Written by first-time novelist and long time video game writer Alexander Freed, “Star Wars: Battlefront: Twilight Company” is the latest release in the new “Star Wars” canon in Del Rey’s adult fiction line. The story is tied to the battles of the forthcoming video game “Star Wars: Battlefront,” though since the game doesn’t have a single player mode, I imagine the book will be much thicker on story.
The book tells the tale of the infantry of the Rebellion, most specifically Twilight Company, and their struggles in the days after the destruction of the first Death Star and leading through the Battle of Hoth and beyond.
Told mainly through the eyes of Sergeant Namir, the book gives us wide sweeping character arcs set over smaller arcs of individual battles and campaigns. It’s a fascinating structure to a novel and I marveled at how well Freed was able to juggle the characters required for a military science-fiction book of this scale and character arcs for characters who go from battle to battle across the universe. Instead of showing us their growth over one specific battle, we’re able to see the minute changes in their character over a dozen. And I think it suits the style of story quite well, while at the same time being able to cram in so much more “Star Wars” style imagery without sacrificing. It truly feels epic. The characters are desperate and on the run, and their constant moving from one part of the galaxy to another reflects that.
I was fascinated by how the book would handle infantry combat as well. Most of the military science-fiction I’ve read in the “Star Wars” universe has been X-wing based. The books by Michael A. Stackpole and Aaron Allston had lots of flying and lots of dogfights in them and it created a certain kind of special forces, “Mission: Impossible” feel. This book was a stark contrast to that, but in a good way. I don’t really recall reading any “Star Wars” book quite like this and that’s a good thing.
As for supporting characters. the most important character other than Namir is probably Everi Chalis. She’s a defecting Imperial who is working with Twilight Company to repair her reputation and to win her her freedom after being captured. She’s an artist, and cold and calculating in some ways, but has to adapt first to being an Imperial, and finding a way to do that, and then switch to being a Rebel. I really love what they’ve been doing in showing us the mindset of the sort of people on both sides who cross over and this book was no exception.
We’re also shown what it’s like to be a main character in your story, but a side character in the galaxy. Chalis is convinced that she is so important that Darth Vader is after her, when they finally run into Vader and his singular purpose is a person they’ve never heard of named Skywalker, well, it puts things in perspective for her. It reminded me a lot of the scene in “Lost Stars” when Thane and company are complaining about a bunch of new guys they’ve never heard of being given command of the Endor mission, and I think these scenes are important. The heroes of the Rebellion are famous in our world. Not theirs. And I think that’s going to mean a lot as we get into “The Force Awakens.”
I had only two minor complaints about the book. First, at times, I felt it was a bit overlong. It could have been shorter and I think it would have been paced a much tighter read. Second, the villains weren’t the most dynamic in a “Star Wars” book either, but I found that easily forgivable. This is truly a book about war, and in books about war the biggest villain is war itself. You don’t always need a physical enemy to be fighting against. And I think this book was clearly illustrative of that.
The prose was excellent, otherwise, visceral and descriptive. The characters were fascinating and surprising, and the action was incredibly well-wrought. I quite enjoyed this jaunt into a group of rebel infantry. I’m not sure how involved in this story and these locations the game will get, but Freed certainly makes me want to visit this particular version of Hoth, and Sullust, and Coyerti.
And, to be honest, it makes me incredibly excited for “Rogue One” more than almost anything.
This is the book you’re looking for if you’ve been looking for the “Wars” in “Star Wars.”
8 out of 10.
“Star Wars: Battlefront: Twilight Company” is out now. There’s a prequel short story to the novel (written by my good friend Janine Spendlove) in issue #161 of “Star Wars Insider.” The “Battlefront” game comes out November 17.