By: Christian Corah
Descriptives
Page count: 408, hardcover
Author: Alexander Freed
Timeline: Follows Return of the Jedi and precedes the Aftermath trilogy
Main characters: Yrica Quell, Chass na Chadic, Wyl Lark, Kairos, Nath Tenset, Caern Adan, Devon Lhent, and Hera Syndulla
Brief synopsis: Alphabet Squadron is made up of unlikely members, including outlaws and imperial defectors, but they are united over one thing: taking down Shadow Wing.
Gut Feeling
Alphabet Squadron is a book that I’ve put off reading for a while. I have realized that something I am really looking for in my Star Wars novels is additions to Star Wars lore. This is something that I was not expecting from Alphabet Squadron, so it kinda fell under my radar. But, I have still heard really good things about the book and knew that there was a ton of anticipation for Shadow Fall, so I figured the story itself had to be great. As you can see from the main character list, there are many characters that are featured in this novel. The only one that we are familiar with is Hera Syndulla (and she really isn’t featured), so this caused most of the first half of the book to move kind of slow. I was not sure if I was going to like it or not, but the last quarter of the book was very good. This is when it all came together and the development of sections of the book paid off well. Something that I was keeping in mind while reading this book was that it is the first of a trilogy. And it certainly felt like it. On its own, it was a good book. But as the first book of a trilogy, this book was excellent. I am reading Shadow Fall now and expect it to be even better. But we’re talking about Alphabet Squadron, so let’s get into the details.
Characters (10/10 pts)
Alphabet Squadron was certainly a character led novel. Alphabet Squadron itself is made up of six new members of the Star Wars universe (only five are shown below because Caern Adan works in intelligence for the squad instead of flying with them). What Freed did so well is give each of these characters their own unique backstories. No two characters were alike and although Yrica Quell did have the most attention from the novel, all characters had main- character-like depth. This did cause the first half of the book to move slowly (which I’ll discuss later) as these characters were developed, but because this is the first book of a trilogy, that makes sense: where if this were a standalone book, it would be too much time devoted to development of the characters. But because there are so many well developed characters, there is a lot that the reader can relate to. They can either relate really well to one of the characters, or a little to all of them. Something else the book did was have a somewhat separate storyline for Devon Lhent (I’m going to avoid spoilers on his character) who didn’t have a major impact on the story in Alphabet Squadron, but set him up to have an impact in Shadow Fall. This means that this next book won’t have to have hardly any development stage and should get right into action. I am easily giving 10 points for this section.
Writing Style (8.5/10 pts)
I’ve said this a million times and I’ll say it again, there is no poorly written Star Wars novel. They have always done a great job at selecting excellent authors to write the books. Freed’s style definitely leans towards being more detailed than normal. This carries beyond just the writing style to the plot itself, Freed loves going an inch wide and a mile deep. However, this didn’t make the book especially hard to read. It did lose some readability to the details, but not as much as I’d expect. It still flowed very well and the details that he added were important to the book so it paid off well. I am giving a slightly above average score of 8.5 for the writing style.
Plot (7.25/10 pts)
Although it is true that the book served its purpose as the first in a trilogy, it will still get hurt on some of the sections as I grade all novels as essentially being standalone. This will certainly be true for the book’s plot. The plot was definitely used by Freed as a device to develop the characters in the book. It wasn’t really about what was happening in the book, it was more so about what was happening to the characters and learning more about them. Like I said, this book was character led. After reading the book and just looking at what actually happened during the story, it wasn’t that much. And again I’ll say that it makes sense because it is setting up the rest of the trilogy, but it is true that the plot was not super exciting in Alphabet Squadron. What I can say that is good about the plot is from very early on the reader knows where the book is headed. We understand the objective. It also finished very strong, as all novels should. All characters reached closure for this part of the story and had intrigue for what was going to happen next in Shadow Fall. But despite this, because the plot was mostly used to develop characters, I am giving 7.25 points for the plot.
Intrigue (6.75/10 pts)
Like with the plot, this intrigue section will also get hurt due to Alphabet Squadron being the first book of a trilogy. While in the present most of what I was learning about the characters was interesting, that type of writing does not do much for the intrigue. Intrigue is built when something exciting is happening and the reader is compelled to find out what is going to happen next. Because most of the book was developing characters, I wasn’t on the edge of my seat waiting to learn about other characters. While the book did an excellent job at developing characters, it just isn’t super exciting. But the book still did it’s job and the next two books won’t need to spend much time in a development stage and should be excellent as a result of that. Once Alphabet Squadron got to the climactic finish, it was excellent. While I am giving a slightly below average score of 6.75 points for the intrigue, it is understandable being the first in a trilogy. It should not deter you from reading the book.
What does it add? (6/10 pts)
As I stated in my “gut reaction”, I mostly read books to learn more about Star Wars lore. I love what books can add to the Star Wars universe. This is a reason why I hadn’t read Alphabet Squadron for so long. And my assumption turned out to be right, it did not really add anything substantial to the Star Wars universe. While the book itself did provide a great story, it was lacking here. All I could think of that it added was blurring the lines between good and evil in Star Wars. It is not as clear cut as the Original Trilogy made it. But, Alphabet Squadron is not the first book to have done this and did not do it the best (Lost Stars by Cluadia Gray did it the best in my opinion). So, I am only giving 6 points for this section.
Logic (+0.5 pts)
While Alphabet Squadron didn’t add anything new to the Star Wars universe, it did help to explain one of Star Wars’ most prevalent plot holes (I say plot hole, but it is more of something that isn’t explained well). I am talking about the fact that the Jedi went from being protectors of the galaxy to a myth very quickly. This novel does help to provide an explanation for that. So, I am giving an extra half point.
Final Thoughts
So my final score for Alphabet Squadron is a 7.8 out of 10, or a C plus. This score is slightly below average for Star Wars novels that I have reviewed, but I hope that it does not deter you from reading it. If you are wanting a series of books that is high stakes and character led, I encourage you to start off by reading this book. It served its purpose perfectly as the first in the trilogy. I am reading Shadow Fall now and expect it to be better than the first. So if you like great stories in Star Wars, check this series out. But, if you just read Star Wars novels to learn more about Star Wars, this might not be the series for you.
I hope you enjoyed this book review and if there is a book that you want me to read or review, please let me know at christiancorah@gmail.com. As for now, I will only be doing Canon books (but in the future that might change).