Aaron Allston enters the “New Jedi Order” fold with the saga’s 11th book, “Rebel Dream” (2002). As with Michael Stackpole’s “Dark Tide” duology earlier in the series, Allston’s “Enemy Lines” duology (to be followed by “Rebel Stand”) is not an “X-Wing” story on the sly. However, “Rebel Dream” does have a significant “X-Wing” flavor, mainly because Wedge Antilles is the general in charge of capturing and defending Coruscant’s stellar neighbor Borleias, a repeat of Rogue Squadron’s mission in “Wedge’s Gamble,” only now the enemy is the Yuuzhan Vong instead of the Empire.
In the Bantam era of the 1990s, we generally had two types of books: Those that focused on the main characters, and those that focused on niche characters (namely the “X-Wing” and “Young Jedi Knights” series). With “NJO,” Del Rey combined the mainstream and niche stories into one grand saga. Whereas I resisted that blend earlier in the series, I’m beginning to embrace it now, having been won over by how smoothly Allston integrates the two worlds.
“Rebel Dream” may not be an “X-Wing” novel, but it is very much a military novel, and like Allston’s previous work, it’s not just for people who like reading about strategies and snubfighter dogfights; it’s also for people who like to see characters interact, make tough decisions and discover their true natures on tense military operations.
Here, Wedge Antilles is in fine form as he rebukes the New Republic’s Advisory Council. Wedge sees that the Council – led by the Quarren Pwoe, who claims to be the chief of state after Fey’lya’s death – aims to use the military only as a diversion until the Councilors can flee to their homeworlds and try to carve out deals with the Vong. In a more extreme version of his actions in “The Bacta War” (where he goes on an off-the-books Rogue Squadron mission supported by Ackbar), Wedge chooses an illegal-but-moral act over an immoral-but-legal act: He takes control of a portion of the military in order to continue fighting the invaders.
The thing I remembered most about this novel is that Wedge, along with his trusted “Insiders” or “Inner Circle” (who are essentially all the “NJO’s” main characters), determines that the military must fight not like the New Republic, but rather like the Rebel Alliance – with cells, secrecy and trickery. The book’s title references this ideology, in addition to being the name of Leia’s former Star Destroyer flagship (from back in “The Courtship of Princess Leia”) that is still in service.
In a twist that I had forgotten, Wedge and his “Rebels” ultimately win this Battle of Borleias by fighting like the Empire: by using orbital bombardment from Star Destroyers, a tactic the New Republic had never used, presumably on ethical grounds. In another parallel to the Empire, Wedge’s forces set up Operation Starlancer, where cobbled-together “pipefighters” triangulate and send a magnified laser blast across stellar systems. This is similar to the Empire’s Galaxy Gun from “Dark Empire II,” and the idea was mined yet again in Disney’s “Episode VII: The Force Awakens,” wherein the First Order destroys several planets with its Starkiller Base superweapon.
Jaina doesn’t join the action until page 151 of this 304-page paperback, but she ends up stealing the show, partly because of the momentum from her starring role in “Dark Journey.” In a plot point where Allston is able to wring out some of his trademark humor, the Insiders treat Jaina as a goddess for the benefit of eavesdropping Vong spies, whom they aim to distract. Jaina, for her part, is willing to play along, but she’s still tortured on the inside, devising strategies to keep her loved ones at a distance. But her feelings betray her; this novel features Jaina and Jag’s memorable first kiss, which forever alters Jaina’s perspective on guarding her feelings.
Allson’s funniest bit, though, is when Alema Rar calmly tells a Yuuzhan Vong boarding crew that she’s transporting “holos of training regimens, holos of Jedi history and philosophy, infectious agents that turn normal beings into Jedi, a lot of lightsabers from their new manufacturing plant, that sort of thing” (p. 146). The ruse is topped off by crates literally labeled “Jedi Academy Property. Danger. Do Not Open.” Alema tops it off by offering sex to Lando (who is suitably flattered and befuddled); I’m looking forward to more of this edgy Jedi in the “Dark Nest Trilogy” and “Legacy of the Force.”
In the category of “great-but-briefly-seen characters whom I had forgotten about” is Tam Elgrin, a holocam operator for a New Republic historian. At first I liked Tam just because he’s socially awkward, a demographic not given much page-time in “Star Wars” books. Soon we learn that he’s under the influence of a Vong implant that gives him headaches when he doesn’t do their bidding — which is a little more of a cliché, but his arc is still compelling as he tries to exert his free will, even if it means his death. (On the enemy side of the narrative, it’s interesting to see Yuuzhan Vong captive Viqi Shesh’s schemes for staying alive by convincing Tsavong Lah of a conspiracy within his ranks.)
While it’s definitely not a Wraith Squadron novel, “Rebel Dream” does include some old friends: Face leads the current Wraiths (whom we don’t get to know in detail, unfortunately, as this novel also squeezes in Rogue, Twin Suns and Blackmoon squadrons), Piggy serves as an advisor for Jaina’s “Goddess” role, and Kell Tainer is on Luke’s Coruscant insertion team. Also helping in Jaina’s Goddess training is new character Sharr Latt, who is somewhat of a womanizing and wisecracking answer to the late Ton Phanan. Allston was apparently keeping up with the changing Wraith roster even though fresh novels about the squadron weren’t commissioned.
Whereas Stackpole fans might’ve been a bit let down by his “NJO” entries’ stiffness in relation to his previous work, there are no such problems with Allston’s first entry. “Rebel Dream” may not be an “X-Wing” novel, but it has all the fast-paced fun and intrigue of those books while also advancing the wider storyline.