 | STRIKES BACK Before the Tyrant can be Tested,
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Review by Edward S. Worth
Shield of Lies
from Bantam Books
[Ed. Note: There is much that has gone before in the first chapter of the "Black Fleet Crisis" series, Before the Storm, so if many of the character names in this review seem unfamiliar, you might want to take a quick jaunt to the bookstore and catch up with the rest of the class!]
Micheal P. Kube-McDowell (known as "K-Mac" online) pens Shield of Lies ($5.99 US), the second installment of the "Black Fleet Crisis" (the third in the series, Tyrant's Test, was just recently released) and his second Star Wars novel. Having read and enjoyed the first installment, Before the Storm, I expected Shield of Lies to be equally intruiging. BTS delivered many things we Star Wars fans haven't seen in a long time: Princess Leia as a real person who shows her rage and imperfection; Han as a (semi-)mature adult; and a story wherein Chewbacca isn't growling every paragraph (I guess K-Mac sent him home on purpose, eh?... I expect a recall).
But sad to say, this time around the story lacks what Before the Storm had so much of: a fluent, humorous, and suspense building gripper. K-Mac ignores his own tradition in favor of creating a "trilogy," upon which this is the plot dangling middle chapter. Although Star Wars began as a trilogy, the format doesn't always work.
If you pick your way through the pages, you'll notice the sections are labled "Lando," "Luke," and "Leia." (The 3 L's, perhaps?) Each encompasses roughly a hundred pages
LANDO
The entire feeling of the section is set a mere two pages in. Lando and company (including C-3PO, R2-D2, and the cyborg Lobot from TESB), trapped aboard the "Flying Dutchman" Qella vessel in BTS, wander around in a desperate search for a solution to their entrapment. All they manage to accomplish is finding a propulsion mechanism, which zooms them into more hostile territory. This section could (and should) have been reduced to two chapters; the continuous, wandering search for escape becomes so repetitive that the reader's mind begins to wander too; you start to wonder, for example, why George Lucas doesn't use Grecian Formula? He can certainly afford it, for Bantha's sake. Then you remember the job at hand, and gamely plunge back into the novel.
LUKE
Trudging on, you sigh with relief as you finally come upon the next section of the book, knowing that the swash-buckling Luke Skywalker will come in and save the day.
Wrong again.
Jedi Master Skywalker continues looking for his mother with the mysterious Akanah, formally of the White Current, and they both indulge in some soul searching: Luke tries to justify the idea of killing in defense, and Akanah the Fallanassi broods over her seemingly fading powers. They gallop from world to world following the trail of Luke's long-lost mother, but it looks like this question may only be answered by the upcoming film "prequels." The lack of direction and resolution left me disappointed, but K-Mac may still have an ace up his sleave.
LEIA
Finally, we arrive at Leia's section; this is perhaps K-Mac's best writing yet. As the New Republic nurses the escaped Plat Mallar back to health, the Fifth Battle Fleet approaches it's target, the Koornacht Cluster. Much to General A'baht's dismay, the Black Fleet is nowhere in sight. In the meantime, three possible targets seem likely on the "cleaning" list of boo-hiss bad guy Viceroy Nil Spaar, forcing the Fifth to split it's ranks to patrol the border.
Leia struggles to hold together both the Republic and her marbles, as the anti-agression movement gains strength. Admirals Drayson and Ackbar form a recon squadron of A-wings, and spurred by the pleading of lone survivor Mallar, decide to give him a spot in the imperative mission. Not believing this enough, Leia asks Han to spy for her. Little do these leaders of the Republic know what awaits them, for Mallar finds the Black Fleet, and Han meets the Viceroy himself - but not under ideal circumstances.
In conclusion, many questions wait to be answered in the third novel of the trilogy, and I'm sure Kube-McDowell will be happy to put our hearts at rest. K-Mac truly seems to be the next Timothy Zahn (as far as quality Star Wars novels go), and I eagerly look foward to the climax. Tyrant's Test will also be a crucial K-Mac test as well, and the reader should look forward to a test of Spaar as a leader of his people, and a final test to see if the New Republic has a right to exist. If K-Mac can return to his story-telling style of Before the Storm, it's a test that should pass with the class high score.
(Edward S. Worth is a resident of Marietta, Georgia, and also goes by the handle "Kardue," the name of our favorite Butcher of Montellian Serat, and can be found at LtJGKardu@aol.com).
