Dark Tide 1: Onslaught

Dark Tide: Onslaught is the first of two books by Michael A. Stackpole following up R. A. Salvatore's Vector Prime, series starter of The New Jedi Order.  Of all the places in the Expanded Universe timeline I picked here to resume my journey because the previous trip thoroughly covered the 25-year period following the movies and I'm ready for that generation of heroes to age.  I'm ready for Star Wars to take the next step past the story of Luke, Han, and Leia saving the galaxy.

Vector Prime did a great job getting us started on that new story.  An alien race invades from outside the galaxy, and a maturing new generation of Jedi including the Solo children form the vanguard of galactic opposition.  New Republic forces are tied down by political infighting, and its up to a combined cast of heroes old and new to carry the day.  I loved it.

I'll admit that Vector Prime was the first Star Wars book I'd read in about 10 years.  Dark Tide: Onslaught was my 12th, and I've dined on a lot of lightsabers and turbolasers in the meantime.  While it may have been impossible for me to dislike any Star Wars selection after 10 years withdrawal from the Expanded Universe, today my expectations are bit higher.

Anakin Solo

Dark Tide: Onslaught took a direct approach to developing our new cast by pairing them one-to-one with more familiar heroes.  Introspective Jacen Solo, struggling to find balance between a Jedi's obligation to himself and to the galaxy, returns to Belkadan with Luke Skywalker.  Adventurous Anakin Solo must learn to moderate his zeal as a young Jedi Knight tasked with overseeing Luke's sick wife Mara, who retreats to Dantooine for some R&R.  Jaina Solo gets stuck with Leia on a diplomatic mission to the Outer Rim where she does her best to dodge her mother's shadow until she can get into a cockpit.  Things get interesting, and as a result we're treated to some character development.

And it really is that simple.  Most of the character insight we're treated to comes through dialogue, and that dialogue is often simple to the point of insulting the reader's intelligence.  The few times when it's really good, it comes off as succinct and authentically Star Wars.  Most of the rest of the time it's stilted, and difficult to imagine one character saying to the other.  Dark Tide: Onslaught is full of these extremely unnatural conversations, long on information and short on words.

I should also mention that Corran Horn makes a triumphant return to The New Jedi Order, under the pen of his creator, Stackpole, as the bannerman for the emergent moderate faction in Luke's Jedi Order.  Ganner Rhysode, half Corran's age, falls firmly in line behind Kyp Durron in adopting more extremist views of the Jedi's role in the galaxy.  These two are assigned to each other in a mission to investigate the disappearance of a student expedition on Bimmiel, where they hash out their differences mostly with action, and only occasionally with words to the delight of this reader.  I'd put the Corran/Ganner investigation second only to the Anakin/Mara adventure in terms of quality and enjoyment, and only slightly above the heretofore-unmentioned Rogue Squadron campaign which can honestly do no wrong.  Seriously, gotta love that about a Michael A. Stackpole book.

All in all Dark Tide: Onslaught is short and mostly sweet.  The weave of the story boasts many threads, but they're made thin by the narrow space between front and back covers.  Overall it felt compressed, and I wonder if it and its sequel Dark Tide: Ruin might have been originally imagined as a trilogy.  It is to that book that I now progress.  Going forward, I'll be looking forward to some more convincing storytelling from Mr. Stackpole.

I keep thinking to work some comments on my new Kindle into one of these posts, so here are a few thoughts.  Carries the entire Star Wars Expanded Universe.  Very readable, easily handled, pretty easy to send new books to.  Interface is clunky, buttons feel inelegant.  Screen savers of dead authors is not customizable except by hack, which of course I would never do.  Overall I'm extremely happy with it!

"Sticks", huh?  Wonder what other kind of stick that might be a reference to.