Rogue Squadron (Star Wars: X-Wing, #1) in The Expanded Universe

Mar 02, 2013 Jordan Lahn rated it it was amazing

Shelves: kobo_library, audible_library, star_wars, owned_star_wars

When I think back about the first time I read this book, I'm overwhelmed with nostalgia. I read this book way back in the late ninties, when I was no more than 11 or 12. As soon as my Dad got the Star Wars Trilogy Special Edition VHS set in 96 or 97, I was hooked, and immediately started spending saving up my allowance and spending it on the variety of Star Wars novels which, while clearly written for readers somewhat above the third grade level, captured my imagination. And few of those novels When I think back about the first time I read this book, I'm overwhelmed with nostalgia. I read this book way back in the late ninties, when I was no more than 11 or 12. As soon as my Dad got the Star Wars Trilogy Special Edition VHS set in 96 or 97, I was hooked, and immediately started spending saving up my allowance and spending it on the variety of Star Wars novels which, while clearly written for readers somewhat above the third grade level, captured my imagination. And few of those novels captured my imagination the way Michael Stackpole and Aaron Allston's X-Wing series. Always somewhat of a nerd, I devoured these books every chance I could find. In school I frequently had a book propped open in my desk so I could snatch a sentence or two in between paying close attention to every word that came out of the teacher's mouth. During recess, I would lean against the school building and read until the bell summoned us back inside. When I wasn't busy reading, I would spend recess racing around the school yard, dogfighting imaginary TIE Fighters and Star Destroyers and various other spacecraft gleaned from the pages of the novels or my well read copy of Star Wars: The Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels. I was fascinated by the characters and the world of the stories. In the days before wikipedia, I poured over the pages of the novels, taking detailed notes in order to determine the call sign of each Rogue Squadron pilot and their wingman, and to decipher the pilots slang terms: "eyeball," "bright," "squint," etc. All of this may seem unnecessarily obsessive to a rational adult mind, but as an eager pre-adolescent caught up in the wonder of the "galaxy far far away" for the first time, it was a testament to the power of the story Stackpole (and ultimately George Lucas) created. It's books like this one that make me wish I hadn't gotten rid of all of my old Star Wars books. Yeah, they took up a lot of space on my already overcrowded shelves, and it's true I had never gone back to re-read most of them in years, but all these years later it feels like a crime to have sold all those childhood memories for a mere $20 at a garage sale. Of course I have all of the published novels on my Kobo e-reader, but sometimes I wish I could run my fingers through those pages again, smell the paper, and feel the texture of the memories captured between the covers... All of these fond memories have me very excited for the August release of Mercy Kill, the first new X-Wing novel in 13 years. Here's hoping that for some young, impressionable reader out there, this book will continue the tradition started by Rogue Squadron, opening his or her imagination to a galaxy where daring aces do battle with menacing villains, brave heroes make selfless sacrifices, and good always triumps over evil.

UPDATE: Since writing this review, I've started going back and tracking down used copies of as many Star Wars novels as I can, rebuilding my collection so I can go back and revist those memories. I haven't finished catching up in the timeline so I can read Mercy Kill, but I'm looking forward to it more than ever.

AUDIO BOOK REVIEW: I recently had the chance to listen to the abridged audio book of Rogue Squadron, and while I really enjoyed listening to the story with all the sound effects and music that make the Star Wars audio books such a great experience, I really missed a lot of the material that was cut out during the abridging process. Also, the sound effects are clearly more than ten years older than the effects you can hear in more recent audio books, and it was a little distracting when the pilots voices were distorted to make it sound like a radio message. Overall I still really enjoyed it, but I would NOT recommend it as an alternative to reading the full books. Maybe when I get to Star Wars: X-Wing: Mercy Kill I'll check out the unabridged audio version of that one. ...more

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Jan 08, 2013 D rated it liked it

While not my first EU novel, this was my first from MichaeI Stackpole.

He didn't quite grab me like Timothy Zahn's first few books did, but I am hooked, and see the potential here. And isn't that what counts? The concept and broader storyline of the X Wing novels interesting. And I picked up this book in order to dive into what happened to that group of orange and white jumpsuit'ed fighter pilots after the battle of Endor and Bakura.

What worked for me:

The pacing, lore and characterization.

What ...more

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