Enemy Lines II: Rebel Stand (Star
Wars: The New Jedi Order, Book 12)
by Aaron Allston
Bringing The Adventure Back To The New Jedi Order
Not since Emperor Palpatine have the Jedi battled such monstrous evil.
Unless they succeed against staggering odds, the galaxy is doomed.
Luke Skywalker’s daring mission to halt the Yuuzhan Vong’s nefarious plot
to overthrow the New Republic is struggling on all fronts. And time is
slipping away for Han and Leia Organa Solo, trapped on a small planet
whose rulers are about to yield to Yuuzhan Vong pressure to give up the
Jedi rebels.

On Coruscant, Luke and Mara Jade Skywalker have made a shocking
discovery that is preventing the Yuuzhan Vong from exerting complete
control. But when the enemy tracks them down, Luke and Mara are thrust
into a fierce battle for their lives. Suddenly, the chances of escaping
appear nearly impossible. And in space, another battle rages, one that
holds ominous consequences for the New Republic—and for the Jedi
themselves. . . .
Personal Review: Enemy Lines II: Rebel Stand (Star Wars: The
New Jedi Order, Book 12) by Aaron Allston
Rebel Stand completes the two-part "Enemy Lines" duology by Aaron
Allston, bringing his own distinctive touch to the New Jedi Order series.
And what a story it is. Allston provides all the action and humour that he's
known for from the X-Wing series of novels, yet doesn't drag the series too
much away from the darkness for which it has been known. Walking that
line very closely, Rebel Stand is everything a Star Wars fan could want,
especially those turned off by the depressing tone of the previous books.
Luke Skywalker and his wife, Mara, lead a clandestine force back on
Vong-occupied Coruscant. The force's main purpose is to set up some
resistance cells among the populace, though the changes that the Vong
are making on the planet indicate that mere survival may be all the
remaining populace can hope for. Meanwhile, Luke and his fellow Jedi are
there to investigate a massive presence that's full of Dark Side power.
What they discover may make them, at least temporarily, ally with the
Vong against this nightmare that comes from Leia's past. And getting off
the planet may be the least of their concerns. Meanwhile, Han and Leia
continue their journey from planet to planet to facilitate other cells on
planets whose governments may be leaning too close to capitulating to the
Vong. And General Wedge Antilles plan to buy his people time and
perhaps get a major victory against the Vong comes to fruition, tricking the
Vong at every turn. But will it be enough against the massive fleet that the
Vong have sent to Borleias? And will Wedge survive to even see his
victory, if it happens?
Before I say anything else, I have a bone to pick with the back cover copy-
writer. The description talks about Han and Leia being "trapped on a small
planet whose rulers are about to yield to Yuuzhan Vong pressure to give
up the Jedi rebels." This does happen in the book. But it's just one
relatively small (but effective) sequence in a bigger storyline for them.
Rebel Stand shows them on a couple of missions, including getting
involved with the politics of another world to prevent a Vong-friendly
woman from being elected to head the planet's government. It's a bit
misleading (but then, isn't that what cover copy is for?) That being said,
the sequence the cover describes is very cool, reflecting back to the old
swashbuckling days of the earlier movies. The droids (especially Artoo)
are very effective, even as Threepio is constantly complaining that he's not
cut out for rescue and deception. Heck, there's even a trash compactor
involved!

Once again, Allston gets most of the characters perfectly. Jaina Solo is a
lot more comfortable with herself, now that she's gotten over the
depression and Dark Side flirtation that she has been dealing with. She's
been afraid to form relationships with anybody because in this horrible war,
it was very likely that the person she gets close to would just end up dying.
In fact, given what has already happened with her brothers, she was ready
to just die in the fighting, alone. Over the course of this series (though
mainly in Rebel Dream), Jaina has grown a lot, even to the point of
allowing somebody to get very close to her. I really like what Allston did
with her.
I can't rave enough about Han and Leia as well (and I already have, and
it's really nice to see these two characters in love and teasing each other
again), so I'll move on to Luke. We already know that Allston can write
terrific starfighter combat and action from the X-Wing and Wraith books.
But what really impressed me is his handle on the Jedi action and
character. Luke is much more "hands-on" in the Enemy Lines duology, not
as much the quiet philosopher as he has been in the past. When they
discover the truth behind what's happening on Coruscant, he, Mara, and
Taheri jump into stopping it rather than fret about it. The action scenes as
they fight this evil are quite good, showing us that Allston is good at more
than just spaceships. But he also gets the reflective parts down pretty
good, too. There's a bit too much of an infodump when one of the Wraiths
explains what happened to create the monster, but it's mitigated by the fact
that it's an infodump for the rest of the characters as well. All in all, the plot
on Coruscant was just as well-done as the Borleias part.
The threat itself is quite intriguing, bringing back a relatively obscure
character from one of Bantam's Star Wars novels in an interesting fashion.
I did find the design a bit weird, though. Lightsabers coming out of his
knees and elbows? I also liked how Allston used Taheri, especially what's
happened to her in past books to come up with a unique solution to the
problem.
The only annoyance I had with this book (and the previous one, though I
didn't mention it) was Viqi Shesh, the ex-Senator who was in a league with
the Vong. While I can't say her characterization was off in either book, I
can say that she was actively annoying. Her preening and self-
centeredness was especially irritating, making her pass from the "villain
you love to hate" and graduating to "villain you hate." I found what
happened to her very satisfying, however, and appropriate to the character
and its independent nature.
The "Enemy Lines" story brings the entire series back to its roots a bit, with
humour, adventure, starships juking and jinking, and great character
moments. The action is furious, and extremely well-written. I loved every
moment of it. Rebel Stand was even better than the first book, and I can't
wait to read Allston's next Star Wars book.

David Roy
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