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Wraith Squadron (Star Wars: X-Wing Series, Book 5)
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Manufacturer: Spectra
Author: Aaron Allston
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Our Price: $7.99
You Save: $ ( % )
Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Spectra
Author: Aaron Allston
Publisher: Spectra
Average Customer Rating:
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Wraith Squadron (Star Wars: X-Wing Series, Book 5) Description
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780553578942
ISBN: 0553578944
Label: Spectra
Manufacturer: Spectra
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 432
Publication Date: 1998-02-02
Publisher: Spectra
Product Release Date: 1998-02-02
Studio: Spectra
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780553578942
ISBN: 0553578944
Label: Spectra
Manufacturer: Spectra
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 432
Publication Date: 1998-02-02
Publisher: Spectra
Product Release Date: 1998-02-02
Studio: Spectra
Editorial Review of Wraith Squadron (Star Wars: X-Wing Series, Book 5)
They are the galaxy's most elite fighting force. And as the battle against the Empire rages, the X-wing fighters risk life and machine to protect the Rebel Alliance. Now they must go on a daring undercover mission--as the crew of an Imperial warship.
It is Wedge Antilles' boldest creation: a covert-action unit of X-wing fighters, its pilots drawn from the dregs of other units, castoffs and rejects given one last chance. But before the new pilots can complete their training, the squadron's base is attacked by former Imperial admiral Trigit, and Wraith Squadron is forced to swing into action--taking over an Imperial warship and impersonating its crew. The mission: to gain vital intelligence about Trigit's secret weapons, to sabotage the admiral's plans, and to lure him into an Alliance trap. But the high-stakes gamble pits Wraith Squadron's ragtag renegades against the Empire's most brilliant master of guile and deception.
Are they up to the challenge?
If not, the penalty is instant death.
(r), TM & (c) 1998 Lucasfilm Ltd.
All rights reserved. Used under authorization.
Customer Reviews of Wraith Squadron (Star Wars: X-Wing Series, Book 5)
Customer Rating: 
Review Summary: Readable, lightweight, and disposable.
Review: First: I did not like Stackpole's X-Wing novels, even though I persevered through all four of them. I dislike nearly everything about Stackpole's style, so I bought "Wraith Squadron" at the local thrift shop with an open mind, thinking that Aaron Allston's attempt could not be much worse. And I was right: Mr Allston is not a worse writer than Stackpole, and in fact he has far fewer annoying stylistic tics, and the humor is a refreshing change from Mr Stackpole's deadpan seriousness.
However, it takes more than a readable style to make a good book. The basic problem with "Wraith Squadron" -- and the entire X-Wing series -- is that they somehow manage to avoid space combat. There are more dogfights on the covers of these books than on the pages. In this book, Wedge recruits a new cadre of pilots to be a sort of flying commando squad, so they spend most of their time infiltrating, spying, and sneaking about, and occasionally flying their X-wings for a page or two. I was a kid in the mid-Nineties who loved the X-Wing computer game, so I expected something similar from the books, not all this amateur espionage stuff.
The second problem is one of characterization, and this is as true for the whole series as for this particular entry. Mr Allston improves over Stackpole by making it into a proper ensemble cast, whereas Mr Stackpole focused exclusively on boring old Coran Horn. Except we still get a hero, angst-ridden Kell Tainer. Kell is smitten with a fellow pilot, Tyria Sarkin, and the romance proceeds like something out of a John Hughes movie. None of the characters is really convincing as a battle-hardened fighter pilot waging an endless galactic war. At least some of the other members of the ensemble are colorful and kind of fun, like a former child actor and a slippery former surgeon. Additionally, there are quite a few exotic aliens, who all tend to occupy that uniquely Star Wars territory of 19th century racial archetypes transplanted into outer space.
So that's about all I have to say for this series, which I have tried to enjoy for what it is, but which has totally failed to entertain me. If someone actually wrote a starfighter-based book that bore some resemblance to the battle scenes of the movies, then I'd be right there eating it up. As it is, we've got adolescent characterization and plots that read more like thrillers than war stories, so I'm not sure what the point of it all is.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: What an X-Wing Novel Should Be......Best book in the series
Review: What a relief to read this book by Allston after struggling through Stackpole's first 4 books of the series. This book is what you would expect for a squadron of X-wing pilots. It is fast paced and well written. Allston's characters pop. They have personalities, humor, and lives that the reader can relate to. Stackpole's characters look like cardboard cutouts by comparison. This one was hard to put down.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Wraith Squadron: Misfit Pilots Make Good
Review: For the fifth book of the Star Wars: X-wing series, Wraith Squadron, Aaron Allston takes over writing duties from Michael Stackpole. Happily, the handoff is extremely smooth and Allston brings some new perspectives and strengths to the table. This series continues to be a very solid concept, bringing a welcome change from the many books focused on the main film characters and illuminating a side of the conflict sometimes overlooked in today's focus on Jedi, Sith, and clone troopers.
Allston's first job is to introduce us to the titular group of fighter pilots. Wedge Antilles believes based on his many experiences with Rogue Squadron that a new team with a different focus is needed. Rogue are pilots first and commandos second; this new squadron will be the other way around, with the highest level of competency in ground-based missions supplanted by keen piloting experience. Allston does a superb job of quickly fleshing out over a dozen new characters, employing an entertaining interview sequence followed by training missions and various short scenes of exposition to get the reader comfortable with so many new additions at once. Within a hundred pages, I was easily able to differentiate the pilots and had already started picking my favorites, no mean feat in a book of this nature.
Several pilots are of particular note. Wedge heads up the squadron with the help of his old squad mate Wes Janson, and they provide a necessary connection back to the earlier stories and the Rogue Squadron comics. Myn Donos, fresh from seeing his entire Talon Squadron wiped out around him in a mission gone awry, brings heaps of survivor's guilt and angst to his new job. Hohass "Runt" Ekwesh, who is depicted essentially as an bipedal horse, must grapple with his multiple personalities, making for some very entertaining dialogue. Garik "Face" Loran, a former child star of Imperial propaganda, and Ton Phanan, a cynical cyborg with medical skills, offer some great comical interludes between missions. Finally, Voort "Piggy" saBinring is a genetically altered Gamorrean with superlative mental abilities - my favorite character of the bunch.
The plot of the book can be readily broken into two segments: the setting up of the squadron and the move to Folor Base for training, and then the missions that come after the surprise assault on Folor by Admiral Apwar Trigit. Trigit works for Admiral Zsinj, the warlord that has been lurking in the shadows of the prior few books. With Ysanne Isard out of the way, it's time for Zsinj to assume the spotlight. I had some trouble envisioning Zsinj as depicted to be truly threatening, but his character does make an interesting break from the stereotypical Star Wars villain.
In an early mission, the Wraiths manage to capture a Corellian Corvette employed by Zsinj, the Night Caller. This capture drives the remainder of the plot, as the Wraiths pose as Imperials and take the Night Caller on through her schedule of stops. The hints of a larger plot by Zsinj begin to unfold, although they are not woven together in this particular volume. The Night Caller storyline is a great one, and it allows Allston to tie together a variety of ground and space-based missions that otherwise might feel somewhat disjointed.
Wraith Squadron receives highest marks for its outstanding characterizations and deftly-handled humor. There were more moments that made me chuckle aloud in this book than any other Star Wars book I've read recently. Allston takes the baton from Stackpole with no glitches and introduces enough new twists to keep this book from feeling like a copy of the first four.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: A new X-wing squadron
Review: Wraith Squadron is the fifth book in the X-wing series but the first one by Aaron Allston after four by Michael Stackpole. As is fitting for a new author, we also have a new squadron and a mostly new cast of characters. Not to worry - the book continues the excellent series of adventures that we have followed so far in the X-wing series. The flying is great, the plans are outrageously inventive, and the pilots capture your attention.
The basic idea in this tale is that Wedge Antilles creates a covert-action unit of X-wing fighters with the majority of its pilots being castoffs from other places. Wedge is looking for people who have skills other than being excellent pilots. Computer wizards, actors, spies, snipers - all have skills that can be used in military actions outside of the X-wings. Wedge selects his candidates for Wraith Squadron and launches into their training. Unfortunately, the training is cut short by an attack on their base and the pilots need to prove their worth in a hurry. As part of their initial action they succeed in capturing an Imperial warship and then plan to impersonate the crew while intensifying efforts to capture former Imperial Admiral Trigit, the man who led the attack on their training base. If they can accomplish the removal of Trigit, their way may be cleared to help with efforts to find and defeat Warlord Zsinj.
Wraith Squadron is not a one-book deal. We will be able to follow the adventures of the Wraiths in future books, and I look forward to it. Mr. Allston has done an excellent job.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: The Wraith Squadron Trilogy, Part 1
Review: 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 by Michael A. Stackpole featuring the exploits of Rogue Squadron.
This book is the first part of a new trilogy by Aaron Allston about the title commando-pilot unit, which is capable of counter-intelligence and sabotage missions in addition to starfighter combat. For a post-Return of the Jedi novel that is not about Luke, Han and Leia, this book is not bad. A covert operations pilot squadron like the Wraiths is a cool concept.
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)
Review Summary: Readable, lightweight, and disposable.
Review: First: I did not like Stackpole's X-Wing novels, even though I persevered through all four of them. I dislike nearly everything about Stackpole's style, so I bought "Wraith Squadron" at the local thrift shop with an open mind, thinking that Aaron Allston's attempt could not be much worse. And I was right: Mr Allston is not a worse writer than Stackpole, and in fact he has far fewer annoying stylistic tics, and the humor is a refreshing change from Mr Stackpole's deadpan seriousness.
However, it takes more than a readable style to make a good book. The basic problem with "Wraith Squadron" -- and the entire X-Wing series -- is that they somehow manage to avoid space combat. There are more dogfights on the covers of these books than on the pages. In this book, Wedge recruits a new cadre of pilots to be a sort of flying commando squad, so they spend most of their time infiltrating, spying, and sneaking about, and occasionally flying their X-wings for a page or two. I was a kid in the mid-Nineties who loved the X-Wing computer game, so I expected something similar from the books, not all this amateur espionage stuff.
The second problem is one of characterization, and this is as true for the whole series as for this particular entry. Mr Allston improves over Stackpole by making it into a proper ensemble cast, whereas Mr Stackpole focused exclusively on boring old Coran Horn. Except we still get a hero, angst-ridden Kell Tainer. Kell is smitten with a fellow pilot, Tyria Sarkin, and the romance proceeds like something out of a John Hughes movie. None of the characters is really convincing as a battle-hardened fighter pilot waging an endless galactic war. At least some of the other members of the ensemble are colorful and kind of fun, like a former child actor and a slippery former surgeon. Additionally, there are quite a few exotic aliens, who all tend to occupy that uniquely Star Wars territory of 19th century racial archetypes transplanted into outer space.
So that's about all I have to say for this series, which I have tried to enjoy for what it is, but which has totally failed to entertain me. If someone actually wrote a starfighter-based book that bore some resemblance to the battle scenes of the movies, then I'd be right there eating it up. As it is, we've got adolescent characterization and plots that read more like thrillers than war stories, so I'm not sure what the point of it all is.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: What an X-Wing Novel Should Be......Best book in the series
Review: What a relief to read this book by Allston after struggling through Stackpole's first 4 books of the series. This book is what you would expect for a squadron of X-wing pilots. It is fast paced and well written. Allston's characters pop. They have personalities, humor, and lives that the reader can relate to. Stackpole's characters look like cardboard cutouts by comparison. This one was hard to put down.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Wraith Squadron: Misfit Pilots Make Good
Review: For the fifth book of the Star Wars: X-wing series, Wraith Squadron, Aaron Allston takes over writing duties from Michael Stackpole. Happily, the handoff is extremely smooth and Allston brings some new perspectives and strengths to the table. This series continues to be a very solid concept, bringing a welcome change from the many books focused on the main film characters and illuminating a side of the conflict sometimes overlooked in today's focus on Jedi, Sith, and clone troopers.
Allston's first job is to introduce us to the titular group of fighter pilots. Wedge Antilles believes based on his many experiences with Rogue Squadron that a new team with a different focus is needed. Rogue are pilots first and commandos second; this new squadron will be the other way around, with the highest level of competency in ground-based missions supplanted by keen piloting experience. Allston does a superb job of quickly fleshing out over a dozen new characters, employing an entertaining interview sequence followed by training missions and various short scenes of exposition to get the reader comfortable with so many new additions at once. Within a hundred pages, I was easily able to differentiate the pilots and had already started picking my favorites, no mean feat in a book of this nature.
Several pilots are of particular note. Wedge heads up the squadron with the help of his old squad mate Wes Janson, and they provide a necessary connection back to the earlier stories and the Rogue Squadron comics. Myn Donos, fresh from seeing his entire Talon Squadron wiped out around him in a mission gone awry, brings heaps of survivor's guilt and angst to his new job. Hohass "Runt" Ekwesh, who is depicted essentially as an bipedal horse, must grapple with his multiple personalities, making for some very entertaining dialogue. Garik "Face" Loran, a former child star of Imperial propaganda, and Ton Phanan, a cynical cyborg with medical skills, offer some great comical interludes between missions. Finally, Voort "Piggy" saBinring is a genetically altered Gamorrean with superlative mental abilities - my favorite character of the bunch.
The plot of the book can be readily broken into two segments: the setting up of the squadron and the move to Folor Base for training, and then the missions that come after the surprise assault on Folor by Admiral Apwar Trigit. Trigit works for Admiral Zsinj, the warlord that has been lurking in the shadows of the prior few books. With Ysanne Isard out of the way, it's time for Zsinj to assume the spotlight. I had some trouble envisioning Zsinj as depicted to be truly threatening, but his character does make an interesting break from the stereotypical Star Wars villain.
In an early mission, the Wraiths manage to capture a Corellian Corvette employed by Zsinj, the Night Caller. This capture drives the remainder of the plot, as the Wraiths pose as Imperials and take the Night Caller on through her schedule of stops. The hints of a larger plot by Zsinj begin to unfold, although they are not woven together in this particular volume. The Night Caller storyline is a great one, and it allows Allston to tie together a variety of ground and space-based missions that otherwise might feel somewhat disjointed.
Wraith Squadron receives highest marks for its outstanding characterizations and deftly-handled humor. There were more moments that made me chuckle aloud in this book than any other Star Wars book I've read recently. Allston takes the baton from Stackpole with no glitches and introduces enough new twists to keep this book from feeling like a copy of the first four.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: A new X-wing squadron
Review: Wraith Squadron is the fifth book in the X-wing series but the first one by Aaron Allston after four by Michael Stackpole. As is fitting for a new author, we also have a new squadron and a mostly new cast of characters. Not to worry - the book continues the excellent series of adventures that we have followed so far in the X-wing series. The flying is great, the plans are outrageously inventive, and the pilots capture your attention.
The basic idea in this tale is that Wedge Antilles creates a covert-action unit of X-wing fighters with the majority of its pilots being castoffs from other places. Wedge is looking for people who have skills other than being excellent pilots. Computer wizards, actors, spies, snipers - all have skills that can be used in military actions outside of the X-wings. Wedge selects his candidates for Wraith Squadron and launches into their training. Unfortunately, the training is cut short by an attack on their base and the pilots need to prove their worth in a hurry. As part of their initial action they succeed in capturing an Imperial warship and then plan to impersonate the crew while intensifying efforts to capture former Imperial Admiral Trigit, the man who led the attack on their training base. If they can accomplish the removal of Trigit, their way may be cleared to help with efforts to find and defeat Warlord Zsinj.
Wraith Squadron is not a one-book deal. We will be able to follow the adventures of the Wraiths in future books, and I look forward to it. Mr. Allston has done an excellent job.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: The Wraith Squadron Trilogy, Part 1
Review: 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 by Michael A. Stackpole featuring the exploits of Rogue Squadron.
This book is the first part of a new trilogy by Aaron Allston about the title commando-pilot unit, which is capable of counter-intelligence and sabotage missions in addition to starfighter combat. For a post-Return of the Jedi novel that is not about Luke, Han and Leia, this book is not bad. A covert operations pilot squadron like the Wraiths is a cool concept.
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)