Iron Fist: Star Wars Legends (Wraith Squadron) by Aaron Allston

Iron Fist: Star Wars Legends (Wraith Squadron) Reviews

• 
  Jerry (Rebel With a Massive Media Library)

  It's easy to see why the X-Wing series is among the best-loved in the Expanded Universe.
  
  EDIT: While this book did have its moments, I found it confusing and hard to follow at times. It was still good, but probably the worst of the series so far.
• 
  Matthew

  This is another excellent installment to the X-wing series. Wraith Squadron, now official and fully operational, sets off on the next step of their campaign against Warlord Zsinj. The Wraiths pose as pirates and conduct secret missions to seemingly align themselves with the Warlord, but then to ultimately try to take him down in conjunction with Han Solo's Mon Remonda task force.
  
  This installment, like the previous one, featured fine character development as well as exciting missions. I have to be honest; two scenes in this book turned out to be slight tear-jerkers for me. Many other scenes caused me to laugh out loud.
  
  Finally, author Aaron Allston puts in his two cents on the "hyperspace ram" controversy (the book was published, of course, way before Episode VII). Quoting from page 262 of my epub (context: Solo on the Mon Remonda MC80b is trying to cut off Zsinj's Iron Fist's (Super Star Destroyer) escape vector),
  "He [Solo] continues correcting his position to be more and more precisely in our path," said Melvar. "We can't be sure of his intent until we're past the point of no return. Then, either he moves out of our path and we can get through and go to hyperspace . . . or we hit Mon Remonda and both vessels probably perish".
• 
  Meggie

  For 2020, I decided to reread (in publication order) all the Bantam-era Star Wars books that were released between 1991 and 1999; that shakes out to 38 adult novels and 5 anthologies of short stories & novellas.
  
  This week’s focus: the second of Aaron Allston’s X-Wing books, Iron Fist.
  
  SOME HISTORY:
  
  Aaron Allston’s original plan for the Wraith Squadron books wouldn’t have involved the Wraiths at all! Instead, he wanted to set them concurrently with Stackpole’s Rogue Squadron books, and follow Wes Janson and Hobbie Klivian as they worked with various training squadrons. But Lucasfilm wanted the focus to remain on Wedge Antilles, so Allston shifted the action to the search for Warlord Zsinj, after
  The Bacta War. While
  Wraith Squadron made the New York Times paperback bestseller list, I couldn’t find any data that book 2, Iron Fist did for any of the weeks after its release.
  
  MY RECOLLECTION OF THE BOOK:
  
  I remembered the entirety of the Face & Ton Phanan subplot, but I had conflated a lot of Lara Notsil’s plotline from
  Solo Command. Her dramatic arc is just getting started in Iron Fist...
  
  A BRIEF SUMMARY:
  
  Against all odds, Wraith Squadron has survived its first covert mission. But this time Wedge Antilles sends them in to stop the warlord Zsinj and his Super Star Destroyer, Iron Fist. Wraith Squadron's mission: infiltrate the warlord's fleet by posing as ruthless pirates and uncover his carefully guarded plans.
  
  THE CHARACTERS:
  
  What I like about Allston’s X-Wing books is how he shifts focus to new characters in each book.
  Wraith Squadron focused a lot on Kell Tainer, but Iron Fist deals with both old and new Wraiths.
  
  Wedge’s main issue during Iron Fist is family-related. At the end of
  Wraith Squadron, we heard the voice of Baron Fel--the Imperial pilot turned Rebel pilot turned ???, and also Wedge’s brother-in-law. Wedge has so many questions: why has Fel sided with Zsinj? What happened to him? Where is Wedge’s sister Syal? He doesn’t get any answers in this book, other than the revelation that Fel is now very dismissive of Antilles. Wedge also has to be the boss with a group of unruly almost-teenagers, who have to be reprimanded and (in the case of Castin Donn), don’t take well to the word NO.
  
  Allston had said that the main theme for the Wraith Squadron books was forgiveness. In
  Wraith Squadron, Wedge and especially Kell have to forgive themselves in the matter of Jesmin Ackbar’s death, and Kell has to forgive and forget both his father’s legacy and how that has impacted him. In Iron Fist, the forgiveness theme plays out in the subplots of Face Loran and Ton Phanan, and Dia Passik.
  
  Face was a child actor in Imperial propaganda films, and years later joined the Rebel forces. But his past hangs around his neck like a millstone, and he continually self-flagettes himself over what he did. He has to learn to forgive himself (as Ton Phanan points out, he was a child!), and move beyond his past.
  
  Dia was enslaved as a child, and doesn’t want to look inward at all. She doesn’t want to ever be that helpless again, so she moves to the opposite extreme and tries to become completely heartless. It takes a super traumatic event until she’s able to reconcile her child-self with the adult that she’s grown into.
  
  With Lara Notsil, I was initially worried that her plotline would follow the same course as Erisi Dlarit in the Rogue Squadron books; that was fortunately not the case. She joins Wraith Squadron as a stopgap measure, and intends to return to Warlord Zsinj and the Imperials. But the Wraiths care about what happens to her and care what she has to say, and she finds herself surrounded by friends. She’s given up on the Empire, but unlike Face and Dia, she’s not willing to tackle the consequences of her past actions yet--that will come in
  Solo Command.
  
  And like in
  Wraith Squadron, not all our characters make it to the end. Allston had said that since these books are set in wartime, he didn’t believe everyone would survive all the battles. But he also wanted to make sure that the deaths were meaningful, both to the other characters and to the reader. So in Iron Fist, we say goodbye to Ton Phanan and Castin Donn.
  
  Ton’s arc mirrors Face’s; young Dr. Phanan was a Rebel doctor during the Battle of Endor, who thought he was doing good. But Ton has an allergy to bacta, so every time he’s injured he loses more of himself, and it leads to him feeling that he can’t connect with others. If Face has to learn how to put the past behind him and move on, Ton can’t. He’s given up even before his actual death. Allston originally planned to kill Ton Phanan off in the first book, but felt that he still had a role to play. It hurts to see him die (and I’m not the only one! That’s why we have fix-it fics so that Face and Ton can continue their bromance forever and ever).
  
  Castin Donn’s death feels realistic and shocking, because his storyline feels incomplete. He has a real problem with aliens, and he directly disobeys Wedge’s orders. He’s reckless, and it leads to his death. While his death doesn’t have the emotional resonance of Ton’s, it has a huge impact on the other characters, especially on Dia.
  
  And then we have our baddies. If Zsinj was more of an offscreen puppetmaster in
  Wraith Squadron, in Iron Fist we get to see him in the flesh. Zsinj is definitely a
  large ham, and he needs attention and validation from others. He’s also very calculating, and you can see how Allston is taking the character from
  The Courtship of Princess Leia and slowly turning him into a believable archvillain.
  
  We are also reintroduced to General Melvar, also from
  The Courtship of Princess Leia. He’s scary, and not just because of his razor sharp fingernails. He always appears to be playing a role, and the inner Melvar is just...blank.
  
  ISSUES:
  
  While
  Wraith Squadron contained a lot of setup for the other books, Iron Fist suffers from a different issue: middle book syndrome. For instance, the last battle was not as exciting/climactic as the battle in the previous book. We know that they won’t beat Zsinj, because there’s one more book to go; but we also know that they won’t beat Zsinj because he appears in
  The Courtship of Princess Leia. It made the stakes feel a little low this time around.
  
  Two minor quibbles: Castin Donn’s name is way too similar to Myn Donos, and while that won’t affect the next book, it was occasionally confusing this time. (That’s the risk you run when you have two characters with similar names!)
  
  Second, we lost three pilots in
  Wraith Squadron--two women and one man; two aliens and one human--and they’re replaced in Iron Fist with four pilots--three women and one man; one alien and three humans. While I loved getting more female characters (I was previously counting the women in the male-heavy Star Wars universe until I stopped out of frustration and disappointment), I wish that the ratio of humans to non-humans was a little better. There are so many different aliens in SW, and I would have loved more of that diversity.
  
  IN CONCLUSION:
  
  Iron Fist features great humor, intriguing characters arcs, and some shocking yet emotionally meaningful character deaths. But it also suffers a little from middle book syndrome, in that nothing big and climactic happens here. (I still recommend it, though!)
  
  
  Next up: the conclusion to the Hand of Thrawn duology,
  Vision of the Future by Timothy Zahn.
  
  
  My YouTube review:
  https://youtu.be/0uHmgoPvcd8
  
  Aaron Allston SW FAQs:
  https://web.archive.org/web/200710131...
  
  Vintage Allston interview from 2000:
  https://www.fanthatracks.com/intervie...
• 
  Crystal Starr Light

  Bringing down Warlord Zsinj
  Wedge Antilles and the Wraiths continue their charade as pirates to get closer to Warlord Zsinj and take him down.
  NOTE: Based on audiobook and novel.
  
  I Liked:
  Last book had a lot of point of views and/or character moments from Kell Tainer and Tyria. This time, we get pov’s from a new set of the Wraiths (such as Face and Lara Notsil). I liked this because we get to learn more about the “lesser” members, we don’t get bored with the same characters, and we get to grow attached to all the Wraiths.
  One thing Allston is brilliant at is humor. The Ewok joke makes a return; the antics of the Wraiths can be hilarious. I like a light-hearted approach to something that could be so heavy.
  Under Allston, Warlord Zsinj isn’t your stereotypical power-hungry, maniacal, wild Imperial junkie. I mean, he still somewhat resides in the Imperial stereotype, but I could actually believe that he was a menace.
  
  I Didn’t Like:
  I am beginning to come to the conclusion that the audiobooks of the X-Wing series are badly done. Half the time, I have no clue what is going on; it seems they cut and read random scenes from the book (for instance, what is the point of Runt’s dancing hall scene?). Keeping track of the characters is nearly impossible and the story gets lost behind the dogfights.
  But by far the most groan worthy moment was “Lara Notsil”’s character arc. Here we have yet another supposedly “highly trained”, 15-year veteran Imperial Intelligence agent that spends a day with the Wraiths and suddenly leaves the Empire because of the “addictive” sense of “belonging” to the Wraiths. Oh, please! The tacked on “parent’s mysterious treason” (she hadn’t thought of that fifteen years ago?), the lack of build-up to her leaving (she changes her mind literally in one scene with no hints earlier), and the hokey one time “Oh, Warlord Zsinj had these men die dishonorably” line (geez, haven’t YOU done some dishonorable deeds?) made me totally disinterested in the whole character and even the whole book.
  
  Dialogue/Sexual Situations/Violence:
  Star Wars or minor da** & he**.
  Tyria and Kell are a couple. There are a few others too.
  Dogfights, betrayals, subterfuge, and one of the Wraiths dies.
  
  Overall:
  If you’ve been keeping up with the X-Wing series, I would definitely recommend you continue. I had issues with this book, more than the others in the series, but I had to wonder: was it me? Was it the audiobook? Or was it actually the book? So, while instinct wants me to hit it with a three, I will assign a 3.5 rounded to 4, partly to allow for the audiobook’s faults and partly in memory of the good predecessors.
• 
  TheGeeksAttic

  
  Star Wars: Iron Fist, book six in the X-Wing Series, was written by Bestselling Author, Aaron Allston. This Expanded Universe tale takes place during the New Republic Era, seven ABY (7 years after the battle of Yavin).
  
  SUMMARY
  Warlord Admiral Zsinj is on the prowl, his hit and run tactics are brutal against the New Republic. He sits comfortably in his Star Destroyer - Iron Fist. While he seems unpredictable, New Republic Wraith Squadron narrows down his tactics through collected intel and risky groundwork.
  
  Wraith Squadron works hard to prevent Zsinj from accomplishing one of his biggest moves yet, acquiring a super star destroyer to expand his fleet. The missions that take place to maneuver Wraith into having chance to face off against Zsinj comes with a heavy price tag; the cost... life.
  
  In this tale, Wraith Squadron gains new members, replacing the few that were recently lost. One new member, isn't quite who she claims to be. Lies are told, secrets are kept, and blood is shed.
  
  OVERALL THOUGHTS
  Alright, this is the best one yet in the X-Wing series. This book had so many tense moments that kept me glued to the pages! I really enjoy not knowing what the outcome will be when it comes to the characters; which is the best part about "side' characters of Star Wars. We all know the established characters will be around.
  
  Allston does a wonderful job writing the characters of Wraith Squadron. The misfit group of pilots work well together, mostly. The plot of this book was simple, the missions were highly entertaining, and the villain really gets under the skin. The story was unpredictable, the author wasn't afraid to kill off anyone.
  
  Gara Petothel, has to be my favorite character in this story. One of my complaints for the previous book, Wraith Squadron, was that we didn't get that much commando action. This book fulfills what that book lacked. The fighting on the ground was just as exciting as the fighting in the air/space. Allston does a fine job setting the scene and building up tension.
  
  We get a peak at what happened right after that Return of the Jedi special edition scene where the people on Coruscant are pulling down the statue of Emperor Palpatine. I loved that little moment that gave us a direct tie-in visual to the film.
  
  Do I recommend this book in the X-Wing Series? Absolutely. This book has great humor sprinkled lightly throughout, it's not overly done. The characters are fantastically written.
  
  RATING
  I give Star Wars: X-Wing: Iron Fist, an A! Making this book the best in the series so far.
  
• 
  Jacob

  I'm of two minds when it comes to this book. I think that some of the hurdles presented in the previous installments have been corrected and as such the story is able to move forward without those nagging hindrances. That having been said it felt a bit boring in contrast with it's predecessors and even though it's the shortest of the series thus far it never really seemed to pop the way the others did.
  
  It's hard to write a review for a book that is neither great nor terrible. It's harder still for me to specifically pinpoint what makes the book feel like it fell short. It's better written overall than Allston's first installment and the story is compelling, with the subterfuge of a previously staunch Imperial agent having to navigate her new life as a pilot for the Republic. Those story beats alone make the book worth reading.
  
  Perhaps it just felt a little bit too much like filler. I can't say for sure. I wasn't truly disappointed in the book, it simply didn't connect with me the way that I was expecting. I think it fits well in the overall scheme but does little else. And maybe that's okay.
• 
  Amy

  Definitely need to finish the Wraith Squadron trilogy for this re-read. Onward to Solo Command!
• 
  Adam

  I said in my review of Wraith Squadron that it was probably the lowest end of the quality spectrum of a SW book I'd still genuinely enjoy. That didn't leave much buffer room for Allston to do any worse, and Iron Fist is a little worse. Allston's writing is just soooooo threadbare in every trait that makes a novel worth reading. It's still not bad, exactly, not offensive in the way so many of the SW writing I really loathe is. It just feels like someone took a real book and abridged out all the good bits. There are a couple of pitifully weak attempts at character arcs here, just really pitiful stuff--the way Lana joins Wraith Squadron as an infiltrator but instantly loses her entire prior motivations and it never comes up again, or Face's deal (not too dissimilar from Donos' deal last time but now the character going through grief and guilt mostly offscreen is nominally a protagonist). The part that really sinks it is that none of these things have anything to do with the actual story of the book. They're literally sideplots. The climactic action scene is given through the POV of Shalla, Piggy, and Wedge, and has nothing to do with them. It makes the whole thing feel extremely detached and low-stakes, despite being a battle nearly the scale of Endor.
  
  That we're thrust into the middle of a conflict between the NR and Zsinj could be written off as immersive last time but the fact that Zsinj has done literally nothing in two books now except be a mildly competent foe in a cat and mouse game is starting to sap the energy from things. We get closer to him than ever here but there are no sparks from that interaction at all. He's not pulling his weight, but neither is anyone else. The ongoing plot line about making dumb aliens smart, which is bad, gets a few breadcrumbs here but no actual development (eg through Piggy's POV). Han is here but Allston has nothing for him to do and isn't good at writing dialogue for him. Wedge talks to Soontir Fel, just breadcrumbing another overarching plot that adds nothing here. Nothing that happens ever feels interesting or engaging, even if it should be on paper, because Allston doesn't seem to be trying to make it feel engaging. It's not Stackpole-tier bloviating hackery or insipid sawdust like so much of the new canon stuff, but it's so lacking in virtues that it certainly doesn't deserve the positive reputation it has.
• 
  Daniel Kukwa

  I hung in for as long as I could...but this series has finally defeated me and my patience. I perked up a bit for Han Solo, but is it enough to get to finish it off once and for all? I just don't know if Rogue & Wraith Squadrons are interesting enough for me to hang in there...
• 
  Alan

  These books would be so much better if them didn't cram them so full of unnecessary drama and repeated long descriptions of every space battle.
• 
  Somesuchlike

  I feel incredibly geeky for admitting that this book made me cry. But it's true - when reading a letter one character leaves for his best friend to read once he's dead.
  It's also rather amusing, though. The last line of the letter is him demanding that his friend take care of his pet glass prowlers (insects), because they are cute, and cuteness should be preserved.
  
  I prefer this one to Wraith Squadron. It properly introduces Gara/Lara/Kirney (she goes by many names), and the romance between her and Myn Donos, which is... awkward, to say the least. Then there's Castin, who's rather interesting story arc is cut off very, very abruptly. Then there's Dia, who becomes Face's girlfriend (they're an awesome couple).
  
  The only way I'd like it better would be if Castin had been around for longer.
• 
  David Atwell

  Reading this series back to back for the first time ever, I'm impressed at the deftness with which Allston has developed these characters. When legacy characters from previous books or the movies show up, they're portrayed in a unique and interesting light. The battles feel new and fresh every time, and the tactics are surprising. But I'm most impressed at the voice and goals that have filled up each character anew. It's excellently done.
• 
  Kelly

  Keeping a fantastic sense of humor in the takes-itself-incredibly-seriously Star Wars universe is a huge accomplishment. I loooove the Allston X-Wing books. Stackpole's are good too, but he gets bogged down in a whole lot of sci-fi techno babble that I don't care about, and he isn't funny, so these are better. Wedge Antilles is my hero.
• 
  Ron

  3.5 actually. Good story.
  
  The opening scene pushes credibility. If warlord Zsinj got that close to Wraith Squadron, he'd vaporize them, not work some hokey kidnap by fake MPs. In fact, he'd probably blow away a good chunk of Coruscant, just to be sure he got them.
  
  Nice cover art; actually relates to the story.
• 
  Lindsey

  A good continuation to the series, equal to its predecessor.
• 
  Leia Mahanay

  Just as great as the first time
  
  This is an excellent book, the first time to the millionth. Wraith squadron proves their worth over and over again. Yub yub, Commander!
• 
  Keith

  Stars: 2.5
  Re-read: Yes, probably.
  Recommend to: Casual fans might want to stop after the Bacta War. If you really liked Wraith Squadron, this is more of the same.
  
  I had major problems with this book, but it was still entertaining if you turn your brain off. I ultimately rounded down to two stars because Allston made a whole lot of silly decisions that I found very frustrating.
  
  There are some areas where Aaron Allston really just goes off the rails and it drives me nuts. It's mostly when he creates these absurd scenarios that would never happen or that don't fit with the universe. It is like a miniature precursor to the Disney devastation. The best example I can think of off the top of my head from this book is Lara Notsil (Gara Petothel in the previous book). The Wraiths only know her because one of them was next to her in the hospital for a couple of days. All they know about her is that she claims she was kidnapped and repeatedly raped by the Imperial Captain Trigit in the previous book. I can't remember if she claimed to be a good pilot or not, but I don't remember that. So Tyria had the story that she was a failing pilot and this corrupt trainer named Repness tried to force her to fake crash her x-wing so they could say it was destroyed and then sell it. That was an absurd story in the previous book because she was a failed pilot who then was accepted into Wraith Squadron. Anyway. Kell/Face recruit her, because she is also really hot naturally, to set up this Repness guy. Naturally, she gets sent directly to this remedial flight school. Why is the New Republic accepting pilots who were sex slaves of imperials like a week ago? Are they going to vet her at all? Do pilots not go to some form of basic training? Why does she begin her school at the remedial school for failures? Then we find out that Repness does this kind of thing all the time. How is this not almost immediately discovered by the military. Not only do ships on his routine training missions get destroyed repeatedly, they completely disappear. And it's not like they disappeared in hyperspace and nobody knows what happened. The pilots survive. So the story is that he repeatedly arranges missions where the pilot he takes under his wing crashes somehow but survives. Then, the ship is destroyed without a trace. They never decide to go and find a black box or something like that? You'd think they'd want to get to the bottom of why their spacecraft are miraculously blowing up and disappearing but somehow leaving the pilots unhurt. It is believable maybe one time. But he has this entire market in this and other corrupt ventures and I guess nobody is suspicious. Oh yeah, at the end of the Lara vs Repness side story, Lara says she is going to reveal him to the authorities. He laughs it off and says good luck getting them to believe you after the psych eval I'll write about you today. Then he knocks her out. So he knows that she will accuse him. His foolproof response is that she is a habitual liar, and that's proven by her psych report...which was written by him...like a day ago. And I think in Allston's eyes, this would've worked if she hadn't had his anti-listening device changed into a transmitting device which gave him away. It's like how every so often you hear about a military jet crashing. Now, instead of it happening all throughout the country, imagine all of the crashes happened at the same place under the same captain. Then also imagine that the planes just disappeared and the pilots were all found floating in the ocean. Would nobody be suspicious or would everyone immediately point to the common factor and say it is obviously him? And then, one of his subordinates comes out and says that he tried to get her to fake a crash so they could spirit the plane away and sell it. She says this happened a few days ago, but he knocked her unconscious, and she does indeed have the physical bruises to support that. He brushes this off and says, "I have proof she is lying. Just look at this psych eval I wrote that says she is a liar" (with a timestamp of the exact same day that she claims she rejected his plan). Good grief this is bad.
  
  To make things even worse, Face/Kell get Lara to do this by promising to get her into either Rogue or Wraith Squadron. What in the world is Allston doing? They don't even know if she is a good pilot yet, and she just got done being the sex slave (she claims) of their enemy. Did they even try to find out if she was lying? There were people who escaped the destruction of the star destroyer she was an officer on. Did intelligence show them a picture of her and ask who she was? Her secret probably wouldn't last long, but she shouldn't be ushered into elite military squadrons without vetting her. Wedge says something like she'll have to get in on her flying merits, but they don't even know if her flying is actually good or not. She was failing remedial flying school. Failing. Then, after she reveals Repness, she starts acing it. Wedge says, and I couldn't believe Allston wrote this, that even if you averaged her failings grades with when she was acing it, she would still qualify for both of Wedge's squadrons. So if she was failing and then acing, the mostly likely average is about a C to a B-. So Wedge is accepting people with C grade skills into freakin Rogue Squadron? Really? These are the most elite pilots in the entire galaxy and suddenly Wedge is accepting average pilots? This was just so stupid. It really makes lines like this from Wedge all the more absurd, "...the so-called worst Wraith is one of the galaxy's most dangerous opponents by any standard, else he or she wouldn't be in the squadron." But Allston had proven this wasn't true in the previous book (Tyria getting in after being sent to remedial pilot school) and like twenty minutes ago when Lara would've gotten in with average scores. It really does remind me of Disney where he destroys all logic and foundation previously set because he is too lazy to create realistic circumstances for a scenario he has fallen in love with.
  And good lord, Wedge begins to consider Lara for lieutenant after one mission.
  
  
  Allston also has these really lazy lines of dialogue that make him sound like a complete moron. They are often pretty inconsequential to the plot, but they illustrate how he doesn't understand the characters at all. Han Solo is the general in charge of a task force trying to get the Iron Fist. He tells Wedge that when they get intel, they pounce on it to try and catch him. Wedge warns him not to become predictable, because they Zsinj might feed him false information and lead them into a trap. The brilliant mind of Aaron Allston writes that Han Solo hadn't considered that. He didn't consider that his enemy may attempt to mislead him. So Han Solo is now a complete moron who has no business surviving on his own not to mention being a general of the New Republic. Good Lord, the more I write the more I'm beginning to think that Disney may have been inspired by Allston.
  
  Another example of characters acting out of character:
  In the very beginning, they are in a bar on Coruscant and a guy attacks them. The cops show up and take them outside. As they are walking, the Wraiths lash out and start killing the cops. Killing them. They slash one of their throats. This seems wildly out of character. Why would they do this extreme action? Two reasons, both of which are stupid. 1. The cops got there too quickly. 2. One cop told Face he was from Corellia, but he didn't walk like he was from there. So on those reasons alone, they killed at least three people. The first reason is absurd because there are tons of reasons the cops could get there quickly. They could've been walking by. They could've just finished with another disturbance nearby. So if that is a perfectly reasonable explanation for their response time, the Wraiths killed multiple people because one guys didn't walk like a Corellian would in Face's estimation. Seriously. I'm sure Corellia has billions of people. Do they all walk the same? What if he only lived there as a kid? He could've left Corellia when he was two and still been Corellian. But you are just going to start slashing throats? You see, none of this matters because Allston already knew the ending of the scene. It didn't matter how crazy the response was, because he knew at the end if would be justified. But it wasn't in any way justified with the information they had at the time, so it is pure nonsense.
  
  Other things:
  -Lara knows what the governor of some random minor world likes to drink. She claims she knows this because the place she was working on Coruscant had the planet listed as separated and somehow that means she knows the governor likes to drink that. This doesn't raise the suspicions of a single person. Maybe they should check that she worked at this place and they had it listed that way? This should've raised all kinds of red flags to the Wraiths.
  -Lara gets a message from her "brother" and Zsinj had altered a photo to have her in it in the background. This confuses her, and she literally can't remember if she is Gara Petothel or Lara. She has a crisis and legitimately no longer knows who she is for a couple of pages. It's especially bad because, at least at this point, Gara is her actual identity. It's not like she is juggling dozens of fakes identities. Right now it is between an identity she made up a few months ago and her real one.
  -Another example of Aaron Allston being Disney-lite in terms of inconsistency with his own work:Lara is very surprised that the Wraiths seem to be good people. She thinks about how she assumed they would basically be fanatical killers glorying in killing others. She believes this because of Imperial propaganda. Fine. But like two pages later she casually thinks about a time she was a spy on a rebel ship for an extended period of time. You can't be blinded by propaganda when you have substantial first-hand experience. This revelation alters her entire perspective. She sees that Zsinj was willing to sacrifice some pilots to achieve his goals and she immediately turns on him. Did she not see any atrocities Zsinj committed before this? She based her fake ID off of a dead civilian that her previous commander killed when he obliterated an entire city because they opposed him, but she didn't turn on him until he chose to sacrifice his people instead of allowing the Republic to capture his ship. She wasn't too moved by seeing that city being obliterated. She has surely seen a great many atrocities and suffering caused by her side, but it was Zsinj sacrificing a few TIE fighters that makes her switch sides.
  -Since when do their TIE Interceptors have hyperdrive? It's established this slows them down considerably, but suddenly one of them goes to hyperspace and I'm confused. I don't remember this ever being mentioned and I certainly don't remember them flying slower craft.
  - I love that the picture on the cover doesn't happen. That mission is a trap and they don't damage the base.
  - It is very convenient that they never seem to kill anyone innocent while acting as pirates.
  - Dia shoots Castin's dead body to prove they aren't with him. It is clearly the right call. She has been shown to be brutal and somewhat blood-thirsty. The first thing she did when getting her freedom was turn around and murder her master and anybody else on the ship. But shooting a dead body of a comrade she knew for about a week makes her lose it and she tries to kill herself.
  - It seems a wasted opportunity that Ton finally opens up and his confidence was all bluster. He's actually depressed and very lonely. This was good to see finally. But then he dies the next day. It would've been nice if we saw some of this earlier.
  Weirdest of all is that Face says that he's only known him for a few weeks. What the heck is going on? So all of Wraith Squadron and half of this book took place over a few weeks? I don't know how you make a mistake like this.
  - For no reason whatsoever, Zsinj gives Shalla, a woman whom they just met and barely saw in a fist-fight the most important job in sneaking aboard the new Super Star Destroyer they want to steal. They have been working on this for 2 years. Why would they allow the possibility for some stranger to mess it up intentionally or accidentally? There's no reason they would, but Allston wanted it to happen for the plot.
  - They have to go all-in on having an ewok pilot. Fine. I actually like Kettch as a character; he's funny. But they "proof" he is real by strapping the stuffed ewok toy to Wedge in the TIE. Why in the world would this work? Allston claims that they see the Ewok inside the cockpit as they fight, but that would be impossible. They are flying in a battle in space and TIE's have narrow FOV, so they'd be hard to see in. Nobody would be able to tell if it was an ewok, but multiple people do.
  - One of the Wraiths is described as "corpulent". Who would that be? It couldn't be Piggy, because the person was in storm trooper armor.
  -The New Republic finally has a chance to take out the Iron Fist and have a chance at a second SSD that is essentially helpless. But they decide to send an incredibly weak fleet to do this. It is basically one Mon Cal cruiser and a handful of smaller capital ships. This is the biggest military threat to the New Republic, and that's all they can spare?
  
  Second read: 2007
  First read: 2001
  
• 
  Maria

  Reread round. :) Second book in the three book arc in the X-wing series.
  And still a solid five for me.
  
  The first book introduced and set up the Wraiths plus their first success (and failure); the second goes into deep commando mode while still having lots of space action and star fighters going against each others and other targets. Their new plan is a daring one, but the type that will become their signature when it comes to planning and missions, and it's just plain fun seeing them act out in so unconventional ways.
  I'll admit the whole pairing up that happens in the X-wing books can become a bit 'oh, come on! It's not realistic that every woman pairs up with one of the guys!', but I'll forgive it by remembering that this novel and the others are from the 90's. Heteronormatism and romance was very important then. Mixes species was the bravest they dared be. Still, it's minor complaint and just a sign of its age.
  Overall the story goes along very smoothly with so many great exchanges that I can't even pick a favorite one. But of course; if you've read the first in the arc you'll know what to expect.
  For me rereading is extra fun, because I can't remember most of it and is thus constantly surprised by the turns of the story.
  
  I won't be reading Solo Command immediately, because I have to read the next reading book club book, but then I'll return and finish this arc. :)
• 
  John

  Another decent read from Aaron Allston in the X-Wing saga. Book six, but book two in Allston's Wraith Squadron story arc, fell a bit short for me in the end, but middle books in trilogies often do, and I assume that's what this was. A fun, quick read, much like book five, but one that I'll only really be able to judge once I read book seven.
  
  This one sticks with the Wraiths as they add Lara Notsil, a refugee from Zsinj's posse, and several other new cast members to the squadron. Lara's storyline was the most interesting part of the book for me, as she infiltrated the Wraiths, then fell in love with the camaraderie, and seems to be one of them now (to be continued I'm sure...). The main plot follows the Wraiths as they turn pirate themselves to try to infiltrate Zsinj's group and stop him from acquiring another Super Star Destroyer at Kuat. They're successful, but he escapes, leaving the conclusion not so conclusive.
  
  Fun with Wedge and an Ewok doll, a heartbreaking loss of another pilot and wingman, and a little more depth on some of the characters made this a solid read. Can't give it the 4 stars it seems to average here, but 3 seems pretty accurate. Can't wait to see how (if?) book seven finishes this Wraith storyline off.
• 
  Ben Savage

  Nice little re-read. I read this one solo before. It's much nicer to read it in the series though to echo another review, it occasionally suffers second book scenario.
  
  We form up on the Wraiths this time tasked with more traditional Intelligence activities- getting into the mind of the late 90s stand in for I presume Saddam Hussein or Gaddafi or another who was the big bad evil of the day.
  
  One thing that always gets me, and yes, it's a Star Wars book, is the lack of coordination between other units. The Spec Ops who flies don't really coordinate with Combat Medics or Insertion or Intelligence or anything really.
  
  Characters are a bit more well rounded but again, problems abound with sudden match ups or "twu luv conquers all" or military discipline contrasting with the actions of a squad. Though I do like the Morale officer.
  
  Once again, if you like Star Wars, and lile the military, you'll like this
• 
  Carlin C

  Aaron Allston’s Iron Fist is the best of the X-Wing books so far. Being his second entry in the X-Wing series, Allston’s writing seems more confident and smooth, which make battle descriptions much clearer than in the previous book, Wraith Squadron.
  
  Other than Wedge, Kell offered the main POV character of the previous book, but Iron Fist wisely trades out Kell for Face with a bit of Zsinj and Lara. This shift of perspective creates more depth, humor and stakes than I felt we got in the previous book and we’re offered both the fun that comes from following Face as well as the intrigue of following such a complex character as Lara.
  
  As I am six books into this nine book series, it’s fair to say I have been enjoying these books. Stackpole’s previous work was a blast and Allston has only built on it. These books are exactly what they should be, fun and enjoyable to read as it expands on that galaxy far far away.
  
  Yub yub, Commander.
• 
  CB Stormblessed

  4.5
  
  That’s what I’m talking about! I read all these Star Wars books and all too often I see massive potential but mediocre execution. Not here! The climax of this book is the best space battle I’ve read! I was able to follow where everything in relation to each other and it focused on exactly the right things at exactly the right time with excellent pacing. Not to mention the action throughout which is also fantastic.
  
  The character work was also absolutley fantastic especially considering there is no nostalgia or other pre established work to rely on as the cast is pretty much all but one original characters. This idea of a mist fit squad of pilots is excellent and again the execution here was stellar. It even had me in my feels while pulling off full character arcs. A lot of other Star Wars EU books don’t even bother to attempt these sorts of arcs.
  
  To summarize, absolutely fantastic, if you like Star Wars you owe it to yourself to read x wing!