Title: X-Wing: Wedge's gamble
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Pages: 357
Time: 7 ABY

Introduction
We have reached the second novel in the acclaimed X-Wing series. Let's see how well Mr. Stackpole uses the great characters and story potential he created in the first novel.

Novel quality
The story picks up where "Rogue Squadron" left off. The rebels are now in control of the planet Borleias and are ready to launch their attack against Coruscant. Once they are in control of Coruscant, they will appear to be the legitimate ruling body in the galaxy. The battle of Coruscant (part I) commences, an exciting prospect.

The first idea of the New Republic is to free a bunch of ex Black Sun criminals from Kessel and set them free on Coruscant in order to bother the Empire and hamper their operations on the planet. It is decided, though the Rogues do not agree, that the benefits from having the criminals hamper the Empire outweigh the obvious downsides of re-introducing dangerous criminals into a community. The second step the New Republic takes is sending a covert op to Coruscant in order to check out the defences and lower the planetary shield. Although this is not Rogue Squadrons expertise, our friends are sent out to perform this covert op. The final step of the plan is the actual attack, in which the New Republic will attempt to take over the planet from the Empire.

Little do our friends know that their nemesis Ysanne Isard is well aware of their plans and is taking action to destroy the progress of the New Republic. Her counter-measures are different than you would expect. In stead of trying to stop the New Republic from taking over Coruscant, she makes plans to let them take it. Her plan is to introduce the Krytos virus, a virus which preys on non-humans and is very effective in killing them. Once the Republic takes the planet they will have to deal with a sick and dying population and they will have to find a way to stop the epidemic from spreading. All the while the Empire has the chance to spread rumours about the republic to make it look bad.

The story about the battle for Coruscant is very interesting. However, it is the tension around the spy in Rogue Squadron that makes this novel so strong. Who is the spy? All the "evidence" seems to point in the direction of Tycho Celchu, but somehow he seems a bit too easy a target. You don't get many clues on anybody else however and Corran seems to think Tycho is the spy He thinks he saw him talking to the Imperial agent Loor. Anyway, the whole spy situation is one big shadow over everything Rogue Squadron and the New Republic do.

The end of the novel is also very nice. There are some nice twists in it and you will want to start reading the next novel in the series right away. There are basically too many good things going on in this novel to describe in a single review. There is also a downside however, the novel in itself will leave you wanting more and is not a closed story at all. Sigh... Let me conclude by saying that this second X-Wing novel does everything I hoped it would and continues the story in a great way. Anybody interested in a fun read should read the X-Wing series. Read "Rogue Squadron" first though, otherwise you will miss out on a lot.
Rating: 83/100

Personal tilt
Great characters and dialogue combined with a solid story. You do not want to miss out on the X-Wing series. The story in itself will have to be viewed over the whole series I feel, the story per novel does feel like an episode of a series. Due to the interesting characters, the great character development and the political edge however, this isn't a problem at all. I can't wait to start reading "The Krytos Trap" and all the other X-Wing novels.
Rating: 80/100

Overall rating: 81.2/100

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