STAR WARS: REBEL FORCE

BOOK 6: UPRISING

By Alex Wheeler

Published in the UKby SCHOLASTIC BOOKS

Reviewed by Scott Weller

On the cold, barren wastelands of a dead planet in the Sixela system, a terrifying plan for revenge, conquest and annihilation has been set in motion by a grand master of evil.

Ex-Empire commander Rezi Soresh, once a prestigious officer and loyal servant to the Emperor in all his dark biddings, is now a wanted man- not just by bounty hunters or stormtroopers, but by the only man capable of putting dread in his own equally black heart-Darth Vader! With his best assassin, the conditioned X-7 now dead, and his prior ambitious plans for power and glory in destroying the Rebel Alliance now laying in tatters, Soresh is on his own. But his mental powers and ability to strike back from such defeat have not yet been compromised. Despite his pariah-like status, his new plans of evil and destruction are wide encompassing, and ready to strike at the very heart of both Rebellion and Empire.

Primarily, these plans will also shepherd his revenge against Luke Skywalker, once Soresh’s target for assassination and now further guilty by association for the death of X-7. Even now, Soresh can’t believe how this simple farmboy with basic Jedi skills and a seemingly simple, naive nature could have thwarted his and X-7’s previous complex plans for his demise. And worse, this boy is now responsible for the position Soresh has currently been landed, though he is now in an ideally situated position where his presence can be used to trap two further birds with one stone, including the Dark Lord of the Sith himself, who, more than ever, is determined to hunt down Skywalker for himself. And Soresh knows that it will be that determined focus that will lead to the Sith’s undoing whilst he prepares to restore his once unique power base and re-claim himself in front of the Empire whom he has previously served so diligently and faithfully with his schemes of murder, extortion and chaos. And, despite his desire to kill him, Skywalker may yet prominently figure in those plans, whether he likes it or not…

Alex Wheeler wraps up his ambitious six book REBEL FORCE series with an enjoyable and spirited adventure romp which zips along at a fair old pace and is once more deliberately written to remind me (and you out there) of the kind of tale that would have been done in the classic MARVEL comics style of the seventies, prior to the cataclysmic personal drama of THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK. This tale of UPRISING has no wastage in its telling, no loose ends that aren’t tied up, and watch out, in its dangerous climax not everything is what it seems and not everyone will necessarily make it out of the explosive finale alive…you have been warned!

Of all the original classic characters, Leia (who was also the star of my favourite overall book of the series-HOSTAGE ) remains the best written and in character of our heroes- I could imagine Carrie Fisher saying some of the dialogue in her A NEW HOPE portrayal-and she has some cool action moments, with a lovely introduction set on a Rebel mission to a Royal palace on the planet Nyemari, and, as usual when our trio, with Chewbacca, are involved, it all goes horribly wrong!

Kept to the sidelines in the previous TRAPPED, Luke comes more to the forefront of this book, and has more heroic things to do, which is good news. Once more, Wheeler can’t tread too far in developing him before the events of EMPIRE- which is a difficult writing line to tread- but he pulls it all off okay.

UPRISING is very much back to basics in the way its firmly set in the Classic Trilogy-this time there’s very little referencing of characters, planets and technology to the Prequel Trilogy, which is a good idea (that kind of stuff was handled well for the middle books)- with the exception, of course, of the JEDI APPRENTICE books series characters, which Wheeler had previously written for, the two former Jedi’s now known as space pilot Div and the bulky ex-Alderaanian servant to Leia, Ferus-both of whom play an important part in this final installment as it nears it conclusion.

Anyone hoping, as I was, that Darth Vader’s cameo appearance in the previous tale would lead to a full on role throughout UPRISING will be a little disappointed, as he’s only in one section of the book, but I can say that the author does the character proud for what he’s involved in, with Wheeler bringing out the best (well…the best worse ) qualities of the Dark Lord in every way, in a moment that the book, and the last several novels, have obviously been carefully building up to. The STAR WARS saga comes alive when Vader is in it, and this section, even if a mere eight pages, is very good.

Beyond Vader, Soresh, previously on the periphery of villain-dom in the first four books, comes to the fore with UPRISING, and is the ultimate moustache twirling villain with the “I’ll tell you everything I’ve planned before you die” type characterization, but that doesn’t matter- this is the kind of pulp character environment of which STAR WARS was happily born from, and is to be enjoyed.

To counter-balance our baddies, there’s more of our favourite supporting hero characters, like Generals Willard and Dodonna, though its also nice to see the venerable Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi get a little bit to do in this one as well, though most of his material is linked to important conversations with the character of Ferus, the Skywalker twins shadowy protector, who feels conflicted in wanting to tell them, especially Leia, the truth about her real parentage and their overall important Jedi lineage.

As the story intensifies and the trap for our heroes is set, Wheeler continues to find new ways to create rip-roaring space battles and action sequences that will continue to thrill the younger readers. And as it reaches its finale full of twists and turns that wouldn’t be out of place in a Hollywood action film, everything is soon back in its rightful place character and revelation wise by its conclusion as the trilogy begins its well handled lead in to EMPIRE.

With UPRISING’s successful closure, will there be any more REBEL FORCE series books? Well, I can’t answer that, though I’d be very interested to know how they’ve gone down with readers, especially those who are still discovering the Classic Trilogy.

I suppose the situation will, as ever, depend on the final sales figures when they’re all tallied in, but there’s still plenty of fine potential for further pre-EMPIRE stories which could prove intriguing to see realized, and I think Alex Wheeler has more than a few compelling tricks up his sleeve creatively for our characters that should prove intriguing for fans of all ages (and there is at least one plot strand to one of the Expanded Universes characters that may possibly be left open, but you’ll have to read the book to find out what that is!). If his next saga for George Lucas’s classic creations continues as well as this series of six totally enjoyable books has, then I’ll certainly be along with Wheeler for the ride!

AFICIONADO RATING: The first two books of the REBEL FORCE series were, by far, the best written, but UPRISING is a fine ending to the overall saga. Special acknowledgement to Wheeler for writing all six books which have, despite a few awkward bumps here and there (primarily to keep continuity with the Expanded Universe), held up well when read as one big adventure. 8.5 out of 10