StarWarsClassics

 X-Wing (Book 2): Wedge's Gamble by Michael Stackpole (1996) Should've been Wedge's Gambit, and you'll never change my mind. Summary: Rogue Squadron gets snuck onto Coruscant to prepare things for the invasion. Isaard seeds the planet with a   plague that will only affect aliens. What it introduce s: Asyr Sei'lar: First (actually developed character) non - shitty Bothan in the EU? Inyri Forge: Lujayne's sister, who is a good pilot for no explained reason.   Fliry Vorru: Ex-Moff, then Black Sun. Current minor villain. Zekka Thyne: Asshole, Black Sun, even more minor villain. Virar Needa:  That  Captain Needa's cousin. Summary: Rogue Squadron is undercover on Coruscant. Their main job is figuring out a way to take down the planetary shields for Ackbar and the fleet, but they also generally sow some chaos (with the help of some ex-Black Sun they recruit in the early part of the book). Tycho gets framed some more (Corran is very convinced he's the traitor)...

 X-Wing (Book 1): Rogue Squadron by Michael Stackpole (1996) These covers are such an upgrade. Summary: Wedge recruits a bunch of new hotshots to kick ass. This is technically a prequel most of the rest of the EU . (Except the comics. I'll get around to those at some point.) What it introduces: All the Rogue Squadron Characters (copied from the Dramatis Personae at the start of the book): CAPTAIN TYCHO CELCHU (human male from Alderaan): Retconned into Return of the Jedi . Maybe a double agent? LIEUTENANT CORRAN HORN (human male from Corellia): Totally not obviously a Jedi by the end of chapter 18. OORYL QRYGG (Gand male from Gand): One of the better examples of writing a "vaguely weird alien" buddy. Not yet badass enough for pronouns. NAWARA VEN (Twi’lek male from Ryloth): The galaxy's most badass lawyer. RHYSATI YNR (human female from Bespin): The friendly one? Not a ton of characterization yet. BROR JACE (human male from Thyferra): The asshole. Totally dead at the e...

 I think I've written before about the circular flow chart of Battletech, Star Wars, X-Wing, and Michael Stackpole. One of the points of contention in the original Battletech books (I haven't read any of the newer ones) is how action light they are. For the "core" books that actually advance the storyline, you tend to get 1 or 2 big (stand up 'mech fight) and maybe 3 or 4 (bar fight, near assassination, etc.) scenes in a book. There are individual books or sub series that go heavier, but that's the broad trend. The short scenes are often only a couple pages, and even the long ones rarely run into the double digits (and that's often with other stuff breaking them up). I mathed it out back in high school and they often come in at 15% or so of the whole book (30-40 pages in a 350ish page mass market.) Even after accounting for front and back matter, getting up to 30% would qualify as an action heavy book. Instead, as the Amazon reviews liked to complain about...

 The conventional wisdom in the EU is that Wedge Antilles is the only pilot to survive both Death Star runs. Luke is ON the DS2, and Han and Chewie are on the moon. In ANH, we see 4 ships leave. Luke and Wedge's X-Wings, the Falcon, and one Y-Wing. The consensus appears to be that Keyan Farlander (ironically from the X-Wing game) is the Y-Wing pilot. I thought that the "only man to survive both runs" line was from the first X-Wing book (which I read most of on a plane tonight) but the closest I can find is, "Commander Antilles might have gotten them all himself, but then he’s got two Death Stars painted on the side of his X-wing." More to come, I guess? There's also some guy in a prototype A-Wing who sometimes gets listed. This feels kind of bullshit to me.

 I'll do a larger Dark Forces  write up at some point. But I grabbed Nightdive's remaster on sale today and shot through the Avenger mission. Short version  Avenger  is one of the Death Squadron (Vader's personal fleet) Star Destroyers that pursues the Falcon  in ESB  (the one it attaches to, in fact). In this cut level, it has a copy of (at least part of the) the Death Star  plans. Kyle Katarn sneaks aboard and steals them. The level was originally used as a demo at trade shows and was going to be the first level of the game. It was cut for being too complicated/difficult for a first level. The replacement "Secret Base" level (and later Executor ) borrows some elements, but is definitely simpler (not counting the secrets). Overall, a good move, I think. As a tech demo, it does a decent job. Shows off the 3d, some light puzzle/platforming that you couldn't have done in Doom , etc. I'd have like to have seen them slide some Gands in, not only to break u...

  Tales of the Bounty Hunters Looks like the banner for a trading card set. IG-88: Therefore I Am by Keven J. Anderson: 4/5 Strong start. One of the best of Anderson's Star Wars  contributions. IG-88 is a droid that uploads its programming into 4 identical droids. They become fairly successful bounty hunters, take over Mechis III (the same planet the Thul family is in charge of in YJKs), and eventually uploads itself into the second Death Star. They all get blown up between that, Boba Fett, and Dash Rendar. Dengar: Payback by Dave Wolverton: 2/5 This is a good story, but not a good Star Wars story. Too much that doesn't really line up with the rest of the universe, like Dengar's bounty hunting customs (giving his target a blaster). The romantic subplot could probably work with a bit more development. Dengar's a cyborg who had most of his emotions surgically removed, but he brain links with a tech-telepath dancer. Bossk: The Prize Pelt by Kathy Tyers: 3/5 Tyers is a cons...