Customer Reviews

Star Wars: The New Jedi Order: Enemy Lines I: Rebel Dreams

5 star:		(57)
4 star:		(28)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

First of all, I'll say that few of the New Jedi Order books have managed to convey what this book did even in it's first few chapters; emotion, powerful relationships, heart-pounding action sequences, all the while keeping with and expanding on the complex overall plot of the series.

The book backtracks slightly, opening about two-thirds of the way through Dark Journey, which was fine with me, since that book focused so singly on Jaina and her personal angst that I tended to lose the big picture in my mind. Rest assured, Allston is a terrific author, perhaps the best yet, and he definitely shows his talents in this one. While much of the attention is still reserved for Jaina, it also gives a sweeping, overall look at the whole war, which isn't looking good for our heroes at present. Anakin Solo, one of the best hopes for victory, is dead; Jacen is captured and presumed dead by just about everyone except his mother, Leia. Jaina, torn by grief and rage over the death of her brothers is off fighting her own demons; and the Yuuzhan Vong have finally taken the capitol, the crowning jewel of the galaxy, Coruscant. Luke and Mara are becoming increasingly protective of their infant son, which makes them both less useful as leaders to the Jedi.

Luke, desperate to do something to make the galaxy safer for his son to grow up in, decides to take on a near suicide mission to Coruscant, both to investigate a strange and frightening infestation of the dark side there, and to confirm whether or not Jacen is still alive, and if so to free him, or die trying.
The government is in shambles, our heroes are dying, and the Vong now have the majority of the galaxy. Even so, despite the ominous and painful direction the series is taking, Allston still lightens it from time to time with slight inflections of humor. Barely noticeable, but there. While I never caught myself laughing out loud like I did over some of his X-Wing books, it lightened this dark tale considerably, and kept it from depressing me out of my mind the way Star by Star did.

Also, thanks to the author for making Tahiri a mildly interesting character again. After Star by Star (when she played the typical jealous teenage girlfriend, Ugh) and Dark Journey (the whining weeping mourner everyone feels sorry for) I was really starting to dislike her, but this book restored her in my relative favor. Jaina as well was better here, instead of being portrayed as she usually is (the sort of bratty teenage daughter that's every parent's nightmare, determined to bring her parents to early graves) but rather, we finally see the true warrior that she is; the better halves of both her parents, as she wages phsycological warfare on the Vong, determined to make them pay for hurting her brothers.

Even so, some parts of this book really did annoy me, hence my four star rating. First and foremost is the lack of Jacen-action. How long are they going to keep us in limbo like this? Bring him back or kill him permanently, and soon. If they don't intend to let him be rescued yet, at least let us see what they're doing to him in captivity. The suspence is killing me!

Also, what has happened to Mara? Where is the toughness, the dark humor, the inner strength and vitality that made her so endearing in the first place? Yes, I realize that now that she is a mother she needs to start putting her child first; especially in the middle of a horrible war, but that doesn't have to mean she should suddenly dissolve into a complete weakling, I mean, was there a scene in this book when she was not holding Ben? As for her relationship with Luke, I won't even go there. They need to give her something of her own to do, besides wiping her baby's rear.

Third, I really disliked the Jaina/Jag developments in this book. Of course, anyone who's read the Dark Tide dualogy could see this coming a mile away, but it still bothers me. Of course, I'm probably biased on this subject, since, being a long time fan of Young Jedi Knights I always thought Jaina should end up with Zekk. But really, it isn't that I don't like Jag, in fact I've gotten to be quite fond of him, I just think he's all wrong with Jaina. Jag is a rule follower; a by the books, take-your-hat-off-inside, Yes Ma'am kind of guy. Jaina is adventurous, a risk taker, most of the time not bothering to think of the consequences of her actions before she makes them, and frankly I think Jag would bore her out of her mind in a week, and her constant heedless recklessness would drive him insane. Much as I hate to say it, even Kyp would be better. :-( Oh, well. For fans of the series, this book won't disapoint you.

After the Vong have plundered and destroyed the Star Wars Universe, after having some of our favorite characters taken from us, and after much darkness this novel brings the light. I feel that this is the first book in the newest series to bring a lighter tone back to Star Wars, to salvage what we love about these characters, and bring back hope.

This novel is very reminiscent of the rebellion during the original trilogy and when you read it, you will understand why. Wedge Antilles plays a very prominent role in the novel as does Luke and Jaina. Han and Leia have some heartwarming scenes. Look to this novel to resolve the issues circling Jaina, Kyp, and Jag (meaning the supposed love triangle).

The jacket of the novel is a tad misleading, describing a mission Luke plans to take that would lead him back to Coruscant. In actuality, the mission does not begin until the last pages of the book and is to be continued in the following novel. All in all, I enjoyed the author's tone immensely. The novel flowed very well.

In a nutshell, after reading this book, you are left with a feeling of relief, that finally the New Republic may have a chance against the Vong.

At 304 pages, Rebel Dream is one of the more action packed novels in the series and actually begins to develop multiple story threads that finally seem to push the overall New Jedi Order series forward.

The author takes a different approach in presentation: Rebel Dream reads more like a day by day journal of events, as each chapter and important paragraph begins by identifying the day and location during the Borleias occupation.

Borleias is the system in which General Wedge Antilles retakes from the Vong after the fall of Coruscant and establishes a very prominent last stand base for the New Republic forces. His goal is twofold: 1) Bring moral back to the New Republic, and 2) Taunt the Vong and have the war come to him.

Seeing that the author has previous experience in the SW universe especially with his novels revolving around Rouge Squadron, characters such as Antilles, Tycho, and others is second nature and well done.

Jaina Solo, Jedi Kyp Durron and pilot Jag Fel form a formidable trio as Jaina further assumes the role of the Vong trickster goddess and wreaks havoc on the various Yuuzhan forces sent to capture her. And finally, after be teased about for so long, an actual love triangle begins to develop among Jag and Jaina and how Kyp plays into this.

Lando is back as is his new droid sidekick, YVH1-1A lead a mission back to fallen Coruscant delivering a covert Jedi strike team consisting of Luke, Mara, Tahiri and others.

Leia and Han's relationship seems back on track and they perform missions back to Maw installation, with young Tarc (the Anakin look alike) in tow.

Meanwhile Wedge's creation of an inner circle of trusted military advisors soon becomes the focus and they begin to hint to the Vong of a new super weapon and finally the Emperor's Hammer. However, they need to be careful, it seems a traitor is in the ranks, and the Vong may have an inside line.

Lastly we see the seeds sown of distrust for Tsavong Lah (the Vong warmaster) and soon he begins to suspect that he has his own conspirators to deal with.

I would have liked to have seen a bit more Yuuzhan Vong dealings, especially the growing discord of warmaster Lah and his minions...hopefully this will flesh out in the next installments.

In the end, Rebel Dream has finally put some action back into the New Jedi Order series that seemed a bit lacking in the last few attempts.

Thank God for Aaron Allston.

Finally. True to form, the X-Wing veteran breaths some life into this series. Can't wait for the Rebel Stand (part II).

The fun characters are back, the action scenes are back, without sacrificing the plot or the "bigger issues". This guy is good.

I was thrilled that some of the Wraiths made appearances. Will Lara Notsil show up next? Pleeeaaase mr Allston!
Also Wedge and Tycho and Lando and Horn and.. the Lusankya. Yeah baby! we 're fighting back. The "I suggest you destroy another one" scene, between Lando and the War Droid is hilarious. Vintage Allston.

After the dumb killing of Anakin (what IS the point of building up the coolest character since Coran Horn to kill him off a couple of books later?!) I almost stopped reading this series. Dark Journey was sad - could have summarised the entire book in less than 100 pages...

Read this one people, it's worth it. FINALLY...

Aaron Allston hasn't lost his touch since his expansion on the X-wing series a few years back, that's for sure. His description and writing style is easily noticable, one of great ideas and strategy, combined with detail and a good plotline. The most noticeable trait is his humor, which is inserted expertly into convenient places for maximum effectiveness. Particularly around Wraith Squadron, which Allston created himself in his expansion into the X-wing series, there's points where the reader just has to stop to laugh for a few seconds. It's amazing fun to read his work.

The idea to become the rebellion again, in that sense, was a great touch. Many of the unique strategies, particularly a radical idea from Lando Calrissian in the opening scene (read the book to see what I'm talking about) was just short of genius. I had tears in my eyes from laughing and just pure joy throughout the last 5 or so chapters, enjoying it all.

At last! after 10 volumes of the Jedi and their allies getting kicked around by the disgusting Yuuzhan Vong, they get to give back some of what they've been given! Plus, the little controvesy about Jaina Solo's relationships with Kyp Durron and Jag Fel are cleared up. (Whew!)

Those who were mostly disappointed (such as myself) by the earlier books of the New Jedi Order series will be greatly uplifted by this. Read this and you'll wanna pick up a lightsaber and blaster and kick some Yuuzhan Vong posterior along with the heroes!

Alright, I love these books, that is plain and simple. Yet they've been quite droppy lately. The first light of hope came through Troy Denning's Star By Star.
Yet this book brakes the ice. I say a good book lets you fall in love with the chracters, even if they are bad. Throughout all the books you HATE Kip Durron. Hes such a dispicable chracter. Yet in this book you really like him. He is REALLY trying to turn around. You find him thinking about how much he ows Han Solo. Hes a good guy in this book.
And the way the auther writes and formats his chapters is excelent!You look with surprise as you start the second chapter, the first showing them to occuppy Borealis, it says onthe top: Borealis Occupation, Day 1.
There are only two flaws this book has. 1:The goddes thing. They accually treat Jania like a goddess! It gets really anouying! 2:Jania's relationship with Jagged Fel. At the end of Dark Jouney Jania addmits she likes Jag. Yet at the biggining of this book, she treats him like dirt again!!! At the endish of the book, you cant help saying, "Finnaly!!!"
Yet, overal this is probably the best book in the series so far. I highly recomend it!

Rebel Dream was yet another of the better books in the New Jedi Order series. Taking place just shortly after the fall of Coruscant, the New Republic Advisory Council sets up a fleet at Borleias to trick the Yuuzhan Vong into believing that Borleias is a key planet, which in theory does indeed work, but it makes everyone else concerned about the N.R.A.C.'s ability to function properly. So Han, Leia, Luke, Mara, and others visit various worlds to spread rebellion against the New Republic, the one thing they spent their lives to create. The cool thing about this book is that a new plan is set into motion, one that could bring an end to the Yuuzhan Vong invasion completely. What is it you ask? I'll just say that it involves the re-creation of something that the main characters spent their lives DESTROYING: The Empire. I really like how the book ends like a cliffhanger, so that if you read this book you have to go out and buy Enemy Lines II: Rebel Stand when it comes out.

Okay, so I'd already felt that this book was barely above mediocre by the midway point and finishing the book only confirms my feeling.

There are slow annoying parts, do all Star Wars writers use the same script for character development? It seems that way, Allston has his own style for characters and it still occasionally shows up but half the time Jaina is thinking in the book you could've substituted any lesser Star Wars writer and ended up with the same monologue! Allston does better with his characterization of the Vong, heh, by the end Taslong Lah is paranoid and the intrigue is more entertaining than Nom Anor and Vergere bickering like kids.
The plot is entertaining so I won't spoil it... too much. Some old friends (gee, I wonder who?) return in this novel though their positions as secondary characters mean that they're restricted to comic relief which ... since I liked them. The original Star Wars characters are in and out of the action which is nice, after 25 years they should take a bit of a break. Lando is cool in a way he hasn't been since... well, I really didn't notice him before but Allston actually made me care about him instead of imagining him being frozen in carbonite right after he left a scene.

There are still massive problems and I finally realize what they are. Occasionally the characters' dialogue and monologues become generic, there's no sense of originality or verisimilitude, ANY Star Wars writer could write the characters with an equal amount of success. The Wraith Squadron novels didn't feel like this and I think it's because they did not have predefined responses laid out by canon while the people here need to continue through the novel without major alterations that would screw up later writers (I'm still wondering how they managed to kill Anakin) I know canon makes sure we don't have manic-depressives running all over the place but it seems to be preventing Allston from reaching his full potential (he is strong in the Force! i don't deny that!) Allston's humor is still there though it is muted, I guess because a war is going on but it is greatly appreciated, you've gotta respect a book that has this line:

For the first time in years, Luke found himself facing an
opponent whose very nature made him waver in courage
and resolve: bureaucracy.

Now that showcases one of Allston's greatest talent, making me laugh out loud. This is still a good book but I'm not sure if I'm buying the sequel; "The Stars My Destination" really was a great novel that towers over this when I wanted them to be equals. I hope Allston returns to his old style because that is what attracted me to his books in the first place, well him and Michael A. Stackpole.

REBEL DREAM is a step in the right direction. After so many depressing, dark, dreary, violent NJO books, REBEL DREAM was a welcome relief. While things are still extremely bleak in that galaxy, there is finally a more hopeful feel to this book, and there is even a little humor.

I was glad to see more of Luke, Wedge, and Lando. Luke Skywalker has been badly mangled in the New Jedi Order series. REBEL DREAM is the first book since VECTOR PRIME in which Luke was written in-character. It was great to finally see him more active, involved, and having visions again. I'd like to see more of the Jedi Master in the future and more of Han and Leia and Mara too. The books have been leaning heavily in the direction of the younger characters up to this point, and frankly, I prefer the Original Trilogy characters to the teenagers.

I like the idea of the Insiders and the New Rebel Alliance. Can't wait for REBEL STAND!