Aaron Allston became my favorite “Star Wars” author when I read his first book, “X-Wing: Wraith Squadron,” back in 1998. Allston, taking the “X-Wing” baton from Michael Stackpole but running faster with it, demonstrated and executed the two keys to good “Star Wars” writing: 1, new characters of the author’s invention, and 2, humor.
His two books in the “New Jedi Order” series continued his knack for laughs with the witty banter between Han Solo and his new copilot after Chewie’s death. But the “NJO” era was a grim period in the galaxy and that found its way into Allston’s writing. That intensified in his three “Legacy of the Force” books, which chronicled Jacen Solo’s descent into evil, something that is naturally hard for an author to joke about.
Allston is back on track now with “Backlash,” his 11th “Star Wars” book and his second in the “Fate of the Jedi” series. In 2009, as he was writing this novel, Allston suffered a heart attack and underwent quadruple bypass surgery, something he notes in the acknowledgements. He’s happy to be alive. He doesn’t say that in the acknowledgements, but I figured it out by reading “Backlash.”
There aren’t many things I despise more than politics, and yet Allston brings so much wit to his exchanges between Galactic Alliance Chief of State Daala and our heroes, Leia and Han, that I actually enjoyed those passages very much.
Showing his versatility, Allston transitions from power-hungry politicians to a tale of Allana, Han and Leia’s granddaughter, sneaking off the Falcon and getting into mischief.
The centerpiece of the book is a long, multi-stage battle on Dathomir, a popular planet ever since “The Courtship of Princess Leia” introduced it in 1994. On this forest-covered, rancor-laden planet, the Dark Side-using, male-subjugating Nightsisters rule, and they are now seeking to stop the union in equality of a tribe of women and a tribe of men.
It seems like Luke and Ben Skywalker and their allies (including at least one, the Force novice Dyon, who is sure to stick around for more stories) take on about 100 rancors in “Backlash,” and that makes it the most tedious part of the book. I’ve never been one for endless battles, be it in space or on the ground.
And yet Allston is able to spice up these passages because of the ongoing intrigue of Vestara, a Sith who has joined the Dathomiri and seems to be on the same side as Luke and Ben — at least for now. But the Skywalkers don’t trust her — she is, after all, a Sith. We’ll get into their conflict and debate more in the upcoming fifth “Fate of the Jedi” novel, Christie Golden’s “Allies.”
Allston may have struggled a bit with the Jacen Solo books because the fate of the galaxy was at stake and he had to widen his storytelling lens. In “Backlash,” Allston is able to get into his comfort zone by telling a more localized, character-driven tale on a single planet.
It’s nice to know that one of our best “Star Wars” authors is alive and well and has discovered the joy of writing again.