League
of Spies
Author: Aaron Allston
Artist: Tommy Lee Edwards
Publisher: Star Wars Insider (#73)
Publication Date: January 2004
Reviewed by Andrew Liptak
Summary: A Republic intelligence officer went missing on the planet Tarhassen, allowing the planet to switch sides in the war without warning. Joram Kithe and Mapper, back from their mission to Pengalan, were assigned to an intelligence team composed of new intelligence agents, a test created from his experiences on Pengalan. The team was vastly inexperienced, and Joram found it difficult to perform his job under the circumstances. The team kidnapped the agent's girlfriend, a planetary security agent, and interrogated her, and Joram did some research of his own, finding where the agent, Teeks, was located. The team then set out and rescued him from the PlanSec building he was in.
What Worked: After The Pengalan Tradeoff, I've been waiting for a follow-up story with Joram and the surviving clone troopers that he was with. That came in the form of League of Spies, which was a delight to read. While not as good at the Pengalan story, League provided some more insight to the intelligence community and is a sort of Star Wars CIA story, although the results are a little more humorous.
It seems at a couple times that the team's procedures are inspired by Monty Python's Life of Brian, where the characters make up long declarations, but do little to carry them out. At one point, they are writing up a procedure to kidnap Renkel, when she appears outside of the building. Joram orders Mapper to get her, which he does, violating all of their plans and getting the team leader annoyed. Allston brings his usual humor and wit to this story, along with explosions and military procedure, making this story a fun read.
What Didn't Work: However funny the intelligence team was at times, it was really annoying that the characters were so unsuited for their job. It's almost as if they had no training at all for what they were supposed to do. I wondered at a couple points why Joram wasn't the team leader, because he had more field experience. The constant bickering and worry about procedures was also grinding to read. Lastly, there are implications that Renkel was PlanSec, but they did nothing to tell Teeks about it, unless I'm missing something.
Overall: Not a bad story, just as long as you keep an open mind and like some intelligence stuff.
Rating: 7/10
Related
Items:
The
Battle of Pengalan
The
Mission to Tarhassen
"The
Pengalan Tradeoff" timeline entry
Review
of "The Pengalan Tradeoff"
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