Reviews Books The JC Lit Reviews Special: REBEL STAND (Spoilers for RS *only*)

i give it a 8.9. i like RD quite a bit better. i loved all the banter in RS and i loved han and leia's story line, but i really wish that luke's return to kicka*$ness could have been against the vong, not a side character. Jaina really fizzled in this book, i love seeing her in action and there wasn't much of that, but i'm hoping for more in DW, maybe in Traitor too.

 

I haven't read Wraith Squadron so take my criticisms of the Wraiths with a grain of salt but I just didn't care for them in this. Maybe if I'd read those...

Yeah. Face is Poster Boy because he was a famous actor as a kid, and is extraordinarily handsome.

Also, where did this Lord Nyax freakazoid come from? This guy had Marvel comic written all over him.

Irek is from Children of the Jedi.

 

Thanks Mastadge for the clarifications. Aside from Mr. Nyax and the Wraith Peanut Gallery I thought it was an excellent book.

Wierdest scene: C-3PO and YVH 1-1A discussing life and death while watching sparks fall from the Falcon. Cue the romantic music...

 

Counting 13 votes.

JC Lit Average Rating of RS = 113.45/13 ~ 8.73/10

 

C-3PO and YVH 1-1A discussing life and death while watching sparks fall from the Falcon.

That's picking up the storyline about 3PO's fears of death from Jedi Eclipse and Rebirth.

 

Actually, what I liked about the 3P0and 11A scene is that they had the entire conversation during the life of one spark.

I'll give it a 9/10

 

That's picking up the storyline about 3PO's fears of death from Jedi Eclipse and Rebirth.

Also from ESB, "Chewbacca, stop! I'm not ready to die!"

I wasn't worried about 3PO so much as a masculine assassin droid with Lando's voice carrying on a sentimental conversation about death. It was just a strange image to me for some reason.

That and 3PO smuggling a blaster into a high-security prison by saying it was a wrapped trigger sausage, what was that all about?

 

shows you just how dumb a prison droid can be.

I liked RS a lot. I was near to tears at the end 'cause I was afraid that Wedge was going to bite the big one. I also liked how Luke realized that as a Jedi he must put himself and the other Jedi "in the way of evil". Maybe a Jedi must always be on the defense, but if you put yourself in harm's way, you can bet your cute little rear end that the bad guy is going to attack! Then you can 'defend' to your heart's content!

I give it a 9.1

 

Come on! What good would a prison droid be if it let in Blasters and Lightsabers?!

R2-D2 put images of a Blaster and a Lightsaber into the food database for Han and Leia's "last meal", and was therefore cleared.

 

15 votes in.

JC Lit Average Rating of RS = 131.55/15 = 8.77/10

 

8/10


spoiler ahead.


the good:
1)Han's, Leia's, R2-D2's and C-3PO's plot was the best out of the whole book.

2)Allston is the funniest SWU author. makes the stories enjoyable.

3)Jaina's and Jag's kiss scene.

4)Wes Janson's little flirtationt with Jaina. (it's fuuny cuz he doesn't even realize he was flirting with Jaina Solo.

5)the way the situation of Tarc was dealt with.

6)the final battle at the end. great write he is, that Allston.

7)the scene where Tam stops the vong spy from killing the bothan and finding out that there's no starlancer project.

the bad:
1)the coruscant plot would've been a good one except for the Nyax guy. i was expecting something better from Allston. didn't do anything for the NJO's plot. made the mission to coruscant look like a waste of time.

2)the amount of time Jaina had in this book. what was Allston thinking? (i'm a Jaina fan.)

3)no appearances by the other Jedi from the strike team. i'd like to know what they are thinking and doing right now. just sittin in their rooms doing meditations all day?

4)lando. where's lando?

5)no mention of the Taanab Yellow Aces in the final battle at the end. sure, we knew they went up there with the other squadrons, but what about their kills? who died in that squadron? what about Janson? how many vong did HE kill?

6)it was very choppy.

the ugly:
1)Nyax and his 6 lightsabers coming from out of the back of his hands and his elbows and knees. (can u say COMIC BOOK FANBOY?)

yeah, um, that's about it.

 

Counting 16 votes.

JC Lit Average Rating of RS = 139.55/16 ~ 8.72/10

 

Rating: 8.0/10

Thought RD (in comparison) was a 9.0 or 9.5.

I'm not a huge NJO fan, and I'm haven't read all the other EU books. My fave SW books have always been the X-Wing books, and I've always especially liked Allston's work. In RS, I particularly enjoyed the return of Janson, Wedge's stuff, and the Wraiths.

 

Great book. I give it a 9.0

I'll be using the same review format as jaya02 for my review.


The Good

First off I have to start with the cover of the book. If anything, this book SHOULD be judged by its cover, because the cover is fantastic. I remember first seeing it a few months back and thinking that it was one of the best Star Wars covers out there. All of the X-Wing books have really good covers, and this is no exception. The likeness of Han and Leia are remarkable. Kudos to Dave Seeley.

This book was written by Aaron Allston. Need I say more? Allston's produced some of the best SWs Lit out there and this book is no exception. He has a great grasp on space battles, which is evident in this book. Mike Stackpole is also good at writing dogfights, but Allston adds something to it, something unexplainable.

There were many things I liked in this book. The Wraiths on Coruscant with Luke, Mara and Tahiri. Allston has seemed to tone done Mara's annoyingness and he even put Tahiri in the spotlight for a while. He went as far to claim that her experiences made her an unofficial Jedi Knight. The interaction between the characters on Coruscant was great stuff.

Han and Leia's missions were also great reading. It was good to see Leia acting more like a scoundrel now that she's renounced the title of politician. It was also good to see C-3PO and R2-D2 back in action. Reading Artoo's conversation with Threepio was an added bonus.

Lastly, it was great to see some characters reappear, such as Wes Janson. It was also great to see characters disappear, much like Viqi Shesh. She will not be missed. The Lord Nyax plot was also interesting, probably due to the fact that he was such an unpredictable foe. Is it just me, or does the name Lord Nyax rule? I'd love to hear how Allston came up with it.

The Bad

There's not much bad about this book, but there are some things that forced me to give it a 9 and nothing higher.

I was disappointed to see that Jaina Solo, Kyp and Jag Fel had so little page space in this novel. I suppose it's understandable considering they got a whole book to themselves in Dark Journey and significant parts in Rebel Dream. It would have been nice to see them interact with others more.

The plotline with Tarc seemed kind of pointless to me. I know they had to get rid of him somehow, but it seemed to draw away from what was really happening in the book.

Maybe it's just me, but the Yuuzhan Vong didn't seem evil enough. (Despite their many murders in this book) I really want to see these guys show their true evil in the upcoming novels. Allston had their obsession with the Gods downpacked, but I wanted to read about mutilations

Lastly, I didn't like the choice to destroy the Lusankya. I really wanted to see this thing in action, ripping Vong fleets apart. Oh well, now Isaaard can't reclaim it

The Ugly

The thought of Wedge almost dying.

 

I'll give it a 9.5.

It is a very good book. The artoo C3po escape plot was briliant. Also using the Lusankya to kill the worldship was good. I especially liked the epilouge where Tsavong Lah was almost questioning if there are ggods or not.

 

oh and i forgot Lord Nyax having al those lightsabers is awesome.

 

I give it 9.5.

To me it was ok not having Jaina in it as much. I loved the droids and their rescue of Han and Leia. Nice to see Nen Yin again too (she'll always be Nen Tsup to me ;-) )

 

Counting 20 votes.

JC Lit Average Rating of RS = 175.55/20 ~ 8.78/10

 

[ Bumped ]

 

Whats all this about a NAKED LUKE [face_boke] in Rebel Stand? [face_shocked]

 

I'd give it a 9. I liked it a lot.

Easily THE most memorable scene in the book is Viqi Sesh's suicide. That was great. It was written perfectly, and I could easily see it cinematic-style in my head. I wonder how much Allston had to pay LFL to let him write her death.

 

9

It was one of the better NJO books (that's not sayin much tho lol)

I agree w/a lot of what others had to say:
The book had the best cover yet.
I loved the parts on Aphran IV (the whole jail scene). Han and Leia had probably the best parts in teh book.
I loved the "destructive war" part. That Mudlath guy was a real idiot. Jansen was hilarious "I can't believe I was flirting w/a nine yr old." The Wraiths' note for Viqi was funny. The whole Coruscant part was boring, but the naked incident was funny.

Overall, the book was pretty good. Hopefully more authors will follow in Allston's footsteps.

 

Rating: 8.5

The good
-Han and Leia's prison escape scene, Leia kicking ass as a Jedi.
-Artoo's gets printed dialogue through a display screen. Finally we get to hear what those beeps and squeals mean.
-Viqi Shesh's death
-Vong banter. I liked how Allston gave them character, not just the same "Serve the gods, kill the infidels, we love pain" routine.
"Very Good. Issue the orders, Ooglith Masquer."How Tsavong Lah is left disturbed at the end of the novel

the bad
-six lightsabers on Nyax. Too many. Looked lame in my head. The idea for him was cool. They should've left it at two sabers.
-even though the Jaina=Yun-Harla
belief was referred to by the Vong when Jaina defeated the Matalok's (cruiser analog) shields on Borleias at the start of the novel, I think it should've been reinforced again at the end of the novel, with the missile trick. The Vong just said they had no explanation.

the ugly
-Tam Engrin getting his hand/arm ripped out of his socket when he fights the Vong spy. It was so vividly described it hurt me. "You fight like a child."

 

Wow, this thread is one of the more off-topic ones I've seen. The whole 1st page has like 20 posts and 1 vote.

n.e. way,

I'd say 7.5/10.

1) Nyax was a little weird for a bad guy. The lightsaber things would've been cool if they were just on the backside of his hands (and maybe the elbow ones), but the knee blades were kinda dumb.

2) I'm very happy that they finally killed Viqi Shesh.

3) Wedge proved yet again that he's the man.

4) The whole Jaina as the trickster goddess is getting old fast. I'm happy that she hooked up with Jag, and got sorted out with Kyp, but they need to knock off the goddess thing. However, the little tricks that they've been coming up with to destroy the Vong are cool. They never seem to use the same tactic twice (which I know is the point).

But I'm more interested in the Jacen Solo storyline, so I'll have to wait for Traitor to come out next month. *sigh*

 

I give it a 9.0 out of 10.

The action and humor was superb. I also liked the many Wampa references.