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carterkalchik's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
With Ambush at Corellia, Roger MacBride Allen caught the Star Wars Expanded Universe baton from Kevin J. Anderson and Vonda McIntyre and more than adequately began his section of the relay.
Leia, Han, Chewie and the kids (Jaina, Jacen, and Anakin) are off to Corellia for a trade and mutual goodwill mission in an attempt to bring the isolationist sector closer to the increasingly established New Republic. Problem is, trouble is brewing in the sector and it’s… pro-human fascism. Yikes. Also, Lando ropes Luke into helping him find a wife.
Is this the best the EU had to offer? No, far from it. And reading the EU books in publication order, this is the first where the decision to do annual trilogies really starts to feel like a money grab. Ambush at Corellia is almost all setup for the next books. It feels like the first 45 minutes of a two-part series pilot, which means it doesn’t feel like a complete book on its own.
But it’s fun, fast-paced, and feels “Star Warsy” without all of the traditional trappings of Star Wars (hardly a lightsaber or X-Wing in sight). MacBride Allen leaves you wanting more, which is about as best as he could do given the assignment.
Leia, Han, Chewie and the kids (Jaina, Jacen, and Anakin) are off to Corellia for a trade and mutual goodwill mission in an attempt to bring the isolationist sector closer to the increasingly established New Republic. Problem is, trouble is brewing in the sector and it’s… pro-human fascism. Yikes. Also, Lando ropes Luke into helping him find a wife.
Is this the best the EU had to offer? No, far from it. And reading the EU books in publication order, this is the first where the decision to do annual trilogies really starts to feel like a money grab. Ambush at Corellia is almost all setup for the next books. It feels like the first 45 minutes of a two-part series pilot, which means it doesn’t feel like a complete book on its own.
But it’s fun, fast-paced, and feels “Star Warsy” without all of the traditional trappings of Star Wars (hardly a lightsaber or X-Wing in sight). MacBride Allen leaves you wanting more, which is about as best as he could do given the assignment.
fandom4ever's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Ambush on Corellia is the first book in the Corellian trilogy, taking place in Han’s home sector. It’s the first time he’s been back in many years and boy has the system changed. This series was released in 1995, among some of the first books in the Expanded Universe. Indeed I had to look into it and found at this time, that in addition to the movie novelizations, the Han Solo and Lando Calrissian Adventures, the Thrawn trilogy, the Jedi Academy trilogy, The Truce at Bakura and The Courtship of Princess Leia had been released. There are quite a few books in between there now whose events had yet to happen in publication history including Han Solo’s trilogy. It was really interesting to read this, in terms of publication, backwards. I knew all these events of Han’s earlier years from that trilogy and yet this series will be making references that will be further explained in those books. It makes your head spin a little, mostly in the fact that I had to keep in mind that the reason certain things weren’t being referenced was because they didn’t exist yet! Now this did not take away from the book, it was just something I had to keep in mind.
As Ambush on Corellia is the first of three, most of the story is dedicated to setting up the plot and political scene in the Corellian sector. There is something brewing there between the three main species and naturally Han and Leia will find themselves in the midst of it when they decide to take a family vacation there before a trade summit. I loved reading more of the Solo children who are now 9 and 7 and more able to interact with others and the world.
On the other side of things, we got to see Luke and Lando hang out together, though it was an odd way to go about it, and indeed I didn’t feel much depth between them. Perhaps that will change in the other two books but in this book, their scenes were so few it felt that they were just added in so we wouldn’t forget about them.
This being a set-up book didn’t stop me from enjoying it; I was finding myself turning page after page intrigued as to what was going on and wondering how things would unfold. The ending was a well-done set-up ensuring that I will continue on to see what will happen next! I can’t wait to see the other planets in the Corellian sector!
olivertrumann's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
henrywood's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
twilliamson's review against another edition
3.0
Ambush at Corellia, the first of the Corellian Trilogy by Roger MacBride Allen, is one hell of a competent Star Wars novel. While other writers in the Star Wars canon had delivered excellent Star Wars fiction prior to 1995 (Zahn's Thrawn trilogy and Wolverton's The Courtship of Princess Leia being two such examples), Allen's first novel in his trilogy manages to accomplish an excellent expansion of the Star Wars universe and its mythos, facilitate the growth of several of the characters of the original trilogy as well as establish a few newcomers into the fabric of the Star Wars universe, and set up the emotional and political arc of his trilogy.
The development of the trilogy's major human themes, especially that of xenophobia and the dangers of racial supremacy, stand out as a highlight of the novel. Allen dives into the fabric of racial discourse of the Star Wars universe, digging up themes important to understanding the Empire and also understanding the difficulty of managing interstellar politics when the people who made up the Empire--the average folk whose prejudices run much deeper than can be solved in a single war--don't just disappear. Although it takes the entire length of the novel to finally bring the main thread of the story into the forefront, Allen uses the space to firmly establish the voice of his trilogy in a way that is satisfyingly competent.
But Allen's competence in the construction of his trilogy's conflict is overshadowed by his fairly repetitive prose and his uninventive action sequences. In one long stretch of the novel, Allen throws in a long string of onomatopoeia that feels extraordinarily out of place, and Allen frequently falls into the trap of long, expository dialogues or simply tells the reader what's going on in the book without really showing the reader what's going on. Additionally, the book takes an increasingly long time to actually get into the main conflict of the trilogy, with the villain and the villain's plot only appearing in the last pages of the book. As the first novel of the trilogy, it feels like the book is merely a preamble instead of a more compact initiation to adventure.
Critics of this novel have frequently suggested that Allen's trilogy likely should have been just one novel, and it's hard to disagree when this first book does so little to actually get the main story running; nevertheless, what Allen trades in terms of the plot's urgency he more than makes up for by giving us a good look at character development and the establishment of new emotional arcs for the original trilogy characters, as well as giving us a very thorough expansion of the political, economic, and socio-cultural setting of the Star Wars universe.
Ambush at Corellia is not Star Wars at its finest in many aspects, but it's damn close. Fans of Star Wars probably shouldn't miss out on this one.
The development of the trilogy's major human themes, especially that of xenophobia and the dangers of racial supremacy, stand out as a highlight of the novel. Allen dives into the fabric of racial discourse of the Star Wars universe, digging up themes important to understanding the Empire and also understanding the difficulty of managing interstellar politics when the people who made up the Empire--the average folk whose prejudices run much deeper than can be solved in a single war--don't just disappear. Although it takes the entire length of the novel to finally bring the main thread of the story into the forefront, Allen uses the space to firmly establish the voice of his trilogy in a way that is satisfyingly competent.
But Allen's competence in the construction of his trilogy's conflict is overshadowed by his fairly repetitive prose and his uninventive action sequences. In one long stretch of the novel, Allen throws in a long string of onomatopoeia that feels extraordinarily out of place, and Allen frequently falls into the trap of long, expository dialogues or simply tells the reader what's going on in the book without really showing the reader what's going on. Additionally, the book takes an increasingly long time to actually get into the main conflict of the trilogy, with the villain and the villain's plot only appearing in the last pages of the book. As the first novel of the trilogy, it feels like the book is merely a preamble instead of a more compact initiation to adventure.
Critics of this novel have frequently suggested that Allen's trilogy likely should have been just one novel, and it's hard to disagree when this first book does so little to actually get the main story running; nevertheless, what Allen trades in terms of the plot's urgency he more than makes up for by giving us a good look at character development and the establishment of new emotional arcs for the original trilogy characters, as well as giving us a very thorough expansion of the political, economic, and socio-cultural setting of the Star Wars universe.
Ambush at Corellia is not Star Wars at its finest in many aspects, but it's damn close. Fans of Star Wars probably shouldn't miss out on this one.
mickb's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
floar's review against another edition
4.0
After the Black Fleet Crisis trilogy this book felt like a 5 star entry.
overallsonfrogs's review against another edition
2.0
Not gonna lie, this book made me really appreciate the new canon books even more than I already did. This was the first legends book I've read, and it's making me hesitant to start another one, especially the other two books in the trilogy.
The characters felt so flat and indistinguishable from one another, which was really frustrating with how iconic the personalities and relationships in the original trilogy are. I think the biggest contributor to this was the dialogue, which tended to be really stiff. And there didn't seem to be any sort of character growth or depth explored as the story progressed, so they just felt very one-dimensional. That paired with the unnecessarily long and repetitive exposition/descriptions made reading this ~300 page book feel like it went on forever. It felt like nothing really happened until the last 50 pages, which was frustrating since I wasn't attached to the characters.
The writing of the children also really didn't contribute much to the story either. They were just kind of there and weren't super fleshed out, and at times there were definitely "Anakin-ex-machina" situations.
The entire B plot with Lando and Luke felt completely disconnected from the rest of the story, and just felt silly in comparison. I love fun and I love camp, but I kept waiting for this plotline to become relevant, and it never really did.
There were, however a few moments that very camp and grabbed my attention, and they'll probably be the only things I remember about this book:
- That very slay girlboss Lando tried to marry who was going to give him his best life but he would die in 5 years
- Luke being able to read Jawa
- The kiddos' slayful lil nanny & his droid
- That weird like underground city that Lando owns or whatever??
- Meeting Mara Jade was cool I guess
- The Thracken Sal-Solo reveal (this actually sent me lmao)
Overall, I did not have the best time reading this book. I think my favorite aspects thematically were definitely the exploration of anti-human sentiment in the empire, resistance against the New Republic, and Domestic Han & Leia (TM), but thankfully more recent books/shows like Thrawn, The Mandalorian, and The Princess & the Scoundrel (and probably many others) all have more nuanced and well-written takes on these ideas.
I'm considering reading the other two books to see if the story as a whole is more compelling, but I think I might wait a while.
The characters felt so flat and indistinguishable from one another, which was really frustrating with how iconic the personalities and relationships in the original trilogy are. I think the biggest contributor to this was the dialogue, which tended to be really stiff. And there didn't seem to be any sort of character growth or depth explored as the story progressed, so they just felt very one-dimensional. That paired with the unnecessarily long and repetitive exposition/descriptions made reading this ~300 page book feel like it went on forever. It felt like nothing really happened until the last 50 pages, which was frustrating since I wasn't attached to the characters.
The writing of the children also really didn't contribute much to the story either. They were just kind of there and weren't super fleshed out, and at times there were definitely "Anakin-ex-machina" situations.
The entire B plot with Lando and Luke felt completely disconnected from the rest of the story, and just felt silly in comparison. I love fun and I love camp, but I kept waiting for this plotline to become relevant, and it never really did.
There were, however a few moments that very camp and grabbed my attention, and they'll probably be the only things I remember about this book:
- That very slay girlboss Lando tried to marry who was going to give him his best life but he would die in 5 years
- Luke being able to read Jawa
- The kiddos' slayful lil nanny & his droid
- That weird like underground city that Lando owns or whatever??
- Meeting Mara Jade was cool I guess
- The Thracken Sal-Solo reveal (this actually sent me lmao)
Overall, I did not have the best time reading this book. I think my favorite aspects thematically were definitely the exploration of anti-human sentiment in the empire, resistance against the New Republic, and Domestic Han & Leia (TM), but thankfully more recent books/shows like Thrawn, The Mandalorian, and The Princess & the Scoundrel (and probably many others) all have more nuanced and well-written takes on these ideas.
I'm considering reading the other two books to see if the story as a whole is more compelling, but I think I might wait a while.
4thcaballero's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
tmarso's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
5.0
Fluffy but entertaining. Might not bode so well for the series...