Enemy Lines II: Rebel Stand

(NOTE: At the time of reading, this was the sixteenth "STAR WARS Legends" book I had read that takes place post-Return of the Jedi, with the others being the "Heir to the Empire" trilogy, "Darksaber" and the eleven books that introduce the Yuuzhan Vong, "The New Jedi Order". This review will only focus on this book; should I complete the series, the final review of the overarching series will be found in the nineteenth book.)

"The clock is ticking on Borleias.

As Han and Leia set out on missions to find allies to aid them against the Yuuzhan Vong invaders, Luke Skywalker and his small strike team continue to search for the powerful source of the dark side evil on the transforming Coruscant.

Unfortunately for the old heroes of the Rebellion, their tasks are not so easy. The Yuuzhan Vong are not the only enemies that threaten the heroes' plans, and even if they do, the threat of evil among the heroes still remains..."

The duology of "ENEMY LINES" comes to an end.

Though I did not favor this book as much as its first installment, I still liked it enough as a duology.


-----SPOILERS-----

(NOTE: I finished this book in April of 2023; at the time I am writing this review, it is July 26, 2023, and I had just finished "The Legacy of the Force" series on July 23.)


So, when it comes to duologies in the "New Jedi Order", the ones I had read up to this point in the series were "DARK TIDE", "AGENTS OF CHAOS", and "EDGE OF VICTORY". The first and the last were enjoyable for me, while I was mostly indifferent about the second, but I do remember not being too excited when I learned I had ANOTHER duology to go through.

Obviously, to those who saw my review for part one, "Rebel Dream", you can easily imagine how eager I was to finish this one.

So, after a couple of flip throughs and some brief reviews of my notes, I am finally ready to give a review.

A small thing I noticed was that Luke and his strike team know about "Domain Kraal" armor. I bring this up because though the narrator is in a third-person perspective, third person perspectives tend to echo more of the thoughts of the people that are being centered on. So, the idea that Luke and his team could tell "Domain Kraal" armor by that particular name rather than simple "Vong armor" gave me the impression that Luke and co knew about all the different domains.

However, in hindsight, I should recall that Tahiri was basically trained in the ways of the Vong, so if anybody could tell one armor from another, it should be her, so really this isn't that big of an issue.

I think the name "Reckless Abandon" is an ironic name for Jaina's call-sign. Maybe it's just me, but it seemed to be a jab at Jaina for her reckless attacks during the ending of "Dark Journey"...

- Tam, the cameraman who refused to obey Order 6— er, the Yuuzhan Vong implants is still alive. Not gonna lie, I expected him to be dead. Not because he's annoying or anything...it just seemed unlikely.

- The dialogue that opens page 25 (and others that follow) had me thrown for a loop; I could not decide if the words were italicized because it was a flashback or a vision, or the present time. Fortunately, things are made clear as the book progresses.

- The hunt for the source of evil leads the strike team to some kind of sentient red goo that can only be calmed in the Force, though it takes concentration to tell it not to eat people.

After turning a large wheel within the goo to gain access to an elevator Luke almost gets out to rejoin his strike team, only to be stopped by his wife, who has to point out the goo had eaten the clothes he was wearing...and I do mean ALL of them. It just felt....kinda dumb. Like, c'mon, I get a new secret elevator appeared, but Luke can't be THAT oblivious, right?
But, don't worry guys, Mara is here to help Luke think.

So they get on the elevator and wouldn't you know it, despite all the efforts to get this elevator working, and despite the fact it was going to explode in a short amount of time unless it was given the proper code, Mara just happens to remember a code she barely used as an Emperor's Hand, and that happens to be the code to stop the countdown?
Tank goodnass MaRa'S heeeehrrr!
(Ok, in all seriousness, Mara's character prior to these sequences is fine AND it's refreshing to not see her fretting over her son so much...it just was something I noticed.)

- As it turns out, the dark side source on Coruscant is emanating from a man who has been called "Lord Nyax". His short encounters with Luke had me feeling like he was something that was so different than the typical Sith VS Jedi. The fact he was called "Nyax" by locals was so interesting. He was pretty powerful though.
However, any mysticism about this character that just seems like a freak amalgamation of circumstances was lost to me when I learned :
1) Nyax was actually a man named Irek who had gone insane.
2) Irek had met Leia before (rumor has it it was in "Courtship of Princess Leia"? Research later.)
3) Irek was a potential son of Emperor Palaptine
4) Nyax had lightsabers on his wrists (I thought Assassin's Creed style, so I was like "Okay."), elbows ("Where?"),
and knees ("What??")
5) he died from a lightsaber wound to the skull, lost his literal brain activity...and survived because of an armored cybernetic suit and reprogramming.

- The goal of the villain is to harness the power of the Force Nexus under the Jedi Temple. He accesses it. And an insane amount of Force shenanigans happens.
Part of it involves chopping up Nyax so that as he loses body parts, he can lose his connection to the Force (personally, I was just thinking of the Black Knight from "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" but with lightsabers).

Tahiri's involvement in this fight was cool, but kind of short lived.
I dunno, the portrayal of events and how much stuff was thrown around (basically the Jedi Temple was destroyed...again) made this plot, which has stakes because the Force is at risk of being disturbed, kind of meh. Fun action sequences, but it reminded me of "The Force Unleashed" in terms of power levels.

- Wraith Squadron was a good part of the Coruscant narrative.

- Viqi Sesh...since her introduction in "DARK TIDE", she has been an interesting villain. She helps Tsavong Lah discover a shaper conspiracy that had been tricking Lah into believing he was going against the will of his gods,
Alas, later, caught between the Yuuzhan Vong and the strike team of Rebels on Coruscant (and fearing for her life because of Mara's anger at her for the attempted kidnapping of Ben Skywalker in "STAR BY STAR"), Viqi's part in the story comes to an end in this book.

She deserts the Vong and attempts to escape her Vong captivity in a ship that some citizens never used to escape during the Vong attack on Coruscant, but in the end, while slowly fixing the ship, she gets recaptured by the Vong and the ship is stolen by the escaping strike team.

The leader of the Vong party sent to deal with the infiltrating rebels is mortally wounded, and before he dies, he attempts to kill Viqi.
Rather than let her death be controlled by enemy hands, Viqi throws herself out of a window. I hated her, but dangit, I also hated to see her go so soon in the series.

- The events of Borleias are just as enjoyable to read in regards to Wedge and his stand against the Vong. I loved his "leaked" plans, I loved the misdirection, the logic....so good.

Jaina is back at her goddess games, but her moments with Jag and Kyp were also pretty awkward....

There were also moments with Tam and Tarc, but meh, it was fine just not what I was interested in.

I almost forgot: despite being on the cover of the book, I barely remember what Han and Leia did specifically in this book.
They were contacting Rebel cells to help disaude planets from joining the Vong. They get arrested (by loyalists to the Peace Brigade), R2-D2 saves the day, and they keep going.
Honestly, the prison break sequence was funny at times. However, NO SHOT that Threepio would be able to identify weapons as food and get away with it without his protocols interfering! XD

OVERALL though, I will give it a 8/10;
despite some of the things I didn't like, the overall impact of this story and the overarching series just feels important enough to be considered as important to read, especially with the blows to Tsavong Lah.



MY NOTES:
- How did they know "Domain Kraal"? (pg 6)
- Reckless Abandon (Jaina's ship)
- Tam's alive (pg 24)
- The vision? (pg 25)
- Lord Nyax (pg 39)
- Ryuk (pg 60)
- blinking lights, mechanical toys (pg 65)
- Leia installed a music module (CA:TWS) (pg 68)
- Tam & Tarc (pg 74)
- Red goo eats Luke's clothes. (pg 105-107)
- Mara says code she barely used (pg 110)
- Tam finds panel (pg 166)
- Foods = Items (pg 186) ...no shot
- Leia has met Nyax (pg 238; potential son of the Emperor)
- Irek died; lightsaber to the skull, despite loss of brain activity, but survived (pg 240)
- Nyax has wrist, elbow, and knee lightsabers??
- loss of body functions disrupts the Force? (pg 292)
- Viqi commits suicide...

It's an...ok conclusion, but it doesn't feel as driven and exciting as book one. I just wish it had maintained the momentum, but in the end it feels like a Star Trek TNG two parter: it doesn't quite live up to the opening act.

Allston does a great job of bringing back fun to the New Jedi Order series. Where Troy Denning's Star By Star brought immense gravity, scope, and emotion to NJO, Allston's entries are a fun romp with some great military tactics, humor, and Wedge Antilles. It's somewhat at the expense of emotion and character development, but we've got action-packed fun that makes up for it.

Rebel Stand's major flaw is far too many characters. We don't get to see them develop and grow. They're not two-dimensional by any means, but there's just not enough time to provide arcs for each of them. Some get dropped, like Tam/Tarc, or that random dissatisfied squadron leader, or the Coruscant survivors. Or heck, even what was behind the black rock, though not a character, disappeared into the background without much explanation. Other characters, like Jaina, are moved aside to focus on five or six others. I would've at least liked some indication of where Tam's character is going, as he was the most relatable of the bunch.

The mission to Coruscant was excellent, mysterious, and even slightly disturbing. Lord Nyax made for an eerie, brutal villain. I couldn't help but think he was a bit comic-bookish and overpowered. On the other hand, I felt like some of Emperor Palpatine's actions in his rise to power during the prequels should've been more like Lord Nyax--the mass mind control, in particular. That's how darkly evil this Nyax is.

The Battle of Borleias is where things really take off, in explosive fashion. It's Wedge Antilles vs. Czulkang Lah (with Jaina playing awesome trickster in the background). Both Antilles and Lah are very intelligent strategists, and it was a blast to read their various tactics and counter-tactics, particularly Antilles's. I did feel like Aaron Allston didn't make Lah a competent enough foil to Antilles, but it's a small flaw. Jaina's antics are a lot of fun in particular, and Antilles's final actions in the story are a testament to possibly the greatest fighter pilot in Star Wars history.

Side note: my previous review covered Enemy Lines #1, where I suspected that the first book would be significantly better paced with the second book in the duology, rather than standing on its own. And it did. Rebel Stand (Enemy Lines #2) continues the story of Rebel Dream in such a way that they really should've just been one giant book. But people's attention spans are short, so...

Anyway... lots of fun. I enjoyed this entry!

Very good! I listened to the abridged version and I think they did a very good job with the important plot points. I know the book version had much more about Han and Leia trying to establish resistance bases and cells as well as having problems with one particular world. However, I get the feeling that it was more filler with that storyline. Han and Leia were in neither of these two audiobooks. While I'm glad that they omitted that storyline, I would have appreciated it if the audiobook made a mention or two about where they were so I'm not left wondering.

3.75

This is the 38th book of EU read through, we're sort of getting close to a third of the EU books. The rating is mediocre but let's get one thing straight, there's magic in here. When I read the last 80 pages or so of this book I had the same old feeling I used to have as a kid watching clone wars or the first time I saw revenge of the sith. I've been chasing that feeling every since and Allston gets it done. Fantastic action sequences all around, atmospheric descriptions of environment and snappy and on point dialogue really make this feel like Star Wars. The biggest issue is that the plot and pacing felt very strange in that the plots seemed unrealted to eachother and the cliffhanger of the first book of the duology even if they fit in the greater NJO story. I think this is an artifact of the plubisher having the author break what is really just one story into two books. Considering the plot lines of both books and assuming the Allston would have arranged them in a more balanced and sensible order, we have more peak Star Wars here.

Absolutley looking forward to more!

Primeira Leitura: 2011
Releitura: 2023

Aaron Allston did it again!

Ainda assim, essa releitura me decepcionou um pouco. O livro continua incrível mas não conseguiria favoritar hoje em dia.

As batalhas são de tirar o fôlego e o desenvolvimento Jaina-Jag-Kyp é maravilhoso. Adorei a conversa entre os três. Todo o rolê quase romântico entre Jaina e Kyp ainda me deixa desconfortável mas a discussão envolvendo a relação complicada é super interessante.

A parte mais chatinha do livro foi todo o lance com o Nyax. Luke, Mara e Tahiri explorando uma Coruscant sendo transformada pelos Yuuzhan Vong e o "grande vilão" é um ser super aleatório que parece completamente deslocado da situação.

Czulkang Lah como antagonista é maravilhoso mas é bom demais ver os planos da Nova República dando certo.

Filler.

The Dramatis Personae gives more info than in the previous book, and more people. One of these is Tam, letting us know that he survived the former events.

I like Luke and Mara on Coruscant. It's about time that we see how those on planet dealt with the Yuuzhan Vong...and how Luke determines to best go against them.
With that, I adore the Wraiths, and that Danni and Tahiri were on planet with the Skywalkers. I feel bad because Luke understands the pain and guilt of sending youth to their deaths - and yet, some of the events in previous books were too relaxed for him.

I feel like his desire to defend to be a little forced as compared to the rest of the NJO.
I also feel that way about a lot of the humor (despite the Wraiths being around).

It's interesting to see how much vonduun crab armor (both real and artificial) is at hand.

I actually like that the smell of rot and needing cloths covering noses was included. It is realistic and doesn't dampen the story.

Wes!

The mystery (and later truth) of Lord Nyax was intriguing at first and then took over too much of the plot. It was unnecessary.
The only thing that it really does is set in play the PTSD the young Jedi (including baby Ben) have in the future. Granted, a lot of that is from all the war, but I think Nyax sending out powerful bursts of energy and ripping into the Grand Master is the main catalyst.

Jaina and Jag sneaking moments made my heart patter.

Tarc and Tam finding comfort in each other is suiting.

I almost feel bad for Viqi Shesh. I abhor her, but...humans > Vong.

I was very surprised that Tahiri's scar was not noticed by Denua Ku.

The Starlancer makes me think of Starkiller.
It's such a great mode of deception.

Czulkang Lahn and Charat Kraal are definitely interesting to read of.