Enemy Lines I: Rebel Dream

So, after several books of them being scattered, we once again see all of the primary cast of the NJO get brought back together. This allows for some good character moments, and also allows the action to stay somewhat more focused around the events at hand.

And “action” is definitely the word to keep at hand with this book. It's fast-paced, with a lot more focus on the ship battles and space warfare than a lot of the other books in this series, which is fine for now, but could easily get boring if they steer the series in general in that direction.

The general theme of the book here was kind of Neitzschean, especially his warning of “he who hunts monsters must ensure that, in the process, he does not become a monster.” The core of the former Rebel Alliance decides to take the battle to the Yuzhaan Vong in this volume, employing a variety of tactics that can only be described as Imperial and Dark Side in their nature. It's all done for the greater good, naturally, but we can definitely see the path to the Sith being paved with those good intentions.

Aaron Allston finally makes his glorious return to Star Wars literature with Rebel Dream, the first book in the Enemy Lines duology.

For those of you who are disgruntled, and barely want to continue reading the New Jedi Order, I understand. However, if all the NJO books were as well written as Rebel Dream, your attitudes would be completely opposite. Allston has done a great job with this novel, and I must applaud him for it.

He brings great life to nearly all the characters, making none of them feel two-dimensional, like many other books have done so far. Jaina is portrayed as a young woman going through difficult times, and not knowing how to deal with her emotions. She is very likable and understandable in this novel, and brings a great amount of depth to this story.

Wedge Antilles becomes a completely new character (as far as I'm concerned), when dealing with his wife Iella and his children. Never before has this side of the story been told; it makes Wedge even more likable than before.

Jagged Fel displays some emotion in Rebel Dream, and starts to become a three-dimensional character, and finally, is good enough for our Jaina.

I just can't say how well Aaron Allston portrayed all the characters in this story. Lando is believable, and even gets a bit of story-time. I also liked the way Allston portrayed Tahiri in this book, continuing what I felt was a pretty crucial plotline.

But the real savior of this novel, and, as I'm sure will be the case in the conclusion in Rebel Stand, is the tactics.

Allston keeps up the suspense throughout the book–and keeps just enough to himself–that the reader is often wondering just what's going to happen, but knowing that it's all part of a plan. Seldom have I seen an author do this well in any genre. But Allston excels at portraying military tactics, at least as far as Star Wars is concerned.

On the side of the Yuuzhan Vong, I was very happy with the way they were portrayed, even though little of it delved very deeply. Some of the things I enjoyed were seeing how Tsavong Lah respected his father, who was challenged by Tsavong for the position of Warmaster. It also shows that there were arguments about even coming to the Galaxy, far, far away in the first place. Nen Yim makes her reappearance, finally, and does pretty well, though the subject matter could be considered rather gruesome.

The fate of the New Republic is poor, I'm sorry to say, and the fate of Coruscant staggering. Never before have I considered what is happening there, and I shudder just thinking about it, but I am also salivating wanting to know more about the future of this story, after the Vong are eventually driven out.

I'm sure you're wondering about the humor aspect as well. Naturally Allston gives us the goods, as usual, with several humorous sections, and even bringing in the old Ewok joke; I was certainly glad to see that. Being a rather dark series, small points of light making us smile are very welcome, and for that, Aaron, I thank you.

All that being said, and I know it's a lot, there are very few things that I disliked about Rebel Dream. The most nagging thing I can recall was early on in the book. There were two phrases which got a little old for me. First was when Luke “knew how they felt”, or something to that effect. Another was when everyone would “suit words to action” and I think this was actually transposed somewhere, but I'm not certain. I mean, can't someone just “follow their own orders” or something worded differently, but mean the same? I know, I'm not a professional author, and I'm sure writing books is difficult, I've tried. But these are the nit-pick things I'm forced to come up with when reviewing a good piece of work such as this.

I also didn't care for the whole Tarc kid. He played his part well in Star by Star, but it's certainly time to let him go. I never expected to see him again after Dark Journey, and I felt his reappearance to be fairly annoying. I certainly can't see a plot for his character at all, and I wonder why he's still hanging around. I DID like, however, the way Han deals with him in the book, being very stern and father-like. But his character wallows in “adopt me to replace Anakin”-itis and I pray that Del Rey does NOT fall into that trap. I would lose what respect I have left for this series if they did.

This may possibly be my favorite book in the New Jedi Order, but once again, I still give that edge to Vector Prime, simply for the excitement factor. I wish all of the books had been like this one; the series would be much stronger.

I really can't find much else to complain about, except that the story does kind of drop off at the end. Not really a big deal, since the concluding book in this duology comes out in two months. In the meantime, we have the Attack of the Clones novelization, and of course that little thing like the movie, to keep ourselves entertained. But don't forget folks, the New Jedi Order goes on, and does so only a couple weeks after the attack of the Clones.

We are back on fucking track.

My first Aaron Allston book and the hype behind him was not overstated.

Usually when told writers for books or comics are funny, I find myself not jiving with it. Not sure why, but I'm apparently not in the mood for jokes when reading!

But Allston is the MAN at comedy.

It helps that he just GETS these characters, writes the BEST fighter action in novels I've ever read, makes everything easy to understand with a clear depth to his descriptions that aren't boring but help create a vivid image, and even makes up for the mistakes of the last book!

Wow, basically!

Firstly, the opener to this book goes back in time a little, making up for the stupid pause the last book took. Adding events previous in the timeline, we get an exceptional fight from the New Republic as under the command of Wedge, they take back Borleias.

The entire first hundred pages or so are before the events of ‘Dark Journey' and I think it helped a lot to take a break from angsty Jaina and horny Kyp. But when they come back, not only are they handled so well, Jaina becomes a standout in this book. But I'll talk more on that later.

Reforming the Rebellion, the main Rebellion characters are just incredible, and this is one of the best story beats of the series so far. Finally, they are taking charge and not taking no for answers, the Rebellion is back, and they mean business.

Constantly foiling the plans of the Vong, and successfully tricking them, the best ship action I've read in Star Wars helps add to the several gripping dogfights in the book, and the characters behind them are all excellent.

Developing Jag and Jaina further was the right move. They have incredible chemistry, and their romance is exceptional. When they finally kissed, I was so happy! I love these two, and no writer better EVER come back and try to do Jaina with Kyp again or I will be fuming.

Kyp is CORRECTLY characterised as an annoying, still bratty, but very WRONG Jedi. There is a moment where he seriously thinks he is better than Luke Skywalker, more powerful, and therefore can do something Luke has done before but better. He doesn't, of course.

There is an awkward explanation offered for Kyp's attraction to Jaina, and although kinda thrown in, I think it's better than the idea of Kyp flirting with a teenager since she was sixteen-ish, and finding her attractive.

Luke and Mara are great even if sparingly used, setting up their mission to Coruscant. I just love the idea of Luke going on an undercover mission, and the imagery of him in Yuuzhan Vong armour (even if a replica of it) is brilliant!

The internal struggle of Mara and having to fight a war with a newborn son needing to be taken care of is integral to her character and I love that. She's still the fierce warrior she has always been, but she adores her son, and is someone else completely for him. I love the way the transformative nature of becoming a mother/father is handled here.

I loved the Yuuzhan Vong storyline, seeing them constantly blunder and be defeated again and again is very, very rewarding after book after book of them succeeding. It's all to do with the Rebel Alliance again, this time, the ‘Insiders', putting the fight to them.

Viqi's story was solid, with the agent sacrificing himself in a really heartfelt moment I loved. It's a subtle story, but I'm glad it's there to remind the reader that Viqi is still lingering. I wonder when her plot is gonna be resolved!

I'm expecting Jacen to be addressed again in ‘Traitor', so his absence is felt! But it has done wonders for Jaina's character here. She finally gets to address her issues, and face them head on.

I love that her connection with Jag really helps her, as she allows herself to feel her emotions finally, finding some she felt she could open up to. I love that for those two. And I love that she finally got to heal her relationship with Leia, when they spoke after Jaina woke up from a rest I nearly got emotional.

Allston handles these characters so, so well. Jaina is one of my favourite characters again!

Overall, this is a little bit of a short review, not from laziness, but from the fact this book is kinda setting up the next one mostly.

But it still managed to be furiously entertaining. So gripping, I was constantly tempted to read it quicker, but I decided to spend a little time doing some other things I hadn't for a while, and I'm glad I took my time doing just one hundred a day.

Characters like Lando and his wife, Han, and Danni got really good little plots and characterisation, just the sorta writing that I have missed when reading the last book, and wasn't at the forefront for a little bit. I love the new Han and Leia, as pilots of the Millennium Falcon especially.

Generally, a fantastic book really. Bloody loved it.

8.5/10