Survivor's Quest is a sequel of sorts to Outbound Flight, and gives Zahn one more chance to feature the Chiss in one of his novels. I kinda feel like Zahn wears out their welcome, since the story feels overlong; it's detailed, without that details adding much to the story. As usual, the story is serviceable, but I'm not enough of a Zahn fanboy to let my feelings overrride a story that's functional, but not necessarily the best he has to offer (see: Joe R. Lansdale).

The paperback edition includes the novella Fool's Bargain, which features the 501st squad before they get to the story of Survivor's Quest, and I liked that story a lot more than I liked the full novel. For one, it's short enough that Zahn doesn't get too bogged down in his detailed plots; for another, that lack of detail lets the characters shine, for once. They're about the same kinds of characters one would expect to find in a Zahn novel, but they're more impactful in the shorter form.