Rating: 
Summary: Wow.. the return of a good Star Wars novel
Review: I was rather impressed with this novel. Aaron Allston does a terrific job of incorporating old favorites (Wedge, the Wraiths) with new hotshots (Jaina, Jag) to form a solid cast of characters.The biggest knock for the past two books has been: "Is Jacen Solo alive or dead." I have no problems with the authors keeping us in suspense because after all, it's been only two months since Jacen was captured at the end of Star By Star. Dark Journey was only a week long in the time frame, and Rebel Dream takes place over 50 days at Borleais. It's not like the time frame between some of the past books where it was months between books. Star by Star ends, Dark Journey picks up right where it left off, and Rebel Dream picks up right before Dark Journey ends. The humor of the book was well done by Allston, rather reminiscent of his Wraith books. Lando Calrissian makes an awesome return, Kyp Durron begins his journey back to being a true Jedi, and Han and Leia begin to heal after Anakin's death. The writing of Kyp Durron the past two books has been spectacular, it's about time he was portrayed as a powerful Jedi instead of a self-absorbed [guy]. Kyp had the best character changing scene in the book when he said that he knew he was stronger in the Force than Luke Skywalker, but for the first time, he didn't feel pride in the statement. He was just simply stronger. The storyline was fantastic, the humor was funny and sparce enough to keep the seriousness of the situation, and the characters were written superbly (except for Mara, but she'll be back to the old Mara next book). I can't wait for Rebel Stand. Aaron Allston has repaired my faith in the NJO.
Rating: 
Summary: One of the best yet!
Review: First of all, I'll say that few of the New Jedi Order books have managed to convey what this book did even in it's first few chapters; emotion, powerful relationships, heart-pounding action sequences, all the while keeping with and expanding on the complex overall plot of the series.
The book backtracks slightly, opening about two-thirds of the way through Dark Journey, which was fine with me, since that book focused so singly on Jaina and her personal angst that I tended to lose the big picture in my mind. Rest assured, Allston is a terrific author, perhaps the best yet, and he definitely shows his talents in this one. While much of the attention is still reserved for Jaina, it also gives a sweeping, overall look at the whole war, which isn't looking good for our heroes at present. Anakin Solo, one of the best hopes for victory, is dead; Jacen is captured and presumed dead by just about everyone except his mother, Leia. Jaina, torn by grief and rage over the death of her brothers is off fighting her own demons; and the Yuuzhan Vong have finally taken the capitol, the crowning jewel of the galaxy, Coruscant. Luke and Mara are becoming increasingly protective of their infant son, which makes them both less useful as leaders to the Jedi.
Luke, desperate to do something to make the galaxy safer for his son to grow up in, decides to take on a near suicide mission to Coruscant, both to investigate a strange and frightening infestation of the dark side there, and to confirm whether or not Jacen is still alive, and if so to free him, or die trying.
The government is in shambles, our heroes are dying, and the Vong now have the majority of the galaxy. Even so, despite the ominous and painful direction the series is taking, Allston still lightens it from time to time with slight inflections of humor. Barely noticeable, but there. While I never caught myself laughing out loud like I did over some of his X-Wing books, it lightened this dark tale considerably, and kept it from depressing me out of my mind the way Star by Star did.
Also, thanks to the author for making Tahiri a mildly interesting character again. After Star by Star (when she played the typical jealous teenage girlfriend, Ugh) and Dark Journey (the whining weeping mourner everyone feels sorry for) I was really starting to dislike her, but this book restored her in my relative favor. Jaina as well was better here, instead of being portrayed as she usually is (the sort of bratty teenage daughter that's every parent's nightmare, determined to bring her parents to early graves) but rather, we finally see the true warrior that she is; the better halves of both her parents, as she wages phsycological warfare on the Vong, determined to make them pay for hurting her brothers. Even so, some parts of this book really did annoy me, hence my four star rating. First and foremost is the lack of Jacen-action. How long are they going to keep us in limbo like this? Bring him back or kill him permanently, and soon. If they don't intend to let him be rescued yet, at least let us see what they're doing to him in captivity. The suspence is killing me! Also, what has happened to Mara? Where is the toughness, the dark humor, the inner strength and vitality that made her so endearing in the first place? Yes, I realize that now that she is a mother she needs to start putting her child first; especially in the middle of a horrible war, but that doesn't have to mean she should suddenly dissolve into a complete weakling, I mean, was there a scene in this book when she was not holding Ben? As for her relationship with Luke, I won't even go there. They need to give her something of her own to do, besides wiping her baby's rear. Third, I really disliked the Jaina/Jag developments in this book. Of course, anyone who's read the Dark Tide dualogy could see this coming a mile away, but it still bothers me. Of course, I'm probably biased on this subject, since, being a long time fan of Young Jedi Knights I always thought Jaina should end up with Zekk. But really, it isn't that I don't like Jag, in fact I've gotten to be quite fond of him, I just think he's all wrong with Jaina. Jag is a rule follower; a by the books, take-your-hat-off-inside, Yes Ma'am kind of guy. Jaina is adventurous, a risk taker, most of the time not bothering to think of the consequences of her actions before she makes them, and frankly I think Jag would bore her out of her mind in a week, and her constant heedless recklessness would drive him insane. Much as I hate to say it, even Kyp would be better. :-( Oh, well. For fans of the series, this book won't disapoint you.
Rating:
Summary: Impressive
Review: I was waiting for Aalston to jump into this series. He did a commendable job. It was a great plot and the battle scenes were written very well. I felt like someone was doing backflips in my stomach while I read this book.
Rating:
Summary: A Step in the Right Direction
Review: REBEL DREAM is a step in the right direction. After so many depressing, dark, dreary, violent NJO books, REBEL DREAM was a welcome relief. While things are still extremely bleak in that galaxy, there is finally a more hopeful feel to this book, and there is even a little humor. I was glad to see more of Luke, Wedge, and Lando. Luke Skywalker has been badly mangled in the New Jedi Order series. REBEL DREAM is the first book since VECTOR PRIME in which Luke was written in-character. It was great to finally see him more active, involved, and having visions again. I'd like to see more of the Jedi Master in the future and more of Han and Leia and Mara too. The books have been leaning heavily in the direction of the younger characters up to this point, and frankly, I prefer the Original Trilogy characters to the teenagers. I like the idea of the Insiders and the New Rebel Alliance. Can't wait for REBEL STAND!
Rating:
Summary: Allston Delivers!
Review: By far one of the better NJO books, Aaron Allston does a great job in bringing some much needed direction to the series. Allston uses old characters and keeps their dialogue and emotions genuine, moreso that some other authors. I think the story moved well and the spin on the strategy the New Republic would use to fight the Vong was something to finally get excited about. Plus Wedge is in it and his character is written well, it shows him as more than a pilot but as a seasoned, grisly tactician that understands war. Another good point about Allston in this book is that he touches on the Wraiths but doesn't overinflate their role or dwell on them, which is what some other authors do when it comes to the characters that they created. The last couple of NJO books have lost some momentum, and while I liked Star by Star I thought it was too long for what it was. I thought Dark Journey was a waste of writing talent, because writing about the Hapan Queen Mother's devious plots was about as exciting as watching grass grow.
But Rebel Dream delivers, so Good job Allston, you brought us a fun and exciting story!
Rating:
Summary: Funny and well-written
Review: I found this to be a real relief following the illogical and obnoxious orgy that was Dark Journey. Rebel Dream may start slowly in comparison to the bawdy outrageousness of Elaine Cunningham's book, but once Allston gets into the material he clearly loves the most--military intelligence and the interactions between pilots in their squadrons--he strikes a rhythm and the story reads quickly. It is full of humor, which somehow manages to remain appropriate alongside the various, quite serious, story lines--the death of the New Republic, Jaina's (this time believable) grappling with the loss of her brothers and friends, etc. The formation of a new rebellion really restored some of the vitality of earlier Star Wars books and of the original trilogy itself. Similarly, by avoiding writing over-the-top main characters, Allston revived my interest in Jaina, Jag, and Kyp. I haven't really liked Jaina since the Dark Tide duology, and it was almost surprising to find myself sympath
izing with her again. Jag always seemed incredibly boring to me, but in this book he became more fleshed-out and his brilliance as a pilot and tactician became evident. And Kyp has finally started to seem like a reasonable guy, with something more to him than anger.
Ultimately, this wasn't the most exciting NJO book, but it was really well-written and much more enjoyable than most. I think I can safely blame the only parts of the book that annoyed me on Elaine Cunningham's botched job, because I only ever rolled my eyes at the book early on, when people showed a lot of faith in Jaina, who was a totally untrustworthy person in Dark Journey (to say the least). Had Cunningham done a half-way decent job with her conclusion--Jaina's "redemption"--these episodes would have probably seemed a lot more reasonable. It's worth noting that all the "themes" Dark Journey attempts to treat but ends up horribly mangling or misrepresenting, Aaron Allston pulls off convincingly and compellingly in Rebel Dream--most remarkably, political subversion, grief, and romance.
Rating:
Summary: GREAT!!![.]
Review: I love this book!!![.] It has all in it action, romance, drama, ...all of it! The only thing I did not like is that you have to go through about half of the book before you get to Jag, Jania, and Kyp. It as a little more of Han and Leia. I t had a nice little romance secen between Jania and Jag, it wasn't stupid like the one between Akain and Tahiri that I thought was just plain stupid. It really show how you think you know somebody and then they do something totally different. All in All I thought it was a great book and I am deffently going to read it again.
Rating:
Summary: Long Live Wedge
Review: I have been a big Antilles fan since the X-Wing series and to see him in another starring role warms the cockels of my heart.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best, by far...
Review: Aaron Allston hasn't lost his touch since his expansion on the X-wing series a few years back, that's for sure. His description and writing style is easily noticable, one of great ideas and strategy, combined with detail and a good plotline. The most noticeable trait is his humor, which is inserted expertly into convenient places for maximum effectiveness. Particularly around Wraith Squadron, which Allston created himself in his expansion into the X-wing series, there's points where the reader just has to stop to laugh for a few seconds. It's amazing fun to read his work. The idea to become the rebellion again, in that sense, was a great touch. Many of the unique strategies, particularly a radical idea from Lando Calrissian in the opening scene (read the book to see what I'm talking about) was just short of genius. I had tears in my eyes from laughing and just pure joy throughout the last 5 or so chapters, enjoying it all.
Rating:
Summary: Live the Rebel Dream?
Review: Allston does a great job(as he has on all other Star Wars novels) in Rebel Dream. The title is a little cheasy for the book because of the allusion to the actual ship and that what's left of the strike force on Borleas becomes more "Imperialistic", but Allston's superb description of battles and the his own unique style of humor corelated between the characters.
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