Brand synergy is no stranger to Disney or Lucasfilm. Both companies know how to cross promote. As far as Lucasfilm and Star Wars goes, Shadows of the Empire was probably their best effort. Shadows of the Empire started as a book, got the video game treatment on the Nintendo 64, action figures, and even a soundtrack. How many books can you think of that have their own soundtrack? More recently, both the Republic Commando and X-Wing video games have led to their own series of books. It should be no surprise that with the highly anticipated release of the Star Wars Battlefront video game, a book was bound to surface quickly. Enter Star Wars Battlefront: Twilight Company.
“A companion novel inspired by the hotly anticipated videogame, Star Wars: Battlefront, this action-packed adventure follows a squad of soldiers caught in the trenches of the ultimate galactic war between good and evil.
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.”
Penned by Alexander Freed, Star Wars Battlefront: Twilight Company is a well-written war story that just so happens to take place in the Star Wars Universe. I hate to say it, but this is the second author that has made me care about original characters not previously found in the Star Wars films. As I’ve explained before, I don’t generally enjoy Star Wars stories that don’t feature Han, Luke, or Vader — they just don’t interest me. But here I am reading this book and getting attached to Hazram Namir. Namir is a war veteran who now finds himself leading the Twilight Company. The story follows Namir and the rest of the company as they try to push the Empire back and just survive. While there are several battles featured in this novel, my favorite had to be the Battle of Hoth. Sure we’ve revisited Hoth in plenty of books, video games, and, yes, even on Star Tours, but this time I really felt “in it” — I was there, I was on the front lines and AT-AT’s were approaching. I was pulling for Twilight Company!
While clearly a story taking place in the Star Wars Universe, this was one of the better war stories I’ve read and it would have been just as good a story if it had been placed in the American Civil War. My only gripe is that I would have likes a bit more background on Twilight Company, you just kind of hit the ground running. All that said, I like Star Wars, I like war stories; those two facts alone made this one of my favorite new novels from the Disney-Lucas team. Hopefully, we see more in the Battlefront series!
Until next time, may the Force be with you!