Death and destruction follow the demon wherever he treads, and Gabriel is rarely far behind, waiting for his chance to extinguish the creature known as Temple once and for all.

But in Singapore during the Second World War, a lone soldier in possession of a shattering secret gets caught up in their battle. The knowledge he holds could change the course of their ancient conflict… and the fate of the world.

I've been meaning to get around to this for a while, and figured I'd try to start 2017 with another run of novella reads. Due to being sick and getting deep into Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn trilogy for most of the month, I didn't quite manage to get as much done as I was hoping, so expect more on that in February and March.

The Story:

"Death and destruction follow the demon wherever he treads, and Gabriel is rarely far behind, waiting for his chance to extinguish the creature known as Temple once and for all.

But in Singapore during the Second World War, a lone soldier in possession of a shattering secret gets caught up in their battle. The knowledge he holds could change the course of their ancient conflict… and the fate of the world."

Disclaimer

The publisher sent me a print ARC of this one last year, along with a book I had requested specifically.

The Review:

A Whisper of Southern Lights is billed as a stand-alone entry in Tim Lebbon's The Assassin series. However, I would still recommend reading the first installment first. While you can read this individually, things make a lot more sense with the things you learn in Pieces of Hate.

The previous book, Pieces of Hate, struck me as a good horror novella. The book actually consisted of two stories, however, the first being a short story called Dead Man's Hand. The difference between both of them was that DMH was narrated from the perspective of an outsider getting caught up with the protagonist, Gabriel, whereas Pieces of Hate gave us a story through Gabriel's own eyes.

A Whisper of Southern Lights mixes both perspectives, varying between the outsider's perspective and Gabriel from chapter to chapter. This works very well in my opinion, especially since I was more fond of the way Dead Man's Hand achieved its air of dark mystery and horror. Here, Tim Lebbon was able to intertwine the supernatural existence of his "hero" with that of a down on his luck war prisoner who just happened to stumble into events larger than himself and getting between Gabriel and his quarry, the assassin Temple. This even led to some cool misdirection as you follow the two characters, which was pulled off nicely in my eyes.

Plot-wise, things are similar enough to the previous book; Gabriel is still hunting Temple, still trying to get his revenge. This time they've ended up in Singapore during World War II, with the secondary protagonist being a soldier facing the japanese invasion. We get scenes in the jungles, in prison camps, and more background on Gabriel, more cool showings from our antagonist Temple, and even some overarching plot progression that has me curious for what's next for this series. While the general idea behind the story follows a similar formula to the other two stories before it, I don't think that's a bad thing. It keeps the feel of the series consistent while allowing Lebbon to provide more set-up and focus on the various settings in greater detail. It is a good compromise in my opinion, though I assume that the chase will come to a stop eventually, as hinted here.

I have to say, though: Where the first book wasn't pretty in any way, and especially gruesome in places, this one could be considered even nastier. The horrors of war are laid on thickly, and the japanese soldiers don't treat their prisoners of war well by any means. If you're a hygiene-freak, this book probably isn't for you, especially when it comes to one section about halfway through. Be prepared to feel grossed out. However, I appreciate that Lebbon did these things. War isn't clean, or pretty, and usually not even glorious. It is a miserable business of dealing death and being dealt your own in return. Where a lot of authors romanticize war, cowboys or pirates in fiction, Lebbon pays great attention to the more vile aspects of it all. Nobody is really a hero in this series, and things can always get a tad worse. I love that.

While A Whisper of Southern Lights isn't as bone-chilling as Dead Man's Hand was for me, it was a solid read that I enjoyed a great deal once I got to it. The author nailed the themes he was trying to gun for, and the feeling of utter misery that struck me with the first book is still as strong as ever. I'll definitely be reading the next book in the series, whenever it sees the light of day.

A Whisper of Southern Lights on Goodreads

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The Red Planet has fallen. The Dark Mechanicum must be stopped to ensure Terra's safety. An agent is despatched with a single goal: exterminate all life on Mars.

Soon after word reached Terra of Horus's nascent rebellion, Mars fell. Rogue elements within the Mechanicum priesthood, stirred by the Warmaster's promises of independence and prosperity, turned against the Imperium and forced the primarch Rogal Dorn to order an impenetrable blockade of the Red Planet. Now it has become clear that the corruption has spread too deep, and that more drastic measures must be taken if the Forge World Principal is to be reclaimed. Calling upon the expertise of those who witnessed the so-called 'Death of Innocence' firsthand, Lord Dorn and Malcador the Sigillite consider their final solution - the complete extermination of all life on Mars.

This is a review that I found surprisingly easy to write, so I figured I'd use it to get back into action here. Still sick, I'm afraid, but I'm getting back into the groove day by day. I wish this book had turned out better, however.

The Story:

"The Red Planet has fallen. The Dark Mechanicum must be stopped to ensure Terra's safety. An agent is despatched with a single goal: exterminate all life on Mars.

Soon after word reached Terra of Horus's nascent rebellion, Mars fell. Rogue elements within the Mechanicum priesthood, stirred by the Warmaster's promises of independence and prosperity, turned against the Imperium and forced the primarch Rogal Dorn to order an impenetrable blockade of the Red Planet. Now it has become clear that the corruption has spread too deep, and that more drastic measures must be taken if the Forge World Principal is to be reclaimed. Calling upon the expertise of those who witnessed the so-called 'Death of Innocence' firsthand, Lord Dorn and Malcador the Sigillite consider their final solution - the complete extermination of all life on Mars."

Disclaimer

I have read & reviewed this novella while being sick. It is at least possible that my view on the book is harsher as a result of outside factors.

The Review:

Cybernetica is one of the few Horus Heresy books that I felt were more of a chore to read than a pleasant experience. I did not enjoy it. I had to re-read sections over and over because they just wouldn't sink in, or I'd go back to re-read parts out of a feeling I missed something vital, especially after seeing praise for said sections online. But in the end I still feel unimpressed and dissatisfied with the story and its characters, and the big amount of action sequences.

I've mentioned the "battle-fatigue" problem somewhere before, though I can't remember which review it was. The term strikes me as important with Cybernetica too. It is full of action setpieces, some even pretty good, but the sheer volume of them compared to character development, interaction between cast members, and actual ongoings outside of he-strikes-I-strike moments is so mind-numbing to me, that I feel turned off from reading altogether if I can't get through the rest sooner rather than later. I build up an apathy towards the book and while that can get reverted if the book improves, Cybernetica never did. It left me cold.

My biggest complaint about the book is that it had so much promise to be something cool, exciting and with plenty of depth, yet chose not to be such. It had ample opportunity to be more than the sum of its parts, yet discarded these opportunities early on. When looking at the book, I can see many ways it could have gone differently in more fulfilling directions, yet reality is different.

Even looking at the cover art I see a massive missed opportunity. The diverse-Legion-Techmarines-doing-shit-on-Mars angle that the book outwardly promises with its Raven Guard, Ultramarine, Salamander and co lineup is compressed to barely two chapters. By the end of chapter two, the Raven Guard protagonist is on his own. The rest are goners, and never even got out of their tower or the hangar that is the stage for the first big (present-day) action setpiece. Yes, there's more action in flashbacks right off the start too. Either way, the idea of a dirty dozen infiltration mission on the Red Planet is discarded barely a quarter through the book, and that is where my enjoyment increasingly evaporated.

I liked the initial banter between the Techmarine initiates. They were representatives of their individual Chapters, with their own quirks and specialties. They argued, they assessed the situation, they decided to get out. They died. The book died with them. Instead of taking this entire angle of Legiones Astartes loyal to the Emperor over their Legions or the Omnissiah due to spending 30 years in training, which could have offered plenty of conflict between the group, have discussion of loyalties and their beliefs in how to purge Mars, Sanders scrapped it so quickly, it boggles my mind.

The Carrion, the Raven Guard protagonist, survives and reaches Terra. His struggles to get off Mars are handled off-page, between chapters. So is his recruitment to the Knights Errant. So is his own emotional development. It felt like there was too much slipping through the cracks at this point already that I found myself disconnected from the protagonist by chapter three of seven, the last of which he is not even in.

It didn't help that the only other character with a speaking role on his mission back on Mars ended up being a madman-heretek with what seemed like 5 lines throughout the rest of the story, one of which was "Tick, tock, tick, tock". Don't get me wrong, I liked Octal Bool's appearance in early flashbacks from his trial, and the idea behind him. But he was severely underused and his madness didn't allow for organic back and forth between him and the Carrion. His role made the Knight Errant feel even more isolated among his combat servitors and robot cohort.

I'm a reader who appreciates characters and their actions probably beyond everything else. Give me dialogue over swordblows any day. In that regard, Cybernetica is an utter failure. The showcasing of lumbering, emotionless machines doing their masters' bidding just doesn't appeal to me. It robbed the book of the type of content I enjoy most. But even then there would have been ways around it! The Tabula Myriad, the abominable AI construct that Octal Bool makes such a fuss over, could have offered a lot of conflict here. Instead, it cannot talk, and its influence is barely felt until the very end. It thinks and directs the other constructs but that's about it for the most part. It has enough impact on action scenes but barely any on the reader or the protagonists up until the climax. I almost forgot it was even there at times.

This is where I have to ask myself how this even happened. You got an actual artificial intelligence that came to the conclusion all the meat-things need to be purged because of their weakness and predicted, at least in part, a schism between humanity's factions. It even made plans and arrangements to achieve said purge and can influence machines around it. This is a setup brimming with potential for excitement and conflict and moral deliberations. It seems like a rich opportunity for any storyteller. And yet it takes a passive role, being a tool to achieve the mission instead of feeling like an integral part to it. Even the mad heretek worshipping it is sidelined for yet another fight against the Mechanicum's constructs.

The fights were technically good, and could have served a good dramatic purpose, but instead their volume throughout felt overbearing. With the book's original publishing timeframe, I have to wonder if it suffered from the infamous time in Black Library's life where Games Workshop proper exerted too much influence over the publishing arm. 2015 saw the peak of marketing brochure-like releases, with short stories presenting the release of the week in a super positive light and what not. I got a similar feeling here. Kastelan, Castellax, Vorax etc, the book highlights a lot of 2015's releases very prominently, to the point of annoyance. It would not surprise me in the least if this was a corporate mandate in line with other policy changes back then, rather than Rob's own vision that had been in the creative stages for a long time before, as evidenced by the name of the book being declared years earlier at events.
Either way, the product that ended up on the market read too much like an action piece than a moe introspective, exploratory epic of the Horus Heresy variety. That's what happens when you spew lightning at opponents or use magnet fists and put an Astartes into a giant Imperial Knight-sized mecha-body.

Despite all the missed opportunities, this is also the longest Horus Heresy novella so far, I believe. It is noticeably longer than Aurelian, the Corax novellas or other. Referring to the audiobook runtimes given by Black Library (since they don't give actual page numbers for their releases anymore), it compares closest to Rob Sanders' own The Honoured short novel for Betrayal at Calth, and is barely 10 minutes shorter than Sanders' Shadow of Ullanor for The Beast Arises. Yet it achieves so little that I thought was actually of consequence or gave a different perspective on the war with Mars, it has been one of the few books I end up thinking wasted my time.

The prose is, as often with Sanders, a bit heavy for my taste. Some people will love it, others will find it needlessly complex in places. He conjures up thick imagery, but it also requires you to glue yourself to the page to not miss a beat. I admit that this was difficult for me this time, due to being sick and my head buzzing with scrap code as it is. Maybe my lack of enjoyment is at least in part down to that.

I can definitely say that one stylistic trait of Sanders is not to my taste at all, though: He barely ever gives you breathing room within any given chapter of his books. Where in most books you'll come across scene breaks, blank lines that invite a short break, or allow you to close the book at and get off your train, Sanders writes non-stop. You either finish a chapter or re-read sections just to get back to where you left off. This is the primary factor that has so far discouraged me from reading his Atlas Infernal, even though it has been sitting on my shelf since it released. If I have to get through about 40 pages without breaks just to get out of the prologue, my enthusiasm dwindles. Cybernetica is similar to that, and as a result felt exhausting to read.

Cybernetica lost me. Between the lack of more esoteric discussion, the battles that overstayed their welcome, the weird, out-of-character-despite-dark-code boss waiting at the end, the lack of poignant dialogue, the mission objective we all know from the start will not be achieved no matter what, and the disconnect from the characters, all presented in a relentless avalanche, this has to be one of my least favorite books in the entire Horus Heresy series. It didn't stimulate, it exhausted me.

Cybernetica on Goodreads

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Following the disastrous invasion of Sotha and the dimming of the Pharos' light, Gendor Skraivok languishes on board the VIII Legion flagship Nightfall. Distrusted by his allies and despised by his rivals, he nonetheless means to claw back leadership of the Night Lords from the pretender Captain Shang, by fair means or foul. And, rather than a portent of doom, the daemonic blade that seems to have chosen him as its bearer may be the answer…

Here's yet another Horus Heresy short story from the Black Library Advent Calendar. Getting there!

The Story:

"Following the disastrous invasion of Sotha and the dimming of the Pharos' light, Gendor Skraivok languishes on board the VIII Legion flagship Nightfall. Distrusted by his allies and despised by his rivals, he nonetheless means to claw back leadership of the Night Lords from the pretender Captain Shang, by fair means or foul. And, rather than a portent of doom, the daemonic blade that seems to have chosen him as its bearer may be the answer…"

The Review:

The Painted Count follows on shortly after the events of Pharos. The novel is mandatory reading before you go into this short story, otherwise you'd be missing out. The short story has many call-backs to the novel and even a slice of Vulkan Lives, which surprised me.

In general, this is a more direct character piece on Skraivok and his standing within the Night Lords Legion. Where Pharos left us with questions as to his fate, and that of the Nightfall, The Painted Count aims to give answers. Skraivok is forced to embrace uncomfortable truths and comes to heads with Konrad Curze's equerry Shang, who first appeared way back when in The Dark King. The two represent the different spectrums of the Legion; one clinging to Curze and wanting vengeance, the other looking forward and trying to make their own way. Of course, the inherent selfishness of the Legion gets in the way of a fair vote on the new leadership, so things take some turns left and right.

The story as a whole serves as a stepping stone between Pharos and the assault on the Sol System. The Night Lords are being maneuvered into place, and we get a good close-up of Skraivok and his own philosophy. I can't say I disliked the Painted Count by any means - Haley's writing puts him as insane in his sanity. My one disappointment with the story was that it didn't explore Captain Shang well enough for my liking. This was Skraivok's show, of course, but a bit more dialogue from Shang, or maybe a scene from his point of view, could have benefitted the story and made it into a great one for me.

As it stands, The Painted Count was an exciting and satisfying read, establishing Gendor Skraivok as a name to watch out for in future installments of the series. It is a worthy part in the overarching Night Lords storyline of the Horus Heresy, and Haley's portrayal of the Legion is, in my eyes, absolutely fitting.

The Painted Count on Goodreads

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The human Imperium is vast indeed, and not all worlds are happy with the terms that grant them the Emperor’s protection. When the Carcharadons land on the mining planet of Zartak, instead of being welcomed, they are treated with suspicion and hostility by its population of miners. What dark secrets does this planet hide, and how far will its inhabitants go to protect them, even if it means pitting themselves against such powerful adversaries as the Adeptus Astartes? With both sides pursuing their own agenda, bloody conflict can be the only outcome.

I know December is over, and with it Black Library's Advent Calendar, but since I was getting a bit overwhelmed towards the second half of December, I figured it is still worth continuing reviews of the new short stories regardless. Happy to finally get this one out of the way in particular!

The Story:

"The human Imperium is vast indeed, and not all worlds are happy with the terms that grant them the Emperor’s protection. When the Carcharadons land on the mining planet of Zartak, instead of being welcomed, they are treated with suspicion and hostility by its population of miners. What dark secrets does this planet hide, and how far will its inhabitants go to protect them, even if it means pitting themselves against such powerful adversaries as the Adeptus Astartes? With both sides pursuing their own agenda, bloody conflict can be the only outcome."

The Review:

Carcharodons: The Reaping Time serves as a bit of a lead-in to Robbie MacNiven's full-length novel Carcharodons: Red Tithe, which I am excited to dig into soon. This taster, at the very least, is promising in its mystery and violence.
The "Space Sharks" have long been a topic I felt needed more attention in Warhammer 40,000. They are butchers by any other name, their origins hidden and it often felt surprising to me to see them on the Loyalist side at all. Their biggest appearance to date must have been during the Badab War books by Forge World, which I believe to have sold out years ago.

So seeing Robbie MacNiven get the chance to tackle the mysterious Chapter of Space Marines had me excited for sure. Best of all, this short story nails the relentless hunter theme nicely. Once these Space Marines smell blood, there is no turning back, and all that is left in their wake are corpses.
Thematically, MacNiven also married them with Maori influences, down to the characters' names. Various things from gear to organization bear aquatic influences, such as the 'Coral Shields', or the various teeth charms the marines of First Squad are wearing. Chainblades are standard issue here, of course, and this short story is easily one of the more brutal ones to come out of this holiday season!
Chief protagonist of the story is Librarian Te Kahurangi, whose psychic powers follow the shark-theme as well. Called the Pale Nomad, he seems more level-headed than his Company Master Akia, who epitomizes the relentless beast in them all. While Te Kahurangi easily gets the best coverage here, the rest of the squad has me intrigued too, especially when their gene-seed origins are put into question. Already hotly-debated in fan-circles, Robbie's take will give fans a lot more fuel for their speculation.

Most importantly, however, MacNiven manages to build up a satisfying story in miniature that presents this Chapter in a natural way, highlighting the unique traits and opening more mysteries to be solved, while also moulding them in his image. It turned out to be a fast-paced read full of action that laid the groundwork for future works on the Chapter without compromising on its stand-alone potential.
If you're unsure about the novel yet, then this short story should hold your answer.

Carcharodons: The Reaping Time on Goodreads

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Among the stars and across the vast expanses of space, the Galactic Civil War rages. On the battlefields of multiple worlds in the Mid Rim, legions of ruthless stormtroopers―bent on crushing resistance to the Empire wherever it arises―are waging close and brutal combat against an armada of freedom fighters. In the streets and alleys of ravaged cities, the front-line forces of the Rebel Alliance are taking the fight to the enemy, pushing deeper into Imperial territory and grappling with the savage flesh-and-blood realities of war on the ground.

Leading the charge are the soldiers―men and women, human and nonhuman―of the Sixty-First Mobile Infantry, better known as Twilight Company. Hard-bitten, war-weary, and ferociously loyal to one another, the members of this renegade outfit doggedly survive where others perish, and defiance is their most powerful weapon against the deadliest odds. When orders come down for the rebels to fall back in the face of superior opposition numbers and firepower, Twilight reluctantly complies. Then an unlikely ally radically changes the strategic equation―and gives the Alliance’s hardest-fighting warriors a crucial chance to turn retreat into resurgence.

Orders or not, alone and outgunned but unbowed, Twilight Company locks, loads, and prepares to make its boldest maneuver―trading down-and-dirty battle in the trenches for a game-changing strike at the ultimate target: the very heart of the Empire’s military machine.

I recently finished Twilight Company, getting me one step closer to being up-to-date on New Canon Star Wars (which is still a good ways off, to be honest, thanks to all those pesky Star Wars Insider short stories and comics...). Initially I was hesitant to even read it, thanks to the Battlefront tagline which is bigger than the actual name itself. Thankfully, this is anything but a shallow video game tie-in for a plotless and bland Battlefield reskin - it is high quality military scifi instead!

The Story:

"Among the stars and across the vast expanses of space, the Galactic Civil War rages. On the battlefields of multiple worlds in the Mid Rim, legions of ruthless stormtroopers―bent on crushing resistance to the Empire wherever it arises―are waging close and brutal combat against an armada of freedom fighters. In the streets and alleys of ravaged cities, the front-line forces of the Rebel Alliance are taking the fight to the enemy, pushing deeper into Imperial territory and grappling with the savage flesh-and-blood realities of war on the ground.

Leading the charge are the soldiers―men and women, human and nonhuman―of the Sixty-First Mobile Infantry, better known as Twilight Company. Hard-bitten, war-weary, and ferociously loyal to one another, the members of this renegade outfit doggedly survive where others perish, and defiance is their most powerful weapon against the deadliest odds. When orders come down for the rebels to fall back in the face of superior opposition numbers and firepower, Twilight reluctantly complies. Then an unlikely ally radically changes the strategic equation―and gives the Alliance’s hardest-fighting warriors a crucial chance to turn retreat into resurgence.

Orders or not, alone and outgunned but unbowed, Twilight Company locks, loads, and prepares to make its boldest maneuver―trading down-and-dirty battle in the trenches for a game-changing strike at the ultimate target: the very heart of the Empire’s military machine."

The Review:

Twilight Company was a blast. It was action-packed, boots-on-the-ground Star Wars action the likes of which you rarely see. Instead of focusing on the Jedi vs Sith conflicts, this one hammered home the methods, heroism and failures of the Rebel Alliance's forward troops. This book proves that Star Wars does indeed work without big roles for lightsabers, and more focus on the wars.

To get one thing out of the way: Ignore the Battlefront logo on the cover. The only thing this novel shares with EA's Battlefield reskin is that both take you to various different locations, many of which are shared between both. You'll even see the Battle of Hoth, and more successfully than in the game at that. If the thought of a game tie-in novel turns you off (I know it almost did for me!), scratch all those thoughts and go in fresh.

The novel focuses on the Rebel Alliance's Twilight Company, a vanguard fighting force, now turned into a glorified rearguard during the retreat of other regiments. It presents us with a diverse cast featuring ex-bounty hunters, mercenaries, aliens and even teenagers and defecting imperials.
Our primary protagonist is, without a doubt, Hazram Namir, mercenary-turned-rebel, just not really because he's in it for his comrades in arms, not the lofty goals of the Rebellion's leadership. He has the ability, but not the faith, and, while generally respected, seems like the odd one out.
This leads him to connect more and more with defecting imperial governor Chalis, who joins and supports Twilight Company in her own manipulative way - resulting in an intriguing, ambiguous relationship between the two that lasts throughout almost the entire book and gives a different spin on the evils of the Empire and the righteous actions of the rebels.

As Namir gets more and more involved in the decision-making for Twilight Company's future, and governor Chalis offers the rebel leaders extensive inside information on the Empire's inner workings and infrastructure, things get ever more murky and Twilight Company becomes a priority target for the imperial antagonists. These come in the form of Prelate Verge, an ambitious, Palpatine-worshipping youth, and Tabor Seitaron, a veteran captain returned to duty alongside Verge. The two hunt Twilight Company to eliminate Chalis, but cause quite some chaos for the Rebellion as a whole.
I found Seitaron to be almost sympathetic; he seemed to be dismayed at being pulled back from his almost-retirement and comfortable teaching career at the academy, and still had qualms about extreme measures, whereas Verge was despicable by design. It was a cool pairing for the antagonist slot.

But the stars of it all are Twilight Company's soldiers, and the entire company itself. While Namir is the character we can connect with the easiest, seeing flashes of his way to become a rebel and following his rise through the ranks, his struggles and relationships, the rest of his squad and beyond added so much color and genuine humanity to the book, it was a pleasure to read, if not for the tragedies engulfing the group.
Early in the novel, Namir and co recruit a teenage girl for the rebels, who claims the name 'Roach' for herself, and, while a rookie, earns her keep alongside Namir's veterans. I found Roach to be among my favorite characters in the book, adding some humor and life to the downward spiral of the Rebellion. The Besalisk-alien Gadren, ever the believer and positive sod, balances the more cynical outlooks of Namir and others, and the ex-bounty hunter Brand adds a layer of professionalism and stealth to the group, often offering judgement to Namir.

The cast expands further out from Namir's own squad, of course, up to the higher echelons of the company, and I thought that things worked exceptionally well, all considered. Twilight Company felt like a coherent force with its own bonds, its haunts, and brotherhood despite their differences. They're loyal to one another and to the cause, resulting in plenty of dramatic scenes and tragic events. Alexander Freed really hit a homerun with making this book more about the grounded battles and real people within the war machine than the more esoteric aspects of the setting.

The individual missions of Twilight Company are just as diverse as the cast - taking you to jungle planets, mining colonies, or even boarding actions and, most notably maybe, the Battle of Hoth. The latter was a blast, and offered an entirely different experience than what we've seen before through the movies. We're in for a bunch of cameos and twists, and I felt that, if Freed had chosen to, this could have been easily the climax of the entire book. But instead it kept going for just as long again after this disastrous battle for the Rebel Alliance.
Things take a nosedive here, for all involved. We know that from the movies, of course, but it is something else entirely to actually see the affected troops and get a new perspective on Vader's hunt for the boy Skywalker and the senior staff of the rebellion. There's even glimpses of Snowspeeders ensnaring AT-ATs!

Looking back at it a couple of weeks after having read this, I still have a vivid memory of key scenes from the book, and the characters involved. It really is a top candidate for my favorite Canon novel I've read so far. It brings the familiar Original Trilogy setting to its pages while offering a fresh new spin, with plenty of intriguing characters coming and going. I'd love to read more about Namir and Chalis before long, and loved reading more about events that had an obvious impact on the victories of the Rebel Alliance in the movies while happening off-screen.

Twilight Company demonstrates the spirit of the Rebel Alliance, the inherent hope, the attrition, the desperation, but also the life and tragic martyrdom, to the point where I didn't want to put the book down. The plot is so packed of exciting content, I thought I got more out of it than I paid for.
It was amazing to see some more ambiguity introduced to the Rebel Alliance vs Galactic Empire dynamic, seeing even a regular Stormtrooper's perspective on the rebel terrorists in the process.
Freed manages to get you thinking about the moral grey areas the rebels have to dip into to achieve freedom from the Empire, and does so with expertly written characters.
The novel lives by its characters, and I'm pleased to say that Alexander Freed nailed them. From their actions in the mess halls to their battlefield heroics, or the funeral rites within the company, the cast felt alive and satisfying.

If you're a bit tired of lightsaber fights and want to see something different set during the Original Trilogy, then this is probably the book you're looking for.

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