I’ve been bouncing around a little with the new canon Star Wars books, having skipped a couple due to not getting my hands on them. I’m hoping I can eventually get back to the older ones that have been already released and give them a read and review. For now though, I got my hand on the latest Star Wars book to come out, Battlefront: Twilight Company, which has been released to coincide with the Star Wars Battlefront video game. Because the game doesn’t have a story, the book acts as a way for fans to get some much-needed action and story under the Battlefront name. The book excels at delivering the thrills, having the story follow a group of soldiers fighting for the Rebels under the company name Twilight. The story also jumps over to the Empire side of things and gives us a pretty neat look at the life of a Stormtrooper.
Publication: Nov. 3 2015
Pages: 416
Battlefront: Twilight Company takes place a few years after the destruction of the Death Star, also known as the Battle of Yavin. We are introduced to Namir, a high-ranking soldier in Twilight Company. What’s interesting about Namir is his back story of how he basically doesn’t believe in the cause of the fight, but instead, just enjoys the fighting and battles. He is neither a good guy or a bad guy, he just doesn’t see the point of this rebellion. It’s an interesting take on a character and I enjoyed it. We are also introduced to a defector from the Empire, Everi Chalis, who worked under the nefarious Count Vidian, a name you’ll remember from Star Wars: A New Dawn. She has decided to switch sides and carries a whole bunch of secrets the Rebels would kill for. This little story bit allows us to jump over to the beginning battle of the Rebel’s secret base on Hoth, to see what it was like for the soldiers on the ground, with a sprinkle of Vader thrown in the mix (Chalis thinks she’s more important than she really is, but she’s a mere speck of dirt when the objective is finding Skywalker.)
As I mentioned before, the book also has us tagging along with a Stormtrooper on Sullust, the planet where Lando’s co-pilot from Return of the Jedi, Nien Nunb lives. SP-457 believes that working for the Empire is a just cause and for the good of the people. It was very interesting to see the book show that not everyone on the “bad” team is evil and has you thinking about all the poor people who have been slaughtered by the Rebels, who are just doing what they think is right. Honestly, I would love a book about the life of a Stormtrooper, seeing the war play out through the eyes of a lowly fighter for the Empire. I think it would be pretty neat.
Star Wars Battlefront: Twilight Company was an exciting read, with plenty of action filling the pages. The book shows the life of a bunch of Rebel soldiers fighting against the pressing weight of the Empire. Most of the men and women are fighting just because that’s all they’ve known and they could have easily been fighting for the Empire if things happened differently in their past, which goes to show that war isn’t as black and white as you think it is. Highly recommended.
