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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Books Star Wars: Inferno Squad

Discussion in 'Literature' started by bsmith7174, Feb 17, 2017.

  1. WebLurker

    WebLurker Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 12, 2016
    Since I don't have a gaming system and really liked the original novel, I'd go for that.

    If they don't, there's always YouTube "let's play" vidoes...
     
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  2. godisawesome

    godisawesome Skywalker Saga Undersheriff star 6 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Dec 14, 2010
    Cutscene Movies are probably the only movie-length big budget productions you can watch on YouTube and almost always find without any copyright problems; most video game companies treat the as free publicity. And I'd argue it works; I shelled out for an XBOX 360 almost exclusively because I liked the story in Arkham Origins and Arkham City.

    Which means that, depending on length, BFII's story mode is in some ways a kind of digital "Star Wars Story" like Rogue One.
     
  3. StarWarsFan1997

    StarWarsFan1997 Jedi Grand Master star 2

    Registered:
    Jun 22, 2005
    That exchanged cemented my annoyance with this book. I was hoping for more out of this novel than a story of supposedly hard-core, elite Imperials with hearts of gold. I'll be interested to see if these characterizations persist into the Battlefront II campaign; I'm particularly interested in how the relationship between Iden Versio and Hask has evolved in years between the novel and the campaign.
     
  4. StarWarsFan1997

    StarWarsFan1997 Jedi Grand Master star 2

    Registered:
    Jun 22, 2005

    I think if there were going to do that, it would have been announced by now. I suspect that Inferno Squad is the only tie-in we'll get to the game; it's coming out in November, right in the middle of TLJ hype season, so anything published around then will tie into that rather than the game. Just my prediction.
     
  5. Stymi

    Stymi Force Ghost star 4

    Registered:
    Jan 10, 2002
    Yeah. Mostly wishful thinking. But this is a pretty good story, IMO. It could take off like the Republic Commando or X-Wing books.

    Doubtful though. So much happening in SW right now.

    Sent from my Moto X-Wing
     
  6. mnjedi

    mnjedi JCC Arena Game Host star 5 VIP - Game Host

    Registered:
    Nov 4, 2012
    Finished this one last night. Have to say I was pleasantly surprised. This was a very good book. Started a bit slow, but the second half made it worth it. Good to see Golden finally getting a chance to hit one out of the park.
     
  7. Revanfan1

    Revanfan1 Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jun 3, 2013
    I'm kind of ticked because I went out today and neither Books-a-Million nor Wal-Mart had this book. I was looking forward to starting it tonight. [face_sigh]
     
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  8. JediKnight75

    JediKnight75 Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Feb 15, 2011
    This was a really good book. The characters on both sides were handled very well and it was engaging. It did a good job building upon Rogue One and ANH. Inferno Squad felt like it for nicely into the overall narrative being constructed, while also being a good story on its own. I really enjoyed it and will probably reread is soon.

    Having finished this book, I really want this and the first Battlefront book to become their own series. Both groups of characters were handled well and deserve more story. There's a lot of ways to evolve the characters from both books. Twilight Company has the lead up to Endor and beyond and Inferno Squad has the vast majority of the war before them between now and the game. Stories focusing on soldiers during the war add a lot to the universe and when you have two great sets of characters it makes sense to continue with them. I don't imagine having Christie Golden and Alexander Freed continue with these characters would be too hard, especially if it was just a couple more books each. They both seem to really like their characters and enjoy the Star Wars universe. Trilogies work very well in Star Wars and we could use some more novel trilogies. It would be fun to have two series of books that each show an opposite side of he war. We could even have crossover story at one point or something. Stories like this, do a lot at connecting and expanding the universe.
     
  9. unlimitedpower

    unlimitedpower Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Nov 11, 2014
    Excellent book. Recommended reading for just about everyone.

    I thought we're going to get something like SCAR squadron or Clone Commandos judging from the game footage but I was surprised in a good way to learn that the book is heavily focused on espionage and manipulation rather than combat. This book managed to make me feel love-hate for so many of the characters it was a roller-coaster experience reading it. Also, it's not Luceno but the continuity porn is no less delightful.

    Also, this book managed to make me appreciate more of Saw Gerrera's living tentacled-monster lying detector.
     
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  10. Daneira

    Daneira Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 30, 2016
    Everyone's talking about the great continuity in this book and I haven't noticed too much, probably because I'm listening to the audiobook. Someone should make a handy list.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
  11. jamminjedi23

    jamminjedi23 Jedi Master star 5

    Registered:
    Feb 19, 2015
    A lot of nods to Rebel Rising (infact I think a couple of the characters were from Rebel Rising) and obviously the Onderon arc in TCW.

    Anyways just finished it. Very good book and the characters were all engaging. Seemed a little rushed at the end after a big moment happened (like the real story was setting things up for that moment) and then boom the book was done just a few chapters later.
     
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  12. SensationalSean

    SensationalSean Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Dec 19, 2014
    Staven was in Rebel Rising and Inferno Squad, but I can't remember the Onderon TCW arc clearly enough to make any links to that. Can anyone with a better memory than me recall?
     
  13. Noash_Retrac

    Noash_Retrac Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 14, 2006

    He wasn't in it. But what SensationalSean is saying that there are nods in the books to the Onderon arc.
     
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  14. jamminjedi23

    jamminjedi23 Jedi Master star 5

    Registered:
    Feb 19, 2015
    Here is a list of the Easter Eggs that Star Wars Explained found.

     
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  15. Chris0013

    Chris0013 Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 21, 2014
    I would think they need more people in the Squad. At least 8 (IRL Army Squad) or 13 (IRL Marine Squad). 3-4 people does not a squad make...just a team.
     
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  16. tampering

    tampering Jedi Knight

    Registered:
    Jan 4, 2017

    Yeah four is too small to be realistic but there's an obvious meta-textual reason for presenting them as a four member team. Battlefront 2 multiplayer game has a skill progression system with four classes. Each of the members of the Inferno Squad book maps to one of those in-game classes. A case a design decision in the originating medium (a multiplayer online game) influencing the design of the single player storyline and the tie-in book.

    Let's not kid anyone, microtransactions from the multiplayer is where the money is. That's also why there won't be much in the way of post-launch tie ins. Back in the heyday of tie-ins, game companies only got more money from selling a new copy of the game. So they needed to try to get new players to buy a copy well after the launch, hence the need for more post launch merchandise to hook the more casuals. These days they want as many as possible in the first two weeks of launch and work to keep the retention of players and time share of those retained high so others have incentive to keep playing and paying to win. One could argue that more media after launch actually reduces game revenue because an hour a player spent reading a novelization is an hour that multiplayer grinder isn't tempted to buy that rocket turret upgrade for BB-8s head out of frustration, curiosity or impulse buy.

    If Iden and the rest of the cast of characters is popular enough as a character, Luscasfilm, and its Publishing partners will likely pick up her story in their regular labels.Since publishing can maximize the possibility of a good selling title if there's already a established audience for a character, but it probably won't be part of a game tie-in campaign.
     
  17. Daneira

    Daneira Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 30, 2016
    Where are you getting this information about four classes from? Doesn't even make sense as Inferno Squad only has three members in the game. And what class would Iden be vs Gideon? They're both portrayed in the book as piloting being their specialty.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
  18. Nickname320

    Nickname320 Jedi Knight

    Registered:
    Jun 29, 2014
    Finished this one up today - a solid entry in new Canon lit. Probably falls right around 5 or 6 out of 16 on my Adult/YA ranking list.

    I thought Golden did a wonderful job with the book's structure; she relied upon variety of circumstance, rather than locale, to entertain the reader (hopping from planet to planet is a very, very easy way to turn me off from a Star Wars book). Further, military infiltration is a genre largely untouched by Star Wars lit (though I'm aware it has certainly been done before), so I was pleasantly surprised to see this one tackle that style as much as it did. Twilight Company remains my favorite Star Wars foray into military fiction (and my favorite Canon book so far, period), but Inferno Squad is a worthy successor.

    I definitely see what you're saying here, but this was actually one of my bigger issues with the novel.

    The book (and characters within it) seem to pass off the mission as a complete success, but Iden's 'stun' decision implies the contrary. True, the objective to destroy the Dreamer cell was achieved, but the other primary objective, to identify and plug the leak of classified Imperial information, fails with Lux's survival. Iden merely obtains the datacard with the classified information on it - are we really to believe that someone of Lux's intellect wouldn't retain at least some of that information in his memory? Further, his step-daughter is still highly placed within the Imperial ranks; what's preventing him from utilizing his relationship with her to obtain additional classified information? Only Lux's death (or capture) would have completed this objective; the relationship between him and his step-daughter would have been dissolved and the avenue for leaks from a loyal Imperial officer been closed. Lux still at-large retains the possibility that he may take his information and utilize it elsewhere (notably, the Rebellion). I fail to see how this mission could be perceived as a success when only half of the mission parameters were met (the easy half, too; destroying the cell could have been accomplished within the first 100 pages of the novel).

    EDIT (addendum): With the initial intelligence in Imperial hands, I'm sure the Empire could take additional measures to beef up security around the potential targets listed by the datacard. However, the individuals listed are still outed as choice targets nonetheless (whoever Lux remembers) and his relationship with his step-daughter can continue to be exploited so long as she remains anonymous.
    Regardless, a solid book. Forgive me if I repeated anything already mentioned by another user - I didn't check farther back than a few pages within the thread.

    By the way, did anyone else get serious Keshiri vibes from the Kage warriors? I realize that they are two completely different species, but I couldn't help but wonder if Golden took some inspiration from her prior adventures in the Star Wars galaxy.
     
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  19. Chris0013

    Chris0013 Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 21, 2014
    I would have to say the mission was a success....

    Lux has a limited amount of intel and Iden got the chip. And Lux burned the bridge with his step daughter so he will not get anymore from her. Therefore the leak was definitely plugged.
     
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  20. Nickname320

    Nickname320 Jedi Knight

    Registered:
    Jun 29, 2014

    I know that Lux says that it was a "onetime" source of information, but I'd tend to think that allowing a relationship to continue to exist between a highly-placed Imperial officer and a father whom she loved enough to leak classified information to once is an extreme risk. What's to say that Lux, politician that he is, wouldn't find a way to further manipulate the relationship? He can simultaneously love his step-daughter and justify using her to further the 'dream' he once shared with Saw. His entire story to Iden about 'falling out' with his step-daughter could even have been a lie at blaster-point, though I recognize that there isn't any explicit textual evidence to indicate this (so I present it merely as a consideration, not as a hard argument). Still, it serves to illustrate why Iden should have serious misgivings about letting Lux live and the implications it has on the success of the mission.
     
  21. tampering

    tampering Jedi Knight

    Registered:
    Jan 4, 2017
    You're right, its not really shown in action the novel. But the latest image of the three squad with their droid depicts each of them with unique loadout and varying armour hinting that they have different roles. There's always a lot of continuity between the mechanics of single and multiplayer even though different dev teams are involved. Given the mechanics they develop, Golden must have been given some notes on how they structured the game just for the sake of continuity. She's worked on tie-ins and adaptations enough to write within the framework of what the game plays like.

    I could be wrong and playing as Iden you might just be able to pick from all the abilities regardless of class but information about the MP class system is from gameplay streams and interviews from the multiplayer unveil event at EA Play.The gist is:

    The four base classes are
    Assault (standard soldier type)
    Heavy (slow, high HP and heavily armed)
    Officer (buffs/debuffs, healer, support turret)
    Specialist (Sniper, stealth, can't take much damage)

    Each of the classes has swapable class specific ability cards to customize. These cards are upgradeable in the play rewards economy/microtransaction system.

    Seyn is definitely inspired by the specialist class, she's physically less imposing and impressive sniping ability is part of her CV. The other 3 are interchangeable as they're all portrayed as polymaths in the novel and we don't really see any of them in combat. If I were writing it I'd make the POV character Iden a basic assault soldier class and work from there. Del's personality is more the support character archetype hanging back and supporting the squad, leaving Gideon with his diehard **** the enemy personality as the heavy.

    It's always been the same since tabletop RPGs. When forming the adventuring party, bring one of each class, to have access to a large number of the mechanics offered by the rules
     
  22. unlimitedpower

    unlimitedpower Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Nov 11, 2014
    No. They're from TCW. But let's not kid ourselves, they're basically space ninjas.
     
  23. Nickname320

    Nickname320 Jedi Knight

    Registered:
    Jun 29, 2014
    Wow, that episode completely slipped my mind (looking now at a picture of a Kage onscreen, I think the episode must have been "Bounty"). Thanks for clarifying the reference for me!

    Still, it was something about the way Golden wrote about Sadori from Seyn's perspective that seemed reminiscent of the way she wrote about Ahri from Vestara's perspective in FotJ. I guess the similarities stop there. Or it's all just in my head. Either/or. :)
     
  24. SensationalSean

    SensationalSean Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Dec 19, 2014

    Especially in the Kanan comic!
     
  25. KerkKorpil

    KerkKorpil Jedi Knight star 1

    Registered:
    Nov 7, 2016
    Can someone point me to the chapter where the angels of Iego are referenced in the book? I can't find anything!!!

    Thanks in advance!