Black Fleet Crisis Book 2: Shield of Lies by Michael P. Kube-McDowell (1996)
Not sure why Leia is in Endor mode here.
Summary: Lando wanders around on The Derelict some more. They kind of figure out how it works. C-3PO gets damages and R2 is mad at him. (Jealous/protective R2 is a good touch.)
Luke wanders around the galaxy with Akanah. They sort of do philosophy. It's kind of awkward since they're together and nominally doing the same thing, but both trying to sneak around each other (but not very interestingly).
Leia almost gets impeached! Plat Mallar, the lone survivor of one of the Yvethan attacks becomes a pilot with Ackbar's help. The New Republic almost fights the Yvethan, but backs out when they use hostages. Han gets kidnapped again...
I don't think anything super impactful gets introduced here. On the whole, this series only tangentially intersects with the rest of the EU, and we've got some serious second book syndrome.
Commentary: Somehow, Kube-McDowell organizes the three books in this trilogy in three different ways. The first book is fairly conventional, drifting between the three plots however he sees fit. This one is written as effectively three novelas. You get all the Lando stuff, all the Luke stuff, then all the Leia stuff. They don't really intersect. The third one uses the Lando chapters as interludes as it bounces between the Luke and Leia ones. It's a weird strategy for a series.
All in all, not a ton to say here. In the end, only the "Leia" section really matters, and it's kind of rushed at the end. Borsk Fey'lya shows up at least. Not sure why he wasn't around last time. I would love to have some behind the scene info on how this whole thing came to be. Dod Kube-McDowell pitch this as three separate books, then get told to do the awkward three way split? Two book idea that had to get padded to three? Someone at Lucasfilm go insane and just hand him an outline?
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