Book Review: Starfighters of Adumar (Star Wars: X-Wing #9) by Aaron Allston

ISBN: 0553574183
Published: August 1999
Publisher: Del Rey
Received: Christmas present
Read from May 22nd to 24th, 2016
Synopsis from Goodreads:

The X-wing fighter pilots have earned their reputation as the Rebel Alliance's ultimate strike force by overwhelming enemies with their rapid-fire assaults. But now they are about to embark on a diplomatic mission that will prove to be even more hazardous than all-out combat....
The neutral world of Adumar has decided to pick a side in the war to control the galaxy. Delegates from both the New Republic and the Empire have been invited to Adumar, and each camp will be given a chance to plead its government's case. But there is one small catch: since the Adumari prize military skill above all else, they insist that both delegations be composed exclusively of fighter pilots. For pilot Wedge Antilles and his company, it's an unfamiliar exercise in diplomacy--and one that's filled with unexpected peril. For once they arrive, the X-wing pilots are challenged by Adumar's fierce warriors and attacked by Imperial assassins bent on eliminating all competition. But these challenges pale in comparison to the threat posed by a rogue Republic agent...one who is determined to win Adumar's allegiance once and for all--even if it costs the X-wing pilots their lives.

Review:

I'm going to try to keep this review brief as this is the ninth book in a series, and I typically don't like spoiling previous books in a series in my reviews. This series does feel different in that there's not a larger, overarching plot that links the story in this ninth book with the others in the series. But still, this is the ninth one, so I feel like anyone who has gotten to this point is invested in the series and knows whether they want to read this one or not. That makes going into a lot of detail feel pointless.

For me, I read this book three years after reading all eight of the other books, since those were the ones I had at the time, so I was worried that I'd be confused going into this one, having forgotten the events of the last eight books. That wasn't a problem though. Any information that I needed to know came back to me quickly. It was almost shocking how much I remembered once I was back in the series again. The familiarity was nice.

That being said, I think this was my least favorite of the series, and I don't think I'm saying that because it's been three years since I read the others (although maybe that is why). It was only a minimal drop in enjoyment. I still want to read the tenth book. I'm even more curious about it because it was published so many years after the ninth.

The ninth book was enjoyable and fun. I really did like it, and I think anyone who read and liked the first eight would get enjoyment out of this one too. I did. It's just that, if I were to rank the series, I'm not sure what order they would be in, but this one would likely come last for reasons that I can't quite place my finger on.