laurapf's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
davieid's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
redspoiler's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
ninasophielang's review
3.0
Contrary to what the Tequila Sunrise colored cover suggests, this is a gritty, dark post-war novel full of PTSD riddled morally grey characters and nuanced takes on the only war we know and love. I had some issues with it: it took me quite a while to get into this slow burn (that could afford to lose some chapters?) and it took me about three quarters of the book before I realized I'd grown to care about its characters. Nonetheless a strong setup for the trilogy. Also Wyll is a cutiepatootie
zobiwanvicai's review
4.0
Very enjoyable. Looking forward to reading the second one a lot. Docked a star for the overuse of 'this is the story they told'.
rikakohlrabi's review
4.0
This is, as of 2019, the best written novel of the new canon, in my opinion. I'd give it 4.5 stars if I could. But there is a high standard set from the old canon. These are incredibly reminiscent of the X-Wing series by Stackpole and Allston. Those novels were phenomenal tales and only further publications will tell if this series will hold up to its predecessor. But if I compare this entry against the entry of Stackpole's, it doesn't quite hit the bar.
That said, the author does a wonderful job of creating compelling characters, all of whom I found frustrating and unlikable but in a way that I am curious to see how they manage to succeed or fail and grow. A decent job was done of representing the lone character returning from other tales in the new canon.
The plot feels quite dialed back, and I wonder if smaller scale stories is what we should expect from Star Wars with Disney as they leave all the truly epic stories for the big screen. Or perhaps if I just need to be patient for Disney's creators to fill in all the space. Despite feeling like a cog in a much larger picture, the plot is still interesting enough to draw you through the book and leaves quite a bit of interest moving forward. But the drawback with the plot becomes how small scale the enemy feels. While appropriate for the task-force of the story's protagonists, the feeling that the much bigger picture outside of the story is way more interesting is the biggest negative compared to the far more epic enemy in Stackpole's arc of X-Wing Rogue Squadron. There are hardly any specific details of the goingson outside the scope of the book so we don't know whether or not this is a main front of the galactic conflict or something much smaller. There is a chance that feeling is deliberate, but with how minuscule the enemy turned out to be at the end of this novel, I have a hard time imagining them growing, even with the intriguing lead in to the next novel in the Alphabet series at the end of this book.
I'm more excited about the followup to this series than any other as of yet. I am certainly hopeful that this positive direction continues for the quality of the Star Wars license.
That said, the author does a wonderful job of creating compelling characters, all of whom I found frustrating and unlikable but in a way that I am curious to see how they manage to succeed or fail and grow. A decent job was done of representing the lone character returning from other tales in the new canon.
The plot feels quite dialed back, and I wonder if smaller scale stories is what we should expect from Star Wars with Disney as they leave all the truly epic stories for the big screen. Or perhaps if I just need to be patient for Disney's creators to fill in all the space. Despite feeling like a cog in a much larger picture, the plot is still interesting enough to draw you through the book and leaves quite a bit of interest moving forward. But the drawback with the plot becomes how small scale the enemy feels. While appropriate for the task-force of the story's protagonists, the feeling that the much bigger picture outside of the story is way more interesting is the biggest negative compared to the far more epic enemy in Stackpole's arc of X-Wing Rogue Squadron. There are hardly any specific details of the goingson outside the scope of the book so we don't know whether or not this is a main front of the galactic conflict or something much smaller. There is a chance that feeling is deliberate, but with how minuscule the enemy turned out to be at the end of this novel, I have a hard time imagining them growing, even with the intriguing lead in to the next novel in the Alphabet series at the end of this book.
I'm more excited about the followup to this series than any other as of yet. I am certainly hopeful that this positive direction continues for the quality of the Star Wars license.
taberiusrex's review
5.0
Now this is a drop-dead awesome Star Wars book. It dives deep into the universe, dredging up the galaxy's murky depths as it addresses questions of loyalty, duty, and responsibility. Every character is flawed, there isn't a clear good or evil side to the conflict, and the characters have to work to earn their endings. Plus, one or two solid cameos from other Star Wars stories.
I'm not one to reminisce about the Legends books—I thought the continuity was irreparably snarled and they were too afraid to move past the Jedi-and-Sith status quo—but this book reads like some of the best of them: Rogue Squadron, Republic Commando, even the original Thrawn trilogy. It also takes full advantage of the Disney Canon reset to tell an interesting new story with deep and interesting characters.
This is definitely among my favorites for Star Wars books. I'd recommend this to anyone who is interested in reading more about the galaxy far, far away, since it's very approachable, but especially to fans of Rogue One.
I'm not one to reminisce about the Legends books—I thought the continuity was irreparably snarled and they were too afraid to move past the Jedi-and-Sith status quo—but this book reads like some of the best of them: Rogue Squadron, Republic Commando, even the original Thrawn trilogy. It also takes full advantage of the Disney Canon reset to tell an interesting new story with deep and interesting characters.
This is definitely among my favorites for Star Wars books. I'd recommend this to anyone who is interested in reading more about the galaxy far, far away, since it's very approachable, but especially to fans of Rogue One.
disneyfreak627's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0