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

Books Alphabet Squadron by Alexander Freed

Discussion in 'Literature' started by GrandAdmiralJello , Oct 5, 2018.

  1. JediBatman

    JediBatman Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 3, 2015
    I propose a new title as a compromise: Alpha-Bastard Squadron! Or just Alpha-Bastard for short.
     
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  2. Palp_Faction

    Palp_Faction Force Ghost star 4

    Registered:
    Feb 3, 2002
    It's got a certain ring to it!
     
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  3. Sinrebirth

    Sinrebirth Mod-Emperor of the EUC, Lit, RPF and SWC star 10 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Nov 15, 2004
    Well then Dinner Squadron would win ‘most appetising’, surely?


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
  4. Clone_Cmdr_Wedge

    Clone_Cmdr_Wedge Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 18, 2006
    I like the premise of the book (ie: Starfighter pilots hunt down rogue Imperials), and I definitely second anyone wishing for Wedge to be in this. So at worst, this book is on my radar.

    As for the title... I can't say that I'm wild about it, but will agree that it is a bit more original than what we've sometimes seen. That said, I might just roll my eyes a little bit if they really do call themselves "Alphabet Squadron." Unless they shorten it to "Alpha," but then that would be weird after years of playing the old X-Wing flight sims to hear Rebel/New Republic fighters refer to themselves as "Alpha One," "Alpha Two," etc.

    Given the premise of the book, how about "Operation Finale"? :p
     
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  5. The2ndQuest

    The2ndQuest Tri-Mod With a Mouth star 10 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Jan 27, 2000
    “If you have an Imperial, if no one else can help, and if you can find them....maybe you can hire: The A-Team.
     
    Last edited: Oct 12, 2018
  6. EmperorHorus

    EmperorHorus Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Sep 3, 2016
    I like that. Too bad people would say "it's not Star Wars"
     
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  7. TheAvengerButton

    TheAvengerButton Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Aug 11, 2011
    Uhh, excuse me but since it's inception Star Wars has been no fun, for adults only, and way more gritty, violent, and dark than Warhammer 40K.

    Alphabet? Like that thing children learn? They should've called it Cool Squadron.

    Am I capturing the zeitgeist? Please hire me, Lucasfilm. I'm writing my first novel.
     
  8. Quinnocent-Till-Sith

    Quinnocent-Till-Sith Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 21, 2004
    It's a good title for a good premise.

    It doesn't roll off the tongue but I suspect that's tonally appropriate for the squad.
     
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  9. Yunzabit

    Yunzabit Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Apr 5, 2015
    Alexander Freed is an extremely talented writer and in his first canon novel Battlefront: Twilight Company it had Operation: Ringbreaker which was one of the best written military campaigns ever. I felt like I was reading a history textbook even though the characters and adventure were bland. This book will probably have tons of great air-force like campaigns but it won't be a fun read. Plus the premise is totally boring.
     
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  10. Todd the Jedi

    Todd the Jedi Mod and Loving Tyrant of SWTV, Lit, & Collecting star 6 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Oct 16, 2008
  11. JediKnight75

    JediKnight75 Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Feb 15, 2011
    I've read a lot of history textbooks and have to disagree that Twilight Company read like one. It's not really close, at all. And the book did a lot with it's characters. Namir and Chalis had complete charsctch arcs. And the main squad (Roach, Brand, Gadren, and Charmer) all had distinct personalities. Freed did a lot with the character interactions and showed how people joined the Alliance for different reasons. He delved into the relationships and conflicts between the characters holding different motivations. That was a majorbthem of the book. Twilight Company looked deeply into its characters as they participated in these intense campaigns. We didn't see much about troop movements and the small details of the battles. We knew what was at stake, but most battle scenes were fairly short and we'd often jump in mid battle. The book was more about the people fighting the war than the individual battles.
     
    Last edited: Nov 20, 2018
  12. Xander Vos

    Xander Vos Jedi Master star 4

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    Aug 3, 2013
    ..Huh?
     
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  13. Outsourced

    Outsourced Force Ghost star 5

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    Apr 10, 2017
    Took the words right out of my mouth.
     
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  14. Xander Vos

    Xander Vos Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Aug 3, 2013
    I just..

    1) Random post a month later to bump the thread with.
    2) Twilight Company can be slow in places and it took me a while to get my head around, but comparing it to a history book is just so.. odd. When it's nothing like one?
    3) The premise of this is boring? How on Earth is it boring?
    4) "Best written military campaigns but the adventure was bland" just feels like such a contradiction.
     
  15. Outsourced

    Outsourced Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Apr 10, 2017
    ^

    Twilight Company isn't anywhere close to a history textbook. It provides some pretty grounded engagements. As in we're literally there on the ground with our main characters. Engagements are given incredibly lush details, and we really get into the headspace of the people we see fighting. This is in opposition to a history textbook, which is more just disconnectedly telling you the facts of what happened in the engagement and moving on.

    Like @Xander Vos said, how exactly is the premise boring? Sounds pretty exciting to me, and considering how popular the Rogue/Wraith Squadron books are/were, a book about a bunch of different starfighter pilots hunting imperials seems like a good call.
     
  16. EmperorHorus

    EmperorHorus Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Sep 3, 2016
    At the risk of being a bandwagoner, this post had me scratching my head to pieces
     
  17. SyndicThrass

    SyndicThrass Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Sep 25, 2016
    The premise alone genuinely sounds like a modern take on the X-Wing books, and those were some of the best stuff in the old EU....doesn't remotely sound boring to me.
     
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  18. Yunzabit

    Yunzabit Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Apr 5, 2015
    No the book is well-written and Operation Ringbreaker was extremely technical and realistic (at least as real as it can be for Star Wars), but the whole story itself just didn't have good characters or an engaging plotline.
     
  19. Xander Vos

    Xander Vos Jedi Master star 4

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    Aug 3, 2013
    I can accept the characters bit, I found it hard to get sympathetic or engaged with the characters.
     
  20. JediKnight75

    JediKnight75 Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Feb 15, 2011
    Operation Ringbreaker was far from technical. All we knew was that they were hitting major points along the Imperial logistical network which would draw forces from Kuat leaving it open for an attack
     
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  21. Yunzabit

    Yunzabit Jedi Master star 4

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    Apr 5, 2015
    But the method
    But it was so artistically done!
     
  22. Outsourced

    Outsourced Force Ghost star 5

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    Apr 10, 2017
    ...But it wasn't technical. Not was it disconnected and brief like such engagements would be like in a history book. You could argue that it was very realistic for a campaign in the universe, but that has no bearing on how good/engaging the writing is.
     
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  23. JediKnight75

    JediKnight75 Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Feb 15, 2011
    It was a well written and described campaign. But that is different from technical. Battlefront was more concerned with what it was like for the soldiers fighting than it was about the details of the war.
     
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  24. SyndicThrass

    SyndicThrass Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Sep 25, 2016
    Personally I thought Freed did a great job fleshing out the Rogue One cast, so I'm not really concerned about how he'll handle the protags and Antags in this novel.

    I can't say it enough, but the idea of a Rebel squad hunting down Imperials in a Post-Endor galaxy like escaped nazis after the end of WW2 is fascinating as hell for me. Throw that in an X-Wing type filter and you've potentially got the makings for a very gripping novel.
     
  25. Jedi Ben

    Jedi Ben Chosen One star 9

    Registered:
    Jul 19, 1999
    I'll never hear the end of this if I don't.... Oi, Sinny! @Sinrebirth

    Wordery are doing a Xmas offer, buy 3 books, get 12% off and they have the UK hardback of this going for £14.00 already - do the maths.

    I'm sure you can all find two other books, but remember Wordery take the cash at point of order.
     
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