Rating: 
Summary: Best WC book yet!
Review: Peter Telep is known for his amazing Sci-Fi books and I was expecting alot out of the WC movie novel. I was happy when I finished this book and found that it had EXCEDDED my expectations. I cant wait for the next two novels :)
Rating:
Summary: The movie should have been this good!
Review: Peter Telep's adaptation of the original screenplay blew the movie out of the stars! I, for one, did enjoy the movie a great deal. However, after reading the novel, the movie disappoints. While Telep captures the essence of each charater from the movie incredibly, you'd better hold on to your hats for the twists and turns the novel took that the movie didn't show you! If you didn't like the movie, you'll still like the novel, and if you DID like the movie, you'll LOVE the novel. Highly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: Quel Dommage ! Why any change from the game script ?
Review: QUEL DOMMAGE ! ! !I have endlessly played all the Wing Commander video games. I guess I can state it makes me a fan. And as a fan, I was eager (in a way, I still am) to see the movie. As it is not yet released in France, I managed to get the novelization. And I got quite a surprise. It seems to me to be another story, except for the names and the general context. First, instead of choosing a precise episode to make the movie, the three episodes are mixed together, and not in a smart way to my taste. From the first serie, Wing Commander, there is the Tiger 's Claw and a part of the original pilots team, like Hunter and Bossman (even if this last one is dead since the beginning of the story) Most of the script comes from the second game, Revenge of the Kilrathi. The Concordia, Admiral Tolwyn, Devereaux « Angel » Wing Commander in charge, James Taggart « Paladin » no more on active duty but flying a merchant vessel, and the Mandarins (Pilgrims in the movie) traitors to humanity. From the last chapter of the Kilrathi Saga , Heart of the tiger, Earth is threaten of attack, and the heroes must save the motherworld. Even if this mixture is not in my taste, it could make sense for making a movie story, which necessarly have to be shorter and more intense than a many hours long video game. No, in fact the worst changes are others. I must say that I have always had the feeling that the Wing Commander original (the first one) was inspired by the « Battlestar Galactica » movie. The « Tiger's Claw » is the « Battlestar Galactica », and the Kilrathi are the Cylons. This impression was confirmed by the animated sequence of the launch of a figther in the game, which is similar in the movie. Some ideas can also be rewarded to a WW2 pacific war story for the carriers battles and the « nipponese » demeanor of the Kilrathi (ferocious with a outdated sense of honor). For conscious or inconscious reasons, the Wing Commander movie try to shift towards « Star Wars ». In what ways ? I guess you can find many more by yourself, but these are the obvious : The hero, instead of being a mere pilot fresh from space Academy, a man among others, is now a character with a particular father (Don't that recall you somebody). He also has strange powers, inherited from this father (I guess you see, may the force be with you). He has is own private holographic IA computer with a special sense of humor (never seen anything like R2D2 or Z6PO in the game, thought). Of course, his fellow is a crack pilot (Han Solo ?). He find his mentor, Paladin (Obi Wan) who is a pilgrim (a jedi) like himself, and tell him the truth about his kind. Then you can add to the sausage the special ship of Paladin (the Millenium Falcon), a Pilgrim traitor (Darth Vader), and a almost ridiculous device, a Pilgrim Cross with a hidden blade in place of a laser world. As I say, there is others « inspirations », but I think it is enough. Now, it is my opinion, and others may not share it, that the game vision of mere human beings figthing a hard and sometimes desesperate war against an overwhelming foe more concerning. After all, is it not what the British have done during the Battle of Britain ( so much owe by so many to so few) or the Americans during the Battle of Midway ? What need to a super-hero here ? The Kilrathi Empire and the Terran Confederation are two huge opposed powers (and also opposed concepts of society) figthing a war, not a small bunch of fighters who can use such a « superman » entity, like in « Star Wars ». The Wing Commander Movie should have been build like a war movie, like in fact « Battle of Midway », « Battle of Britain », or then « A bridge too far » or « The Big Red One ». It would have given a better rendering of the game. Maybe it was not the idea. But remember the movie « Dune ». Most of the potential audience were people who had read the novel, and they had not to be disappointed. Here, they were gamers, and the same applies. To conclude, I will just add that I have the feeling the author was not one of the game conceptor, nor a person who practice the game himself. Despite a good documentation work, he do not get involved in it to capture the spirit of this saga. I am surprised Chris Roberts accepted such a script. I have kept the same character through Wing commander 1 to Price of Freedom (I have not yet a PC able to perform Prophecy, but the game awaits on one shelf), and I would never have twisted his story the way it was in this movie.
Rating: 
Summary: SAVE your Money (Zero Stars)
Review: Save your money. this book is not worth the price nor does it meet the standards of the books in the series. This is not the writers fault, it hard to do a novalization of a badly written and thought out screenplay. Indeed it seems that the word SF and combat are the only the backdrop for cardboard firgures to act in a manner that is a sure fire way for the hero's to get into bed , and die glorious in battle not worth the time or money Read David Drake instead.
Rating: 
Summary: An entertaining read.
Review: Telep writes a well-paced novel, that is one of the most pleasant novels I've read this year. Readers are treated to a good degree of depth to the characters, more drama, a history to their plight, and can read scenes edited out of the film. As such, this work offers more than the film could, and is certainly a work any science-fiction reader should well add to their reading list. Telep's use of resources and his respect for other Wing Commander works and the fans, has allowed him to create a novel, that stays true to the spirit of "Wing Commander". And at the same time, you need not know what "Wing Commander" is to enjoy it.
Rating:
Summary: A WC novel that respects continuity & story!
Review: The first thing that hits you when you start reading this novel is the list of Acknowledgements showing how Peter Telep has really done his homework. The results of this research is evident throughout the novel, making not one noticable continuity error. Bliss for any Wing Commander fan! Peter enhances the novel even more with his character descriptions and providing the reader with a passageway in to the minds of the characters allowing the reader to truly imagine the thoughts and emotions of the characters. Peter did a wonderful job of keeping to the movie script, thus keeping any nasty conflicts away. I'm really looking forward to future WC novels from Peter, where he will be able to fully utilize his story creation abilities, free of any limitations as a result of requiring close connections to a movie script.
Rating:
Summary: Better than the movie
Review: The novelization of the Wing Commander movie is defiantly better than the movie itself. It's charecters are more in depth, and the plot makes more sense. After reading the novel, I had a sense that I fully understood what happened. I didn't get that feeling from the movie. I defiantly recommend this book to both Wing Commander fans and general sci-fi fans.
Rating:
Summary: Peter Telep raises the bar for Wing Commander books
Review: The WC universe has finally found itself an author who respects the source material and who can also tell one hell of a story - and the fan's have never had it so good. While Baen's Wing Commander novels usually cause the more fanatical WingNuts headaches with their continuity errors, this movie adaptation does just the opposite; it actually takes time to explain such problems caused by the movie's script! (according to the movies producers they 'ignored' much of the original material - thank Sivar Peter Telep didn't). Of course, the writing also shines - anyone familiar with Peter Telep's previous books (Space: Above and Beyond, Descent) knows he can tell a great war story. I'm eagerly looking forward to the second book in the series, so we can see what the author can do without having to base everything around a movie script!
Rating:
Summary: An excellent addition to the Wing Commander universe.
Review: The Wing Commander saga has always been one of action packed battles, tragic losses and a flame of hope that never goes out. Even in the darkest times. This novel, based on the movie, continues that tradition and add a few new twists to an already wonderful story (PC games included). Truly, any Wing Commander fan owes it to themself to read this novel. You'll never look at Christopher "Maverick" Blair, Todd "Maniac" Marshall and Jeannette "Angel" Devereaux that same way again!
Rating: 
Summary: adequate depiction of storyline, but no military panache
Review: The Wing Commander Universe has taken on a life of its own. The ingenuity of many brains has instilled a credible and somewhat rigid texture on which a novelist must perform and conform. I found the book somewhat pedantic and slothful in style, with less than the expected characterisations, but was totally alienated from believing in the unfolding drama when Paladin produced, as his bona fide, an Anapolis 1941 Ring, purportedly from an ancestor of Admiral Geoffrey Tolwyn - a Brit and scion of an old Naval family. The Royal Navy has never relied on the primary training of its officers in the United States. Yet, for all its faults, a book well worth the read in filling in more background detail.
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