One more to go.

Great story after the destruction of the Death Star but it did get a little confusing with the junking around of viewpoints and timeline.

Welcome, Fellow Book Worms!

If you are like me and love Star Wars, this has been an amazing year for you. I have loved reading the books released in Disney-Lucasfilm's new canon, and I have found the new streamlined canon to be fun and refreshing. New characters are being introduced and peppered throughout the latest materials. Of interest, we have seen these new characters being present at major battles that we know very well from watching the movies.

But what was the story of those men and women in the trenches? Enter Twilight Company, brave squadron and the backbone of much of Rebellion's ground strikes against the Empire.



Star Wars- Battlefront: Twilight Company by Alexander Freed (Star Wars: the Old Republic) excels at bringing to the forefront the struggles of the Rebellion's many ground troops. Set during and after Episode V, it is a war novel with a galactic twist that is a page-turner from the first chapter until the end. It is filled with many interesting new characters, and even has them face Darth Vader in a chilling (literally) encounter on the planet Hoth during the events of the Empire Strikes Back.

Among these new characters are:

Hazram Namir- a Twilight Company officer with a violent past that unfolds in chapters that occur in flashbacks. He is the heart of this story, with a fearless approach to his task as soldier of the Rebellion.
Gadren- a behemoth, four-armed Besalisk, who is a wall of defense in battle. He has seen many atrocities committed by the Empire, and works to keep the Rebellion alive by recruiting soldiers, one of which is Hazram.
Brand- bounty hunter, and Twilight Company opperative. She is stealth personified and the sharpest shooter in the company.
Thara Nyende- resident of Sullust and loyal Imperial Stormtrooper, SP-475. She struggles internally with what sees in battle. Her own loyalties to the Empire and family are tested as she faces the Resistance Forces on Sullust, led by Nien Numb.
Governor Evari Chalis- a student of Count Vidian (Star Wars: A New Dawn) and defector from the Empire with many secrets of the Imperial machine's inner workings. She is a dangerous element that has been marked for death by her former employers. And believes that she is being pursued by Darth Vader.
After the extraction of Governor Chalis from Haidoral Prime, Twilight Company meets on their converted Blockade Runner, the Thunderstrike, to discuss the information that Chalis has to give to the Rebellion. According to her, the best way to destroy the Empire is to strike out at their resources. Through various campaigns on many worlds, Twilight Company attacks Imperial forces. They are met with resistance by the Star Destroyer, Herald, and the ruthless, newly appointed agent of Emperor Palpatine, Prelate Verge. The young agent clashes with the Herald's captain, Tabor Seitaron, over the importance of their mission, and the often cruel machinations of Verge.

Our first step into the original trilogy comes when Rebel Alliance High Command requests that Governor Chalis meet with them at their newly established base on the planet Hoth. Separating from the Thunderstrike, Namir, Chalis, and several Twilight Company soldiers travel to Echo Base. There, Namir and his soldiers join the Rebel soldiers as plans begin to unfold within High Command. But they are unaware that a Probe Droid has been dispatched by Darth Vader's fleet. They eventually are found and must evacuate. In the trenches of Echo Base, Twilight Company fight against the Empire's walkers and Stormtrooper battalions. When Vader lands on the planet Chalis is sure he has come to retrieve her. Meanwhile the Thunderstrike is attacked by Prelate Verge, resulting in devastating consequences. After the Hoth, Twilight Company regroups. They mourn their dead, and begin their final strike against the Empire's resources: the destruction of the Kuat ship yards (makers of Star Destroyers). The stakes are high as Twilight Company enters into the greatest battle of their unit's existence.

Alexander Freed is no stranger to Star Wars, having written novels based in the Old Republic era. His knack for taking video games, and fully realizing them into novel form is impressive...most impressive. I was given both sides of the Galactic War, which laid out an interesting perspective for me when I was experiencing the events from the Episodes IV and V. The swift and often terrifying encounters with the Empire shows a Rebellion on the run dealing with the repercussions of destroying the Death Star. At the end of this book I felt incredible admiration for Twilight Company due to the author's skill at character development. I was never once bored with this book, and appreciated the fast-paced story that was filled with excitement.

Star Wars-Battlefront: Twilight Company is a five-star spectacle that kept me turning pages way past my bedtime! I highly recommend this novel to not only Star Wars fans, but fans of war novels.

Because there is always time to read,
Xepherus3

For a first novel for Alexander Freed I thought it was a fun read and a good effort. I'm looking forward to more SW war action stories and hope Freed gets more chances to improve and evolve as an SW writer.

Though part of me wishes Karen Traviss could be persuaded to come back to SW too.

This is definitely one of the better Star Wars books I've read. I was surprised by how much I liked it. Freed does an excellent job of showing us what the cost of war is, physically and psychologically. Star Wars stories seem to often boil down to good guys and bad guys, light vs. dark, so I appreciated how Freed showed that in war, at least when it comes to the soldiers fighting on the ground, there isn't really a right side and a wrong side; there's just people doing horrible and necessary things for survival. Soldiers die every few pages, people lose limbs and lives and sanity, and over and over this raw, gritty story impressed on me that this is what war looks like. Freed showed me a side of Star Wars I'd never seen before; there are no Force users swooping in to save the day here, no major players turning the tide of battle. The price of victory comes at the cost of ordinary people making terrible sacrifices, and some loose ends are never going to be tied because that's just not the way this world works.

I loved how Gadren's wisdom and compassion completely defied his appearance; Namir and Roach's sibling-like bond gave the story much-needed moments of humanity, and Freed skillfully made Challis as sympathetic as she was appalling. I particularly enjoyed the contrast of the main story with a subplot about an ordinary stormtrooper who truly believes in her cause; showing how each side views the other as enemies emphasized to me that no one is truly "right" in war, and no one is ever the winner.

The action scenes could get a little slow and drawn out at times, and I'm not sure I entirely understood why Namir decided Sullust was the worthier final battle than the original goal of Kuat. But overall, this was an engaging, nuanced story about how the actual wars in Star Wars are won and lost, and it added significant depth to how I think about the battles fought in the Star Wars universe.

I wouldn't say this was heart wrenching, compelling, or deeply philosophical on the intricacies of Star Wars. But, it was a good book to pass the time and to have an interesting view of the war through the eyes of a man who doesn't get the moral agenda behind it, and just focuses on fighting his way through life. Could be improved to really make an impact, but isn't terrible.