Star Wars: The X-Wing Series, Volume 5: Wraith Squadron

By: Aaron Allston

Narrated by: Anthony Heald

Length: 3 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

They are the galaxy's most elite fighting force. And as the battle against the Empire rages, the X-wing fighters risk life and machine to protect the Rebel Alliance. Now they must go on a daring undercover mission--as the crew of an Imperial warship.

It is Wedge Antilles' boldest creation: a covert-action unit of X-wing fighters, its pilots drawn from the dregs of other units, castoffs and rejects given one last chance. But before the new pilots can complete their training, the squadron's base is attacked by former Imperial admiral Trigit, and Wraith Squadron is forced to swing into action--taking over an Imperial warship and impersonating its crew. The mission: to gain vital intelligence about Trigit's secret weapons, to sabotage the admiral's plans, and to lure him into an Alliance trap. But the high-stakes gamble pits Wraith Squadron's ragtag renegades against the Empire's most brilliant master of guile and deception.

Are they up to the challenge?

If not, the penalty is instant death.

(r), TM & (c) 1998 Lucasfilm Ltd.
All rights reserved. Used under authorization.

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©1998 Lucasfilm Ltd. and TM. (P)1998 Lucasfilm Ltd. and TM.

great

first time "reading" the x wing series. love the presptive of the rebel pilots. kinda wishingthey could pronounce the names of the planets right

Not bad

It was hard to tell who was who at times, but I enjoyed it. Listen to it!

Wish for unabridged version

Excellent. But, the story would have been better if it were unabridged. There is much missing content. I would buy it again if there was an unabridged version.

Only regret is that it's abridged.

In my opinion the best Star Wars novel. The only regret is that much of the little off hand details are lost in the abridgement.

TOO abridged

I have read this book several times. I understand that they had the need (maybe due to funding?) to abridge it, but they cut out far too much. In this form there is no character development. Also in this book, the way the interpersonal relationships within the squadron formed was hugely important. All of this is not in the audio book. If I were hearing this story for the first time, I would have absolutely zero emotional attachment to the characters or the squadron. When reading the book, these characters became important, almost friends, and it was heartbreaking when they died, in the audio performance, it was a struggle to even recall their name. I can not recommend this audio book. If this story appeals to you I suggest buying the book, in that, you won't be disappointed.

abridged. 😢

I wish it wasn't abridged. Such a loss of good moments, and character development. A pity.

Just awesome. Star Wars as it should be.

Some familiar characters make a return, compelling new ones are introduced and the story is worthy of the original trilogy.

Abridgement not successful

I really enjoy this book and was looking forward to listening to it. One of the best things about Aaron Allston is the sly humor that he sneaks into his stories, as well as the round characters he creates. Both were left out of the abridged version in order to ensure that the story remained coherent given the time limitation. It was like eating food without salt or spices. I was really disappointed. I'm giving it three stars, because it's a great book and story, but I felt like the abridged audio version was a let-down.

Very abridged

Short and sweet, but that's because it's less than half a book. Entire plot threads come up, like Runt, and then just vanish. Others, like the romantic subplot, appear abruptly and are resolved as abruptly. It's a fine story, but realize that you're buying the cliffsnotes with some sweet Star Wars soundtrack sprinkled in.

Abridged version

An ok version of what was a great book. The abridged version has some continuity problems but overall a good story, would have rated higher unabridged.