Frequent visitors
have undoubtedly noticed that the Star Wars book reviews have been in
a rough patch for quite some time. The last truly excellent novel we
covered was over a year ago with everything since being at best a
passable way to waste time. This has slowed my progress considerably
but like a good trooper I've continued to march forward, however
slowly, from one title to the next. Finally it seems as though our
luck is about to change as I just finished a book that, while not
great, marks a substantial step away from the lackluster stories
we've been covering. If you would be so kind, sit down and let's talk
about Battlefront II: Inferno Squad.
A prequel and
tie-in to the second Battlefront game, Inferno Squad
focuses on the formation of the titular group of crack imperial
soldiers. Note that I have not played the game so I can say nothing
of how consistent characterization is between the two mediums or
whether there's anything in these pages that lends any real weight to
the games events. We're just gonna tackle this as it's own beast for
now and maybe look into a deeper connection should I be lucky enough
to find the game on some super-discount rack.
I should point out
that the cover is a total crock of shit. This is not an intense
combat focused war novel. This is somber espionage thriller featuring
very little action. Admittedly it is a very nice image, if rather
blatant false-advertising.
Our Story begins
as the end of A New Hope with the rebels waging a last stand
against the Death Star. We all know how this battle pans out but
talented tie fighter pilot and imperial darling Iden Versio is
shocked to find her side suffering defeat. Having survived with a
deepened hatred towards rebels Iden is soon drafted by her father
into a new task force meant for more secretive operations. Early on
this is fun adventures like crashing weddings to steal information
but it soon escalates as the group is sent to infiltrate The
Dreamers, one of the last surviving branches of Saw Gerrera's
partisans.
The core team is
made up of Iden, who's a total stick in the mud. Second-in-command is
her childhood friend, Gideon Hask. He's more cocky and lively though
as we find later, he's more vicious than he lets on. On the tech side
we've got Del Meeko, a gentle soul who in another life could easily
have been a rebel or basic civilian. Finally the information wiz and
linguist Seyn, a tiny and youthful agent with little understanding
of people. Together these personalities brunch off each-other in
entertaining fashion which means it's a shame that they spend a
decent amount of the book separated or locked in sub-stories with
other characters. That's the nature of this story though, taking
these overconfident believers in their cause and forcing them to deal
with a more complex worldview.
Once the team is
finally part of the Dreamers, each gets mixed up with different
members in unexpected ways. Del spends time with a sickly, aging
alien engineering as the two investigate ancient machinery together.
Gideon worms his way up the chain of command. Iden learns the art of
being a terrorist mouthpiece from a mysterious mentor, and Seyn is
romanced by a young man. Discovering your enemies are actual people
can be difficult enough on its own, but the team must also undergo
missions against both Imperial soldiers and innocent civilians for
the sake of maintaining their cover.
If anything, this
is one of the most emotionally complex books we've covered, but not
so much fun. That's both a strength and weakness. We've talked about
worse books that have actually been a little more entertaining, just
that this one has enough depth to make up for it. Even so, it can get
a bit tiring to read chapter after chapter of emotional turmoil in a
poorly lit cavern. The whole thing would likely fall apart with
weaker prose or a bad ending. Author, Christie Golden has enough
sense to keep things on track, introduce a few interesting twists,
and leave the characters in a place where we can see them growing,
even if the change hasn't taken place just yet.
As far as it's
importance to the greater universe, that's a little hard to peg.
Obviously some of these characters move on to the game and it's clear
how this adventure could influence their future growth. As for this
particular outing, it's a bit removed. The Partisans are nearly
extinct by this point in cannon so wiping out a few stragglers
doesn't alter a whole lot. Inferno Squad doesn't meet too many
well-known characters beyond The Mentor. His identity is kept secret
until the climax and while it may seem obvious to someone who lives
and breaths this franchise, it took a more casual fan like myself a
little extra time. When the big reveal happened, the name was
familiar but I wasn't placing it. A trip to the internet gave me the
refresher I needed which resulted in an “oh neat”moment. Likewise
this character gives us the only incomplete narrative thread. That's
a topic for another day when and if it should ever be touched on
again.
You might be able
to see why Inferno Squad is a little tough to recommend despite it's
overall quality. I doesn't have the massive scope of something like
Lost Stars, nor does it have the playful tone of Guardians
of the Whills, or the importance of Bloodline. It's a
bleak, draining tome of emotional distress. Yet it's so well done
that It'd be foolish to cast it aside.
Time to place this
on the boards and honestly I'm not 100% certain on which spot it
deserves so much as what bracket it belongs too. It's definitely not
top tier material, just a little too slow and maudlin for that.
However there is a quality and depth here that's lacking in so many
of the other novels. Furthermore there's decent pacing and better
than average prose. Overall a very solid book that sits just outside
of the pack leaders. I'm thinking it beats Thrawn, but does it
outdo Tarkin? Time to find out.
1. Lost Stars by
Claudia Gray
2. New Dawn by
John Jackson Miller
3. Bloodline by
Claudia Gray
4. Guardians of
the Whills by Greg Rucka
5.
Ashoka by E.K.
Johnston
6. Battlefront
II: Inferno Squad by Christie Golden
7. Tarkin by
James Luceno
8. Thrawn by
Timothy Zahn
9. Battlefront: Twilight Company by Alexander Freed
10. Moving
Target by Cecil Castelluci and Jason Fry
11. Before the
Awakening by Greg Rucka
12. The Legends
of Luke Skywalker by Ken Liu
13. Catalyst
by James Luceno
14. Aftermath:
Life Debt by Chuck Wendig
15. Smuggler's
Run by Greg Rucka
16. Heir to the
Jedi by Kevin Hearne
17. Lords of the
Sith by Paul S. Kemp
18. Cobalt
Squadron by Elizabeth Wein
19. Aftermath by
Chuck Wendig
20. The Weapon
of a Jedi by Jason Fry
This feature has
been on shaky ground for a while. I'd honestly considered dumping it
altogether during that stretch of poor offerings. Inferno Squad has
perked me up at least enough to get working on the other books I've
got sitting around. So prepare yourselves to see a few more of these
and once I finish my current crop, we'll make a decision as to
whether or not to continue. See you next time with most likely Sentai
recaps, but maybe something else. Allergies are kicking in a few
weeks early so there's always a chance of writing something
completely delirious.
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