Tuesday 2 October 2012

AFICIONADO REVIEW: 'STAR WARS: X-WING - MERCY KILL'


STAR WARS: X-WING - MERCY KILL


Written by Aaron Allston

Published in hardback in the UK by CENTURY PUBLISHING

Reviewed by Scott Weller

It's STAR WARS: THE NEXT GENERATION time for the capable derring do pilots of the returning team of Wraith Squadron, with its mostly new head count, in an incident packed and capable adventure from regular safe pair of hands Aaron Allston. A spin-off from the previous love 'em or hate 'em Fate of the Jedi book series, it provides plenty of action and fast paced reading of the kind you expect from the fan favourite, even if it is a little lacking in memorable characters compared to those that entertained readers/fans in the previous, earlier books of the long-running series, when the STAR WARS Expanded Universe of Rebel X-wing fighter pilot fiction was younger and fresher. The ins and outs plot strands of Mercy Kill, involving the team pitting their wits, adversity and piloting skills against a powerful and duplicitous general in the Galactic Alliance, involved in a conspiracy of stolen material for sale to the highest black market bidder, capably supports its 350 page plus count, though knowledge of the Fate series is ultimately needed to make the most of it all. There's also the odd bit of humour, a few good cameos and the usual nods to STAR WARS past and future here and there, too, but change of quite a large kind in this new series, mainly with the aforementioned new characters, in comparison to what's been done before, takes a little bit of a time for the reader to get used to...

Not one of the finest books in the Expanded Universe range by any means, but hopefully future adventures in this controversial era, involving these newly established characters, will build on the series return and its sure success with target STAR WARS readers.

AFICIONADO RATING: An overall solid adventure that makes you want to get back into the fictional world, and cockpit seats, of our airborne, fighter combat heroes. 6.5 out of 10

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