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Cobalt Squadron by Elizabeth Wein
Feb. 16th, 2018 10:43 pmCobalt Squadron
2/5. So Elizabeth Wein wrote a Star Wars short YA novel, and Kelly Marie Tran read the audio. I like Elizabeth Wein, I thought, and I like Star Wars, and I like Kelly Marie Tran.
And yet, good grief this is boring. So boring. It’s Rose’s backstory and there’s some sister stuff, but there’s just . . . nothing here? It’s a very sad comedown after the delicacy and complexity and beauty of The Pearl Thief. Kinda of makes me wonder under what ridiculous constraints she had to write it.
It does lean hard into the dogfight esthetic of Star Wars space battles. Like how it’s basically a World War II fight in space; everyone is on manual 100% of the time (why?) and there is an improbable emphasis on seeing other ships with the naked eye. It’s very Elizabeth Wein and it’s very Star Wars, I’d just forgotten how weird it is, having read a lot of scifi that would pearl-clutch at the very idea. But there you go, Star Wars really is fantasy, isn’t it.
2/5. So Elizabeth Wein wrote a Star Wars short YA novel, and Kelly Marie Tran read the audio. I like Elizabeth Wein, I thought, and I like Star Wars, and I like Kelly Marie Tran.
And yet, good grief this is boring. So boring. It’s Rose’s backstory and there’s some sister stuff, but there’s just . . . nothing here? It’s a very sad comedown after the delicacy and complexity and beauty of The Pearl Thief. Kinda of makes me wonder under what ridiculous constraints she had to write it.
It does lean hard into the dogfight esthetic of Star Wars space battles. Like how it’s basically a World War II fight in space; everyone is on manual 100% of the time (why?) and there is an improbable emphasis on seeing other ships with the naked eye. It’s very Elizabeth Wein and it’s very Star Wars, I’d just forgotten how weird it is, having read a lot of scifi that would pearl-clutch at the very idea. But there you go, Star Wars really is fantasy, isn’t it.