Allegiance (Star Wars (Del Rey))
 RRP £5.20 Lowest New Price £2.48 
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Del Rey Books Number of pages: 432 Language: English (Original Language) Language: English (Unknown) Language: English (Published) |
RRP: £5.20
It aint the 'Thrawn Trilogy' thats for sure!!!
Review date: 2008-05-24 Rating: 4 out of 10
As the previous reviewer stated, anyone who's enjoyed Timothy Zahns previous work will be left scratching their head in bewilderment.
I like many SW fans was thrilled with the Thrawn Trilogy and thought them most worthy of a place in the Star Wars galaxy. This offering however is sadly not.
The general premise sounded promising and I enjoyed the story of the Rogue stormtroopers, unfortunately that was as good as it got. Han grumbles his way through the story like a young Victor Meldrew clone and Luke has all the boyish charm and ability of a manaquin. That coupled with the fact Vader is made to look inept and Mara Jade is some sort of Jedi Master who is more powerful in this book than at any other stage in her life, made for a really sluggish read.
In the few pages she appeared, Leia was more like her true character but that did nothing to save the book.
In summary: A dissapointing offering from an author capable of so much more.
Reviews
Okay, but not brilliant
Review date: 2007-12-28 Rating: 6 out of 10
This is not a bad "Star Wars" book. For that, you'll have to read "The Bounty Hunter Wars" Trilogy or "The Crystal Star." No, wait . . . you shouldn't. "Star Wars: Allegiance" is an okay sort of book, with a decent idea behind it, but unfortunately, the author tries to cram too much into it. Many different intertwined plot lines along with a LOT of the many main characters just missing meeting each other and grabbing the wrong end of the motivational stick make it resemble a French farce.
I can't speak for the rest of the fans, but as for myself, I'm getting tired of seeing novels centered around Luke, Han, and Leia all the time. By now, EVERY SINGLE SECOND OF THEIR LIVES FOR THIRTY YEARS STRAIGHT has been used up in one adventure or another. When do they get to sleep, fer Pete's sake? No, this started a step in the right direction by looking at some Empire-Era background characters with their own stories to tell. But unlike the unsurpassable Old-Republic-Era "Republic Commando" novels by Karen Traviss, you don't get to know the members of The Hand of Judgment very well. There is SOME character development there, but not enough, mainly because the many different plotlines don't allow for much time spent on any given group. As for the rest of the Imperials -- including Vader -- they seemed more or less incidental, with very little development. One or two stand out, the rest seem pretty standard cookie-cutter bad-guy types. Other reviewers have made their own points about character development and inconsistencies, and I'll let them speak for themselves, because I pretty much agree with them, and there's not much else I can add.
The book has several very good moments, though. The best for me was the cameo appearance of X-Wing Pilot Stacy, call sign: Pink Five. (It's a fan-film thing. What can I say? I like a little cheese now and again.) The idea of a bunch of rogue Stormtroopers setting out into the galaxy to right wrongs is an instantly appealing one, because who DOESN'T like those white-armoured goons? On the whole, "Star Wars: Allegiance" was a good idea that I think wasn't as executed as well as it could have been. But still worth a read.
Allegiance, Timothy Zahn
Review date: 2007-06-20 Rating: 6 out of 10
This is a good read if you're a fan of Star Wars. The action is well paced and there is a nice little plot connecting the various groups of characters. On the down side I didn't feel that the main characters had a great deal of depth to them and as a consequence didn't feel particularly attached to them, with the exception of Zahn's creation Mara Jade. Whilst the story flows well and is enjoyable I personally feel Zahn has written much better. Allegiance just felt like a bit of a rushed job. However, if you love Star Wars, you'll enjoy this book.
Disappointing doesn't begin to describe it.
Review date: 2007-04-25 Rating: 2 out of 10
What can I say? If Zahn didn't want to write a book about the original Star Wars characters then he should have just said no.
As an original fan of the original films, I was looking forward to an all-too-rare outing of characters, themes and motivations in keeping with the films.
As it is we have this sad affair of far too many secondary characters and a suspiciously non-Star Wars plot shoehorned into the Star Wars mould with a plethora of pointless, skip-read 'alien' names like Ydor Vokkoli and Yeeru Chivkrie.
All the characters are annoyingly split up into separate plotlines and the machinations used to bring them all together hardly sparkle. Han and Luke are particularly flat, Han being so annoyingly moody that he may be the first man ever with PMT and Luke so dense it's a wonder he manages to get his boots on the right feet in a morning. Their only saving grace is that they were hardly in the book anyway.
Mara Jade on the other hand seems to be half a step short of a Jedi Master and based on this, if they'd just sent her to Endor then the Empire would still be in full-swing.
I wouldn't be at all surprised if I found out that this book was only outlined by Zahn and polished by a ghost writer- in fact I'd kinda like to think that anyway!
Nobody particularly does anything, nothing particularly happens and it limps into an ending so lacklustre that I honestly put the book down for about three weeks before I bothered to finish it.
Having stormtroopers in something doesn't make it Star Wars. If you want a good Star Wars read, then look elsewhere. If you want a good Tim Zahn read then look elsewhere. Basically, look elsewhere.
Not one of Zahn's best
Review date: 2007-02-09 Rating: 6 out of 10
Been a SW fan for what seems like ages, have read most of the expanded universe books, and have been an avid fan on Zahn's SW books since his first. However I was disappointed at Zahn in this case. The book is well worth the read, but it is not up to Zahn's earlier SW stories, not by a long shot.
I will not go into the plot to prevent spoilers, but the story just don't have the "rich" feel and the "just one more page" thrill of his earlier books.
Let me close by again pointing out that this is a fair SW book, written by anyone but Zahn and I'd have rated it higher, but IMHO it's not up to Zahn standards! (In a way the man is a victim to his earlier successes)
Product Details/Specifications
Authors:
Timothy Zahn
Recording label: Del Rey Books
Manufacturer: Del Rey Books
EAN: 9780345477392
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Dewey decimal number: 813.54
ISBN: 0345477391
Number of items: 1
Number of pages: 432
Publication date: 2007-12-26
Language: English (Original Language)
Language: English (Unknown)
Language: English (Published)
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