Former Imperial pilot Yrica Quell has switched sides several times. Now she’s undercover with her former Imperial squad, and so deep under that her New Republic teammates think she’s betrayed them. Her old mentor Soran Keize has become even more bloodthirsty than the rest of the Imperial remnant in his effort to continue the Emperor’s Operation Cinder — planetary destruction, but make it slower and messier than a Death Star laser. Alphabet Squadron chases Keize’s Shadow Wing across the galaxy to a confrontation that will determine how the New Republic handles ex-Imperials going forward.
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Those stakes — not only Quell’s loyalty, but what to do about anyone who served the Empire — are a brilliant way to make Quell’s story relevant to the whole galaxy. Author Alexander Freed brings video game writing experience to creating the best kind of science fiction adventure ending: one that depends on character growth and themes as much as on laser blasts. It’s a grueling but entertaining look at the complexities of war.
Precision and specificity mesh well with broad metaphor. Pilot Wyl Lark’s efforts to reach across enemy lines to form an alliance never really result in a miraculous change of heart, but they do provide entertainment for his own side. Wyl’s arc always felt to me indicative of parasocial relationships, of trying to get to know someone you never really will. And he doesn’t. But along the way, his efforts make real connections between him and the people already on his own side.
While the second book created a strong friendship between the pilots Nath and Wyl, book three focuses on everyone else. Quell, Chaos, Kairos, and Hera all get their due. An adventure to a strange jungle world becomes an odyssey with three women bubbling with possibility for either connection or ruin.
Fans looking for more of Star Wars Rebels‘ Hera Syndulla will find a lot of her here. The multi-talented and soft-hearted general doesn’t exactly have an arc in this book; she’s a supporting character. But she’s deftly drawn in a way that both captures her other appearances and feels like she’s been carrying even more of the weight of the war.
While I found Soran Keize, the Imperial commander, to be a weak point in Shadow Fall, his perspective and motivation are much clearer now. The ideological clashes between him and Quell are effectively load-bearing, as is their affection; Keize doesn’t stop being Quell’s mentor even as they move further and further to opposite sides of the war.
It’s not all delicate character interactions, though. Action scenes feel pleasantly suited to either the Star Wars films or video games. The author creates vivid starfighter scenes in part by drawing directly on famous film shots like the opening of the climactic battle in Return of the Jedi. But it doesn’t feel like pastiche or repetition. Instead, it’s alchemy. Sound, physicality, and banter all come together to create a vivid battle worthy of the movies. (Sound is also used in a fun way with the chapter and section titles, all of which are in-universe song titles.)
The whole finale is a balancing act: between action and character, between the personal and the political, between epic redemption and damnation, and the more mundane reality in between. In the back half of the book, a rhythm starts on both sides of the war: we have to fight for our people. Be true to one another. An echo: The Rise of Skywalker‘s ideologically empty there are more of us. After Wyl’s arc argued in favor of the morale of the group, Freed doesn’t stop with the simple platitude of we’re right because we’re together. After all, that’s Keize’s argument, too. The conversations between the characters are also conversations about Star Wars‘ morality as a whole, and while sometimes the conclusions feel uncertain, we’ve had three books to explore what exactly is the content of Quell’s uncertainty.
