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Editorial Review Product Description
As Leia must deal with a new threat to thefragile alliance that binds the New Republic, Landobecomes a prisoner aboard a runaway spacecraft ofunknown origin. The ship is following an unstoppablepath to its homeworld, destroyed by Imperialforces. Luke continues his quest to learn more abouthis mother among the Fallanassi, where his everybelief about the use of the Force is about to bechallenged. And while Leia ponders a diplomaticsolution to the aggression of the fierce Yevetha race,Han pilots a spy ship into the heart of Yevethanspace and finds himself a hostage on one of thevast fleet of warships under the command of aruthless leader. ... Read more Customer Reviews (36) 
Book 2 of The Black Fleet Crisis
Shield of Lies is the second book in The Black Fleet Crisis, a trilogy by Michael P. Kube-McDowell. It picks up where Before the Storm left off. The leadership of the New Republic is gradually accepting the fact that the Yevethan are engaged in a campaign of genocide against anyone who is different from them. The campaign is one of no mercy and utter destruction. The question Leia is faced with as the leader of the New Republic is how to deal with the situation. Decide that it is not their problem and ignore the morality of the issue? Try to arrive at a diplomatic solution? Force the Yevethan to stop through engaging them in open warfare? The decision is one that may very well cost Leia her job as Chief of State.
The book is divided into three different sections. The first is Lando and his continuing search for the Teljkon vagabond, the mysterious craft that drifts through space and refuses to be investigated or even approached. Lobot, R2, Threepio, and a crew supplied by the military are all along with Lando to help learn about the vagabond. This section of the book is interesting. The concept of a large ship apparently just drifting through space with no identification and with powerful weapons systems is intriguing. However, as Lando and company succeed in actually getting aboard the ship, the entire concept of what the ship is and how it operates gets vastly complicated. The explanations may be more than you want to know.
The second section is Luke as he continues his mystical journey with Akanah to find the Fallanassi and possibly his mother. This entire section drags significantly as not a whole lot happens and we are subjected to endless philosophical discussions of the powers of the Fallanassi and how Luke should be using his powers purely for peace and not for any violent purposes. This continues a string of books in which Luke spends much more time thinking about what he should be doing rather than actually performing any useful functions. I'm tired of it. The Republic and Luke's friends are in serious trouble, and he is trying to figure out what to do with his life.
The third section is Leia's and is by far the most interesting. She is beset by problems on all sides, not the least of which is whether or not she can stay in office. She feels a moral obligation to confront the Yevethan, but many of the Republic's other leaders do not agree. The situation becomes very personal for her when Han is captured by the opposing forces. The book ends as a cliffhanger with perilous situations all over the place. I look forward to the third book, and I fervently hope that Luke will see his way to actually helping out his friends.
Middle book does not have much forward progress
Shield of Lies is the second entry in Michael P. Kube-McDowell's Black Fleet Crisis trilogy and has many of the standard hallmarks often found in middle chapters of a longer story. There is no particular beginning or ending point and the three primary storylines of Before the Storm are carried forward without any significant conclusions or new plots introduced. One tweak to the format is a reorganization of the three main plots: rather than interweaving them, they are presented in three completely separate parts. This is a welcome change if you don't enjoy jumping storylines from chapter to chapter, but maybe not so much if one or more of the scenarios taking place does not particularly engage you.
Mr. Kube McDowell's strengths from the first book continue unabated. His portrayal of alien species remains strong, his use of politics as an arena of battle alongside the detailed military engagements gives the book an exciting military fiction slant, and more unsettling aspects of the viciously memorable Yevethan culture are revealed.
The three storylines are distinct enough in tone and content that it is unlikely any reader will enjoy them all equally. My take is that the Luke Skywalker plot is the least engaging. Luke and the mysterious White Current adept Akanah continue to seek evidence of the whereabouts of her people and Luke's mother. Of course, thanks to the prequels we know Luke won't find his mother but that's beside the point. Their quest doesn't have enough narrative thrust behind it to sustain the story. It's hard to credit that Luke would be spending his time running around the galaxy on this personal mission while his friends back home are preparing for a possible full-scale war. It comes off as selfish and weak rather than mystical.
Faring better is Lando, Lobot, C-3PO, and R2-D2's continued exploration of the strange vagabond spaceship they have been trapped on. While they don't make much forward progress in Shield of Lies, they do have some entertaining moments, and Mr. Kube-McDowell's juxtaposition of Lando's impulsive humanity with the attitudes of the droids (and the cyborg Lobot occupying an interesting space in-between) continues to intrigue.
By far the most gripping part of the book is Leia's portion that deals with the actual Black Fleet Crisis. I would have liked more of the book devoted to her struggles with her own emotions, her fellow members of the New Republic government, and the malicious Yevetha. There's a terrific space battle at Doornik 319 that drives home the seriousness and scope of the Yevethan threat and more in this vein would have been welcome too. However, what there is of this story in the book is well executed, and the ending does leave quite a cliffhanger for the final volume.
Shield of Lies is a reasonable continuation of the Black Fleet Crisis trilogy, but it does not add very much of substance to the overall story and does not stand well on its own.
eh... spoilers, if it even matters in the first place
1. Lando - Lando, Lobot, and the droids make a complete circle throughout an otherwise interesting spaceship, only to get nothing really done. One thing to be said about Kube-McDowell is that he's the first author to develop Lobot as a character
2. Luke - this is my least favorite section. akanah nags and nags and nags, and luke cowers and whimpers as she cracks the whip. Pretty much, they walk around some planets, constantly looking over their shoulders unnecessarily. I'll have to admit the part about akanah's father kind of made me genuinely sad.
3. Leia - easily the best section. Leia portrayed as incompetent, which pins her self-esteem to the floor. Senate tries to oust her. Nil Spaar is deliciously evil, but his character is a bit overdone and his tyranny a little cliché. Finally, K-wings are put to use in a fun little space battle at the end.
Ok. I understand that some important ingredients of a good novel are character development, plot construction, and dialogue, all of which this book contains. I know that star wars isn't all dog fights and blazing light saber battles and what not. But this book lacks what made Star Wars great in the first place, and that is at least an acceptable level of action. Apart from the space battle at the end and the tyranny of the Yevethah, there is no degree of excitement or tension anywhere else in this book. Sure, Lando's story line is cool and creepy, but almost nothing of consequence really comes from it. This is what makes the series so frustrating! I have yet to start Tyrant's test, but I will soon. I hope and pray that it will rescue this series from the drudgery of the first two books. That is all
Love this series
I'm not sure why all the negativity...this is a very well-written yarn. I remember reading it 10 years ago, and enjoying the plot but feeling uncomfortable with the characters...yet reading it again now (at age 38) I love it. The characters have great depth, and the story is intricately interesting. It all felt very realistic to me. Maybe this is just not a story for a younger reader, or a reader who just wants action. But this is a thoughtful story, doesn't deserve the kind of panning that The Crystal Star got, certainly.
I wish it had been all a dream too, Luke...
NOTE: Because I started to "reread" (i.e. listen to the audiobooks) these old Bantam books, I decided to revamp this old review. I will keep the old review at the end in case you want to compare.
The second book in the Black Fleet Crisis series opens with Lando, Lobot, C-3PO, and R2-D2 as they are stuck inside the Vagabond investigating.Luke is off with Akanah as she continues to search for her people, the Fallanassi, and Leia's tenure as president is on rocky ground as the conflict with the Yevetha increases.
I Liked:
Lando's story, while extraneous, was mildly interesting.Furthermore, it was cool to see Lobot.
The real highlight here is Leia's story.I wasn't so fond of it in Before the Storm, but here, it is much, much better.I really found myself liking it at the odd part where Leia is signing a bunch of planets into the New Republic.Yeah, I know, weird, but somehow, this was interesting to me.I think MKM has done a fairly good job building this plot thread and giving it decent treatment.
The characters aren't even too bad, namely Leia and Lando.Leia finally sees what an idiot she was and really has to make up for being so oblivious.And Lando, while nothing to write home to, was certainly not painful to read.
I Didn't Like:
Let me first pause and say, "Where did Han and Chewie go?"Why are we focusing on Lando and his Story That Goes Nowhere and totally neglect Chewie, who has taken the Falcon back to his homeworld?Why not also focus on Chewie?Or what about Han?Surprisingly, he becomes a plot point, very rare for a male, only existing to tie up the loose ends (who is taking care of the kids?Who does Leia trust enough to do her military work?).And perhaps this is the fault of the abridged audiobook, but I still have no clue how he got captured.
By far the worst character remains Luke.While he does attempt to pull his head out of his rear, he continues to let himself get whipped around by moody Akanah.Instead of growing a pair and making her tell him the truth, he lets himself be bullied, pushed around, and shut up as if he has no voice.And how is this guy the head of a new Jedi Order???
But that is far from all.Akanah is even more intolerable here.She demands trust and the truth from Luke but never once gives it.Like the saying goes, in order to earn respect/trust, you need to give it.Plus, every other scene, she is bawling, crying, whining, getting angry, and huffing about something.I wanted to slap her around or throw her out of the ship!
And again, why, when Leia and the rest of the galaxy are going through a crisis, is Luke conveniently absent?This doesn't jive at all with his earlier incarnations!And you can't use the excuse he doesn't know, because halfway through his section, he finds out!
Speaking of which...MKM decided in this book that the stories weren't disconnected enough and split them into three separate sections.On one hand, it makes skipping Luke's section a lot easier.On the other, that means you get stuck reading about any one character and no idea what is happening in another character's time line.Also, it just makes it glaringly obvious that the sections have nothing to do with each other.
Again, Lando's story seems disconnected and leaves me wondering why we spend so long in the beginning learning about this weird ship.Why is it so important?
As for Leia's story, much better, but still, if she hadn't been a dip-head last book, perhaps this book would have turned out differently.
Dialogue/Sexual Situations/Violence:
Perhaps a spattering of d*** and h***.
Luke and Akanah travel the galaxy together.Akanah has a father who apparently isn't married to her mother (or isn't anymore?).It's not obvious.
The Yevetha take over planets and commit genocide.
Overall:
Oddly enough, this book is better than the last.However, considering how bad the last one is, that isn't saying much.And still, there are enough "Huh?" moments that continue to befuddle me.Why doesn't Luke try to help Leia?Why does Luke believe his mother is a Fallanassi?Why does Akanah need Luke so badly (seems she is doing an okay job investigating herself)?Why does Luke trust Akanah?What is this White Current and is it related to the Force or not?Where is Chewie?Why hasn't he returned to help Leia?Why didn't Leia just listen to her advisors and avoid this whole mess?What about Han?How the heck did he get captured so easily?Why is Lando's mission even in here, other than to give him something to do?
So, the sagging middle book retains its one star rating, and I wonder how MKM will wrap this trilogy up.
Old Review:
By the time I reached this book, I was half tempted to give up while I was ahead.But I must like punishing myself (or be very obsessed about reading each and every Star Wars book), because I started AND finished this one.
Pretty much nothing of consequence happens in this book.Luke is still off with his newfound girlfriend, still hunting for his mother.Han is kidnapped.Lando is having fun exploring his ship while people are dying.Leia is behaving like a whiny child.And Chewie, well, Chewie is Chewie.He is that character everyone brings into the story and then goes, "Uh, oh.What do I do with him?"
I hated how the book was divided into sections dedicated to each character.Instead of learning a bit about everyone throughout the book, you have to wait to reach each section to learn what happens to each character.Though I really shouldn't have been upset since nothing really happens to anyone, or at least nothing that won't be repaired before the end.
I won't blame the series for sounding too much like the Vong, because technically this came before the Vong.Still, I guess (???) this was better than the continuous "Oh, the Empire developed a new superpower.Luke, grab your lightsaber and help Leia and Han defeat it!"
Have I said yet this is a terrible series?Have I warned you to avoid at all cost?In case it isn't clear, buy the books to complete the set.Just don't open them!
Brought to you by:
*C.S. Light*
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