Star Wars: X-Wing: Mercy Kill

A SW: X-Wing Novel

By: Aaron Allston

Narrated by: Marc Thompson

Length: 12 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

The intrepid spies, pilots, and sharpshooters of Wraith Squadron are back in an all-new Star Wars adventure, which transpires just after the events of the Fate of the Jedi series!

Three decades have passed since Wraith Squadron carried out its last mission. Taking on the most dangerous and daring operations, the rogues and misfits of the elite X-Wing unit became legends of the Rebellion and the Second Galactic Civil War, before breaking up and going their separate ways. Now their singular skills are back in vital demand - for a tailor-made Wraith Squadron mission.

A powerful general in the Galactic Alliance Army, once renowned for his valor, is suspected of participating in the infamous Lecersen Conspiracy, which nearly toppled the Alliance back into the merciless hands of the Empire. With orders to expose and apprehend the traitor - and license to do so by any and all means - the Wraiths will become thieves, pirates, impostors, forgers...and targets, as they put their guts, their guns, and their riskiest game plan to the test against the most lethal of adversaries.

©2012 Aaron Allston (P)2012 Random House Audio

Not that great

Found it hard to stay interested but the narration was good the story was not as good as other star wars books.

After the long Arc, a very pleasant change.

What made the experience of listening to Star Wars: X-Wing: Mercy Kill the most enjoyable?

Old characters like good friends. Expansion of new people and cleaning of loose ends. All around a wonderful entry by Aaron Allston.

What did you like best about this story?

Nice to get some solid Piggy action.

Have you listened to any of Marc Thompson’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

As always he captures Star Wars perfectly.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Wanted to, yes, did? No. It was wonderfully complex, I kept going back and catching things I had missed.

Any additional comments?

A spy caper and a wonderful Star Wars Novel.

Wraith Squadron is back!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys good Star Wars stories and spy stories.

What other book might you compare Star Wars: X-Wing: Mercy Kill to and why?

I'm not sure of what books I would compare this to, but I think a good comparison is the TV show Leverage. Wraith Squadron works along similar lines running cons to get revenge against corrupt individuals.

loved it

To see the old squadron back together again, with great new faces and characters. Red squadron was one of my favorite book series and I'm glad to be able to read about them again.

Good, but not great...

Not bad, by any means - good book, well read... while some of the charters are familiar from previous books in the x-wing series, it just doesn't feel like the other x-wing books...

I Really miss Aaron Allston .

and I still am sad that Disney won't bring back the Expanded Universe.
Please please turn the other Wraith Squadron Books into Audio !!!

Star Wars X-Wing a bust.

I couldn’t tell what period the story takes place. It was difficult trying to tie it up with the Star Wars genre I thought that all the characters background needed more development. I didn’t get the plot until the end of the story. Nothing lead up to the plot. By that time, I had long lost interest. The only pleasant thing about the project was the performance. The sound affects, voices, storytelling, and the rest were good. Other than that, I can’t see any studio wanting to make a movie out of this story.

The Wraiths Are Back

Wraith Squadron is back in "Mercy Kill", with an adventure that takes place after the events in "Fate of the Jedi".

I have met Aaron Allston a couple of times, and once interviewed him for my Star Wars fan club. He's a great guy, and is one of the best writers for SW books out there, because he can combine action, intrigue, humor, and sheer innovation together into a great story. This book is reminiscent of those that have cemented him as one of the most prolific SW authors.

First off, the narration is excellent, and a special treat for Star Wars audiobooks are the music, ambient and special effects that are weaved throughout the story. You don't get that in most books, and it really helps you feel "in" the Star Wars universe.

As far as the storyline goes, the point of view mostly follows Voort "Piggy" saBinring, an old Wraith Squadron vet, who is recruited back into the action by Garik "Face" Loran. This is an interesting character to feature, I thought. The book also gives us some backstory on what the Wraiths have been up to in the intervening years, and also gives closure on the stories of some of its members that had been left hanging. This also gives us a more emotionally impactful story, as well.

We also are introduced to a new generation of Wraiths in this book. Also, this particular storyline is scaled back from the galaxy-spanning conflicts of "Fate of the Jedi" and others - which isn't necessarily a bad thing. It enables us to focus more deeply on the new characters.

A couple of drawbacks - I don't think the new characters mesh quite as well as the old classics. Maybe I'm just nostalgic, though. Also, there isn't much actual starfighter action in the book - its more of Wraith's style of clandestine operations. I think calling the book "X-Wing" in the title generally makes you expect space battles. Finally, the more limited scope of the story didn't quite meet all my expectations - but all these things are subjective and I'll leave it up to you to decide for yourself.

If you liked the other books in the "X-Wing" series, then you should get this one. You'll get more of the characters you love, and you'll get to find out where the story - and the characters - go from here.

Great book, amazing author, outstanding narrator

If you like starwars then buy this book. I loved reading the text copy, and listening to Marc Thompson narrate it was even better.

Nice end to the Xwing Story Arc

Narrative a little off for the female voices... but no real complaints..
great sound effects