Mercy Kill: Star Wars (X-Wing) [Hardcover]

Aaron Allston (Author)

Book Description

Release date: August 7, 2012 | Series: Star Wars: X-Wing

The intrepid spies, pilots, and sharpshooters of Wraith Squadron are back in an all-new Star Wars adventure, which transpires just after the events of the Fate of the Jedi series!
 
Three decades have passed since Wraith Squadron carried out its last mission. Taking on the most dangerous and daring operations, the rogues and misfits of the elite X-Wing unit became legends of the Rebellion and the Second Galactic Civil War, before breaking up and going their separate ways. Now their singular skills are back in vital demand—for a tailor-made Wraith Squadron mission.
 
A powerful general in the Galactic Alliance Army, once renowned for his valor, is suspected of participating in the infamous Lecersen Conspiracy, which nearly toppled the Alliance back into the merciless hands of the Empire. With orders to expose and apprehend the traitor—and license to do so by any and all means—the Wraiths will become thieves, pirates, impostors, forgers . . . and targets, as they put their guts, their guns, and their riskiest game plan to the test against the most lethal of adversaries.

“A rare entry point for newbies to the Star Wars expanded universe.”—Kirkus Reviews

Editorial Reviews

Review

“A rare entry point for newbies to the Star Wars expanded universe.”—Kirkus Reviews

About the Author

Aaron Allston is the New York Times bestselling author of the Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi books Conviction, Outcast, and Backlash; the Star Wars: Legacy of the Force novels Betrayal, Exile, and Fury; the Star Wars: The New Jedi Order: Enemy Lines adventures Rebel Dream and Rebel Stand; novels in the popular Star Wars X-Wing series, including Mercy Kill; and the Doc Sidhe novels, which combine 1930s-style hero-pulps with Celtic myth. He is also a longtime game designer and in 2006 was inducted into the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design (AAGAD) Hall of Fame. He lives in Central Texas.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: LucasBooks (August 7, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345530594
• ISBN-13: 978-0345530592
• Product Dimensions: 6.4 x 1.5 x 9.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (58 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #148,716 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 48 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Not your father's X-Wing August 7, 2012

By Enjolras TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

This book has been heavily advertised as the return of the popular X-Wing series. However, it isn't quite a glorious return to the glory days of the 1990s. Rather, it's heavily influenced by what the Star Wars Expanded Universe has become in recent years. It's not all bad, but it's also important to realize before picking up this book.

First, this book relies HEAVILY on recent EU novels. If you haven't kept track of the recent books (and I admit I haven't - I stopped reading after New Jedi Order) some of this stuff might be really confusing. Daala as chief of state, the Imperials still alive and well, a purge of Jedi. Alliston does attempt to bring readers up to speed a bit, but it's a very different galaxy and one that I personally find less interesting and less suited than the previous X-Wing novels set against a still powerful Empire. Also, it's important to know the details of the EU to understand the plot because it focuses on a conspiracy attempt that happened during the post-NJO with constant references to post-NJO events as motivations.

The setting also means that this X-Wing novel doesn't feature Wedge Antilles, the backbone of the previous X-Wing novels, much less the other pilots from the Original Trilogy like Janson and Tycho Celchu. In the original X-Wing novels, Wedge served as the connection to the movies. One of the joys was seeing this popular character in action. In Mercy Kill, by and large it's the next generation of hotshot pilots, including Wedge's daughter. Some are sons or daughters of previous Wraith Squadron members, but given that the last novel came out over a decade ago you'd be forgiven for not even remember who they are. If you don't already know these characters, you might find it hard to really care for them (although there are a few I really like).

If these problems don't bother you much, or if you're steeped in EU lore, Aaron Alliston actually wrote a pretty interesting story. Alliston follows one of the veteran Wraith Squadron members, "Piggy" Voort, as he's pulled in for one more mission. Voort is super-intelligent Gamorrean, but don't let that fool you - he's not in there for comedic relief. Voort has been scarred by the Yuuzhan Vong war and the book actually builds quite an interesting character for him as war continues to haunt him.

The other thing I like about the book is the clever espionage escapades. Wraith Squadron is more than just flying X-Wings and Alliston did a great job coming up with complex and surprising scenarios for the team. The fast pacing and limiting Piggy's knowledge to a "need-to-know" basis makes these scenes fun and suspenseful to read - possibly some of the best Star Wars action I've read in a while. At it's best, it's like reading James Bond or Oceans 11 in space.

Overall, my preference for an X-Wing novel would be something set during the time of the Original Trilogy, where we can see Wedge and the other X-Wing legends take on the Empire. I understand Aaron Alliston himself has written a lot in the FotJ era so this period might be dear to him, but the story was just too far removed from the characters we know and love from the original X-Wing. Still, he tells a story with fun twists and surprisingly rich character development. As such, I find it very difficult to rate this novel because I think what you get out of it really depends on how immersed you are in the EU. For me, it was about 3.75 stars - a good read, but not up to the level of the original X-Wing novels.

UPDATE (11/22/12):

So, I was lucky enough to read an advance copy of Tim Zahn's Scoundrels, and for various reasons it forced me to revise my review of Mercy Kill. Mercy Kill was supposed to be the Star Wars espionage thriller of the year. However, after reading Scoundrels, this pales in comparison. I'd originally given the slow pacing and lack of gripping plot twists as part of the espionage genre. However, Scoundrels shows how to do this sort of thing right. By contrast, with Mercy Kill, I think part of the problem is that it's tough to care about the plot. We don't get any major characters from the films and the idea of flushing a general out is just too tangential to anything important. Second, the characters in Wraith Squadron act like a bunch of immature goofballs. Some goofing off is fine, but joking about having to go to pee or calling somebody "Poop Dog" ranks amongst the worst of Jar-Jar Binks' humor. Scoundrels sets a new standard for genre-defying Star Wars and I only wish Mercy Kill had captured some of that intensity.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The book Expanded Universe fans needed August 20, 2012

By B.D.

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Allston seems to enjoy doing the impossible with characters, but that's maybe underselling just what he accomplished with Mercy Kill. Perhaps I'm the only person that felt this way about the book, but I think Mercy Kill did something that I didn't believe any author would ever be able to do. In this book, you have a story that links together and pays homage to three distinct eras in the Expanded Universe. All the while, Allston handles the realities and impacts of these eras with tremendous grace for both that material and the fans of those tales. It's proof that even with as messy as things have gotten in the EU, a talented author can craft a novel that acknowledges and respects the characters and stories others have worked on and a wide array of fans with different loves and favorite elements.

It's proof that a supremely skilled author can take twenty years worth of Expanded Universe material and backstory and create a wonderfully compelling novel.

Mercy Kill is everything I have been asking (pleading) for in an Expanded Universe novel. It's self-contained and steps away from the Apocalypse of the Week in favor of a more intimate and fun plot. It diversifies the cast. It's a book that illustrates you don't have to be a male Jedi to be a hero and to get the job done. There's levity, there's drama, there's action, there's heartbreak. It's a perfect tonal match for what drew me into Star Wars all those years ago.

In my mind, this was the precise book this fandom needed. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) for Del Rey and Lucasfilm licensing, they've reopened Pandora's Box. This is the book the fandom needed, but it's only a start. We need more like this. More gripping and fun adventures. More levity. More diverse characters. More novels that scream Star Wars.

The thirteen year wait between X-Wing books was worth it, but here's to hoping we won't be waiting that long for the next installment.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The Legend of the Flying Pig...Finally! August 7, 2012

By Skuldren

Format:Hardcover

As odd as it might sound, my initial impression of Mercy Kill was "this isn't a dumb book." What I mean by that is that there's a lot more to it than just a fun Star Wars action and adventure. There's meaning here. Characters are created with frustrating flaws, but Allston maintains an interest that implores the reader to questions why. There's an underlying compulsion to look deeper and find the truth, be it with the characters or the plot. There's a sense of depth there that's very nice. Sure, on the surface there's some fun action but beneath that is the good stuff.

There's a lot of layers to Mercy Kill. On top is a mission to find evidence of General Thaal's crimes. Enveloping that is some fun, action twisting spy schemes and Wraith humor. There are a lot of good elements that make the book an enjoyable Star Wars story, but Allston doesn't stop there. Below the surface plot and Wraith action is a character drama that adds a lot of emotional weight to the story. This may be an X-Wing novel and a Wraith book, but at it's heart, it's a story about Piggy.

It's not often that we get to see minor Expanded Universe characters explored in such detail. Piggy was a fun and interesting character in the old Wraith books and in the Rebel Lines duology during the NJO. However, I never in my wildest dreams expected him to get his own book. Not only that, but Allston takes that fan character and uses him to explore a plot line entrenched with emotion. This isn't the story of a super funny, talking Gamorrean who can fly. This is a story about a veteran of the Yuuzhan Vong war whose been pulled in for one more mission. He's suffered in war. He has ghosts that haunt him. Allston sheds some light on the soldiers of the EU and the guilt and grief they must deal with. He illustrates the effects these wars have on the people, and he also shows what they must go through to deal with it.

Overall, I loved how the simple idea of a Wraith book became something much more complex, and yet still accomplished both tasks. This is a novel that's fun and is also one that makes you think. Together it's pure entertainment on the page.