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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent Book! Allston Follows EL1 With A Smash Hit!, June 3, 2002
This review is from: Enemy Lines II: Rebel Stand (Star Wars: The New Jedi Order, Book 12) (Mass Market Paperback)
Allston again writes an excellent addition to the NJO series. Rebel Stand is more concentrated then Rebel Dream, with the subplots focussing more clearly on the main characters. While he adds in a few returning faces (Wes Janson makes his NJO debut), Allston never loses focus of his story. Every NJO author writes a specific character better than others, Stackpole writes Corran Horn the best, Keyes wrote Anakin the best, etc, Allston wrote Han and Leia the best in this book. No other author in the NJO series so far has captured the essense of who Han and Leia are, not merely legend they represent. I am trying not to give any of the plot away, but the scene where Han and Leia escape from the Peace Brigade is pure Star Wars. Luke and Mara are not forgotten on Curuscant, and though again nothing is mentioned of the captured Jacen Solo, an old enemy is resurrected, and general chaos reigns. Its really great stuff. Allston also focuses on the tactical side of the war with the Vong, his depiction of Wedge Antilles is masterful, as is the battle plan presented. Jaina Solo comes into her own, no longer under the influence of the Dark Side, and healing from the losses of her brothers. Overall after the darkness of Star by Star and Dark Journey, Allston's two books have been a welcome change, and are simply excellent. Perhaps he will write again for the Star Wars universe, and if he does, I will be among the first to buy the book. Rebel Stand is highly recommend, not just as a great addition to the NJO series but as a Star Wars book in general.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Another worthy entry to the New Jedi Order, May 29, 2002
This review is from: Enemy Lines II: Rebel Stand (Star Wars: The New Jedi Order, Book 12) (Mass Market Paperback)
THERE BE MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED. Rebel Stand was a lot of fun, but not as good as Rebel Dream, and a lot of it seemed incidental. There were three main plots: Han/Leia: This was the most fun, and the best, plotline of the book. Their banter was fun, the politics were fun, the daring escapes were fun. Luke&Co on Coruscant: This was very strange. The Wraiths were fun, but this whole part of the story just seemed not to have much to do with anything. I'm all for bringing characters out of limbo, but why this particular character? Still, Nyax was really cool, and has many of the features that I used to toy with in all the fanfics I never finished. Who wants to bet that this "force well" under the Jedi Temple is going to come into play in a big way in Traitor? The defense on Borleias: This was really downplayed here from the last book, with only a few Wedge and Jaina scenes. Janson was a welcome addition, but he unfortunately got barely more than a cameo. There's a great scene in which Wedge is again established as the greatest pilot in the galaxy. And I think that Allston has a fetish for creating inventive ways to scrap SSDs. It was nice to see Tarc out of the picture in a satisfactory was, and equally a pleasure to get into 3PO's head again, as we did in (I think) Jedi Eclipse and to a lesser extent Rebirth, seeing how he actually is petrified of destruction and seeing how he's learning that to be a hero means to have fear in the first place. Unfortunately, Lando doesn't show up, but YVH-11A has a big part in 3PO's little epiphany, so that's okay. I thought that Viqi's demise was somewhat anticlimactic, but it was also completely in-character, and fitting. And Tahiri's little revelation towards the end about pain sounds suspiciously similar to Jacen's same revelation in the Traitor excerpt... The space battles were okay but certainly not phenomenal, and were definitely lacking an "OH SH!T" factor. I think that the exact aim of Emperor's Spear should've been kept secret from the reader until Czulkang finally figured it out; it would've been more impressive that way. Overall, this was a lot of fun to read, quite fulfilling, but some of the plotlines seemed kind of irrelevant; a lot of the book was devoted more to character growth and situational setup towards a future payoff rather than moving the plot itself forward. Not Allston's best effort but definitely worth the read.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Possibly the best yet in the series!, June 22, 2002
This review is from: Enemy Lines II: Rebel Stand (Star Wars: The New Jedi Order, Book 12) (Mass Market Paperback)
Ok. simply put, this book was awesome. It had it all: Romance, intrigue, tons of action, humor, and it finally showed the Luke of old: the Jedi master who could kick some ... . This book takes off as Luke and Mara and the Wraiths traverse through Coruscant on a mission to set up resistence cells. Besides fighting Vong, they have a very interesting subplot with an evil ultra-Jedi. Luke and Mara are as cool as ever and Tahiri steps up as a matured Jedi as well. On Borealis, the New Republic finally starts going on the offensive, and the battles that ensue are riveting and page turning. Jaina and Jag's romance is brought up as well. Han and Leia look like their old selfs again, and the plot lines between them are hilarious at times; such as when they get captured on a backwater planet and threatened w/ torture, they both take it lightheartedly, telling their captor how they have both been tortured by Darth Vader how the captor should try to do better. The cockiness of them both is very funny. A new and hilarious part in this book is R2D2's conversations. This little droid is very funny in his logic, and finally we get to see what all those sad, jovial and sarcastic bleeps and whistles mean. And finally, as the battles at Borealis in both Rebel Dream and Rebel Stand show, the Vong are not as invincible as they seemed while the New Republic forces, w/out the burden of the politicians, finally are showing some muscle and brain. While the book ends rather abruptly, it does what its meant to: it leaves you thirsty for more. It took me 3 hours to read, and i didn't want it to end. I definitly recommend this book whole-heartedly.
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