Rogue Squadron: Star Wars: X-Wing
Written by Michael A. Stackpole
Narrated by Henry Thomas
4/5
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this audiobook
They are sleek, swift, and deadly. The are the X-wing fighters. And as the struggle rages across the vastness of space, the fearless men and women who pilot them risk both their lives and their machines. Their mission: to defend the Rebel Alliance against a still-powerful and battle-hardened Imperial foe in a last-ditch effort to control the stars!
Its very name strikes fear into enemy hearts. So when Rebel hero Wedge Antilles rebuilds the legendary Rogue Squadron, he seeks out only the best -- the most skilled, the most daring X-wing pilots. Through arduous training and dangerous missions, he weeds out the weak from the strong, assembling a group of hard-bitten warriors willing to fight, ready to die. Antilles knows the grim truth: that even with the best X-wing jockeys in the galaxy, many will not survive their near-suicidal missions. But when Rogue Squadron is ordered to assist in the assault on the heavily fortified Imperial stronghold of Black Moon, even the bravest must wonder if any at all will survive. . . .
Michael A. Stackpole
Michael A. Stackpole is an award-winning novelist, game designer, computer game designer, podcaster, screenwriter, and graphic novelist. He’s had more than forty-five novels published, the best known of those being the New York Times bestselling Star Wars books I, Jedi and Rogue Squadron. He has an asteroid named after him and, since undertaking to write Vol’jin: Shadows of the Horde, spends a lot of his spare time "leveling up!"
Related to Rogue Squadron
Related audiobooks
Rubicon: Aurora Resonant Book Two Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Intrusion Protocol Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Starfighter Down Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Titan's Vengeance Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Inversion: Riven Worlds Book Two Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Invasion Force Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDragon Rule Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Imperial Sunset Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Reality Dysfunction Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Angles of Attack Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Spoils of War: An Arthurian Space Opera Adventure Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRogue Swarm Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Fringe Runner Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5All Our Tomorrows: Riven Worlds Book Four Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Valiant Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Quest Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Transcendence: Aurora Rising Book Three Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Never Shall I Fail Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Submerged Fury - The Leviathan War Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJason Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFallen Empire Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Haven Ascendant Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Starshot Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsForgotten Ruin Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Antaran Codex Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Science Fiction For You
Red Rising Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Good Omens Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Institute: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Parable of the Sower Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Kindred Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Good Omens: A Full Cast Production Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The One Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5All Systems Red Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Picture of Dorian Gray: Classic Tales Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Future Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5House 23: A Thriller Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This Is How You Lose The Time War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Three-Body Problem Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Stories of Your Life and Others Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Left Hand of Darkness Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dune Messiah: Book Two in the Dune Chronicles Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Troop Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Live in Concert Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Man in the High Castle Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Deep Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Coraline Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Clockwork Orange Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Before the Coffee Gets Cold: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/52001: A Space Odyssey Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How High We Go in the Dark: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dune Audio Collection Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Morning Star Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Golden Son Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Rogue Squadron
343 ratings8 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I'll agree with most of the other reviewers; the best bits of this book are the battle scenes, and in particular the strategic planning of these between Wedge, Ackbar, and General Salm.Corran, the main character, is probably the biggest minus--he's clearly wish-fulfillment for the author, and is very much a "Mary Sue"; he's invincible, cool, tough, the best pilot, etc. Tedious, really.As a fan of Star Wars, I think I really appreciated the bits of backstory that the Rogues themselves get as a unit--lots of mention of Biggs' background, and in particular the stuff that focused on Wedge was nice. Bottom line is that if you can get past Corran Horn, you'll like these okay.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The action scenes were great, but I could have done without the preaching about the deep meaning of their missions and respect for life and duty and freedom. Overall, it was intriguing enough for me to want to read at least one more book in the series.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Plot: Fairly typical team plot that in the second half turns into a mission plot. Good momentum and a good build-up of tension. At times it feels a little formulaic and it shows that Stackpole isn't new to this kind of book. Characters: The central character has barely enough flaws to not qualify as a Marty Stu, and is not particularly interesting in his personal quirks and conflicts. The side characters are a collection of steretypes whose interactions are interesting to watch. Style: Terrible writing when it comes to space fights. Reasonably authentic dialogue. The language is nothing extraordinary and occasionally too flat. What is missing is atmosphere. Plus: The beginning of a good series away from practically all known characters in the Star Wars universe, so it makes for a good starting point.Minus: The book doesn't capture the reader. Summary: Worth reading as a space opera, as is the rest of the series.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This is a book that does what it says on the tin, which is more impressive than you might think. My first flirtation with Star Wars tie-in novels was disappointing, despite the fact that I was ten years old and ready to like anything with Princess Leia on the cover. Unlike the novels that were such a mixed bag for my younger self, this series focuses in on new and secondary characters, rather than trying to ventriloquize the main characters. It also focuses on non-mystical adventures, rather than brainstorming new and kooky Force-related plots and villains to throw at Luke. In short, it's the Star Wars novel I should have been reading when I was ten, and it's still like stuffing my brain with caramel corn now.Beloved secondary character Commander Wedge Antilles ("Get clear, Wedge! You can't do any more good back there!") is one protagonist here, rebuilding the famous yet often ill-starred Rogue Squadron. The other main character is Corran Horn, a Corellian ex-cop and hotshot fighter pilot. Adventure! Dogfights! Strategy that actually makes sense! The new characters ring true to the universe and are easy to like, and the uneasy tensions within the Rebellion -- between races, between former members of Security Forces and the Imperial Military and shadier characters like smugglers -- are an interesting backdrop. The space battles are actually interesting, and the tactics are much more detailed and awesome than you could depict on film.Why only three and a half stars? There's a little clunk to the prose now and then, but it's not bad. Actually I docked it for two things: if you aren't very visual indeed, the dogfights will be a struggle to assimilate -- and there are a lot of them; and Corran's character arc in this book -- "Oh, I have to be a teamworker even though I'm a hotshot?" -- is a little infantile and yawnworthy, I found. Not an issue in the next book! (I told you, I'm inhaling these things like popcorn.)
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Emperor is dead, but the Empire remains. Wedge reforms Rogue Squadron, and Tycho Celchu and Corran Horn join. This is also our introduction to the evil Director Ysanne Isard and her underling, the calculating Kirtan Loor.
I remember really liking the training sequences here, and because the cast is made of non-essential characters (by which I mean, not Luke, Leia, or Han), I genuinely worried about their fates. - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Michael A. Stackpole’s Star Wars: X-Wing: Rogue Squadron launched the X-Wing series of novels set in the Star Wars Expanded Universe. Bantam Spectra published this first novel in 1996 and introduced a new Rogue Squadron formed by Wedge Antilles while also introducing Corran Horn, Mirax Terrik, Erisi Dlarit, and Tycho Celchu. The book appeared six months after the first issue of Dark Horse Comics’ Star Wars: X-Wing: Rogue Squadron comics, written by Stackpole and Darko Macan, and the subsequent 35 issues of the comic book series and first nine novels, which Stackpole and Aaron Allston wrote, help to expand on the events after Return of the Jedi while featuring the various Imperial warlords and skirmishes as the New Republic consolidated power that characterized the Bantam era of Star Wars fiction.The novel focuses on the recruitment of the new members of Rogue Squadron and their first missions, establishing a new base and helping to safeguard supplies as the New Republic moves closer to the galactic core. Further, Stackpole drops some hints that Corran Horn is Force-sensitive, such as when he instinctively knows something is wrong just before an Imperial ambush (pg. 189) and when he senses Lujayne Forge’s death (pgs. 195, 207). In this, Stackpole foreshadowed events that he would further develop in his 1998 novel, I, Jedi, which followed Horn’s quest to become a Jedi and was the first Star Wars novel written in the first-person. Stackpole also introduces Gavin Darklighter, the cousin of Luke Skywalker’s friend Biggs from Tatooine. Through Wedge and Gavin, Stackpole references the actions of the squadron in the Star Wars trilogy, with Gavin echoing Luke’s comment about Beggar’s Canyon (pg. 303) and Wedge echoing to Corran Luke’s order for Wedge to break off during the Death Star trench run (pg. 348). The remainder of the novel focuses on the New Republic’s efforts to attack and hold the Imperial stronghold on Borleais, laying the groundwork for a future invasion of Coruscant and future novels. In focusing on the political situation shortly after Return of the Jedi, Stackpole works to show that, while the galaxy at large viewed the Emperor’s death as the end of the Empire, there was work remaining, though it was more difficult to rally the fledgling New Republic and its allies without the imminent threat (pg. 66). Further, he shows the public perception of the Jedi eradication, with a character saying, “Vader was the last Jedi” (pg. 32). In order to situate his work between those already published, Stackpole references Kathy Tyers’ The Truce at Bakura (pg. 51) as well as the Katana fleet from Timothy Zahn’s Dark Force Rising (pgs. 68, 299).While Bantam published the original nine X-Wing novels between 1996-1999, Del Ray and LucasBooks published a tenth novel in 2012, set over thirty years later concurrent with the Fate of the Jedi series, specifically its final novel, Fate of the Jedi: Apocalpyse. Since the post-Disney continuity reboot, Disney-Lucasfilm Books began publishing the Alphabet Squadron trilogy in 2019 that are set in the same time period and fulfil a similar narrative purpose as the first nine X-Wing novels, though they incorporate material and references from films, television, video games, and novels in the new canon.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5
Based on all the previous good reviews I was anticipating a fun, fast, relentless read that would have me clamoring for more. I'm disappointed to the fact that I'm just glad the story is over. Bummed. - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sep10:Went way back to read these. Skipped them my first time through the Star Wars universe. Best part? Counting how many movie references. Friggin' 1 per page I swear.Characters: Good enough. The lead is solid enough if not super awesome. Wedge is well rounded for his parts. Villains are almost weak.Plot: A bunch of star fights dammit. Anything else?Style: Well done actually. This could have gone sooo wrong. And yet I actually enjoyed my read through due to brisk pacing and solid Style.
1 person found this helpful