Customer Reviews

Solo Command (Star Wars X Wing)

5 star:		(65)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

1. The Rogues are back with more to do. Corran Horn, Tal'Dira, and Iniryi Forge have quite a bit of stuff here. Forge's one chapter seems to give more dialogue than Stackpole ever gave her after WEdge's Gamble.

(Man, this keyboard is messed up. Any mistakes are probably because of the keyboard. Keys are sticking all over the place.)

2. The humor is still great. Wedge' mutiny and his revenge on Jansen are terrific. Elassar Targon seems to fit in well withthe Wraiths, except for Runt of course.

3. Awww, Wedge is back with Iella, I guess. Sort of. She's mentioned in one scene. Anyway, they are back together.

4. Han Solo is dead on with character. Great job, Allston.

5. Great Drama marks this book. The scene where Face accidently makes a revalation over an open comm channel is great. Wraiths in the oven, also good. Wedge and Baron Fel played out great too.

6. Deaths. Allston has backed the body count down a notch or two but the deaths of characters are appreciated. Two relatively minor characters are dispatched in various battles but the way one of them dies is particularly chilling.

7. About time we had assasins in the SW universe. The attacks on the political and military officials were very nicely done.

8. Opening. Allston has the best opening paragraphs of any SW EU author IMHO. He started off Iron Fist with a bang and he matches it here. Twelve minutes to live. Wow!!

One minor quibble:

It got a little old having Solo jump in and pound at Zsinj and then having him jump out and Solo slumps his shoulders in despair. Redundancy and predictability are the name of the game in these slugging mathces.

Gotta go. I'd stay longer but someone just came in to tell me that the Rancors are stealing my top hats. I've got to put a stop to that. See ya.

"Solo Command" is the seventh volume in the X-Wing series and is the concluding book of Aaron Allston's trilogy about exploits of the Wraith Squadron founded by Wedge Antilles. To give a quick refresher, Wraith Squadron was formed because Wedge's Rogue Squadron was so well known as being the best that anytime the Rogues were dispatched on a mission any chance of covertness was eliminated. While the Rogues were the best of the best, a Star Wars Top Gun squadron, the Wraiths were chosen from the dregs of the New Republic. These are the pilots who, for one reason or another, were going to wash out. This isn't to say that these pilots can't fly an X-Wing, because they can, but rather it was often behavioral issues that caused the problem. But Wedge didn't form the Wraiths to be an elite unit like Rogue Squadron. Wraith Squadron is to be a unit designed to get the pilots in close and do insurgency missions, often on the ground. The primary mission of the Wraiths has been against the Warlord Zsinj, a former Imperial turned criminal who is the largest threat to both the New Republic and the vestiges of the Empire.

Finally the New Republic and the Wraiths will be going after Zsinj directly. The plan is to attempt to lure Zsinj into a battle where his flagship, the Iron Fist, can be captured or destroyed. To do this, the Wraiths are using Han Solo and the Millennium Falcon as bait...or a decoy of the Falcon. The Wraiths, the Republic, and even an officer in the Empire are working together to attack the businesses of Zsinj so that he will be forced into combat.

Meanwhile, Zsinj is working against the New Republic by activating a project of his to install fear and distrust between humans and non-humans in the Republic, and it was this original mixing of the races that proved so strong for the New Republic in light of the anti-alien stance of the Empire. But now this is being threatened and the Council of the New Republic has no evidence that the events are anything other than attacks by the individual races.

"Solo Command" is quite possibly the best of the three Wraith novels and is as good as some of the Rogue books. It still features a rather large amount of humor and jokes and pranks with the Wraith pilots, but features a faster moving plot that actually seems to be going somewhere. The previous two Wraith books didn't really seem to advance any sort of storyline. Something else that I liked here was that the Rogue Squadron was included on the main mission here, so there was intermingling between the two X-Wing squadrons that Wedge commands. Han Solo also makes a guest starring appearance here and it was nice to see how he fits into all of this (thus far in the chronology he hasn't had a lot to do, though I know he's been busy and will get a larger role in future novels).

All told this was a satisfying conclusion to the Wraith trilogy and it leads into the storyline of "The Courtship of Princess Leia". "Solo Command" features excellent action scenes and space battle sequences with the X-Wings. Fast paced, fun, and exciting. It's exactly what Star Wars should be.

-Joe Sherry

The best book I've ever read. Allston makes the life of a pilot sound like an exciting and daring adventure. And he picked his charactors so well. who woulda thunk that Solo woulda become commander of a star destroyer. An excellent book to use to convert anyone to the SWU.

Solo Command is the seventh book in the X-wing series and the third one by Aaron Allston after four by Michael Stackpole. In Mr. Allston's books, we travel primarily with Wraith Squadron, a group of highly capable, but possibly not yet well trained, pilots put together by Wedge Antilles with the specific goal of finding and destroying Warlord Zsinj and his ship Iron Fist. The members of Wraith Squadron are a mixed band representing a multitude of different skills. Each one also appears to have been somewhat of a misfit along the way. Additional characters play major roles in this tale. Flight Officer Lara Notsil is a woman with a hidden background, varying loyalties along with a multitude of names and identities with appropriate backgrounds to match. Rogue Squadron also gets to help out in this book. It's good to have them back.

General Han Solo has been leading the efforts to find and deal with Warlord Zsing. However, all efforts so far have failed to flush out Zsing in an attempt to win a final battle. So after hearing a joking suggestion from a pilot in Wraith Squadron, Solo agrees to the construction of a fake Milennium Falcon that will be flown on various missions. The hope is that Zsing will be unable to resist a possible opportunity to capture his nemesis Han Solo. Along the way, we are also introduced to a nefarious plan of Zing's to biomedically transform various sentients into vessels who will perform specific attacks upon receipt of a codeword. A major battle takes place on Saffalore at a Binring Biomedical facility where Piggy of Wraith Squadron underwent a biological transformation.

The plot of this book wanders aimlessly a few times, but the conclusion and the various battles taking place during the wandering make up for it. Wraith Squadron is an interesting band of unusual pliots, and their adventures are well worth reading.

Solo Command is the seventh book in the excellent Star Wars: X-wing series and the third by author Aaron Allston. In this entry, Wraith Squadron continues to pursue Warlord Zsinj and his fearsome Super Star Destroyer Iron Fist. Helping the Wraiths out are their teammates in Rogue Squadron and several other fighter groups, all under the able command of General Han Solo. Han has been pursuing Zsinj fruitlessly for months on end, and he is anxious to end this battle and return to Coruscant and Princess Leia. However, every time he manages to engage Zsinj in battle Zsinj simply slips through his fingers.

In light of this, a new plan is developed. Evidence shows Zsinj has been tracking the activities of the Millennium Falcon closely and making plans based on its movements. The New Republic task force develops a copy of the Falcon, the cleverly named Millennium Falsehood. The Falsehood begins moving from system, seemingly to stir up pro-New Republic sentiments and local rebellions against the Imperial remnants, but in reality attempting to draw Zsinj out for a final confrontation.

As in the last two books, Allston's greatest strength is his characterizations. The pilots are easily differentiated and the reader quickly comes to care for them. Particularly moving in Solo Command is the relationship between former Imperial spy Lara Notsil and tormented pilot Myn Donos. Lara's relationship with her astromech Tonin and their plot involving the mouse droids on the Iron Fist are priceless. Allston also further deepens Piggy's story as we visit a Binring Biomedical facility on Saffalore where he was biologically altered, and we meet several other sentients in the book's climax who have undergone similar traumatic transformations.

Similarly to the sixth book, Iron Fist, I found the plot of this volume to be a bit disjointed and unfocused. Also comparable to every book in this series, the various disparate plot pieces eventually lead to a spectacular conclusion. Zsinj is forced to employ every tactic in his arsenal in an attempt to save Iron Fist and retain his grip on power. I found Zsinj in these three X-wing books by Allston to be an entertaining break from the typical Star Wars villain. He comes across as weaker and really, nicer than what I'm accustomed to. I wouldn't rank him as one of the most engaging antagonists of the Expanded Universe but he does present a nice contrast to Grand Admiral Thrawn, Admiral Daala, Ysanne Isard, and others of their ilk.

I thoroughly enjoyed Solo Command. Allston's three entries in the series thus far feel more standalone than Stackpole's earlier four, and where that may mean the plots have less focus, it also gives Allston ample room to provide the reader with some very memorable characters to root for. There is plenty of humor scattered throughout this book and overall it is a highly entertaining read.

The wraiths and Rogues, under the command of General Han Solo, go after the warlord Zsinj and his super star destroyer Iron Fist. This book is a nice mix of action, emotional turmoil, and hilarious hijinks. Wraith squadron has proved itself to have just as good as characters as Rogue squadron, if not better, simply because of all the flaws in their personalities.

This book does a great job of incorporating all the story lines and finishing off the three book cycle. Highly suggested for all star wars fans.

This was a good conclusion to the "Wraith Squadron" trilogy of the x-wing series. Overall it was an intertaining read and I found myself laughing out loud at times. However, the ending to me left a little to be desired. There are two more x-wing novels after this that are stand along novels, but they are stand alone novels. I would recommend this book, read it if you get a chance.

This is one of the best books of all the series. I have been reading this series for over a year now and it's quite addicting. These books are so much fun to read because I love the action they carry in each book, and it really gets deep into the characters lives. Most of the time I won't read a book unless it has a lot of action. The characters have been in these book the whole time and my favorite is Wedge Antilles(the captain of the fighter squadron).After finishing "Solo Command" there are only two books after that, in the series.
Most of the story is based on a squadron of fighter pilots chasing down a warlord that is causing mass chaos in the universe. These pilots then have to chase him down and use all the strength they have to stop Warlord Zsinj from ruling the known universe. It's takken them all seven books so far and they are hoping to end his rule in this book. I am hoping that the last two books in the series stay this good and I should complete this series in a little while.

The Rogue and Wraith Squadrons team up under Han Solo to take out Warlord Zsinj once and for all, Lara Notsil's treasonous past is finally revealed, and...ah heck JUST READ THIS BOOK! A complete blast from beginning to end with a nice emotionally satisfying conclusion that also sets up Dave Wolverton's The Courtship of Princess Leia and one that will have you rushing out to find the next volume in the series, just to see if certain plot threads are picked up and woven into the next story. I for one hope they are, these characters really grow on you and I hate to see them go. Highly recommended.

WOW and double wow. I thought that iron fist was good, but Allston has actually outdone himself on this one! Just when I thought things couldn't get any better, Han Solo arrived on the scene to shake things up a bit . . .

Allston is a literary master of characters and plot, and he has discovered something that was first used by Timothy Zahn: the personalities of characters are important! For the first time reading some books, I discovered that I could relate to the characters. I really connect with Myn Donos, (heck even though i'm a girl), with his nagging feelings that he has to be in control, yet his subconcious desire to be like everyone else. Solo Command has fullfilled this, pulling the relationships of the characters to a close, and succesfully passing the baton to another author and another book (the courtship of princess leia).

I was rolling with laughter at what has become known as "wedge's revenge", and crying with pain when Lara gave her speech to the ewok pilot on "we're both lies."
I also liked how they broght Tetran cowell (?) face's opposing actor, into the book. He's so evil, its wonderful, even though he's only in one scene.

The dialogue is great, the scenes are wonderful, and I hope that Allston writes more books in the future, whether they are star wars or not!

PS Yub yub forever!