Book 5 - 'Wraith Squadron' by Aaron Allston  

Bantam Press 1998  

Set 3.5 - 4 years after RotJ 

 book cover
Story -- Wedge wants to form a new squadron (commandos that can also fly, rather than pilots with some ground-based skills) to go after Zsinj. To keep costs down (the New Republic are still hard up, remember) he agrees to use people no-one else wants - misfits, troublemakers, screwups...

Original characters from the movies -- Leia's in this one a little; Han, too; Ackbar's trying to get Wedge to accept a general-ship.

New characters -- Wes Janson is back from the previous novels, but the rest are all new and interesting (in some cases, downright weird!). A new droid (Squeaky) has a real attitude problem (yeah!). Cubber the mechanic is like mechanics the Universe over - I kept expecting him to do that 'backwards whistle' thing and claim he couldn't get the parts.
 
Cover art -- X-wings and A-wings flying down a trench.

Chicks -- 3 female pilots, 1 female baddie, and Leia. Jesmin Ackbar (Mon Cal pilot), Falynn Sandskimmer (from Tatooine - attitude problem, swears like a trooper), Tyria Sarkin (attractive, but lacks self-confidence), Gara Petothel (introduced in this novel, but she'll be back).

Any good? -- the Allston books definitely have a different 'feel' to them after reading four Stackpole books, and it's not just due to the change in cast. There's still lots of character stuff, although it's not quite as 'in-depth' as Stackpole, and there's more humor (practical jokes, as well as some cracking one-liners). The first six chapters are to do with the selection and training of the pilots; very interesting, but I was glad to move on to some action.

Read it? -- sure, give it a go.

Rating -- 7 out of 10
 

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