the book yourself to get one of the best Star Wars experiences of your life!

This is a great book for any star wars fan.Even if you havent read the first 3 books of the series(which you should aslo read)this is still an understandable and surprising book.

This book takes place a few years after star wars Return of the Jedi.The newly formed republic is in control of Coruscant and is after a Warlord.Rogue Squadron has quit the new Republic and is after Yssane Issard.Although the odds are against them,Rogue Squadron with the help of a few friends, wages a war against a powerful enemy.

If you like Star wars novels,or like action filled,surprising stories,this is the book for you!

The Bacta War, along with the three prequals was really, really good. If followed up on the stories behind it and carried on exelently. It was in good length, and I can't really say anything bad about it. Michael A. Stackpole is really good.

I have read all the books except the last three and I think it is sad that all the oringinal Rougue Squadron pilots except Wedge get the boot.

Worth your Money!!!!