The new Jedi order completely outpaces anything in the Starwars genre. This series was Dark, exciting, fast paced, and inspired. The writing was fantastic and the level of philosophy and force history was unparalleled. If your a fan at any level of the Starwars Universe than this series is a must read. It is on my top 5 of all time for a series and I treasured every moment I spent in that time. But beware, this isn't your typical Starwars book, be ready for a level of intensity that you've never seen. May the force be with you.!

Una agradable continuación de Enemy Lines I, no la superó, pero fue entretenida.

En este libro tenemos varias tramas importantes, y aunque en sí el libro fue poco memorable e incluso deja muchas tramas que no se retoman, hay varios acontecimientos que vale la pena resumir.

Hablando de Coruscant, el grupo tenía la misión original de investigar si Jacen había llegado a ese planeta, así como establecer una célula de la Resistencia, sin embargo, se encuentran con algo muy interesante: Lord Nyax. Esta criatura sensitiva a la fuerza es una aberración de los grupos más corruptos de Coruscant. El grupo encuentra un tanque y comprende el origen de la criatura, pero poco a poco las cosas se ponen complicadas porque hay un grupo de Yuuzhan Vong cazándolos, incluida la senadora Viqi Shesh. Claramente se arma una gran pelea y al final se las ingenian para que Luke se salve, pero Viqi se les escapa. Algo muy fuerte del libro es cuando encuentran a Viqi, en el apartamento, y ella decide tomar su propio lado al no soportar vivir a costa de la Nueva República o los Yuuzhan Vong, y se termina suicidando al lanzarse por la ventana.

"No, no me matarás. Los yuuzhan vong no pueden matarme. Ni los noghri. Ni los Jedi. Todos sois inferiores a mí. Sólo una persona en todo el universo puede matar a Viqi Shesh".

Por otra parte, tenemos una actualización de Tam, el operador de holocámara. Por fin lo trataron para resistir el efecto de control de los Yuuzhan Vong y ahora debe portar un casco. Además, fue interesante la relación con Tarc, que incluso hasta se volvió el nuevo operador de holocámara.

También hay noticias interesantes en Vannix. Leia solicita apoyo político a la almirante Apelben Werl y curiosamente, lo reciben.

Otra cosa interesante, que incluso me causó gracia, fue la pequeña reunión entre Jag, Jaina y Kyp, que terminaron haciendo las paces en un picnic.

No sé si se considera interesante, ya que fue poco memorable, pero aquí llevan a cabo el Proyecto Lanza Estelar, que es como una Estrella de la Muerte para distorsionar el espacio y atacar a enemigos a varios años luz.

Sin duda, el libro no podía terminar sin una súper batalla final, y me pareció muy épico cuando se ponen en formación todos los escuadrones que en unos pocos libros se fueron formando, el Lusankya brilló en todo su esplendor, estrellándose al final contra la mundonave de Czulkang Lah.

I really enjoyed this story. The strategy and planning where fun with insights as to what would happen, but also not giving the whole story away.

Honestly I don’t know why they brought in an old character to be this overwhelming force user just seemed completely out of place. Did Allston get tired of the YV? But it doesn’t offer anything new. The rest of the plot was great.

Getting back into the old Star Wars Expanded Universe (EU) about 10 years after it got wiped out by Disney is a wonderful experience. Enemy Lines II: Rebel Stand confirmed my earlier feeling that the old EU was of higher quality than the new canon. It is a lot more fun, more genuine, more quirky and is a quite a pleasant reading experience. The book is by no stretch of the imagination a masterpiece, it's just a guilty pleasure that is a must read for any fan of the charm of Star Wars that is gone nowadays.

A fun conclusion to the duology of books written by Allston for the NJO. Has the characteristic humor and starfighter combat that Allston used in the X-Wing series while also bringing in the Jedi and the Force. I wish the Coruscant subplot had been a bit more satisfying, but overall I definitely enjoyed these two books. Good airplane reads.

This book is classic Star Wars. Allston's second NJO book definitely does not dissappoint and is an excellent continuation of what he started in Rebel Dream. This book ties off a couple of loose ends, creates a few more, and has the combat action that's been missing for some time. Without giving away too much, I will say that Kyp is becoming a very likeable character and I hope the future NJO authors continue to develop his story. Tahiri becomes slightly more complex in this book, and it's a great character shift. Viqi Shesh's role is perfectly on character. Don't expect to see much of Jaina, Jag, Kyp, or Janson (who IS back), but they do appear at crucial moments. Also keep in mind that Jacen is nowhere in this book, but he'll be back in Traitor, so it's all for the anticipation.

This story mainly focuses on Han and Leia who are (finally) back in character, and the Coruscant mission. Luke's and especially Mara's lines/actions are also much more consistent with their character than what was written in Rebel Dream; thanks to Allston for paying attention to this.

This is a great plot, and a needed addition to the NJO storyline. You should definitely read Rebel Dream before reading Rebel Stand; I recommend reading Children of the Jedi by Barbara Hambley to understand who Roganda Ismaren and Lord Nyax really are, because it is not mentioned by Allston. Definitely a must-read for all SW fans and any following the NJO series- you'll enjoy it immensely.

More of the same fun from the previous volume. It turns out that if you take a bunch of outside-the-box thinkers who are well-accustomed to impossible scenarios and turn them loose with little to nothing to lose - since, absent any action, their side is screwed anyway - you get good results.

If I have one complaint about this book it's that the whole business with Luke, Mara and Tahiri on Coruscant just feels like it doesn't quite fit in with the rest.

A reasonably solid entry in the Star Wars EU novels. The New Republic finally seems to win one against the Vong. The Borelieas chapters are really good, continuing the flavour of the immediately preceding book. However, the chapters with Luke, Mara Jade and their exploratory party seem really extraneous. I do t see what those chapters have added to the overall narrative.

This is the weakest of Aaron Allston's Star Wars novels so far, but that criticism isn't as harsh as it sounds since he's still one of the best of all the Star Wars authors. There are three main concurrent storylines going on: the defense of Borleias, Han and Leia's mission to set up rebel cells, and Luke's mission to Coruscant.

The fighting at Borleias is by far the best of these plotlines, as we get to see a fair amount of military genius and trickery at work, plus some of the most humorous moments in the book.

Han and Leia's mission is probably important in the grand scheme of things, and moderately entertaining, but for the moment it felt like a mostly inconsequential side-quest. Like it was more of an excuse to let Han revert to his true scoundrel style for a time.

As for Luke and Mara's mission to Coruscant, this is where Allston kind of drops the ball. It started out interesting enough, but the reveal we get from this plotline was less interesting and less important than expected. The villain here turned out to be a rather uninteresting character who didn't need to exist at all. In fact, other than getting info of exactly how bad things are for the survivors on Coruscant, the entire quest yielded nothing of value. Ultimately a waste of pages. I did enjoy getting to see Kell back in action though. If you don't know who I'm talking about, go and read the Wraith Squadron books already! They're fantastic!

If you're reading The New Jedi Order series, then I still recommend reading this one. It's one of the more entertaining and satisfying books in this 19-volume saga, just not quite as good as I expect from Aaron Allston.

one star for lord nyax. one star for that ending battle. one more star for czulkang lah the funniest yuuzhan vong mf ever. bro is goated

The next novel in the New Jedi Order has been completed! And although this one took longer than I thought it would, most of that is due to life getting in the way. Because once again, Aaron Allston delivered a fun, exciting entry into this very long series.

Enemy Lines I: Rebel Dream was absolutely fantastic (in fact, I just went back to edit that review and rounded it up to a 5 stars). It was really fast paced with excellent action sequences, amazing dialogue, an impressive understanding of the characters, and a plot that continued the story of the New Jedi Order in a compelling, exciting way.
"Rebel Stand" may not quite be on the level of "Rebel Dream", but I still had a pretty good time with it, and it still ranks as one of the better novels in the NJO book series.

THE STORY: This novel continues right where the previous one left off. Now that Luke, Mara, and Tahiri have arrived on Coruscant, they begin their mission to search for survivors and build them up so they can fight back against the Vong. Their search doesn't take long, as they find a group of beleaguered Coruscanti citizens. However, these survivors are dealing with a boogeyman known as Lord Nyax- and Luke's team moves to hunt down this figure and put a stop to his villainy for the benefit of what they hope will become a full-fledged Coruscanti resistance. Han and Leia go on a planet hopping mission in an effort to set up other rebel cells, getting involved in political intrigue and other hijinks. Jaina Solo stays on Borleias to battle Czulkang Lah's Vong Fleet, participating in the continued defense of the planet.

THE BAD: There isn't much in terms of actual flaws in this novel, but it doesn't reach the highs of the first book or even something like Dark Tide I: Onslaught or Edge of Victory I: Conquest. Perhaps I was just riding high from Rebel Dream, but "Rebel Stand" didn't have quite the same level of 'oomph'. Don't get me wrong, I didn't dislike reading this novel, but it just felt like the first Enemy Lines novel accomplished so much more than this one did. I also understand that there's still seven more books to go in the NJO, but by the end, even though I enjoyed it, I wish more story or character development was accomplished- especially given that Rebel Stand is 60 pages longer than its predecessor and doesn't have the benefit of a relentlessly quick pace.
I think this one didn't feel quite as epic or worthwhile because there wasn't as much character development payoff as I thought there should have been. For example, Jaina Solo. After the major strides "Rebel Dream" made in getting me on board with Jaina, "Rebel Stand" fell a bit short in my opinion.  I'm not asking for this novel to finish up the Trickster Goddess persona or her rivalry with Harrar that has been ongoing since Dark Journey. That is a significant enough plotline that I'm ok with carrying over across multiple books. But I still think "Rebel Stand" could have made up for it by developing her romance with Jagged Fel. I LOVED the moment when Jaina and Jag got together in the last book. Seeing how these two characters navigate a relationship with everything going on around them would have been a perfect storyline for Jaina for the pages she got compared to the rest of the main cast. Not only are they constantly on their toes or in cockpits trying to defend Borleias, how would Jaina and Jag balance their newfound love with Jaina's need to keep up her Yun Harla persona- because after all, Jaina has been tricking the good guys as well to strengthen her deception against Harrar.  I also thought progress stalled with Mara Jade. The previous book explored Mara's difficulty balancing her role as a mother with her duties as a jedi and as a front line fighter against the Vong. I didn't think this novel did much if anything to build on that. I also am still missing that scene where Han reconciles with and/or gets closer with Jaina following the events of Star by Star and "Dark Journey". However, this clearly wasn't a priority, and between the current point in the story not having a place for it (Jaina is focused on her Trickster Goddess thing afterall), Han off on a different mission and not being in the same place, or it being saved for a future book, I wasn't bothered by it in this novel specifically. It's more of a recurring problem I've had with this point of the series overall.
Finally, Lord Nyax was a bit on the silly side. While it's nice to take a break from just battling Yuuzhan Vong over and over and indulge in a more traditional Star Wars setup, I think Nyax went a bit too far into over-the-top territory.

THE GOOD: While this book didn't quite live up to "Rebel Dream", "Rebel Stand" is still one of the better books in the series up to this point.
I still love Aaron Allston's writing, and much of what I loved about it in "Rebel Dream" is still completely intact here. He still has a really strong understanding of the characters and where they are at this point in the NJO series. The dialogue (especially the humor) and action sequences are both still fantastic and help to carry this novel. I still had fun following Jaina/Jag/Kyp, Luke/Mara/Tahiri, Han/Leia, and the other characters. For the most part, I wasn't bored reading this book. If anything, I just had difficulty accepting that the novel was just above average and not the near-perfection of "Rebel Dream".
In addition, I do appreciate that this book felt like a direct sequel to "Rebel Dream", making the Enemy Lines Duology far more cohesive and complete compared to the previous three NJO duologies. "Rebel Stand" stuck with the approach of being a fun ensemble adventure focused on our core characters, and avoided the pitfalls of the "Dark Tide",  Agents of Chaos, and Edge of Victory duologies before it (for each of these duologies, it told one type of story in book 1 only to jarringly shift into another type of story in book 2).
When it comes to the main characters, the standouts were Han and Leia. I really liked seeing them grow closer by symbolically adopting one another's most iconic character traits. We see Leia act a bit like Han Solo as she carries out her political maneuvering and brings planets into the fold of the newly formed resistance movement. Han, by contrast, keeps Leia from being too impulsive and jeopardizing both their personal safety and the mission. It's a perfect balance though- it never feels like they completely switch characterizations.
I also like what Allston does with some of the side characters. The pairing of Tam and Tarc was incredibly wholesome and sweet. I really enjoyed seeing Tam find peace and Tarc find belonging after the tragic situations forced upon them by the Yuuzhan Vong.
Speaking of the Vong (or more accurately, the villains' side)... their characters may very well be the highlights of this book. Czulkang Lah was really cool, I liked Harrar's moments toward the end, and I liked seeing the throughline with Tsavong and Nen Yim. However, the biggest standout (and the biggest surprise of the entire book), was Viqi Shesh. Allston did an outstanding job elevating this character from a boring and stereotypical evil greedy politician who left me groaning whenever I had to read a passage focused on her. Across the Enemy Lines Duology, however, I was not expecting to be engaged as I was in her storyline exploring what happens when a mole from the other side has outlived her usefulness. I found the direction Allston takes with this story much more satisfying than I expected too.
Finally, I really liked the exploration of occupied Coruscant. Allston does a really good job describing and walking us through this post-apocalyptic city landscape as we discover what the Yuuzhan Vong did to the planet alongside Luke, Mara, Tahiri, and the rest of their team.

THE CONCLUSION: Final Rating is 4 stars.
Is it as good as Rebel Dream? No. Is it still one of the better entries in the NJO? Absolutely.
Until I encounter a better novel in the series, the Enemy Lines Duology remains as the height of the New Jedi Order. These two novels collectively turned me into an immediate fan of Aaron Allston as a Star Wars author. It's a shame that it took me this long to discover his greatness, because now I have to live with the fact that he has passed away and I won't get to experience anymore new Star Wars books from him. Oh well, I will definitely look forward to going back and discover the rest of his SW novels from the Old EU days.
I think I figured it out: Enemy Lines II: Rebel Stand is the book that I thought "Rebel Dream" would be, but then "Rebel Dream" Turned out even better than I could have imagined. Then I went into "Rebel Stand" with heightened expectations and rather than an amazing book I got merely a very good one. And that's perfectly fine. It was still an above-average novel, especially for the New Jedi Order. It was still a lot of fun, I still enjoyed the characters, I still laughed at the humorous moments, and I still was excited by the action.
Here's to hoping that the next novel in the New Jedi Order will be goo... wait a second... the next novel is TRAITOR??? Ok then, I have a good feeling about this!