Star Wars: Battlefront #1 – Twilight Company (2015) by Alexander Freed – Book Review

I started Twilight Company (2015) without expectations because: 1. I found the similarly themed A New Dawn (the first Disney Star Wars canonical novel) average. But again, that was written by a different author. 2. This book serves as a video game tie-in. But this novel was both better than A New Dawn and pretty damn good for a tie-in.

The best aspect is the description of the action sequences. The only other SW novel to have a similar level of depiction is Paul S. Kemp’s Lords of the Sith. And here both sides get their due when it comes to the battlefront—pun intended.

Yet, the novel still features tropes which have been used in many SW canonical novels. 1. A higher level employee of the Empire joins the rebellion and their true intentions aren’t revealed until the third act of the story. 2. The main character has a polarizing background. 3. There’s a cameo by Darth Vader (though this was my favorite part of the novel as it was so wonderfully choreographed).

Nevertheless, the novel (considering its genre) as a whole is not predictable which came as a surprise. It is slowly paced at times but balances this aspect with adrenaline-pumping action scenes. I look forward to reading the next entry in the Battlefront series, Inferno Squad, although by this point I have already finished Battlefront II’s campaign. I also anticipate any upcoming SW literature from Alexander Freed as his writing style is equal to that of my other favorite Disney SW authors such as James Luceno, Paul S. Kemp and Chuck Wendig.