World Famous Comics: The Bacta War (Star Wars: X-Wing Series, Book 4)
The Bacta War (Star Wars: X-Wing Series, Book 4)
By: Michael A. Stackpole Publisher: Spectra Average Rating: Binding: Mass Market Paperback Label: Spectra Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 384 Publication Date: January 01, 1997 Release Date: January 01, 1997
Product Description: When the Alliance Fleet mounts a major campaign against a deadly warlord, tyrant Ysanne Isard has taken control of Thyferra, intending to use its supply of medicinal bacta to destabilize and destroy the New Republic. Undermanned, deprived of Alliance support, Rogue Squadron must oppose Isard's plans, defeat her Star Destroyer fleet, and free Thyferra from her rule in a winner-take-all battle against a seemingly superior force.
Stackpole's Second Best Effort If you made it through the first 3 books you will be relieved to find that this one is much better. Finally some action, but Stackpole manages to still find ways to waste the characters time.
Satisfying conclusion to the first X-wing story arc The Bacta War by Michael Stackpole is the fourth book in the X-wing series and it brings the first major story arc to its conclusion. The stage set at the climax of the third book, The Krytos Trap, has Ysanne Isard escaping Coruscant and taking over the government of Thyferra, the primary producer of bacta in the galaxy. With the Krytos virus running rampant through the New Republic's alien populations, it is critical that access to Thyferra's bacta is restored and it is distributed as fairly as possible.
Unfortunately, since Isard is the legitimate head of the Thyferran government, the New Republic cannot overthrow her directly. In light of this, Wedge and the Rogues resign and take matters into their own hands, acquiring a new squadron of X-wings and making weapons deals with Huff Darklighter and Talon Karrde along the way. The task before the Rogues is to find a way using their limited resources to topple Isard from power and bring Thyferra back into the New Republic.
As always, Stackpole does an excellent job of managing a large cast of characters. Corran Horn continues as the primary focus of the story. Corran is grappling with revelations concerning his Jedi heritage and is unsure of how his potential ability with the Force jives with his service to the military. In this book Stackpole does a good job of not overly deifying Corran; he is confident of his pilot abilities but he is humanized by his fledgling explorations into the Force and his burgeoning relationship with Mirax Terrik. The introduction of Mirax's father Booster into the storyline is an immediately welcome addition.
Isard and her partners-in-crime Fliry Vorru and the traitorous pilot Erisi Dlarit spend many of their chapters plotting in Isard's office. Some of their dialogue is a bit too much in the mustache-twirling, stereotypically evil villain vein, but that was the case in parts of the prior books as well. The shifting alliances and power struggles in their group are engaging as they try to consolidate their power and take on the indomitable Rogues.
The methods Rogue Squadron use to take on Isard and her followers are quite cleverly written and thought out. Since the New Republic cannot officially back the effort, Wedge takes on the comfortable role he always had in the Rebellion, leading a small, scrappy group against seemingly insurmountable odds. The varied minor actions the Rogues take throughout the book build to a gripping climatic sequence starting at the Yag'Dhul space station they have been using as a base of operations and ending, of course, at Thyferra where Isard has made her lair.
Kudos to Stackpole for such a satisfying four-book storyline. He introduces a host of characters and plot points and does an admirable job of differentiating them enough to be easily memorable and of bringing them to solid conclusions at the end. Being free of the chains of using the primary Star Wars film characters has really paid off in this series, and the sense of danger is much higher when characters may actually die (and do). These four books are highly recommended.
Rogue Squadron strikes again The Bacta War is the fourth book in the X-wing series. Mr. Stackpole has done an admirable job with the first three, and he continues to do so with this one. All of these books are great fun to read. The characters grab your attention, and the action sequences are outstanding. The reader also should be entitled to credit for continuing education in the Star Wars realm because the mechanics of actually flying an X-wing fighter are described in some detail. Read these books and then watch the films again. See if you don't have a finer appreciation for what the pilots are doing and a better understanding of the challenges they face.
In this fourth episode the Alliance Fleet has mounted a major campaign against a deadly warlord. Our old friend Ysanne Isard, the Director of Imperial Intelligence and wanna-be leader of the Empire, is still on the scene as she has moved to Thyferra with the intention of controlling the galaxy's production of bacta. If successful, she could destabilize and destroy the New Republic. Of course it falls to our heroes in Rogue Squadron to take her on even though they have resigned their positions in the Rebel Fleet and must act as a rag-tag band of stalwart adventurers without official assistance from the Alliance. One of the major problems facing the Squadron is that Isard has at her disposal the Lusankya, two Imperial Star Destroyers, and a Victory Star Destroyer. Against such overwhelming forces, the Squadron relies on plans developed by Wedge Antilles involving a hunt-and-peck strategy with much bluffing to battle Isard's forces.
As in his previous Rogue Squadron books, Mr. Stackpole carries us through an excellent tale and leaves us wanting more. On to Book 5 of the X-wing series - Wraith Squadron by Aaron Allston.
Putting Iceheart on Ice... X-Wing: The Bacta War picks up from where the Krytos Trap left off. Wedge, Corran, and the other members of Rogue Squadron have chosen to leave the New Republic so they can run Iceheart to ground on Thyferra (the planet famous for generating Bacta). To do this, Wedge and company occupy a space station that was "destroyed" by the New Republic and use this for a base of operation against Isard and her forces. The action is quick and sharp. Rogue Squadron leads with their strength (raiding) and bring in some new capabilities in the form of smugglers (we learn a little bit about Karrde and Booster). The Good: Mr. Stackpole put together a winner here! I was a little let down in The Krytos Trap because we went from space combat in snubfighters to fighter jocks acting as commandos and saboteurs; instead we get space action that fits what you expect from Rogue Squadron! Snubfighters ambushing freighters, engaging Star Destroyers, and smugglers working to help Rogue Squadron fight the Empire. The characters are strong, their dialog is good (Mr. Stackpole could do better by reading about dogfights or listening to dialog from the History Channel, but really not much), and most importantly they behave like I'd expect real people to behave. There's no seam going from The Krytos Trap to The Bacta Wars, and for me, I loved the fact that they had specialist working on the ground rather than fighter jocks (since when do you put highly trained fighter jocks doing Special Forces work). The head games between Isard and Wedge are realistic, as are those between Corran and Booster. The Bad: There's not many. A big weakness is that the story follows the tried and true of the Star Wars saga. Meaning Rebel (New Republic) forces engage in hit and run tactics till the Empire screws up and then they kill them. Mr. Stackpole covers for this by implying Isard is off her game, something I find a little hard to believe (she set the Krytos trap up herself). We're also told of great fracturing of the Empire's forces than we were lead to believe in the earlier books. Mr. Stackpole does play a little bit with Corran's "Jedi" powers, but not enough to disturb the story. The biggest weakness is the lack of losses for Rogue Squadron (especially considering what they're engaging). Bottomline: This is a solid 4 star book for any lover of Star Wars (actually, I can see a Star Wars lover rating it 5 stars, however 4 from me). It's everything you look for with good writing to boot! Mr. Stackpoles X-Wing series is nicely put together with good flow and The Bacta War delivers nicely. If you're not a Star Wars fan I believe you'll enjoy the story, I do recommend starting with Rogue Squadron though and working your way to The Bacta War (however you could do the Star Wars thing and just start with this story). A good read, I look forward to reading more in the series and by Mr. Stackpole.
The Rogue Squadron Tetralogy, Book 4 I understand that this series was capitalizing on the popularity of a computer game, but it would have been better if it didn't have the title of "X-Wing."
That minor beef aside, the first 4 books of this series form a tetralogy featuring the exploits of the ace starfighter squadron. For post-Return of the Jedi novels that are not about Luke, Han and Leia, these books are not bad.
As for the best novels from the era of the movie saga, I highly recommend the following 5-star novels:
Cloak of Deception (Star Wars) Shadow Hunter (Star Wars: Darth Maul) Labyrinth of Evil (Star Wars, Episode III Prequel Novel) Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader (Star Wars) Shadows of the Empire (Star Wars)
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
Not Available Comics
Trevor
