Alphabet Squadron was written by Alexander Freed and published by Del Rey on June 11, 2019.
Synopsis
Yrica Quell has defected from the Empire’s elite 204th Imperial Fighter Wing, AKA Shadow Squadron, after witnessing the senseless destruction of Palpatine’s post-mortem plot Operation Cinder. Recruited by New Republic Intelligence to help take out her old unit, she becomes the leader of Alphabet Squadron, a collection of five pilots in five different types of ships.
Review
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Among the fanbase, there will inevitably be comparisons drawn between Alphabet Squadron and the now Legends series of X-Wing novels. Not by me, however, because I have never read any of the X-Wing novels. I can’t say whether or not Alphabet Squadron is better or worse than any given book in the aforementioned series. I will say that, in my opinion, Alphabet Squadron is an outstanding novel in and of itself. As a matter of fact, I would say that it is right up there with Bloodline as the best post-ROTJ book that we have so far gotten in the new Canon. One of the first things that struck me about this book was the depth and thought that it puts into the process of Imperials defecting to the Rebellion/New Republic. In other stories it often feels like it’s a matter of “Oh, you’re a good guy now? Cool, here’s an X-Wing!” Of course, many of those defectors were pre-Endor and came to the Rebellion during or after their time in the Academy (e.g., Biggs, Wedge, Hobbie); but, despite having had childhood fantasies of joining the Rebels, Yrica Quell served the Empire for several years. She served it loyally, even if her loyalty was to her comrades rather than the Emperor or the Empire itself. When she does defect, she is sent to a camp called Traitor’s Remorse and recruited by Caern Adan, a NR Intelligence officer. Adan is a flawed and manipulative character; his belief in the importance of a strong intelligence community to protect the fledgling government is understandable and admirable, but his means to achieve this end are not always noble. Adan is assisted by IT-O, a reprogrammed Imperial interrogation droid, who functions as a cross between an interrogator and a therapist for Yrica and others. Needless to say, his best friend the floating torture ball doesn’t do a lot to endear him to people.
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Alphabet Squadron does not start off fully formed. Much of the book is about the group coming together. Yrica and the mysterious Kairos are sent to retrieve Nath Tensent, a former corrupt Imperial pilot who defected to the Rebellion with his entire squadron a few years prior. Several months ago they were attacked by Shadow Wing and Nath, the only survivor, has basically been AWOL. Parallel to this, we meet Wyl Lark and Chass na Chadic, A-Wing and B-Wing pilots who barely escape a run in with Shadow Wing while trying to get crucial information about a fortified Imperial base back to the NR. When the group comes together, they are assigned to work out of Gen. Hera Syndulla’s battle group. Hera’s appearance here was a pleasant surprise. She has a solid supporting role that works well and doesn’t take the focus off of our main characters too much. The book takes its time to develop these characters; it slows down in places but never stalls. It’s all worth it, though. There’s plenty of measured and tense action leading up to it, but when the big showdown comes about three quarters of the way into the book, it is relentless. There is a theme throughout the book that all of the main characters are keeping something hidden. There are some you feel like you can trust, others you’re not sure about, and some you know you shouldn’t. The old “unreliable narrator” device is employed to great effect here. I think that’s one of the reasons Hera’s inclusion is important; we know her; we know exactly what kind of person she is and we know we can trust her. You can’t say the same for everybody in this story.
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A well developed and multi-faceted cast of characters abounds, but the heart of the story is Yrica Quell. Is she a hero for abandoning the Empire, or a traitor? Is she telling the whole truth about her defection? Her journey from being an Imperial, to a defector, to a New Republic squadron leader is compelling and nuanced. She must learn that being part of a NR unit is quite unlike being part of an Imperial one. Even though she is disgusted with the actions of the Empire as a whole, she still grapples with her sense of camaraderie and sympathy for those in the rank and file who carry out the orders; and that struggle is presented in some very real and vivid ways; so much so that, at times, you really do question whether she will be able to pull the trigger when one of her old squad-mates is in her sights. Alphabet Squadron is a story about an Imperial learning how to be a Rebel, set against the backdrop of a galaxy where the Rebels have to learn how to be the winners who are now running things instead of the underdogs who are always on the verge of being defeated.
Notes
No appearances from any of our big name movie heroes here, but I think that’s a great thing. With the exception of a nice supporting role for Hera, the characters in this book stand on their own.
This book is supposed to be the first in a trilogy; but fear not, you get a complete and satisfying story here. That said, I look forward to future installments. It also ties in with Marvel’s TIE Fighter mini-series which tells a story of Shadow Wing before the death of Palpatine.
Operation Cinder was previously seen in Shattered Empire and Battlefront II.
Comic Pack Wish List:
Any and everybody in Alphabet Squadron; Adan with IT-O; of course we desperately need a realistic and super-articulated Hera.
Score:
I honestly tried to think of a reason to give this book a score of 4 instead of 5. I even read other reviews after writing this one, and the only real complaint I see from people who didn’t like it is that it’s not X-Wing. Irrelevant. 5 Skulls.
