Star Wars: X-Wing
Written by Michael A. Stackpole
Book 1: Rogue Squadron
Book 2: Wedge’s Gamble
Book 3: The Krytos Trap
Book 4: The Bacta War

With the Rebellion finally bringing an end to the Emperor and his dark servant, Darth Vader, the New Republic is born. However, it isn’t just a case of strolling into Coruscant, or as the Empire renamed it, Imperial Center. The Empire isn’t dead, just its leader, and the New Republic would find it was a great many years before they saw the end of the Empire.

And it all started here, with the X-Wing series of books. Focusing on Wedge Antilles and, at first, the famous Rogue Squadron, these books are very character driven, but in a way that represents the struggles of the New Republic as it strives to take Coruscant.

The X-Wing series is separated into, from what I can gather, four separate arcs. The first one, and the one we’ll be dealing with today, is the retaking of Coruscant and the immediate aftermath that is left for them by the Empire. The books take place 6.5 and 7 years After the Battle of Yavin (ABY), and are written by Michael A Stackpole and they are, simply, some of the best Star Wars Expanded Universe books you will ever have a chance to read.

And they fit in perfectly to the theme that I have been trying to craft for the past few weeks. You’ll be lucky to encounter anyone in the books, apart from Wedge, that had an actor portray them in the movies. The stars of these books, characters that you will fall deeply in love with, are the outside characters that make up the Rebel Alliance, but don’t have a lightsaber, a Wookiee, or a weird hairstyle.

I have once again put myself in a position where I am going to have to work very hard to properly describe to you the sheer wonder at which I felt reading these books. Commander Wedge Antilles was already one of my favorite characters from the movies (yes, I’m serious!), but in these books his character just grew and grew, and I became even more enamored of him.

The men and women underneath him in Rogue Squadron were just as important to me as well. Corran Horn enters into the EU as a member of Rogue Squadron, but will later become a Jedi (I believe) and a much larger part of the Expanded Universe. Much of the Rogue-focused books are spent following Corran. His past as a Corellian Security agent is now linked to the present, through the appearance of an old arch nemesis, Kirtan Loor, who is quickly taken into work high up in the Imperial forces.

His wingman Ooryl Qyrgg is a character that you just can’t help but love. Schizophrenic by racial design, the design and effort that goes into Ooryl is amazing, with an alien background as complicated as you could imagine. Nawara Ven, the lawyer turned Rogue pilot, eventually ends up representing Rogue’s Executive Officer, Captain Tycho Celchu, an escaped Imperial prisoner, now suspected of being an Imperial spy, as he is framed by the Imperials.

Michael Stackpole has a real knack and quality to his writing that really captures the attention. The four-book arc takes place over Rogue Squadron, in which Rogue Squadron is formed and stages a number of daring raids and combined attacks with the rest of the New Republic fleet. Wedge’s Gamble follows, as Rogue Squadron lead the recapture of Coruscant, and Stackpole’s ability to weave multiple different story lines together is breathtaking.

The Krytos Trap is a fantastic story that follows next, seeing the New Republic occupying Coruscant, but with many a problem attached to it. Stackpole continues to explain just how uneasy the universe in which our characters live really is, and adds depth and definition to that universe. The Bacta War is the last book in the arc, and is a fantastic look into the passion of these characters, and what they are willing to lay down for the Republic, but more so, for their friends. By the end of this, you’ll love characters, hate some more, and be completely dedicated to the Star Wars expanded universe.

These are the type of books which spawn ideas such as the upcoming Star Wars: The Clone Wars series which is going to look beyond just your lead characters. George Lucas knows that his universe is not built on the star power of his leads, shown directly in his casting for the first movie, but moreover in his dedication to the EU.

All four of the books get 9 out of 10 from me. There is hardly a flaw anywhere to be seen, and the sheer talent by which these characters and events are written are entirely deserved of such high ranking.