Wing Commander (book series)

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Logo of the game and the book series

Between 1994 and 1999, Baen Books and Harper Entertainment published a total of nine books on the Wing Commander game series . A distinction is made between the books on the game universe (Baen Books) and the books on the slightly varying representation of the cinema (Harper Entertainment). In Germany, Bastei Lübbe Verlag published the translations of seven novels by both publishers between 1994 and 2001, volumes 1 to 6 of Baen Books and Harper Entertainment's book on film. Bastei Lübbe made no distinction between the two rows. When the publisher published the novel about the film shortly after the film started, it was included as the fifth volume of the German-language edition. In the following, the books are treated according to the original book series and in the order in which they were first published.

Game Universe Series

Between 1994 and 1999 the American publisher Baen Books published seven novels by different authors on the Wing Commander game universe, including the companion novels for the games Wing Commander III and IV . The last novel, False Colors, was supposed to be the prelude to a trilogy, but the author Andrew Keith died before completing his work on the last two volumes.

The Liberators

  • Authors: Mercedes Lackey and Ellen Guon
  • German translation: Karl-Heinz Ebnet
  • German first edition: March 1994
  • Published by Bastei Lübbe
  • ISBN 3-404-23148-1
  • Original title: "Freedom Flight", first published in January 1994 by Baen Books ( ISBN 0-671-72145-3 )

The novel describes the Firekka campaign of the "Tiger's Claw" in 2655 (see also Wing Commander - The Secret Missions 2 ). Kilrathi Lord Ralgha nar Hhallas, better known as "Hobbes" from Wing Commander II , works as a spy for the Confederation. But he is arrested and charged as a rebel. Fighter pilot Ian "Hunter" St. John is under pressure to save mankind's most important informant from certain death.

The ambush

This novel takes place between the expansion Wing Commander II - Special Operations II and the full-price title Wing Commander III .

After some heavy losses, the Confederation is on the verge of defeat in the battle against the Kilrathi in 2667. But unexpectedly she gains extensive knowledge of Vukar Tag, a planet under the direct administration of the ruling family and with symbolic meaning for the emperor. The novel portrays a daring operation by the Confederation to weaken the Kilrathi home fleet. A coordinated attack first on Vukar Tag and then on Kilrah, the home system of the Kilrathi, is to induce Prince Trakath to split the home fleet between both targets. Subsequently, the fleet, weakened by the split, is said to be wiped out by an ambush at Vukar Tag. The task of the decoy falls to the "TCS Tarawa", which is to penetrate into the heart of the Kilrathi Empire with a small attack fleet. The focus of the plot is the wing commander of the Tarawa fighter squadrons, Jason "Bear" Bondarevsky, and his subordinate squadron commanders Etienne "Doomsday" Montclair and Janice "Starlight" Parker.

The secret fleet

  • Author: William R. Forstchen
  • German translation: Karl-Heinz Ebnet
  • German first edition: January 1995
  • Published by Bastei Lübbe
  • ISBN 3-404-23160-0
  • Original title: "Fleet Action", first published in May 1994 by Baen Books ( ISBN 0-671-72211-5 )

This novel is set between the previous novel The Ambush and Wing Commander III . In 2668 the Kilrathi are severely weakened by the attacks of the Confederation and it will take at least a year to complete their secret carrier ships. So they try to lure the Confederation into a trap by faking peace. But a few members of the Confederation try to prove the existence of the secret Kilrathi fleet - which in the end culminates in a gigantic battle for Earth.

The heart of the tiger

  • Authors: Andrew Keith and William R. Forstchen
  • German translation: Karl-Heinz Ebnet
  • German first edition: May 1997
  • Published by Bastei Lübbe
  • ISBN 3-404-23189-9
  • Original title: "Heart Of The Tiger", first published in 1994 by Baen Books

This is the novel for the game Wing Commander III . In 2669 mankind threatens to finally lose the war against the Kilrathi. The Admiral's staff is relying on a desperate, all-important offensive operation. At the center of the events is Colonel Christopher “Maverick” Blair, who is being transferred by Admiral Geoffrey Tolwyn as Wing Commander to the somewhat aged carrier ship “TCS Victory”. The "Victory" operates on the front line to prepare the all-important attack on the home planet. But a Kilrathi spy threatens to endanger the entire operation.

Despite the fact that a large number of the more trivial missions were left out of the game in the novel, the novel goes a long way towards portraying the crew of the TCS Victory more vividly. In addition, the novel contains a scene that was cut from the original PC game: In the PC game, the behavior of the traitor seems opaque on the Terran side. In the book, however, Hobbes explains the motivations for the betrayal. The game itself has been criticized for leaving out this important point. The scene was then also included in later ports of the game (the 3DO and the PlayStation implementation ).

The price of freedom

  • Authors: Ben Ohlander and William R. Forstchen
  • German translation: Rainer Gladys
  • German first edition: July 2000
  • Published by Bastei Lübbe
  • ISBN 3-404-23226-7
  • Original title: "The Price Of Freedom", first published in November 1995 by Baen Books ( ISBN 0-671-87751-8 )

This is the novel for the game Wing Commander IV . The war against the Kilrathi is over, but in 2673 the tensions between the central worlds of the Confederation and the human marginal colonies organized in the Union of Frontier Worlds threaten to turn into a war. Admiral Tolwyn is given the task of investigating the causes. To do this, he brings Christopher "Maverick" Blair back from retirement. But this comes across the traces of a conspiracy that threatens to plunge all of humanity into an unwanted war

The novel differs significantly from the plot of the game in that it trivializes many significant characters and storylines and places them in the background, while the border world technology established in the course of the games is presented completely differently.

The threat

  • Author: William R. Forstchen
  • German translation: Jürgen Heinzerling
  • German first edition: December 2000
  • Published by Bastei Lübbe
  • ISBN 3-404-23231-3
  • Original title: "Action Stations", first published in 1997 by Baen Books

This novel depicts the beginning of the war in 2634, twenty years before the first Wing Commander game. Several outposts of humanity have been attacked by the Kilrathi, but the Confederation government is not taking the new threat seriously enough. Instead, budget cuts are planned in the military budget, although large parts of the space fleet fear an all-encompassing war. Commander William Turner, accompanied by the young cadet Geoffrey Tolwyn, embarks on a reconnaissance mission on the edge of Confederate territory. Just in time, they receive information about secret offensive activities by the Kilrathi against the Confederation, which ultimately lead to the great battle for McAuliffe.

The plot is presented as a historical drama, from the point of view of an author who wrote about its beginnings many years after the war. Numerous incidents in the novel show clear parallels to what happened before and after the attacks on Pearl Harbor in 1941.

False colors

  • Authors: William R. Forstchen and Andrew Keith
  • First edition in English: January 1999
  • Publisher: Baen Books
  • ISBN 0-671-57784-0
  • only published in English

This novel is set between Wing Commander III and Wing Commander IV . After the end of the Kilrathi War, some Kilrathi Warlords do not accept the peace that now reigns and remain aggressive towards the Confederation and other organizations such as the "Landreich". "Landreich" workers attempt to salvage a Kilrathi super-carrier that survived the war to prevent a Kilrathi warlord from starting another war against humanity. The novel was originally intended as the first part of a new trilogy of novels, but the author Andrew Keith died before he could write sequels. (The book cover incorrectly says William H. Keith - this is Andrew Keith's brother.)

Film Universe series

In 1999 Harper Entertainment published the companion novel to the Wing Commander movie by Peter Telep . It was followed by a second called Pilgrim Truth , which continued the pilgrimage background of the film. A planned third volume, Pilgrim Truth , was no longer published. It was not until 2011 that Telep made his manuscript available free of charge for publication online and as an e-book .

Wing Commander - The book for the film

  • Author: Peter Telep
  • German translation: Jürgen Heinzerling
  • German first edition: November 1999
  • Published by Bastei Lübbe
  • ISBN 3-404-23218-6
  • Original title: "Wing Commander: The Novel (Movie Universe, Book 1)", first published in 1999 by Harper Entertainment

As the title suggests, this is the novel for the movie Wing Commander from 1999. It completely follows the plot of the film and also contains a story part about a betrayal, which was filmed but not in the final version of the film was included.

This novel is the prelude to a trilogy of novels based on Film-Universum. In the original English version, there is an adapted version of the book called Junior Novelization ( ISBN 978-0-06-106556-9 ) for young adults. Bastei Lübbe Verlag published the German translation of the book shortly after the film, which made it appear chronologically in the German Wing Commandere series as the fifth volume between the translations of the Baen Books novels Das Herz des Tigers and Der Preis der Freiheit .

Pilgrim stars

  • Author: Peter Telep
  • First edition in English: 1999
  • Publisher: Harper Entertainment
  • ISBN 0-06-105986-2
  • only published in English

(Wing Commander Movie Universe, Book 2)

This second novel by Peter Telep is a direct successor to the film novel and is about a pilgrims' rebellion against the ruling confederation.

Pilgrim Truth

  • Author: Peter Telep
  • First edition: no official publication, 2011 free release of the English-language manuscript by the author
  • only published in English

(Wing Commander Movie Universe, Book 3)

Pilgrim Truth was supposed to be the end of the trilogy dealing with the film plot, but the novel written by Peter Telep was never published. However, the manuscript was allowed to be published on August 11, 2011 on the Wing Commander News website on the occasion of the 13th birthday of this site, with the support of Peter Telep and Electronic Arts. This book is also available as an e-book.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ben "BanditLOAF" Lesnick: Andrew Keith Interview . In: WCNews . November 16, 1996. Retrieved on 2012-03-301: “ The book ideas are still vague. One I'd like to do would involve a Kilrathi prince - a friendly one - from False Colors. Sort of Bonnie Prince Charle in Scotland, with Cats and carrier support by the Karga. The other would put the Landreich at war with the Confederation. I'm thinking of following something like the Alamo / Goliad / San Jacinto model. "
  2. ↑ a b Wing Commander News: Pilgrim Truth Released . News of the Pilgrim Truth being published in English. Retrieved June 4, 2012.
  3. ↑ a b Wing Commander News: Pilgrim Truth: Also an eBook . News about the publication of Pilgrim Truth as an English language e-book. Retrieved June 4, 2012.
  4. ^ Wing Commander . www.origin.ea.com. March 30, 1997. Archived from the original on March 30, 1997. Retrieved July 30, 2011.
Wing Commander
Computer games and official companions to the Wing Commander game series
Main series

Wing Commander • II • III • IV • Prophecy ( Secret Ops )

Offshoot

Wing Commander Academy • Super Wing Commander • Wing Commander Armada • Wing Commander Arena

Privateer

Wing Commander: Privateer • Privateer 2

Film adaptations

Wing Commander Academy • Wing Commander - The Film

Others

Novels