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joshmorrey's review
3.0
A decent story giving us some character background on Rose Tico. The story doesn't feel very relevant or impactful to the overall Star Wars saga, though it does add a few minor character motivations for Rose. The novel is well written, and well performed by Kelly Marie Tran. It feels a little short for a novel, but did offer a complete story with a satisfying ending.
noirbettie's review against another edition
4.0
This is, remarkably, the first Star Wars book I’ve ever read. It’s a lovely look at the Tico sisters, told mainly from Rose’s POV and taking place between TFA and TLJ. Wein’s writing is gorgeous as always—no one else can make technical jargon sound so interesting and smooth—but the book suffers from an apparent lack of editing (I’m guessing the publishing timeline was rushed) and includes jarring moments like a single paragraph from Paige’s POV. That said, the writing is stunning and it’s a wonderful, little story. I love little stories, especially in the context of war.
neilrcoulter's review
3.0
Elizabeth Wein had an uphill battle for me with Cobalt Squadron, because I really don't care much about the central character, Rose. (And I don't mean any criticism of Kelly Marie Tran; she did her best with very weak material in The Last Jedi.) But I was still curious to see if some backstory could help me appreciate Rose a little more. As it turns out, it didn't help much, and I found the story a little bland. But the end of the book has an interesting connection to The Force Awakens, and it also explains why Rose isn't in the bomber with Paige in The Last Jedi, so that is a helpful contribution.
Reading Cobalt Squadron right after Daniel Jose Older's The Last Shot made me like Cobalt Squadron more than I would have otherwise. What the pairing of these two novels showed me is that Star Wars ages down to a younger audience much better than it ages up to an adults-only audience. Star Wars is relatively simple and straightforward, and so to make it even simpler, totally accessible to a 10-or-under reader, works just fine. Though Cobalt Squadron is very, very simple, it still feels like Star Wars to me. The Last Shot, on the other hand, adds coarse language, a contemporary sarcastic attitude, and other supposed complexities not generally found in other iterations of Star Wars, and the end result isn't at all recognizable to me as Star Wars.
I've sometimes wished that a writer or filmmaker could bring a little more complexity to the politics of the Star Wars galaxy, but I now think that I don't really want to sacrifice the fundamental simplicity of the mythology if that little bit of gain also brings with it a lot of the ugliness that marred The Last Shot.
Minor criticism: Someone at Lucasfilm/Disney always needs to check how authors write about orientation in space flight. It doesn't seem like up/down/sideways ought to be meaningful in space. In Cobalt Squadron, for example, we read that "Finch jinked, throwing the heavy bomber practically on its side. When it was upright again . . . " (30-31). How can a ship in space be "on its side" or "upright"?
"I've got a bad feeling about this" alert: p. 171.
Reading Cobalt Squadron right after Daniel Jose Older's The Last Shot made me like Cobalt Squadron more than I would have otherwise. What the pairing of these two novels showed me is that Star Wars ages down to a younger audience much better than it ages up to an adults-only audience. Star Wars is relatively simple and straightforward, and so to make it even simpler, totally accessible to a 10-or-under reader, works just fine. Though Cobalt Squadron is very, very simple, it still feels like Star Wars to me. The Last Shot, on the other hand, adds coarse language, a contemporary sarcastic attitude, and other supposed complexities not generally found in other iterations of Star Wars, and the end result isn't at all recognizable to me as Star Wars.
I've sometimes wished that a writer or filmmaker could bring a little more complexity to the politics of the Star Wars galaxy, but I now think that I don't really want to sacrifice the fundamental simplicity of the mythology if that little bit of gain also brings with it a lot of the ugliness that marred The Last Shot.
Minor criticism: Someone at Lucasfilm/Disney always needs to check how authors write about orientation in space flight. It doesn't seem like up/down/sideways ought to be meaningful in space. In Cobalt Squadron, for example, we read that "Finch jinked, throwing the heavy bomber practically on its side. When it was upright again . . . " (30-31). How can a ship in space be "on its side" or "upright"?
"I've got a bad feeling about this" alert: p. 171.
chappellmw90's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
jarichan's review
3.0
"Cobalt Squadron" ist zwar nicht das stärkste Star Wars-Buch, aber dennoch eine unterhaltsame Lektüre. Ich mag Rose eigentlich ganz gerne und sie mit ihrer Schwester gemeinsam zu erleben, geht sehr ans Herz.
Wein entwickelt die Figuren, trotz der Kürze des Textes, gut weiter, sodass man doch das Gefühl hat, ein paar neue Details aus der offiziellen Star Wars-Welt aus diesem Buch mitgenommen zu haben.
Wein entwickelt die Figuren, trotz der Kürze des Textes, gut weiter, sodass man doch das Gefühl hat, ein paar neue Details aus der offiziellen Star Wars-Welt aus diesem Buch mitgenommen zu haben.
ginnikin's review
Bittersweet. It's nice to see the Tico sisters getting shit done together, but it's hard knowing what happens. That also reduced some of the tension. We know Paige and Rose get out okay, so some of the tension is undermined. That ending is a little heartbreaking.
thedayoflight's review
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
A nice little star wars story.
tehani's review
4.0
Kelly Marie Tran's narration is unsurprisingly fantastic and it's a nice little story that, while a bit lacking in tension (as a prequel to the film) still manages to surprise in places. Lost a star because it's overproduced - I'm not a fan of a bunch of noise, sound effects and voice effects in my audiobooks - in my opinion, they aren't necessary, especially for a good story.
lovuelibrary's review
2.0
I'm sorry but I was not having it with this book. I get the idea of delving to rose and paiges relationship and squad prior to the last jedi. But I just did not give a sh*t. I guess maybe it's my fault for picking up a book from the "juvenile" section at the library, about a rebellion team when I'm a dark side lover, and knowing the last jedi is my least favourite of the star wars cinematic universe... but wow this is not it. I could have gone my whole life without this book. The only reason I didn't dnf it or give it 1 star is because star wars is an insanely cool universe and I do understand the reasoning behind the story and even why the book was written. So boring and so monotonous and so unnecessary though.