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Why have I not heard of this before?

X-Wing: Mercy Kill

Ok so apparently its a Fate Of The Jedi tie in. But still. New Wraith Squadron book can be nothing except a hell yeah, as far as I'm concerned.

I haven't read the other ones but maybe I'll check this out.

The plot sounds a whole lot like when Wedge and the Rogues infiltrated Zsinj's command...

X-wing Mercy Kill Plot wrote:Three decades have passed since Wraith Squadron carried out its last mission. Taking on the most dangerous and daring operations, the rogues and misfits of the elite X-Wing unit became legends of the Rebellion and the Second Galactic Civil War, before breaking up and going their separate ways. Now their singular skills are back in vital demand—for a tailor-made Wraith Squadron mission.

A powerful general in the Galactic Alliance Army, once renowned for his valor, is suspected of participating in the infamous Lecersen Conspiracy, which nearly toppled the Alliance back into the merciless hands of the Empire. With orders to expose and apprehend the traitor—and license to do so by any and all means—the Wraiths will become thieves, pirates, impostors, forgers . . . and targets, as they put their guts, their guns, and their riskiest game plan to the test against the most lethal of adversaries.

X-wing Iron Fist Plot wrote:Against all odds, the controversial Wraith Squadron has survived its first covert mission. But now they are called upon to cheat death twice. This time Wedge Antilles sends them in to stop the warlord Zsinj and his Super Star Destroyer, Iron Fist. If Zsinj joins the Empire, it could turn the tide of war against the Rebels. The Wraith Squadron's mission: infiltrate the warlord's fleet and uncover his carefully guarded plans. To do so, they must pose as ruthless pirates seeking to join Zsinj's forces. And that means first becoming pirates in space lanes teeming with Imperial Navy patrols. If that isn't enough to get them killed, they'll have to pass one last test—a suicide mission for Zsinj.

Can they survive the test and turn the tables on Zsinj?

Or is this the end for Wraith Squadron?

This sounds like a rehashing of old ideas and not in a particularly well thought out way.

Oh please. It's Allston. At the bare minimum it'll have plenty of memorable characters, a good plot, fantastic dialogue and lots of pretty explosions. (I read the first chapter. It's at the end of one of the new SW hardcover books. Can't remember which.)


I'm kinda done with angsty Jedi/mando angst and the fact that the SW universe seems to revolve around one (by now geriatric family) I miss the X-Wing series, and it's been what, 13 years since Starfighters of Adumar? Give me some groundpounders, pilots and commandoes, and hey, maybe show the NR as an actually competent force for once.

EEEEE!

DrMckay wrote:Oh please. It's Allston. At the bare minimum it'll have plenty of memorable characters, a good plot, fantastic dialogue and lots of pretty explosions. (I read the first chapter. It's at the end of one of the new SW hardcover books. Can't remember which.)


I'm kinda done with angsty Jedi/mando angst and the fact that the SW universe seems to revolve around one (by now geriatric family) I miss the X-Wing series, and it's been what, 13 years since Starfighters of Adumar? Give me some groundpounders, pilots and commandoes, and hey, maybe show the NR as an actually competent force for once.

Just because it's Allston doesn't mean he gets an automatic pass. Remember Troy Dennig wrote that awful swarm trilogy and even though he was responsible for a couple of the better NJO books and was mentioned as one of the better EU authors. Frankly, while I loved the Wraith Books and liked Starfighters of Adumar, I really hated Betrayal and that book was the last EU novel set post-Endor that I have purchased and ever will. While it looks like he's getting back into writing characters he is better at writing for, I don't really feel compelled to read a rehash of stuff he already did especially if he uses many of the same characters. Considering that whatever this new Wraith group does will do nothing to stop the Empire/Sith from becoming resurgent we might as well just give up. The Post-Endor EU is so crowded and poorly done that it really needs a reboot now more than ever.

Edit:

And before I forget, the idea he wrote for in the NJO was almost a good idea and the execution was meh. Oh hey the Vong are eating the galaxy but we need to insert onto Coruscant so we can kill a random Dark Jedi who showed up for no other reason than plot.

Wraith Squadron engages in a clandestine operation wherein they pose as bad dudes in order to get close to a really bad dude and ruin his day isn't rehashing old ideas except insofar as it is not changing the basic premise of Wraith Squadron. This sort of operation is literally why they exist.

I'm a little perplexed as to the 'getting the band back together' element of the plot, as the Wraiths were supposed to have been folded into the New Republic's Intelligence service, not disbanded. And if they were, surely after 3 decades out of the game, they would have lost their edge?

They became part of NRI, but not all of them. Janson and Donos went back to rogue Squdron, eventually Tryia goes off on Jedi training and raising her and Kell's kid. By the time of the Vong war, the only original members still about seem to be Face, Kell, Piggy and Elassar, and he didn't turn up until Solo Command.

So plenty of potential for bringing them all together again.

Kingmaker wrote:Wraith Squadron engages in a clandestine operation wherein they pose as bad dudes in order to get close to a really bad dude and ruin his day isn't rehashing old ideas except insofar as it is not changing the basic premise of Wraith Squadron. This sort of operation is literally why they exist.

And you really think that after decades of all the other stuff they have done, the best route for this type of operation is to get the old group back together and do it all over again? Realistically that group should either be retired, ascended to a higher rank, or dead of disease/old age/past conflict. If perhaps it was sort of a "Wraith Squadron 2.0" i'd be a little more interested. Not interested enough to actually pay to buy the book when it is released given my past dsiappointments with Allstons NJO and Legacy work.

I'm a little perplexed as to the 'getting the band back together' element of the plot, as the Wraiths were supposed to have been folded into the New Republic's Intelligence service, not disbanded. And if they were, surely after 3 decades out of the game, they would have lost their edge?

Because authors like Allston, regardless of talent, are hesitant to leave a comfort zone. It's why he and Stackpole killed so few of their characters.

Darth Fanboy wrote: And you really think that after decades of all the other stuff they have done, the best route for this type of operation is to get the old group back together and do it all over again? Realistically that group should either be retired, ascended to a higher rank, or dead of disease/old age/past conflict.

No, I don't. That was my point. I'd like to read more Star Wars books in the style of the Wraith Squadron books, but I don't want to read about a bunch of geriatric commandos*. I mean, God forbid we let the original generation of heroes get old and retire.

*I mean, if they really must bring back old characters, it would be better to just say, "Here is General Soandso, the current CO and one of the founding members of Wraith Squadron. He has an office. He sits at a desk and a goes to meetings. He's the reason you have equipment and an operating budget instead of shoestrings and bubblegum." And not have General Soandso wind up roped into a field operation through some contrivance.

Kingmaker wrote:And not have General Soandso wind up roped into a field operation through some contrivance.

Wow, he let you read his notes? I totally knew this was going to happen. [/sarcasm]

Abacus wrote:The plot sounds a whole lot like when Wedge and the Rogues infiltrated Zsinj's command...

You mean when Wedge and the Wraiths infiltrated Zsinj's command. Right after they infiltrated Trigit's command.

So that seems to be an established MO. Unless you're talking about the specific covers being similar, and we know nothing about them.

Lord Relvenous wrote: So that seems to be an established MO. Unless you're talking about the specific covers being similar, and we know nothing about them.

"So that seems to be [a monotonous copy of previous stories]." <-- Fixed that for you.