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Star Wars: The Corellian Trilogy #2
Assault at Selonia
Imprisoned on the planet Corellia, Han Solo finds himself at the mercy of his evil cousin, Thracken Sal-Solo. Thracken plans to restore the Imperial system and seize total power -- no matter what the cost. Han has one chance to stop him. But to do so he must turn his back on his human cousin and join forces with a female alien. Dracmus was arrested as a ringleader in a plot against the corrupt Human League. Now she and Han will attempt a daring escape to Selonia in time to warn Leia, Luke Skywalker, and Lando of Thracken's plan. But can Han trust the alien to keep her word?
Meanwhile other questions threaten the New Republic -- and the lives of millions. Who is behind the deadly Starbuster plot? Why is someone attempting to take possession of Corellia's powerful planetary repulsors? And what is the secret behind the mysterious Centerpoint Station, and ancient, artificial world o unknown origin that has suddenly -- and inexplicably -- come alive?
289 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published July 1, 1995
80 people are currently reading
2636 people want to read
About the author
Roger MacBride Allen
57 books103 followersRoger MacBride Allen is a US science fiction author of the Corellian Trilogy, consisting of Ambush at Corellia, Assault at Selonia, and Showdown at Centerpoint. He was born on September 26, 1957 in Bridgeport, Connecticut. He grew up in Washington D.C. and graduated from Boston University in 1979. The author of a dozen science-fiction novels, he lived in Washington D.C., for many years. In July 1994, he married Eleanre Fox, a member of the U.S. Foreign Service. Her current assignment takes them to Brasilia, Brazil, where they lived from 2007 to 2009.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 127 reviews
May 12, 2024
An engaging story, likable heroes, a despicable villain, interstellar dogfights, multiple plots...this is true Star Wars. I especially enjoyed the appearance by Mara Jade; I've read the later novels more than once, so, I know her future role, but she has always been one of my favorite Expanded Universe characters. It's a shame we'll never see this or any of the other books on the big screen; this is loads better than what Disney saddled us with in The Last Jedi.
August 24, 2015
"Assault at Selonia" is the second book in Roger Macbride Allen's Corellian Trilogy, and---as is usual for the second book in most trilogies---the momentum unfortunately slows down in this one.
Han has been captured by the terrorist group known as the Human League, led by his long-lost cousin, Thrackan, a former Imperial officer thought to have died years ago. Thrown into a jail cell with an alien named Dracmus, Han plans a daring escape in order to find his wife and children.
Leia has teamed up with Mara Jade, reluctantly. Leia suspects that Mara may have been involved in the revolts happening throughout the Corellian Sector.
On the planet Drall, the Solo children---Jaina, Jacen, and Annakin---are safely being looked after by Chewbacca, their Drallian tutor, Ebrahim, and Ebrahim's robot Q9-X2.
Archaeological digs on several planets in the sector have revealed ancient spacecraft left there by an unknown ancient race. These spacecraft are most likely responsible for the interdiction field that has appeared in the sector, making hyper drive impossible. New Republic Intelligence (NRI) also suspects that this alien intelligence may be what's causing the racial tension and ethnic cleansing revolts on the five planets within the sector.
Meanwhile, Luke and Lando, who barely made it out of the sector, has recruited the Bakuran fleet, and Luke is reunited with an old flame (see Kathy Tyers's "Truce at Bakura").
Allen's second book in the series is still enjoyable, despite being mostly exposition. What it lacks in terms of action, though, it more than makes up for in build-up for an exciting third installment.
Han has been captured by the terrorist group known as the Human League, led by his long-lost cousin, Thrackan, a former Imperial officer thought to have died years ago. Thrown into a jail cell with an alien named Dracmus, Han plans a daring escape in order to find his wife and children.
Leia has teamed up with Mara Jade, reluctantly. Leia suspects that Mara may have been involved in the revolts happening throughout the Corellian Sector.
On the planet Drall, the Solo children---Jaina, Jacen, and Annakin---are safely being looked after by Chewbacca, their Drallian tutor, Ebrahim, and Ebrahim's robot Q9-X2.
Archaeological digs on several planets in the sector have revealed ancient spacecraft left there by an unknown ancient race. These spacecraft are most likely responsible for the interdiction field that has appeared in the sector, making hyper drive impossible. New Republic Intelligence (NRI) also suspects that this alien intelligence may be what's causing the racial tension and ethnic cleansing revolts on the five planets within the sector.
Meanwhile, Luke and Lando, who barely made it out of the sector, has recruited the Bakuran fleet, and Luke is reunited with an old flame (see Kathy Tyers's "Truce at Bakura").
Allen's second book in the series is still enjoyable, despite being mostly exposition. What it lacks in terms of action, though, it more than makes up for in build-up for an exciting third installment.
August 6, 2021
This is a fine, serviceable book, which seems to be the standard in the EU. It tells a tale, has some drama, and features some familiar characters. Allen at least captures the characters of Luke, Leia, and Han, though he seems to go a bit overboard with Wedge. Being the second book in a trilogy, it ends on a cliffhanger of sorts, and like the first book, it doesn't feel like it has a self-contained story.
May 29, 2021
I own this book.
This book picks off where the last ended, Han has been captured by his cousin Thackran Sal-Solo; Leia is in a cell; Jacen, Jaina and Anakin have escaped to Drall with Chewbacca and Eiphrim. This book follows Han trying to escape with Dracmus, a fellow prisoner of Thackran's and a Selonian and Leia having to trust Mara Jade in a bid to escape her cell and reunite with her family. Luke and Lando are still in the midst of their mission for the NRI and have found themselves back on Bakura, a place Luke hasn't been since he was a young man, and a girl he has loved ever since. This book is essentially Luke Skywalker being a simp for about 300 pages. While this wasn't the most action packed book, it was still thoroughly enjoyable. As I've said in previous reviews of Star Wars books, my favourite thing about them is getting to find out more about the characters and their connections with one another.
This book picks off where the last ended, Han has been captured by his cousin Thackran Sal-Solo; Leia is in a cell; Jacen, Jaina and Anakin have escaped to Drall with Chewbacca and Eiphrim. This book follows Han trying to escape with Dracmus, a fellow prisoner of Thackran's and a Selonian and Leia having to trust Mara Jade in a bid to escape her cell and reunite with her family. Luke and Lando are still in the midst of their mission for the NRI and have found themselves back on Bakura, a place Luke hasn't been since he was a young man, and a girl he has loved ever since. This book is essentially Luke Skywalker being a simp for about 300 pages. While this wasn't the most action packed book, it was still thoroughly enjoyable. As I've said in previous reviews of Star Wars books, my favourite thing about them is getting to find out more about the characters and their connections with one another.
July 8, 2025
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Assault on Selonia feels like another setup book in the Corellian Trilogy, continuing to build toward the final installment. There’s not much action, but the political tension is strong as the humans, Drall, and Selonians all maneuver to secede from the New Republic. The alien cultures are well developed, and Luke, Han, and Leia are written true to character. Though the pacing is slow, fans invested in the trilogy will still find it worthwhile.
6 out of 10
Assault on Selonia feels like another setup book in the Corellian Trilogy, continuing to build toward the final installment. There’s not much action, but the political tension is strong as the humans, Drall, and Selonians all maneuver to secede from the New Republic. The alien cultures are well developed, and Luke, Han, and Leia are written true to character. Though the pacing is slow, fans invested in the trilogy will still find it worthwhile.
6 out of 10
November 8, 2024
Better than the first. Still not great.
March 30, 2023
I needed a Lucasverse book to read...so I bit the bullet and decided to continue the Corellia trilogy, in spite of disliking book one. At the end of book two...at the very least, I can say it moves much faster than book one. But I read this story and I feel as I did watching "Spider Man Far From Home": I was experiencing a low-grade, fluffy, insubstantial version of "Star Wars" compared to the books surrounding it. The characters were especially egregious...few of them I recognized, from bland Luke and Leia, to a muted Mara Jade, to a mischaracterized angry Lando who has an antipathy to C3P0 that borders on the pathological. As for the Solo kids...thank god they grew up quickly. I will continue to bite the bullet and eventually finish this trilogy...but I won't bet on the conclusion being any better than the first two volumes.
August 24, 2023
Luke Skywalker has an encounter with someone from his past in this second iteration in the Corellia series. We also learn more about some of the alien races that cohabitate on Corellia. Corellia, for those familiar with Star Wars lore, is the birthplace of both the Millenium Falcon and its pilot, Han Solo. The basic plot is that the bad guys have a weapon that can make a star go supernova, and threaten to use it on other systems unless their demands are met. I made the mistake of reading this series backwards, starting with book 3, but it's still very enjoyable.
July 8, 2019
I don't mean to sound like a broken record, but once again I am not sure why you would need three books to tell this tale. Every major character made very little progress in this story, to the point where I'm not sure what happened on all of these pages.
My bright spot... the very last chapter was well written and interesting. Too bad the rest wasn't the same.
My bright spot... the very last chapter was well written and interesting. Too bad the rest wasn't the same.
June 8, 2025
Even more boring than the first, truly feels like just a meandering, pointless, filler story. By the end of the book all that happens is the activation of the ancient Corellian technology, the gang reunites (somewhat), and a planet blows up. I will say that final section with the supernova is actually incredible. It sucks it’s trapped in such a lackluster book.
May 29, 2010
Lots of action, but little progress--like the middle books of many trilogies. Squeezed twenty pages of plot into 300 pages. Oh, it's well written and all that; it just didn't say much.
In fact, a reader could probably skip this book and not miss much.
In fact, a reader could probably skip this book and not miss much.
April 5, 2007
Like i said, don't mess with han solo.
October 16, 2023
Not quite as good as book one, but still enjoyable enough.
December 14, 2025
This book felt like a big let down from the last. Its opening doesn’t feel consistent with the ending of the last novel and I feel like I missed a book in between. Overall this felt like a lot of action in terms of things happening but it all felt inconsequential and I struggled to keep my focus throughout
October 29, 2025
Meh. Like most second-in-a-trilogy books this one took far too long to accomplish far too little, with little of the charm I enjoyed in the first one. Leia and Mara Jade's breakout was good and...honestly that's the only fun part I remember.
July 16, 2010
The Corellian system is still in an uproar as human, Drall and Selonian all maneuver themselves to secede from the New Republic and attempt to kick out all the other aliens. Han, Leia, Mara, Chewie, and the kids are all stuck in this mess, all in different corners (Han is with his evil cousin, Thracken Sal-Solo, Leia and Mara are held hostage in Coronet house and Chewie and the kids are on Drall with Ebrihim's aunt). Meanwhile, Luke and Lando head off to Bakura to try to gather a fleet.
NOTE: I read this many years ago and recently listened to it on audiobook.
I Liked:
Roger Macbride Allen continues to show he is more than an adequate Star Wars author. The second entry into his Corellian trilogy expands upon the idea set forth in book one.
Allen introduces new memorable characters and combines them with older ones. Mara Jade has been mostly absent from EU of this time, and Allen makes the good choice to bring her back. As he did in the previous book, he writes her well (I will go out on a limb and say that Zahn would probably approve of the way Allen wrote her). Also, Allen brings back one-time love interest Gaeriel Captison (I will go out on another limb and say that Tyers would be pleased with how he wrote her). This was an excellent, excellent decision. Not only do we get to see that she did move on, have a family (something that most of the cast seems to be avoiding--yes, I am looking at you, Luke!), but we also get some nice tension between her and Luke. Of all the love interests Luke has had (and not married), this one is the one that is most interesting, most alive, and with whom he has the most chemistry. Han is well done, as is his evil cousin, Thracken (always neat to see more of Han's past). Leia is great, Luke is finally not a bumbling moron, Lando is decent (he's a hard one to get right, I've noticed), Chewie is good, the kids are really interesting, and I adore Ebrihim and his aunt (one of the only times I've ever laughed in delight when reading a Star Wars book!).
Lando's wife-hunting plot is wrapped up, which I think was a good thing overall, since it distracted from the main story. However, Tendra Risant does continue to play a part and I really like where she is going (I had liked how she and Lando hooked up in the past, and now I remember why!). Chewie is able to take the kids, Ebrihim, and his droid to Drall, where they meet his aunt and try to find a hidden artifact (and determine what the heck it is). I couldn't help but be intrigued by this, not only because I liked Ebrihim, but also because Allen writes the kids superbly and I enjoy a little "Indiana Jones" adventure (and here, unlike with Lando in Black Fleet Crisis, it makes sense and moves the plot). I already mention how Lando and Luke return to Bakura and meet Gaeriel, to win ships to deal with the Corellian issue. Leia and Mara get to escape Coronet House, which is a really intense scene. I also liked how Leia and Han suspected Mara of bringing them into a trap (though it did get old after awhile).
I know the system wide jamming and the system wide interdiction fields were kinda hokey, but for me, they worked. Allen didn't try to overexplain or use funky physics to handwave this plot device. Plus, I think it was cool that, in a sense, our team is forced to use "old techniques", i.e. "Morse" code and time-consuming space travel. All too often, our heroes are able to whip from system to system in a blink of an eye.
I Didn't Like:
I really feel with this second novel that a lot of incidents were put in just so it would fill pages. Some of the unnecessary events include Han fighting Drachmas (yes, I know that's how he meets her, but still, their fight felt tacked on), Luke and Lando fighting their way through Coruscant beasts to meet Mon Mothma (this is just pure filler, there is no reason to include it whatsoever), and all the repetition of the events of last book. I know Allen is trying to bring newcomers up to speed, but honestly, if the book is two in a series, you were already warned.
While Thracken Sal-Solo was kinda cool in how he was related to Han, he almost felt too obviously the villain. He was a drunkard, he had been in the Empire, he was power-hungry...all feels like a stereotypical villain to me. Not to mention, it is almost a bit extreme to make him Han's evil twin.
I guess what I disliked the most was how the excitement and energy from the first novel almost seemed to disappear.
Dialogue/Sexual Situations/Violence:
D*** and h***.
Gaeriel and Luke experience sexual tension.
Han and Drachmas are forced to fight for Thracken. Chewie and the kids get shot at when they first land on Drall. Leia and Mara must elude their captors.
Overall:
While I enjoyed this and even laughed in a few places, I still found this book a little dull and lackluster. I can't quite pinpoint why, and I'm not sure what was missing, but this book just wasn't as good as the first. However, that doesn't mean this book is bad. It is a solid follow-up to the first book (much better than most EU novels) and definitely leads well into book three, leaving me more than a little interested to see how it ends.
NOTE: I read this many years ago and recently listened to it on audiobook.
I Liked:
Roger Macbride Allen continues to show he is more than an adequate Star Wars author. The second entry into his Corellian trilogy expands upon the idea set forth in book one.
Allen introduces new memorable characters and combines them with older ones. Mara Jade has been mostly absent from EU of this time, and Allen makes the good choice to bring her back. As he did in the previous book, he writes her well (I will go out on a limb and say that Zahn would probably approve of the way Allen wrote her). Also, Allen brings back one-time love interest Gaeriel Captison (I will go out on another limb and say that Tyers would be pleased with how he wrote her). This was an excellent, excellent decision. Not only do we get to see that she did move on, have a family (something that most of the cast seems to be avoiding--yes, I am looking at you, Luke!), but we also get some nice tension between her and Luke. Of all the love interests Luke has had (and not married), this one is the one that is most interesting, most alive, and with whom he has the most chemistry. Han is well done, as is his evil cousin, Thracken (always neat to see more of Han's past). Leia is great, Luke is finally not a bumbling moron, Lando is decent (he's a hard one to get right, I've noticed), Chewie is good, the kids are really interesting, and I adore Ebrihim and his aunt (one of the only times I've ever laughed in delight when reading a Star Wars book!).
Lando's wife-hunting plot is wrapped up, which I think was a good thing overall, since it distracted from the main story. However, Tendra Risant does continue to play a part and I really like where she is going (I had liked how she and Lando hooked up in the past, and now I remember why!). Chewie is able to take the kids, Ebrihim, and his droid to Drall, where they meet his aunt and try to find a hidden artifact (and determine what the heck it is). I couldn't help but be intrigued by this, not only because I liked Ebrihim, but also because Allen writes the kids superbly and I enjoy a little "Indiana Jones" adventure (and here, unlike with Lando in Black Fleet Crisis, it makes sense and moves the plot). I already mention how Lando and Luke return to Bakura and meet Gaeriel, to win ships to deal with the Corellian issue. Leia and Mara get to escape Coronet House, which is a really intense scene. I also liked how Leia and Han suspected Mara of bringing them into a trap (though it did get old after awhile).
I know the system wide jamming and the system wide interdiction fields were kinda hokey, but for me, they worked. Allen didn't try to overexplain or use funky physics to handwave this plot device. Plus, I think it was cool that, in a sense, our team is forced to use "old techniques", i.e. "Morse" code and time-consuming space travel. All too often, our heroes are able to whip from system to system in a blink of an eye.
I Didn't Like:
I really feel with this second novel that a lot of incidents were put in just so it would fill pages. Some of the unnecessary events include Han fighting Drachmas (yes, I know that's how he meets her, but still, their fight felt tacked on), Luke and Lando fighting their way through Coruscant beasts to meet Mon Mothma (this is just pure filler, there is no reason to include it whatsoever), and all the repetition of the events of last book. I know Allen is trying to bring newcomers up to speed, but honestly, if the book is two in a series, you were already warned.
While Thracken Sal-Solo was kinda cool in how he was related to Han, he almost felt too obviously the villain. He was a drunkard, he had been in the Empire, he was power-hungry...all feels like a stereotypical villain to me. Not to mention, it is almost a bit extreme to make him Han's evil twin.
I guess what I disliked the most was how the excitement and energy from the first novel almost seemed to disappear.
Dialogue/Sexual Situations/Violence:
D*** and h***.
Gaeriel and Luke experience sexual tension.
Han and Drachmas are forced to fight for Thracken. Chewie and the kids get shot at when they first land on Drall. Leia and Mara must elude their captors.
Overall:
While I enjoyed this and even laughed in a few places, I still found this book a little dull and lackluster. I can't quite pinpoint why, and I'm not sure what was missing, but this book just wasn't as good as the first. However, that doesn't mean this book is bad. It is a solid follow-up to the first book (much better than most EU novels) and definitely leads well into book three, leaving me more than a little interested to see how it ends.
June 8, 2025
this trilogy is pretty awesome! :)
July 28, 2024
Stars: 3.5
Re-read: Yes
Recommend to: Not as interesting for new EU readers as series like the Thrawn trilogy or Rogue Squadron, but pretty fun so far.
This was kind of the standard middle book of a trilogy that is a bit of a letdown. The mysteries seem like they are taking too long to be revealed and characters are acting in somewhat weird manners.
The plot seemed lackluster in spite of some exciting events.
I'm also a bit fatigued of Star Wars threats always having to get bigger and bigger.
My biggest complaint is that Anakin is absolutely absurd in this book.
Other things:
- An early scene just makes so sense at all.
- Books from this time period seem to think that the heroes of the Rebellion wouldn't be wildly famous. Kalenda doesn't immediately recognize Luke Skywalker in this book.
- There is a bizarre scene that makes absolutely no sense given the rules of Star Wars. Someone throws something at Leia. She catches it "on the tip of her lightsaber blade" and flips it back at him. She was cutting through concrete with ease 1-2 pages earlier, but now she is catching things on the tip. Just bizarre.
Previous Reads: 5 Stars (2001/2004)
Re-read: Yes
Recommend to: Not as interesting for new EU readers as series like the Thrawn trilogy or Rogue Squadron, but pretty fun so far.
This was kind of the standard middle book of a trilogy that is a bit of a letdown. The mysteries seem like they are taking too long to be revealed and characters are acting in somewhat weird manners.
The plot seemed lackluster in spite of some exciting events.
I'm also a bit fatigued of Star Wars threats always having to get bigger and bigger.
My biggest complaint is that Anakin is absolutely absurd in this book.
Other things:
- An early scene just makes so sense at all.
- Books from this time period seem to think that the heroes of the Rebellion wouldn't be wildly famous. Kalenda doesn't immediately recognize Luke Skywalker in this book.
- There is a bizarre scene that makes absolutely no sense given the rules of Star Wars. Someone throws something at Leia. She catches it "on the tip of her lightsaber blade" and flips it back at him. She was cutting through concrete with ease 1-2 pages earlier, but now she is catching things on the tip. Just bizarre.
Previous Reads: 5 Stars (2001/2004)
August 22, 2020
The Star Wars Expanded Universe books (rebranded as the Legends imprint when Disney bought the franchise) are extremely inconsistent in quality, as is true of most tie-in novels. Some are excellent, and others are pretty mediocre.
The Legacy of the Force series of books (nine progressive novels that focus primarily on the Solo and Skywalker children as they become adults) is a wonderful series. Well-written, well-plotted, with power and heartbreak warring with courage and strength. But while reading those novels I discovered that events in the characters’ lives when they were young children were consistently referenced, and I didn’t really understand some of it. So after I finished the series I determined to go back and read the novels with those events. The first one I picked up was Ambush at Corellia, the first book in The Corellian Trilogy. I picked that one because, honestly, I have a soft spot for Corellia, and, well, apparently, men with marginal ethics. More importantly, several events and places in the trilogy were important in Legacy of the Force, and chronologically this series was early in the children’s lives.
Remember what I said about some Star Wars novels being excellent and some being mediocre? The Corellian Trilogy (assuming the third volume is consistent with the first two) is, if not mediocre, at the very least inferior. Now, according to the receipt in the book, I bought volume 2 in 2010, which means I read the first volume at least 10 years ago. That said, I really think this volume isn’t as good as the first, and the first wasn’t all that great. The problem is the author just has too many balls in the air, and isn’t a particularly adroit juggler. To his credit, he doesn’t drop any of the balls, plates, knives, or flaming torches--but nonetheless his performance is awkward, inconsistent, and incongruent.
I’m going to read the last book because it focuses on events that connect to crucial areas for Legacy of the Force, and I want to understand things (and, frankly, I want to spend time with the three Solo children before their lives go completely to hell in the Yuuzhan Vong stories—which will be the next ones I read). But, honestly, I’m approaching volume 3 sort of like studying geometry—I have to understand it so I can understand the trigonometry I really want to learn. I don’t have to like it—just do it.
I guess some books really are only good because of the information they contain--that's certainly the only thing good about this one.
The Legacy of the Force series of books (nine progressive novels that focus primarily on the Solo and Skywalker children as they become adults) is a wonderful series. Well-written, well-plotted, with power and heartbreak warring with courage and strength. But while reading those novels I discovered that events in the characters’ lives when they were young children were consistently referenced, and I didn’t really understand some of it. So after I finished the series I determined to go back and read the novels with those events. The first one I picked up was Ambush at Corellia, the first book in The Corellian Trilogy. I picked that one because, honestly, I have a soft spot for Corellia, and, well, apparently, men with marginal ethics. More importantly, several events and places in the trilogy were important in Legacy of the Force, and chronologically this series was early in the children’s lives.
Remember what I said about some Star Wars novels being excellent and some being mediocre? The Corellian Trilogy (assuming the third volume is consistent with the first two) is, if not mediocre, at the very least inferior. Now, according to the receipt in the book, I bought volume 2 in 2010, which means I read the first volume at least 10 years ago. That said, I really think this volume isn’t as good as the first, and the first wasn’t all that great. The problem is the author just has too many balls in the air, and isn’t a particularly adroit juggler. To his credit, he doesn’t drop any of the balls, plates, knives, or flaming torches--but nonetheless his performance is awkward, inconsistent, and incongruent.
I’m going to read the last book because it focuses on events that connect to crucial areas for Legacy of the Force, and I want to understand things (and, frankly, I want to spend time with the three Solo children before their lives go completely to hell in the Yuuzhan Vong stories—which will be the next ones I read). But, honestly, I’m approaching volume 3 sort of like studying geometry—I have to understand it so I can understand the trigonometry I really want to learn. I don’t have to like it—just do it.
I guess some books really are only good because of the information they contain--that's certainly the only thing good about this one.
May 26, 2020
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 book in the Corellian trilogy, Assault at Selonia by Roger MacBride Allen.
SOME HISTORY:
After the release of Children of the Jedi in spring 1995, Bantam jumped back to Allen’s Corellian trilogy with Assault at Selonia. The title, though, is a little perplexing--no one gets to Selonia until the very end, and it’s not much of an assault. I suppose when you want all your titles to feature an action word + a Corellian place, you’re limited in selection. Assault at Selonia made it to number nine on the New York Times paperback bestseller list for the week of July 2, 1995, and was on the NYT list for four weeks.
MY RECOLLECTION OF THE BOOK:
I didn’t remember a lot of what happened in this book, but to be fair: not a lot does happen here. If the first book was an awful lot of plot setup, this second book continued the trend of being chock full of filler.
PRINCESS LEIA COSTUME CHANGE COUNT:
Nothing. I presume that Leia’s wearing a jumpsuit or something, but since she spends most of the time locked up or escaping, there’s not really any opportunities for fancy dress or complicated hairstyles.
A BRIEF SUMMARY:
Princess Leia, Mara Jade, and Han Solo are all trying to escape from imprisonment at the hands of the Human League. Chewbacca and the Solo children head to Drall and make a startling discovery. And Belindi Kalenda meets up with Luke Skywalker and Lando, and they all head to Bakura in hopes of organizing a fleet to send to the Corellian system.
THE CHARACTERS:
Leia is the most interesting character here, mostly because she has the most exciting plot line. Her escape from Corona House was legitimately thrilling to read--it’s a pity, then, that after Mara Jade and she escape in the Jade’s Fire, they don’t really have anything to do. I appreciate when Leia’s given action scenes, because usually she’s banished to the more boring political plot threads.
Han’s a little grumbly here, and his escape is not as thrilling as Leia’s. He’s constantly asking Dracmus questions about where they’re going, and who’s in charge, and complaining about having to crawl in the tunnels. Shut up Han!
I had to appreciate that while Han was completely distrustful of Mara Jade, Leia didn’t really have any issues with her. She’s not in league with the bad guys, Han! She hates the Empire now!
Lando doesn’t have much to do in this book, so Luke comes into the forefront here. I liked that he met Gaeriel Captison again, and she had moved on--she got married, she had a child, she became Prime Minister, she lost her husband. They behave like grown ups in their encounter, and acknowledge that while he really liked her years ago, it wouldn’t have worked out and they’re at different places in their life.
After having loads to do in Ambush at Corellia, Belindi Kalenda is just along for the ride here. Hopefully she’ll have a more prominent role in the third book.
Tendra doesn’t have much to do either. She heads out in her ship, trying to alert Lando about the fleet massing on Sacorria. And that’s it. She flies, and sends messages to Lando, and flies, and sends messages to Lando. At the end she finally gets a message back! She just seems stuck in limbo.
Chewbacca and the Solo children make it to Drall, and are taken in by Ebrihim’s Aunt Marcha. They discover another underground chamber like on Corellia. And that’s it for them.
Wedge has a short POV section in the last chapter, to remind us of the Starbuster threat (I hate that name), and there’s a throwaway line about how he’s so glad to be flying again after doing everything but. I did not understand Wedge’s job(s) in the Jedi Academy trilogy, so that definitely made me laugh.
ISSUES:
It’s unclear, at this point, who exactly are the true bad guys here. Thrackan is a puppet or a figurehead, making threats that he can’t back up. I’m assuming that the true villains are the Triad from Sacorria, but there’s been no confirmation of that yet.
Han told the children in the first book that there was a legend that the Corellian system was created by unknown people, each planet moved into place. That legend is confirmed as fact during the Solo children’s time on Drall, when they discover that the secret underground room is actually a planet-sized repulsor! All the planets of the Corellian system were moved into place! The repulsors can also be used as weapons, and Selonia’s repulsor is used to destroy one of the Bakuran ships!
That sounds like something from a Marvel comic, but OK.
The Starbuster plot continues to loom over everything, even if I felt like our characters had sort of forgotten about it until the second star blew up. (I thought Star Crusher was a bad name, but Starbuster is far worse.)
The back cover blurb is also pretty inaccurate for the story as it’s presented, but that’s a minor issue.
Most egregious: like the first book, there’s just not an awful lot going on in Assault at Selonia. Most of the book feels like setup, or Allen maneuvering everyone into the proper position for the conclusion. Han and Leia separately escape from prison, then get off planet, then….slowly start heading for Selonia. Luke and co. travel to Bakura, talk the Bakurans into providing a fleet, and then don’t arrive until the end. The Solo children find the planet-sized repulsor on Drall, then camp out. Having now read Ambush and Assault, I agree that these could have been merged into one book. I mean, if Han is crawling through a tunnel for more than one chapter, that is entirely too many tunnel-crawling chapters.
IN CONCLUSION:
Is Assault at Selonia exciting? Only in parts. Is it essential? Meh. At this point, I’m hoping that Showdown at Centerpoint is hugely thrilling and action-filled, because I’ve had to wade through a lot of filler in the first two books.
Next up: the first of the short story collections, Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina, edited by Kevin J. Anderson.
My YouTube review: https://youtu.be/ZmGPTow7Qd0
This week’s focus: the second book in the Corellian trilogy, Assault at Selonia by Roger MacBride Allen.
SOME HISTORY:
After the release of Children of the Jedi in spring 1995, Bantam jumped back to Allen’s Corellian trilogy with Assault at Selonia. The title, though, is a little perplexing--no one gets to Selonia until the very end, and it’s not much of an assault. I suppose when you want all your titles to feature an action word + a Corellian place, you’re limited in selection. Assault at Selonia made it to number nine on the New York Times paperback bestseller list for the week of July 2, 1995, and was on the NYT list for four weeks.
MY RECOLLECTION OF THE BOOK:
I didn’t remember a lot of what happened in this book, but to be fair: not a lot does happen here. If the first book was an awful lot of plot setup, this second book continued the trend of being chock full of filler.
PRINCESS LEIA COSTUME CHANGE COUNT:
Nothing. I presume that Leia’s wearing a jumpsuit or something, but since she spends most of the time locked up or escaping, there’s not really any opportunities for fancy dress or complicated hairstyles.
A BRIEF SUMMARY:
Princess Leia, Mara Jade, and Han Solo are all trying to escape from imprisonment at the hands of the Human League. Chewbacca and the Solo children head to Drall and make a startling discovery. And Belindi Kalenda meets up with Luke Skywalker and Lando, and they all head to Bakura in hopes of organizing a fleet to send to the Corellian system.
THE CHARACTERS:
Leia is the most interesting character here, mostly because she has the most exciting plot line. Her escape from Corona House was legitimately thrilling to read--it’s a pity, then, that after Mara Jade and she escape in the Jade’s Fire, they don’t really have anything to do. I appreciate when Leia’s given action scenes, because usually she’s banished to the more boring political plot threads.
Han’s a little grumbly here, and his escape is not as thrilling as Leia’s. He’s constantly asking Dracmus questions about where they’re going, and who’s in charge, and complaining about having to crawl in the tunnels. Shut up Han!
I had to appreciate that while Han was completely distrustful of Mara Jade, Leia didn’t really have any issues with her. She’s not in league with the bad guys, Han! She hates the Empire now!
Lando doesn’t have much to do in this book, so Luke comes into the forefront here. I liked that he met Gaeriel Captison again, and she had moved on--she got married, she had a child, she became Prime Minister, she lost her husband. They behave like grown ups in their encounter, and acknowledge that while he really liked her years ago, it wouldn’t have worked out and they’re at different places in their life.
After having loads to do in Ambush at Corellia, Belindi Kalenda is just along for the ride here. Hopefully she’ll have a more prominent role in the third book.
Tendra doesn’t have much to do either. She heads out in her ship, trying to alert Lando about the fleet massing on Sacorria. And that’s it. She flies, and sends messages to Lando, and flies, and sends messages to Lando. At the end she finally gets a message back! She just seems stuck in limbo.
Chewbacca and the Solo children make it to Drall, and are taken in by Ebrihim’s Aunt Marcha. They discover another underground chamber like on Corellia. And that’s it for them.
Wedge has a short POV section in the last chapter, to remind us of the Starbuster threat (I hate that name), and there’s a throwaway line about how he’s so glad to be flying again after doing everything but. I did not understand Wedge’s job(s) in the Jedi Academy trilogy, so that definitely made me laugh.
ISSUES:
It’s unclear, at this point, who exactly are the true bad guys here. Thrackan is a puppet or a figurehead, making threats that he can’t back up. I’m assuming that the true villains are the Triad from Sacorria, but there’s been no confirmation of that yet.
Han told the children in the first book that there was a legend that the Corellian system was created by unknown people, each planet moved into place. That legend is confirmed as fact during the Solo children’s time on Drall, when they discover that the secret underground room is actually a planet-sized repulsor! All the planets of the Corellian system were moved into place! The repulsors can also be used as weapons, and Selonia’s repulsor is used to destroy one of the Bakuran ships!
That sounds like something from a Marvel comic, but OK.
The Starbuster plot continues to loom over everything, even if I felt like our characters had sort of forgotten about it until the second star blew up. (I thought Star Crusher was a bad name, but Starbuster is far worse.)
The back cover blurb is also pretty inaccurate for the story as it’s presented, but that’s a minor issue.
Most egregious: like the first book, there’s just not an awful lot going on in Assault at Selonia. Most of the book feels like setup, or Allen maneuvering everyone into the proper position for the conclusion. Han and Leia separately escape from prison, then get off planet, then….slowly start heading for Selonia. Luke and co. travel to Bakura, talk the Bakurans into providing a fleet, and then don’t arrive until the end. The Solo children find the planet-sized repulsor on Drall, then camp out. Having now read Ambush and Assault, I agree that these could have been merged into one book. I mean, if Han is crawling through a tunnel for more than one chapter, that is entirely too many tunnel-crawling chapters.
IN CONCLUSION:
Is Assault at Selonia exciting? Only in parts. Is it essential? Meh. At this point, I’m hoping that Showdown at Centerpoint is hugely thrilling and action-filled, because I’ve had to wade through a lot of filler in the first two books.
Next up: the first of the short story collections, Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina, edited by Kevin J. Anderson.
My YouTube review: https://youtu.be/ZmGPTow7Qd0
November 20, 2017
Meh. I'm really just not feeling this trilogy. Assault at Selonia wasn't terrible, and I've certainly read worse Star Wars novels, but it mostly failed to keep my interest, and at times I found it difficult to motivate myself to finish it. I felt the first book, Ambush at Corellia, was largely lacking in action and mostly focused on setting the scenes for future books, which, while not great, is at least understandable given that it's the first book in a trilogy. But i found Assault at Selonia to be more of the same, and, much like the first book, things didn't really pick up until near the end. (In fact, the final chapter might be my favorite.) I suspect if this was a two-book series, rather than a trilogy, it might be tighter and better paced, and therefore more enjoyable. As it stands, I'd say only die-hard Star Wars nerds (like me) and completionists who want to read all the books (again, like me) need to bother with these. But, that being, I'll obviously read the next and final entry, Showdown at Centerpoint, and hope for the best.
March 10, 2011
I am going to say a 3 star for now and I guess it depends how the other books turn out if I give it a higher rating... It wasn't bad, but it wasn't great. Basically Han and Leia take their 3 kids to Han's home planet for a "vacation" and then there is this trade show afterwards. Well there might be danger there, but Han is like let's bring the kids, no problem... Right at the end the danger is revealed about a Civil War that is happening. We will see how good that storyline turns out...
The other story is with Lando looking for a wife to marry for her money and bring Luke along... Sort of weird that Lando is trying to marry for money. I mean I can see it, but not really. Or at least he should be too old trying to do that. But it comes full circle as they just happen to be going to where Han and Leia are because of the trade show... Sort of a waste of writing about nothing...
The other story is with Lando looking for a wife to marry for her money and bring Luke along... Sort of weird that Lando is trying to marry for money. I mean I can see it, but not really. Or at least he should be too old trying to do that. But it comes full circle as they just happen to be going to where Han and Leia are because of the trade show... Sort of a waste of writing about nothing...
March 23, 2021
Well, I haven't read the Jedi Academy series in a decade or so, but I think the Corellian Trilogy might take the cake for overpromising (based on book backs, titles, and cover imagery) and underdelivering with story. Just like the first entry, Assault at Selonia manages to be short and yet plodding, the main characters wholly uninteresting and rather ridiculous, and the plot really rather nonsensical. I said I was going to finish the trilogy, but I have absolutely no interest in doing so at this time.
Very little actually happens in this book, and most of the plot is utterly deus ex machina. It's just a pile of inexplicable and highly dramatic (and rather unbelievable) occurences that the characters don't understand and can't control.
Again, I think I'd have enjoyed these well enough when I was much younger, but this is fairly poor for the Star Wars EU.
Very little actually happens in this book, and most of the plot is utterly deus ex machina. It's just a pile of inexplicable and highly dramatic (and rather unbelievable) occurences that the characters don't understand and can't control.
Again, I think I'd have enjoyed these well enough when I was much younger, but this is fairly poor for the Star Wars EU.
February 17, 2020
The Corellian system is interdicted and the New Republic struggles to lend assistance in Star Wars: Assault at Selonia.
The story begins with Han Solo a prisoner of his demented look-alike cousin, Thrackan Sal-Solo who spends the most of his time acting as a caricature of various villain archetypes with lots of wicked grins and "I'm asking the questions, here" sort of moments. He makes him fight a Selonian by the name of Dracmus for his amusement. Further on he makes a drunken visit to Han's cell to spout some exposition and that's the last of his notable scenes in the entire novel. Seems a little limp for someone who headed a human revolt across the entire Corellian system, hmm?
Meanwhile, Luke and Lando make it back to Coruscant to inform the New Republic of the interdiction field only to be called into a meeting where they learn that all communication has been lost with the entire Corellian system. It feels slightly irrelevant given we as the reader already know everything we need to know between the Han, Luke & Lando, and Belindi Kalenda plot threads and seems like extra padding in an already stretched book. As an aside, the meeting takes place deep underground on Coruscant with a short scene involving deranged corridor ghouls attacking our heroes on the way to the meeting. The New Republic agent escorting them gives the laughable reason that they're around for security reasons due to their deadliness even though they can't be controlled. It adds some fun lore to Coruscant's planet but it's ridiculously stupid action for the sake of action and continues to serve page count padding.
Belindi Kalenda and Tendra Rissant serve a similar existence in this novel - that is: nothing. Tendra spends the entire story wondering where Lando went and Kalenda simply stands around and is present to be present.
Luke is sent off to find an old flame - Gariel Captison - who was last seen in Kathy Tyers' Truce at Bakura. The reason is to use her Bakuran fleet to help invade the Corellian system because apparently the New Republic can't scramble enough forces in either enough time or because they simply don't have enough forces to commit, yet they admit to the fact that the Corellian insurrection is serious enough that it could turn over the entire New Republic, even though it's also been shown that they're all general pirates and scum. I'm all for reusing characters past but it's extraordinarily contrived and the way Luke still feels for her after over a decade of not even seeing her feels far too implausible to believe. Luke and Gariel also swoon over each other over her husband's grave, which isn't the least bit awkward, by the way. She agrees and off they go to Corellia with Lando.
Dracmus is made Han's cellmate where they put together incredible leaps of logic that Mara Jade must be a secret player in the whole scheme given she was the one who delivered the message in the novel previous and simply vanished there after, even though she's proven herself trustworthy in the past more than once. They assume that since she's ex-Emperor's Hand, she must want to restore the Empire. It's just evidence to the fact that Timonthy Zahn is the really the only one who should be handling his own characters in legends continuity. Selonian rebels arrive soon after to break the two free.
Leia and Mara team up to escape Corellia but first they have to retrieve Mara's slave circuit relay to call her ship (what happened to her crew as displayed in the former book?) and do a whole lot of crafty sneaking and hiding as they ascend Corona house to grab it. The author seems to forget, though, that Mara and Leia are both force sensitive and neither employ their powers against the scruffy and overpowerable guards. He DOESN'T forget, however, that Leia can wield a lightsaber in a moment where she lops a man's head off, which is admittedly pretty badass. They board the Jade's Fire and flee.
Chewie, the Solo children and Ebrihim meet up with Ebrihim's aunt in bits and pieces across the novel that surmise to them discovering that the archaeological dig was for a massive repulsor device, an item that two Selonian political factions - one who wants to work with the New Republic, the other against - have been after and there are allegedly more across the system. However, the reason behind its threat is very poorly explained and feels empty, much like the breadth of this novel.
Leia reunites with Han as Luke uses the Bakuran fleet to do an odd sort of continuous stop-and-start hyperspace maneuver through the interdicted Corellia system - what's the point of the interdiction field, then?
It's also shown that Centerpoint Station is larger than the Death Star even though somehow Han had never seen a space station that large as according to A New Hope and given that Corellia is his home system, which he spends the opening of the previous novel boasting about, it's very strange. The trilogy has a large problem so far of taking characters and doing what it wants with them, cherry picking what past history and actions ought to be remembered and that problem is especially apparent here.
Assault at Selonia suffers from a common thread connecting all the middle books of the Bantam era trilogies: being bloated, extraneous, and ultimately able to be encapsulated in half the page count. The majority of the trilogies I've read in the past ought to have been duologies and it's no different here. However, it's still not the worst legends novel I've read and despite its painfully droll pace and thin spread plot, I'm still interested in learning how the entire thing wraps up.
Two and a half Nannariums out of five
The story begins with Han Solo a prisoner of his demented look-alike cousin, Thrackan Sal-Solo who spends the most of his time acting as a caricature of various villain archetypes with lots of wicked grins and "I'm asking the questions, here" sort of moments. He makes him fight a Selonian by the name of Dracmus for his amusement. Further on he makes a drunken visit to Han's cell to spout some exposition and that's the last of his notable scenes in the entire novel. Seems a little limp for someone who headed a human revolt across the entire Corellian system, hmm?
Meanwhile, Luke and Lando make it back to Coruscant to inform the New Republic of the interdiction field only to be called into a meeting where they learn that all communication has been lost with the entire Corellian system. It feels slightly irrelevant given we as the reader already know everything we need to know between the Han, Luke & Lando, and Belindi Kalenda plot threads and seems like extra padding in an already stretched book. As an aside, the meeting takes place deep underground on Coruscant with a short scene involving deranged corridor ghouls attacking our heroes on the way to the meeting. The New Republic agent escorting them gives the laughable reason that they're around for security reasons due to their deadliness even though they can't be controlled. It adds some fun lore to Coruscant's planet but it's ridiculously stupid action for the sake of action and continues to serve page count padding.
Belindi Kalenda and Tendra Rissant serve a similar existence in this novel - that is: nothing. Tendra spends the entire story wondering where Lando went and Kalenda simply stands around and is present to be present.
Luke is sent off to find an old flame - Gariel Captison - who was last seen in Kathy Tyers' Truce at Bakura. The reason is to use her Bakuran fleet to help invade the Corellian system because apparently the New Republic can't scramble enough forces in either enough time or because they simply don't have enough forces to commit, yet they admit to the fact that the Corellian insurrection is serious enough that it could turn over the entire New Republic, even though it's also been shown that they're all general pirates and scum. I'm all for reusing characters past but it's extraordinarily contrived and the way Luke still feels for her after over a decade of not even seeing her feels far too implausible to believe. Luke and Gariel also swoon over each other over her husband's grave, which isn't the least bit awkward, by the way. She agrees and off they go to Corellia with Lando.
Dracmus is made Han's cellmate where they put together incredible leaps of logic that Mara Jade must be a secret player in the whole scheme given she was the one who delivered the message in the novel previous and simply vanished there after, even though she's proven herself trustworthy in the past more than once. They assume that since she's ex-Emperor's Hand, she must want to restore the Empire. It's just evidence to the fact that Timonthy Zahn is the really the only one who should be handling his own characters in legends continuity. Selonian rebels arrive soon after to break the two free.
Leia and Mara team up to escape Corellia but first they have to retrieve Mara's slave circuit relay to call her ship (what happened to her crew as displayed in the former book?) and do a whole lot of crafty sneaking and hiding as they ascend Corona house to grab it. The author seems to forget, though, that Mara and Leia are both force sensitive and neither employ their powers against the scruffy and overpowerable guards. He DOESN'T forget, however, that Leia can wield a lightsaber in a moment where she lops a man's head off, which is admittedly pretty badass. They board the Jade's Fire and flee.
Chewie, the Solo children and Ebrihim meet up with Ebrihim's aunt in bits and pieces across the novel that surmise to them discovering that the archaeological dig was for a massive repulsor device, an item that two Selonian political factions - one who wants to work with the New Republic, the other against - have been after and there are allegedly more across the system. However, the reason behind its threat is very poorly explained and feels empty, much like the breadth of this novel.
Leia reunites with Han as Luke uses the Bakuran fleet to do an odd sort of continuous stop-and-start hyperspace maneuver through the interdicted Corellia system - what's the point of the interdiction field, then?
It's also shown that Centerpoint Station is larger than the Death Star even though somehow Han had never seen a space station that large as according to A New Hope and given that Corellia is his home system, which he spends the opening of the previous novel boasting about, it's very strange. The trilogy has a large problem so far of taking characters and doing what it wants with them, cherry picking what past history and actions ought to be remembered and that problem is especially apparent here.
Assault at Selonia suffers from a common thread connecting all the middle books of the Bantam era trilogies: being bloated, extraneous, and ultimately able to be encapsulated in half the page count. The majority of the trilogies I've read in the past ought to have been duologies and it's no different here. However, it's still not the worst legends novel I've read and despite its painfully droll pace and thin spread plot, I'm still interested in learning how the entire thing wraps up.
Two and a half Nannariums out of five
June 25, 2015
I recall really liking this series. Probably the last good trilogy I recall reading in the 90's.
This book is a good setup for what follows and introduces the mysterious Corellian star system.
Adventure. Excitement. A Jedi may not crave these things, but a reader sure does, and this book/trilogy delivers.
This book is a good setup for what follows and introduces the mysterious Corellian star system.
Adventure. Excitement. A Jedi may not crave these things, but a reader sure does, and this book/trilogy delivers.
October 10, 2018
Still a great story, good intrigue towards the end of how will things unfold. Looking forward to book 3.
December 25, 2024
Assault at Selonia picks up where Ambush at Corellia left off, with the main characters scattered and stuck amid a major crisis in the Corellian system. It takes its readers through a winding plot setting up the inevitable showdown that is to take place in the final novel of the series. Since all the main characters essentially have their own story line here, this review is split into sections.
Han
Han finds himself imprisoned by the so-called Human League, a speciesist insurgent group based on Corellia and lead by Han’s own cousin, Thrackan Sal Solo. In captivity he gains insights into the group’s motives and his suspicions about its underlying ineptitude and dilettantism are confirmed. He rightly infers that the Human League cannot possibly be orchestrating the current events in the system. So, who exactly is responsible remains a mystery. Out of sheer cruelty, Thrackan prompts that Han first fight and then share a cell with a female Selonian, Dracmus. Luckily for Han, he is rudimentarily familiar with both the Selonian culture and language enabling him to cooperate with Dracmus and eventually be freed alongside her by fellow Selonians. What ensues is a long and toiling journey through an elaborate Selonian tunnel network, during which information about the Selonian species and its role within the centuries-old social structure of the Corellian system is revealed. At long last Han is taken aboard a ramshackle Selonian spaceship that is supposed to take both him and Dracmus to Selonia but ends up almost falling apart during the trip. Conveniently, Mara Jade’s ship happens to be close by when that occurs – with Leia aboard. Therefore, rescue is all but certain.
Han’s story line may be the most varied in the book, there is a one-on-one battle, a prison escape, an underground journey followed by a misfortunate space trip, and at the same time information about the Human League, the Corellian conflict, and the Selonian species is shared. It is very engaging and through miscommunication paired with Han’s tendency towards sarcasm provides some comic relief. I think that the Selonian species is very interesting as it appears sophisticated and primitive at the same time and upholds a social construct that is diametrically opposed to what may seem normal.
Luke and Lando
Returning to Coruscant from Lando’s semi-successful quest for a well-to-do wife, the two of them report of their strange experience in the Corellian system, namely, that an enormous interdiction field has made it impossible for them to head deeper into the system. They arrive roughly around the same time that Belindi Kalenda, the NRI agent whom Han managed to get off Corellia before the interdiction started, does. With their combined reports, New Republic officials get a wholistic picture of the troubling and obscure situation (interestingly, they appear unfazed by their top-ranking official being stuck in the middle of it). Action needs to be taken as the crisis could easily impact the New Republic, if not dismantle it all together. Unfortunately, New Republic forces are currently thinly spread with no fleet disposable to interfere. Therefore, Luke and Lando are sent to Bakura where they are supposed to talk Gaeriel Captison, a former flame of Luke’s and a person of influence with the Bakuran military, into lending them the Bakuran defense fleet, which handily includes ships capable of transgressing an interdiction field. Naturally, Gaeriel obliges and agrees to join them on their trip to Corellia. While the fleet is able to penetrate the interdiction field as planned, it quickly runs into trouble inside the Corellian system and becomes engaged in a space battle during which the opponent exhibits strange battle tactics. These, as it turns out, are geared towards giving free line of fire to a weaponized planetary repulsor, which costs them a ship and very clearly reveals just how high the stakes are in the on-going conflict. Following the battle, Lando, Luke, and their entourage decide to head towards Centerpoint Station hoping to be able to get to the bottom of both the interdiction field and the in-system communications jamming there.
This story line is perhaps the most momentous one in terms of how it affects the Corellian conflict, it marks the New Republic’s entry through Bakuran proxy, and it reveals the significance of the planetary repulsors explaining why the different rebel groups are so keen on discovering and reactivating the ones on their respective planets. Still, it is the one that least gripped my attention. Maybe this can be attributed to me re-reading this novel and therefore no longer being surprised by the reveal of the repulsors’ nature. Or perhaps it is because of the relatively long space battle sequence towards the end as I generally have a hard time following these. Naturally, the fact that Luke does not really come across like a very likeable character here might also be a factor. His (non-)relationship with Gaeriel is pictured like a very big deal here when, really, it could best be described as a fling. So, Luke musing about what might have been when there is a major intergalactic conflict going on is a bit exhausting.
Chewbacca and the children
Following their last-minute escape from Corellia, Chewbacca is now stuck babysitting the kids aboard a malfunctioning Millennium Falcon. Guided by the Drall tutor, Ebrihim, he pilots the ship to Drall where they find shelter with Ebrihim’s aunt Marcha. It is evident that even the normally levelheaded Drall species has become tangled up in the separationist atmosphere currently dominating the system. An insurgent group, the Drallists, has emerged and is running an excavation site, which, as Marcha rightly deduces and we later learn, follows the objective of unearthing Drall’s own planetary repulsor. Learning of Anakin’s abilities and how he singlehandedly uncovered the Corellian repulsor, Marcha takes the group to the excavation site hoping to beat the Drallists to their target and be able to uncover its purpose and functioning before they do. Naturally, this is not a difficult task for the child, who all but immediately finds the repulsor. The group then proceeds to set up camp right inside the repulsor shaft.
This story line is the least memorable in this book, rightfully making up only a relatively small portion of its pages. Its main purpose seems to be to flesh out the Drall species a bit more and show their position in the conflict while offering some more background information on the planetary repulsors. Meanwhile, it reassures us that the children are fine and provides some lighthearted scenes showing Chewbacca and the two Dralls’ attempts at coping with three unruly Jedi children. It is a delectable, yet forgettable portion of the series.
Leia
The conclusion of Ambush at Corellia left Leia stuck inside the Governor’s residence on Corellia. There, she is held prisoner by the Human League along with the rest of the trade delegates that attended the trade conference. For some inexplicable reason, her captors decide to give her a cell mate – none other than Mara Jade herself. While the two initially of them have a hard time trusting each other, neither knowing exactly what the other’s role in the conflict is, they quickly decide to cooperate and try to escape from their shared imprisonment together. They pursue a very risky escape plan that involves scaling the outer wall of the high-rise edifice they are stuck in, fighting their way through debris-cluttered rooms of a building they are only rudimentarily familiar with, and hailing Mara’s ship via a slave-circuit controller that has to work on line of sight across a considerable distance. They eventually succeed and escape Corellia aboard the Jade’s Fire. After a brief disagreement as to where to head next, the two of them settle on Selonia for a destination. This turns out to be a prudent choice as they coincidentally come across a derelict Selonian ship on their way that just happens to have Han aboard. Han and Leia are reunited and now both head towards Selonia.
Leia and Mara’s escape is my favorite part of this novel. Both incredibly strong-willed, the two of them being forced to put aside their mistrust of each other and cooperate makes for a fun read. As the situation seems rather forlorn at the onset, the stakes are high and accordingly there are some suspenseful scenes.
Assault at Selonia is all over the place jumping back and forth between characters and settings. It doesn’t really explore anything deeper, but scratches at the surface of many things happening simultaneously. The book covers a lot of ground in under 300 pages and could easily have been longer. Its fragmented structure lies in the nature of its premise, still, it does lead to some confusion – especially with respect to the timing of events. For instance, there is some space travel in the book, most of which cannot happen at light speed due to the interdictor field. Accordingly, it ought to take a relatively long time (days if not weeks). However, there is the ongoing suggestion that everything happens at the same time or at least within a very narrow time frame. While I understand the need to simplify for readability’s sake, at least for me this adds some confusion.
Assault at Selonia’s purpose is to bridge the gap between the introductory Ambush at Corellia and the concluding Showdown at Centerpoint and, therefore, some aspects feel like filler material required to provide the reader with some specific pieces of information needed for the overall plot to make sense. Of course, this palpably limits the novel’s ability to stand on its own and be appreciated. Hence, it is nowhere near as good as its predecessor, but is still a decent read.
Han
Han finds himself imprisoned by the so-called Human League, a speciesist insurgent group based on Corellia and lead by Han’s own cousin, Thrackan Sal Solo. In captivity he gains insights into the group’s motives and his suspicions about its underlying ineptitude and dilettantism are confirmed. He rightly infers that the Human League cannot possibly be orchestrating the current events in the system. So, who exactly is responsible remains a mystery. Out of sheer cruelty, Thrackan prompts that Han first fight and then share a cell with a female Selonian, Dracmus. Luckily for Han, he is rudimentarily familiar with both the Selonian culture and language enabling him to cooperate with Dracmus and eventually be freed alongside her by fellow Selonians. What ensues is a long and toiling journey through an elaborate Selonian tunnel network, during which information about the Selonian species and its role within the centuries-old social structure of the Corellian system is revealed. At long last Han is taken aboard a ramshackle Selonian spaceship that is supposed to take both him and Dracmus to Selonia but ends up almost falling apart during the trip. Conveniently, Mara Jade’s ship happens to be close by when that occurs – with Leia aboard. Therefore, rescue is all but certain.
Han’s story line may be the most varied in the book, there is a one-on-one battle, a prison escape, an underground journey followed by a misfortunate space trip, and at the same time information about the Human League, the Corellian conflict, and the Selonian species is shared. It is very engaging and through miscommunication paired with Han’s tendency towards sarcasm provides some comic relief. I think that the Selonian species is very interesting as it appears sophisticated and primitive at the same time and upholds a social construct that is diametrically opposed to what may seem normal.
Luke and Lando
Returning to Coruscant from Lando’s semi-successful quest for a well-to-do wife, the two of them report of their strange experience in the Corellian system, namely, that an enormous interdiction field has made it impossible for them to head deeper into the system. They arrive roughly around the same time that Belindi Kalenda, the NRI agent whom Han managed to get off Corellia before the interdiction started, does. With their combined reports, New Republic officials get a wholistic picture of the troubling and obscure situation (interestingly, they appear unfazed by their top-ranking official being stuck in the middle of it). Action needs to be taken as the crisis could easily impact the New Republic, if not dismantle it all together. Unfortunately, New Republic forces are currently thinly spread with no fleet disposable to interfere. Therefore, Luke and Lando are sent to Bakura where they are supposed to talk Gaeriel Captison, a former flame of Luke’s and a person of influence with the Bakuran military, into lending them the Bakuran defense fleet, which handily includes ships capable of transgressing an interdiction field. Naturally, Gaeriel obliges and agrees to join them on their trip to Corellia. While the fleet is able to penetrate the interdiction field as planned, it quickly runs into trouble inside the Corellian system and becomes engaged in a space battle during which the opponent exhibits strange battle tactics. These, as it turns out, are geared towards giving free line of fire to a weaponized planetary repulsor, which costs them a ship and very clearly reveals just how high the stakes are in the on-going conflict. Following the battle, Lando, Luke, and their entourage decide to head towards Centerpoint Station hoping to be able to get to the bottom of both the interdiction field and the in-system communications jamming there.
This story line is perhaps the most momentous one in terms of how it affects the Corellian conflict, it marks the New Republic’s entry through Bakuran proxy, and it reveals the significance of the planetary repulsors explaining why the different rebel groups are so keen on discovering and reactivating the ones on their respective planets. Still, it is the one that least gripped my attention. Maybe this can be attributed to me re-reading this novel and therefore no longer being surprised by the reveal of the repulsors’ nature. Or perhaps it is because of the relatively long space battle sequence towards the end as I generally have a hard time following these. Naturally, the fact that Luke does not really come across like a very likeable character here might also be a factor. His (non-)relationship with Gaeriel is pictured like a very big deal here when, really, it could best be described as a fling. So, Luke musing about what might have been when there is a major intergalactic conflict going on is a bit exhausting.
Chewbacca and the children
Following their last-minute escape from Corellia, Chewbacca is now stuck babysitting the kids aboard a malfunctioning Millennium Falcon. Guided by the Drall tutor, Ebrihim, he pilots the ship to Drall where they find shelter with Ebrihim’s aunt Marcha. It is evident that even the normally levelheaded Drall species has become tangled up in the separationist atmosphere currently dominating the system. An insurgent group, the Drallists, has emerged and is running an excavation site, which, as Marcha rightly deduces and we later learn, follows the objective of unearthing Drall’s own planetary repulsor. Learning of Anakin’s abilities and how he singlehandedly uncovered the Corellian repulsor, Marcha takes the group to the excavation site hoping to beat the Drallists to their target and be able to uncover its purpose and functioning before they do. Naturally, this is not a difficult task for the child, who all but immediately finds the repulsor. The group then proceeds to set up camp right inside the repulsor shaft.
This story line is the least memorable in this book, rightfully making up only a relatively small portion of its pages. Its main purpose seems to be to flesh out the Drall species a bit more and show their position in the conflict while offering some more background information on the planetary repulsors. Meanwhile, it reassures us that the children are fine and provides some lighthearted scenes showing Chewbacca and the two Dralls’ attempts at coping with three unruly Jedi children. It is a delectable, yet forgettable portion of the series.
Leia
The conclusion of Ambush at Corellia left Leia stuck inside the Governor’s residence on Corellia. There, she is held prisoner by the Human League along with the rest of the trade delegates that attended the trade conference. For some inexplicable reason, her captors decide to give her a cell mate – none other than Mara Jade herself. While the two initially of them have a hard time trusting each other, neither knowing exactly what the other’s role in the conflict is, they quickly decide to cooperate and try to escape from their shared imprisonment together. They pursue a very risky escape plan that involves scaling the outer wall of the high-rise edifice they are stuck in, fighting their way through debris-cluttered rooms of a building they are only rudimentarily familiar with, and hailing Mara’s ship via a slave-circuit controller that has to work on line of sight across a considerable distance. They eventually succeed and escape Corellia aboard the Jade’s Fire. After a brief disagreement as to where to head next, the two of them settle on Selonia for a destination. This turns out to be a prudent choice as they coincidentally come across a derelict Selonian ship on their way that just happens to have Han aboard. Han and Leia are reunited and now both head towards Selonia.
Leia and Mara’s escape is my favorite part of this novel. Both incredibly strong-willed, the two of them being forced to put aside their mistrust of each other and cooperate makes for a fun read. As the situation seems rather forlorn at the onset, the stakes are high and accordingly there are some suspenseful scenes.
Assault at Selonia is all over the place jumping back and forth between characters and settings. It doesn’t really explore anything deeper, but scratches at the surface of many things happening simultaneously. The book covers a lot of ground in under 300 pages and could easily have been longer. Its fragmented structure lies in the nature of its premise, still, it does lead to some confusion – especially with respect to the timing of events. For instance, there is some space travel in the book, most of which cannot happen at light speed due to the interdictor field. Accordingly, it ought to take a relatively long time (days if not weeks). However, there is the ongoing suggestion that everything happens at the same time or at least within a very narrow time frame. While I understand the need to simplify for readability’s sake, at least for me this adds some confusion.
Assault at Selonia’s purpose is to bridge the gap between the introductory Ambush at Corellia and the concluding Showdown at Centerpoint and, therefore, some aspects feel like filler material required to provide the reader with some specific pieces of information needed for the overall plot to make sense. Of course, this palpably limits the novel’s ability to stand on its own and be appreciated. Hence, it is nowhere near as good as its predecessor, but is still a decent read.
February 14, 2025
This is book 25 on my read-through of the Star Wars Legends books.
This book feels a middle "filler" novel in a long epic fantasy series: perfectly readable, but then you get to the end and realize "wait, barely anything happened". Except, unlike an epic fantasy novel, this book is 300 pages, not 1000 pages, so EVEN less happens.
A lot of that is due to the perspective shifting. This book follows about six perspectives, so each one gets about one chapter for every 100 pages. Each character basically ends up accomplishing one thing over the course of the book. And none of it is bad -- in fact, there's some cool world-building and some fun character moments -- but there just isn't much there.
In the first book in the series, not much happened either, but it had the advantage of being "cozy" and good hang. This book is far more plot-driven, and yet even less plot occurs than the previous book.
That said, taken as a series, I enjoy it so far, and I'm looking forward to where the final book goes with it.
There were two standout sections of this book for me: Leia and Mara's escape -- by far the most thrilling part of the book -- and the ending, which felt like a proper raising of the stakes and a great setup for the next entry.
Overall, a 6/10. Perfectly competent.
This book feels a middle "filler" novel in a long epic fantasy series: perfectly readable, but then you get to the end and realize "wait, barely anything happened". Except, unlike an epic fantasy novel, this book is 300 pages, not 1000 pages, so EVEN less happens.
A lot of that is due to the perspective shifting. This book follows about six perspectives, so each one gets about one chapter for every 100 pages. Each character basically ends up accomplishing one thing over the course of the book. And none of it is bad -- in fact, there's some cool world-building and some fun character moments -- but there just isn't much there.
In the first book in the series, not much happened either, but it had the advantage of being "cozy" and good hang. This book is far more plot-driven, and yet even less plot occurs than the previous book.
That said, taken as a series, I enjoy it so far, and I'm looking forward to where the final book goes with it.
There were two standout sections of this book for me: Leia and Mara's escape -- by far the most thrilling part of the book -- and the ending, which felt like a proper raising of the stakes and a great setup for the next entry.
Overall, a 6/10. Perfectly competent.
May 4, 2020
Love the escape, and this is by far my favorite post Battle of Endor series. It would make a great movie. Han, Leia and their kids travel to his home world during civil unrest and the adventure begins including all the cast of Star Wars favorites and a planet destroying weapon.
January 30, 2024
Book 22 in my EU read through. I don't have much new to say about this one compared to the first book in the trilogy. I did read it in less than 24 hours so that is certainly a good sign for it! The characterization is still very good, the characters really feel like themselves. The plot manages to tackle the whole "galactic incident" idea with enough intrigue to keep me reading fast (yes, I'm going right for book 3) but without getting overly convoluted. It didn't move forward too much in terms of actual events but there were enough revelations that it still felt interesting the whole time. It's also worth noting that it is a shorter book so less can be expected too happen. There was a little bit of action and what was here was really good, it was just too glossed over to be anything really special. I'm hoping for an action packed third volume of the trilogy. This really feels like it was one story meant for one book and the publishers forced the author to pick two points to split it into three. That being said, I ahve big expectations from the conclusion!
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