X-Wing: Mercy Kill
What to say...
The wait was long (two years after announcement!). The wait was torturous (leaked pages and hints and searchable on Amazon!). The wait was full of Fate of the Jedi (which...wasn't really satisfying).
The wait was completely worth it.
Allston managed to convince me that Piggy - or Voort, as he goes by in this book - was the correct character to go with in three short chapters - even as he developed the relationships and history he'd left at Solo Command well over a decade ago. Over forty years in-universe have passed - with too-brief cameos and development in the Enemy Lines novels (which cameos provide fodder for many of the non-legacy characters that make up the Wraiths here) - and the GFFA is a much darker, much harder place to live in. Voort's heartbreak, revealed in a familiar but not frustrating way through a few well-chosen flashbacks and dreams, provides the fan with a comparable journey to that which anyone who has followed the post-NJO era with increasing sadness and despair.
But despite these dark moments and somber backgrounds, Mercy Kill delivers much of Allston's trademark wit, and manages to pack the emotional punch that reach, for me, the level of scenes like Ton Phanan's death in Iron Fist, the journey of Myn and Lara in Solo Command, and Wedge's final discovery of a future in Starfighters of Adumar. Those scenes come from a surprising place - Voort's interaction with a Yuuzhan Vong recruit, dealing with the fallout of his own bioengineered background and his tragic Vong War history - and I admit when one of these scenes was finished, I had to put the book down and just breathe for a few moments.
Mercy Kill isn't perfect. Many characters have intense promise but remain hard to engage with because they simply don't have many relationships that are shown in action. Bhindi Drayson, one of the intriguing cameos from the Enemy Lines Wraiths, is a big example of these, as is her fellow Sharr Latt. Even Myri Antilles, younger daughter of one of my favorite characters of all time, has to stay in the shadow of Voort's development - which is fair. Allston has utilized a pattern of rotating the point of view characters in his books, particularly his X-Wing books, to develop a large cast of characters, and given the chance to write more in this universe, I've no doubt he will continue to work through the cast and give them their own moments.
Many reviews and comments I've read have noted that the villain lacks punch or real menace - and that's definitely true. But for me, the real conflict in the book was not the villain - it was Voort's own personal struggle and past that were the real evil in the book, and that struggle was perfectly paced and handled. The caper is brilliant, sparkly fun, and comes to a perfect photo finish - but what will stay with me is Allston's brilliant, invigorating portrait of a family coming back together, and telling Star Wars fans that we can come back home without wincing or grimacing anymore.
The Wraiths are back. And long may they stay.