Scott's Rating:   2.5 out of 4
Darin's Rating:   3.5 out of 4

The third book of a four-book series. The Alliance has taken Coruscant, but has a lot of problems on its hands. Yssane Isard (Iceheart) has left behind a deadly virus (deadly, that is to non-humans) which the Alliance must deal with to keep from self-destructing. Corran Horn (presumed dead by the Alliance) has been captured by Iceheart and she is attempting to brainwash him. Tycho Celchu is put on trial for treason and the murder of Corran Horn. Will Corran escape? If so, will he be able to clear Tycho before they fire up Sparky? Will the traitor finally be revealed? Read and find out!

Scott:

    I'm not going to put any spoilers on this part because, as you would guess, Corran Horn attempts to escape the prison Lusankya. This is one of the most exciting parts of the book. To describe what happens WOULD be a spoiler, so I won't tell you what happens. But what Corran discovers will have long ranging impacts on both him and Rogue Squadron. I really love Corran Horn's character and I think part of the reason is that he is a combination of both Luke and Han. This book also explores deeper into the interspecies love and its ramifications. It is also good to see a little of the Star Wars Universes judicial system. (We see that though they are technically advanced, it is as screwed up as anything we could come up with!) The big finish and the revelation of the location of the prison was very exciting. It was also good to see terrorist actions by the former Imperials being addressed. I really liked it.

Darin:

    There is a lot of action in this book, and I almost rated it 4 Death Stars. There are quite a few surprises, like where Lusankya really is (though I kind of suspected it all along). Corran Horn makes his grand reappearance and fixes everything, but not without some scary points in several peoples lives. Rouge Squadron almost tears itself apart in some ways, but is closer than ever in others. Iceheart really gets defined here. I look forward to more stories with her in the future. Finally we have a suitable enemy! Politics plays an even bigger role in this book, and gives us a surprise ending.

Scott:

    I disagree with Darin's previous statements. I almost fell asleep through the first 300 pages. No action came along till the last 100 or so. Also, most of this book was pointless. In the second book, we knew that Corran Horn was still alive, yet almost all of the third book is the trial Tycho Celchu for the death of Corran! The characters keep saying "He's dead! And you killed him!", but through the whole thing you know he's alive. It could have at least been kept a secret that he was still alive for part of the story. Then the Alliances Judicial System is almost identical to ours in the US. A little variation would have been nice. I had a little trouble following some of the dogfights, but that's probably just me. Also, Iceheart, the main villaness, only shows up for a few pages. She could have been in it a little more. This book should really have been shortened and included in the third or fourth novel. I still love Stackpole's work and really look forward to the next novel, but I had to rate this book lower than the rest.

Darin:

    There are some corny speeches. Some characters (like Leia and Ackbar) seemed a bit out of character by being more consumed with politics and public opinion than with truth and justice. The "magic cure" for the Krytos virus is pretty hard to believe as well. I would've figured with a title like "The Krytos Trap" there would've been more work on a subplot for finding the cure rather than stop-gap measures. Also, this book seemed to me to be the conclusion of the tale. The "surprise ending" wasn't really that big of a cliffhanger. This series should be only three books, with a lot of fat trimmed out of (current) books two and three.

Scott:

    The death of the Gamorrean. Ugh. I'd really hate to be the clean up crew they talked about! That would be worse than having to clean a high school boy's bathroom!

Darin:

    The big fat Imp!