X-Wing: Rogue Squadron by Michael Stackpole

 **SPOILERS BE HERE**

When I first heard about Rogue One, I thought it was going to be a movie about Rogue Squadron and was very disappointed when I found out it wasn't (and then was disappointed watching it, but that's neither here nor there). Imagine my elation when Disney announced Rogue Squadron is coming out in December 2023! Time to dust off this series so I can be angry when I watch it! I probably should have waited another year since it's still three long years until we get to watch some epic dogfights in space, but this will also give the books time to filter out of my brain so I'm not as critical of the movie.

WEDGE ANTILLES IS A GALACTIC TREASURE 

Do you know how furious I was when he only appeared for two seconds in the sequel trilogy? This man survived both Death Star runs, and was the only one to do so outside Luke Skywalker. He is a legend. How dare you ignore him? (I'm aware it's because the actor wasn't interested, but I will continue to let my rage fester. They could have at least mentioned him.) If he isn't the main character in Rogue Squadron (the movie), I will rage. He's an amazing leader with an interesting backstory—he's perfectly written in the book (maybe a little Mary Sue? I know that changes later, though), so just rip him off the page and stick him on to the screen. Finally give him the justice and attention he deserves. 

Am I even reviewing the book? It's so closely tied to my anticipation of the movie that this review is just going to be a mess. The strength of the book is in the characters. Outside of the GOAT, Tycho is probably the most interesting to me because of his background. Corran also has to be mentioned since he's the second main character; again, interesting background and great character development. Ooryl, Mirax, Kirtan Loor, Isard—there are so many good characters. Granted, there are too many characters to start with, but at least there's a handy character guide at the front of the book, and you quickly pick up on which ones you actually need to remember and which are more secondary (and killing off a few doesn't hurt). Even though I've read the series before, I can't remember what happens to everyone, so I'm very invested in them right now. If I hadn't packed the rest of the books, I probably would have started the second one already.

The world building is also great. New planets are always fun, and the makeup of the galaxy post-rebellion is interesting. I like that the Empire is technically still ruling and the New Republic is still trying to wrest control away. That's pretty realistic; it's hard to imagine that the Emperor's death would immediately lead to the downfall of the Empire. Thinking about The Mandalorian, I'm not sure if that's the track the movie will take, but hopefully they still keep the same characters and just tweak it so the New Republic is ruling but the Empire still has loyal remnants. 

What's not so great is the space battles. I know: That's what Rogue Squadron does. X-Wings are cool and amazing in dogfights. That's all true, but reading about dogfights is confusing to me. I find it hard to follow positions and who is doing what. I'm very excited to see them play out on screen though! Just like Shakespeare, dogfights should be seen, not read. I weirdly don't have that problem with ground battles; I think it's the ability to move in all directions and unfamiliar spacecraft terminology that muddles things. The book also takes a while to find it's footing, which is fair; you have to filter through characters and establish what's going on, but I didn't really get invested until about halfway through. 

All in all, solid start. For me there were too many space battles, so that detracted from the book pretty significantly. However, I seem to recall the sequels having less space battles, and they don't have to establish as much, so I expect them to be rated higher.

Completed: 7 January 2021
Rating: 3/5
Recommend: If you like Star Wars