Reviews Books The JC Lit Reviews Special: Rebel Dream (RD Spoilers imminent)

If I have to wait another week for the bleeding release, its not getting more than 8

 

Don't worry, RF, I'm guessing you wouldn't give it more than 8 anyway, but for the fact that Kyp features fairly prominently, though not as much as in DJ.

 

Allston wrote the best book ever, what you talking about?

 

?Who are you going to face them with? The New Republic or the Rebel Alliance?

Neither,

We?re going to face them with an enemy they?ve never had the displeasure of fighting. We?re going to hit them with the Empire.

They?re not going to like the Empire.?

It?s moments like this one and others that define Rebel Dream as a book that stands on its own not only as a great piece of literature, but a great Star Wars story.
I myself have been extremely critical of the New Jedi Order since its initial creation, I?ve felt that the series was too bleak, too violent and too much like mass market science fiction to be considered Star Wars. The over the top style of action and characters that fit the movies and past books were non-existent, replaced by replicated Borg characters and more space battles in one book then in the entire film saga. In between the rants and emotional breakdowns of characters you?ve never learned to care for you?re constantly treated to the stupid and overall dullness of a villain that could never stand up to the subtle genius behind Lucas? foes.
Essentially, every book is simply a rewrite of the last one: Characters face Vong, people die, emotional moment, tension builds up between Jacen and/or Jaina and Han and Leia, finalize with massive space battle at the end then end with unsure closing.
But there isn?t a doubt in my mind that with Rebel Dream Aaron Allston broken that repetition, or at least written it correctly.

The book:
Easily the greatest thing about Aaron Allston?s Star Wars is the characters and their personalities, who manage to stand above all other author?s interpretations in my opinion. Take Luke for example, in previous NJO books he?s been kind of a downer on the series. He sits back while battles rage on and only comes to fight when the situation is in dire need. It conflicted with his words towards the Senate that action must be taken against the Vong, and only until SbS did we see a more active Luke.
AA takes it a step further and gives us the Luke Skywalker of the Rebellion, but with a twist of experience. When reading Luke?s portions of the story the overtone becomes heroic, action-oriented, and even a bit idealistic. It?s a nice change of pace from the serene Jedi Master other authors have made him out to be.
The same is done with the other characters even; especially Jaina, Jag and Kyp, all characters that I?d hated in previous installments.
Instead of making Jaina crabby and self-righteous simply for the purpose of writing that as her personality, AA gives us the insight that Jaina acts the way she does because she?s tired of watching everyone ?go away?.
She isn?t the combat pilot looking for glory and she isn?t the Jedi who feels that the universe falls upon her shoulders, she simply wants to protect her friends and family.
Kyp also matures a lot; he becomes a bit more interesting and dour, loosing his flamboyancy (for the most part). Best of all is Jag?s mannerisms as a stuffed shirt, which are portrayed superbly, and without a droning annoyance they often become the objects of humor and characterization.
To be honest, I?m going to have a hard time getting into other author?s books in the NJO unless they follow suit with AA?s work in the character development department.
AA makes changes and grows relationships that other authors didn?t dare do, for fear of inducing those developments upon future authors.
Instead, he makes change, and not through death, but through the actions of the living.

As for the action, I can only say he writes combat well, with dramatics and the required planning session beforehand, as with all Star Wars stories. Like the other NJO books, Rebel Dream is heavy with space combat, but unlike other books it doesn?t become a crutch or a chore to read.
In fact, I?ll take a major gamble here and say that Allston has written the best space combat in the NJO thus far.

And finally on the good side, Allston writes Star Wars the way Star Wars should be written, with a space intro, plenty of awkward or interesting match

 

"There wasn't even any mention of Myn Donos. He was my favorite wraith and i want to know what happened to him!"

Well I believe, Loveissuicide, that Myn got transfered to the Rogues right after NRI absorbed the Wraiths as a unit. I think he pops up later within Rogue Squadron in Issarde's Revenge.

I'm pleased that most everyone is happy with RD so far, giving it atleast above a 5.

 

Nice reviews, once again, guys.


Counting 34 votes.

JC Lit Average Rating of RD = 308.75/34 ~ 9.08/10


I don't believe anyone's rated it lower than a 7, I-poodoo (which was my mark).

 

Bringing this bad boy up.

 

Well I read it over vacation, and I give it a 10, but I didnt get a few things. Mainly the kid kicking my seat was ruining my concentration, but what is the deal with the pipefighters? Do they throw a huge lightsaber in space?

 

I-poodoo,

yes Donos did show up in Isarde's Revenge but i haven't seen him yet in the NJO, you have to wonder if he died or maybe he just has been left in the back ground. there's always RS




By the way, I gave the book a 9.5, it was good and well written. It was also a welcome change from the darkness in the few previous books.

 

I just finished reading it, and I rate it a 9 because it is the most balanced of all of the NJO novels. AA put the story together beautifully. I don't feel comfortable giving it a 10 because perfection is difficult to define in such a subjective situation.

 

37 votes in.

JC Lit Average Rating of RD = 337.25/37 ~ 9.11/10

 

Up for review.

 

I give RD a 10 for the following reasons:

1. It didn't drag out Wedge's worry about Iella & the kids - and the little Jedi were never in very much danger;
2. Great characterizations, especially of Lando, Leia & Han, Jaina & Jag;
3. Wedge didn't let the politicians take over and ruin things - I was so sick of that plot device;
4. Wedge & co. actually used their prior knowledge of Vong tactics to their advantage - other books had people repeating the same mistakes over and over;
5. It was fun to read! Luke's indecision and passivity were really getting to me.

My real test of a good read is would I buy it again and do I wish the author would write all the rest of the NJO series. In the case of RD, IMO, no author in this series yet has had the excellent balance of imaginative action, realistic characterizations & humor as AA has here.

Star by Star 9 (I loved the writing but the plot seemed artificial. Can't the Vong just shape another "mother" voxyn?)
Ruin 8.5 (Would have rated it higher but it seemed to be stunted. Loved Corran Horn though.)

An opinion: I would dearly like to see AA write a novel about Lando.

A complaint - Why did Anakin have to die? He was my favorite "kid".

 

10 I loved this book, The Emperors Hammer was a very nice touch as was playing off of Jaina being a Goddess. The Pipefighters used the Death star concept of merging several beams to make one giant one. And then used it as well as the supposed giant lambent crystal to lure the vong into doing domething stupid.

I also like his portrayal of Lando. And the fact that he brought the Old Han out of retirement though he did show that Han had gotten older and wasn't as young as he used to be.





Yeah the whole couldn't they make a new Voxyn confused me too.

 

Counting 39 votes.

JC Lit Average Rating of RD = 357.25/39 ~ 9.16/10

 

Subjecting this to review.

 

Finally got around to reading this thread.
RD gets a 9.

Lando was great, Luke was finally fun to read. Loved Wedge. Enjoyed the jokes.
It was nice to see some of the Rogues and Wraiths again. The action didn't get boring. I didn't hate Jaina. The only a few things bothered me. Mara still wasn't quite right, and I thought it odd, that a squad was handed over to someone that just took a little trip to the darkside without any of the Adults having a good long talk with her.

 

40 votes in.

JC Lit Average Rating of RD = 366.25/40 ~ 9.16/10

 

Ok, Gandalf's iron fist has forced me to post my Rebeld Dream Rap-up in here so be warned, the next post will be big.

 

Ok, I know I should be saying all this stuff in the official thread or something, but I've got too much to say about this book.

Okay, I'm not a big fan of Aaron Allston's work. I found the Wraith Squadron trilogy to be written poorly, and lacking in character development. However, I was, in fact, impressed with Rebel Dream.

His writing still isn't up to par with that of Stackpole and Zahn, but I can see he's improving. There was also more character development in Rebel Dream, which is what really makes or breaks a good plot-which rebel dream surely had.

The appearence of Lusankya was a little cliched and predictable, but nonetheless effective. The inclusion of the Rebel Dream was something I predicted a long time ago, and it was a very well used plot device. I found it accurately symbolized the emergence of a new kind of rebel alliance, adn the shifting strategies of our heroes.

I loved the bits with Czulkang Lah. It was an ingeneous way to mix things up a little in the Yuuzhan Vong Hierarchy. Up until now, Tsavong Lah has been a fundamentalist tactician whose only goal is conquering the infidels, this gave his character a little more depth and credibility.

The Lando, One-One-A relationship was great comic relief, I always found myself laughing after 11A goes on the offensive and taunts Lando indiscriminantly. There was real similarity between the Han/Chewie paradigm that I found entertaining as well.

The Maw bit was quite predictable, albeit reasonable. I would have been more happy if they'd found some other place for their new safe-zone.

Is Alema Rar a whore or something? I thought she left her lab-dancing days back on that planet she was trained on. And Lando? She can do better than him! What is he, thirty years older than her? Common! I was very dissapointed with this passage. It undermined the idea of what Jedi should be. And I found myself remembering the feeling I got in the wraith trilogy whenever Allston would make a pitiful attempt at romance.

Jaina and Jag. I was very impressed with how he wrote this scene. It almost made up for the horrible Alema scene. I've always known it would come down to these two, despite the ramblings of kyp lovers out there. I was also entertained by how Jag talked to his uncle afterwards.

I don't feel like mentioning all the other plot devices, probably because the rest of them, like Tam Elgrin and Danni; the Starlancer project; and the Jaina/Jag/Kyp threesome were all pretty weak. The sole exception was the imperial tactic they used to obliterate the ground vong. Before I read it I was trying my best to think imperial, but I didn't see that coming.

Finally, I was very impressed with how this book was named. As I said before, Rebel Dream accurately symbolizes the mood of this book, and I hope the next one does too.

Just one last point: I didn't like how much this book is relying on the next in the series to tie up loose ends. Sure they're part of the same story, but he shouldn't have left us hanging like that on so many subjects. Some is okay, but he went a little past the line.

 

I so loved this book. It had the right amount of subtle humour with a lot of military jargon, which I thought was good. Id say a 9.4 on the richter scale.

 

One of the best NJO books. I'll give it a 9.6

 

9.0 I have always enjoyed AA's Wraith Squadron Series. It was good to see the Wraiths come back!!!! Overall RD was a good book, can't wait till the next one.

Comparison
SbS: 9.5
DJ: 7

 

Counting 43 votes.

JC Lit Average Rating of RD = 394.25/43 ~ 9.17/10


Usually, averages decrease with more votes (as the early responses are almost always the most positive). This particular average appears to rise with more votes.

I really didn't feel RD contained too many loose ends (other than the obvious one) and entertains on its own right.

 

Bringing this up for review.