Star Wars Beyond the Films‘ Nathan P. Butler is now posting short, non-spoiler reviews for many new releases. Spoiler-filled discussion will often follow in the weeks or months thereafter on the podcast.
Alphabet Squadron by Alexander Freed (hardcover, 2019)
An X-wing, a U-wing, a Y-wing, an A-wing, and a B-wing. Put them together, and you have an alphabet soup of starfighter names. Add some pilots, an enemy threat, and about 400 pages of prose, and you have a “squadron novel.” This week welcomes the arrival of Alphabet Squadron in the novel of the same name by Alexander Freed (Battlefront: Twilight Company, Rogue One novelization). Star Wars has a pretty strong background in starfighter squadron novels, though. Does this one live up to that legacy, and how does this crossover with Marvel’s TIE Fighter really work (or not)?
Alphabet Squadron
Alphabet Squadron was a novel I was moderately excited for when it was announced. At first, the title put me off, but its almost mocking tone toward the squadron’s concept is mirrored by characters in-universe such that it feels more natural after actually reading Freed’s tale. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when first hearing about the novel, though. This was a Star Wars starfighter squadron novel, which evoked memories of Michael Stackpole and Aaron Alston’s classic X-wing series, which was intriguing. On the other hand, Alexander Freed’s Star Wars works are known less for an X-wing-esque tone and more for their gritty take on war and the darker side of the galaxy far, far away. Would this be a character-based squadron tale with more focus on a smaller group of individual characters than Freed’s Twilight Company, or would it be a dark take on starfighter combat in the almost unrelentlingly dark tone of Twilight Company?
The answer is essentially “yes” to both.
Alphabet Squadron follows the eponymous starfighter squadron, thrown together by circumstances to work for a New Republic Intelligence operative (and his reprogrammed torture droid), as they face the Empire’s Shadow Wing of ace TIE pilots. Set between Return of the Jedi and Chuck Wendig’s first Aftermath novel, the squadron’s pursuit of Shadow Wing takes place in an era the Story Group’s “new” Canon has dabbled in but not heavily explored. It makes good use of Operation Cinder, seen previously in the Shattered Empire comic series and Battlefront II video game, to provide a background of post-ROTJ Imperial attrocities that propel the novel’s lead, former Imperial pilot (now defector) Yrica Quell, into the action. The tale is primarily one of Alphabet Squadron hunting for Shadow Wing, pushing toward an inevitible clash, but that broader plot serves as the connective tissue for the development of the pilots’ own backstories and interactions, along with developing their place within the New Republic forces (with a major appearance by a particular Rebel general).
The starfighter action is gripping, yet somewhat broad in its description. This isn’t the act-for-act, step-by-step battle plotting of Michael Stackpole’s X-wing novels, but the progression of battles remains clear for the reader. The threat of Shadow Wing and “Grandmother” (Commander Nuress, leader of the Imperial forces that include “her” Shadow Wing) feels real, and the Imperials come off as properly cruel (especially in one non-combat conversation between the two sides). The New Republic team’s members are all properly differentiated, as are the roles of their individual starfighters in battle, which adds a nice element of strategy to how their battles play out.
That said, the novel for the most part left me somewhat “cold.” I finished the novel with the feeling that none of our primary characters were particularly likeable. Differentiated enough to be able to fit a quick sound byte description and developed in their main characteristics, but never quite breaking out of the box of how one might descibe them: “bitter lone survivor,” “Imperial defector with a secret,” “grumbly Intel guy,” etc. That in and of itself wouldn’t make them unlikeable, but their interactions and portrayals here provided little to like. Perhaps it was due to how grim the novel tends to be. This is much more in line with Twilight Company‘s “war is hell” aesthetic than fans looking for a Canon analogue to X-wing will be hoping for. In particular, there is a “gut punch” moment near the end of the book in relation to one of the characters that did indeed cause me to have an emotional reaction, but my immediate response to that emotional reaction was to question just how much more impactful it would have been if I actually cared about any of these characters. As it stands, the only character that left me with a positive impression was the team’s torture droid (who acts as a psychologist or psychiatrist for the group at times).
I find myself comparing this novel often with the original Aftermath in that we have a soild foundation here for more development and stronger novels in the second and third outings for this trilogy, but it is a story told in a style that drags down its potential and features characters who we didn’t know or care about prior to the novel and know a bit about yet still dont’ really care about by the end of it. I was pleasantly surprised with Wendig’s Life Debt and Empire’s End after being disappointed by Aftermath, though, so I won’t dismiss the possibility that Alphabet Squadron‘s two follow-ups could also surprise me and bulid upon this novel’s scaffolding to create something impressive for fans of Star Wars “starfighter books.”
Meanwhile, something should also be said for the novel’s publishing premise. Alphabet Squadron is being promoted as a crossover event with the Marvel Comics mini-series TIE Fighter by Jody Houser. As of the date of the novel’s release, the first two issues of TIE Fighter have also been released, and if the first two issues are any indication, the idea of this as a “crossover event” is vastly overstated.
TIE Fighter follows Shadow Wing, but while it is under the same Imperial commanding officer (Shakara “Grandmother” Nuress), the main story of the comic series otherwise seems to have no realtion to the novel (which makes some sense, given that the comics are set between the Battles of Hoth and Endor, while the novel is set between the Battles of Endor and Jakku). The only other tie thus far has been a small story placed after the main story of TIE Fighter #1 (The Shadow Falls, Part 1) in which Yrica (the novel’s main protagonist) speaks briefly with one of the comic’s main pilots, Zin Graw, in a conversation that foreshadows Yrica’s eventual post-Cinder defection. It woud perhaps be better to say that they share concepts in the already-shared universe structure of Star Wars media. Calling this a “crossover event,” at least so far, seems to be rather misleading. They appear to simply be a tie-in promotion thus far, not a true crossover by any means.
The Verdict
Aphabet Squadron is a strange beast. It tells its story competently and sets up characters and situations that could promise bigger and better things in the rest of the trilogy it has launched, but it is a story that brings little to the table in terms of likeable characters amid its dark atmosphere, resulting in an experience that feels like a shadow (no pun intended) of the concept’s potential.
Do I regret reading it? No. Do I still have hope for its sequels? Yes. Would I recommend this one? Well, as they say, your mileage may vary.
Recommended for: Those looking for a darker take on Star Wars starfighter squadron novels, those who prefer a more realistic take on Star Wars‘ Star Warriors, and those who want to be sure they are ready for the next two novels in this trilogy.
Not recommended for: Those seeking anything at all resembling the X-wing series, those for whom grim war tales aren’t a preferred style of Star Wars storytelling.
The copy used for this review was provided by Del Rey, as was an uncorrected proofs copy, though the reviewer had a copy on preorder anyway.
An excellent review! Thorough and very informative. Thank you, Nathan!