Star Wars: X-wing Book 6: The Iron Fist [Import] [Paperback]

AARON ALLSTON (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 419 pages
• Publisher: BANTAM; paperback / softback edition (1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553506005
• ISBN-13: 978-0553506006
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (85 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,145,118 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Aaron Allston is the New York Times bestselling author of 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; and the Doc Sidhe novels, which combine 1930s-style hero-pulps with Celtic myth. He is also a longtime game designer and was recently inducted into the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design (AAGAD) Hall of Fame. He lives in Central Texas.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wriath Squadron Trilogy (Wraith Squadron/Iron Fist/Solo Cmd), November 28, 1999

By 

"opuspenguin" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Iron Fist (Star Wars: X-Wing Series, Book 6) (Mass Market Paperback)

Star Wars books sometimes suffer from life- and galaxy-shattering plots, to the point the they are often depressing, unbelievable, and sometimes just stupid. The Wraith Trilogy (Rogue Squadron: Wraith Squadron/Iron Fist/Solo Command) is almost the antithesis, injected with humor and life, even though the characters are self-professed screw-ups about to be washed out of piloting. Instead of being a lot about piloting and aerial dogfights, this unit is made up of commandos who are also great pilots. The characters are mainly new and untried, and desperate to impress their commander, Wedge Antilles, hero of the New Republic, who creates this unit to meet a real need. The Wraiths learn to trust each other, cheer together when they succeed and cry real tears when missions don't go according to their plan, and they lose friends and comrades. Though these stories were obviously conceived to dove-tail into "The Courtship of Princess Leia," they are great stories, with many funny lines and situations. Its not all comedy -- the unit helps one member through manic depression and career-ending insanity, another is a spy who ends up wanting to be just an honest pilot, another is a former slave who is forced to murder a squadron mate, yet another realizes that he is the killer of the father of one of his pilots, another seeks to contact a traitor to learn about his sister, etc. Heady and heavy stuff! Since none of these are main or film characters, there is no fear of contradicting continuity for the characters of this series. I became a Star Wars novel fan through these lines of books. I admit, I am disappointed with most of the other novels, and always wish that more Wraith Squadron books could be written instead, even as children's books, if need be!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a worthwhile entry in the X-Wing series, May 10, 2005

By 

Joe Sherry (Minnesota) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Iron Fist (Star Wars: X-Wing Series, Book 6) (Mass Market Paperback)

"Iron Fist" is the sixth book in the X-Wing series and is also the second volume in Aaron Allston's trilogy about the Wraith Squadron. After being formed by Wedge Antilles in "Wraith Squadron", the Wraiths are out to eliminate one the biggest enemies of the new Republic: the Warlord Zsinj. Unlike the legendary Rogue Squadron of the first four books, Wraith Squadron is more of a covert insurgent squadron than the elite pilots that comprise the Rogues. The purpose of the Wraiths is completely different.

To get close enough to Zsinj to destroy him, the Wraiths pose as a band of pirates looting and attacking former Empire outposts and installations. They come to the attention of Zsinj and the Wraiths finally have their chance to take out Zsinj, but the risk is great. Being identified as Republic will eliminate any chance of a covert action against Zsinj and the chance of all of the Wraiths being killed in action is great. But the mission is more important than their lives.

This book had a somewhat slow start, but Allston soon picked up the pace with well written space battles and a lot of humor. The humor is something that sets this little series apart. The Wraiths are almost constantly joking and pulling pranks on each other all the while working to complete their mission. It really is a treat to read for the Star Wars fan. The X-Wing books, "Iron Fist" included, seem to have a very good grasp of the heart of Star Wars. It's fun. These books would likely have made good movies had George Lucas decided to take the series in this direction. I scarcely need to recommend the sixth X-Wing book because anybody who has read this far certainly already enjoys the series. But, if a reader is looking to get into the Star Wars novels, the X-Wing series is an excellent place to begin. Start with "Rogue Squadron" and work through the series.

-Joe Sherry

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars First time I ever cried while reading SW, April 10, 2003

By 

Guinastasia "Guinastasia" (Pittsburgh, PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Iron Fist (Star Wars: X-Wing Series, Book 6) (Mass Market Paperback)

I LOVE the Wraith books. However, this book was really sad. Without spoiling it for anyone, I will say that it made me cry and I stopped reading it and didn't pick it up again for almost two years! But it's a GREAT book, and I highly encourage you to read it. (But the sad part made me give it only four stars instead of five.)

Oh, and once again-Face and Phanan ROCK!!!