Alphabet Squadron: Shadow Fall by Alexander Freed
Alphabet Squadron: Shadow Fall written by Alexander Freed
Hmmm...I've heard high praise for this book and I feel bad because I just don't see it. The read was enjoyable, albeit quite confusing at times during the battle portions of the book--which honestly was the vast majority of the book--, but I was disappointed in the lack of character development and story. It all seemed very action heavy, like I was playing a first-person shooter video game instead of reading a novel. I'll admit there were some fantastic story points throughout--Chass na Chadic's time with the Children of the Empty Sun, Yrica Quell's confrontation with the eye of the Sith temple, and Wyl Lark and Nath Tensent's growing comradery. But these were mere snippets compared to the shoot 'em up ground, air, and space battles. I think I just have to accept the fact that this kind of book is not my cup of tea. Give me a sweeping character-driven story that provides background to events we're already familiar with and dang you've got me hooked...Queen's Peril, Catalyst, Dooku: Jedi Lost. But strap me in an X-wing and pit me against an elite TIE Fighter squadron...and my enthusiasm just isn't there. I felt the same way about the selection of battle heavy short stories in From A Certain Point of View--it was just so incredibly difficult for me to visualize what was being drawn out, and the number of minor characters is so astronomical that it takes away from the crux of the story: Wyl, Chass, Yrica, Nath, IT-O, and Caern on the Republic side, and Major turned Colonel Soran Keize on the Imperial side. I'm so happy that others are really loving this series though!!
As in the first Alphabet Squadron novel, the chapter titles were hysterically long and convoluted. I really enjoyed trying to figure out how in the world these bizarre titles matched up with the story itself. Examples being: "High-Velocity Impacts on a Pitted Surface" and "Long Shadows of Astronomical Objects." Like, what?!?
On a very positive note, there were some brilliant descriptive passages that I found extremely good writing:
-"the titanic metal fiend striding toward him on four spindly legs. Its arched back led to an insectoid head bearing twitching gun barrels in place of mandibles, […], it moved among them like a predator through the grass."
-"In lesser hands a TIE was a garbage pail strapped with guns."
-"maneuvering through the clutterbomb-riddled passages honeycombing Tassahondee Station"
-In regards to the Messenger's "shrine" aboard the Aerie: "The intersection around the figure was decorated--anointed, Soran thought, distantly recalling lectures on the rituals of the Fedallese--with a hodgepodge of objects. Tucked into the space between piping and the corridor walls were rank plaques and officers' caps and bottles of contraband liquor. From a cable hung a line of medals and ribbons that swayed in reply to the thrumming of the Aerie's hyperdrive. On the walls themselves, writing etched by utility knives and laser torches filled whole panels--names of the dead from the 204th and elsewhere." And as for the Messenger itself, "using the name and voice of a dead Emperor who had strangled the galaxy as much as nurtured it."
-On the crew of the Edict, "The crew emerged slowly, like feral animals approaching a potential source of food and warmth."
- Adan says, as he's struggling to stay alive, "I move forward, because dwelling on my shame doesn't help anyone." This is a fabulous way to see life!!
As for the story itself, Major Soran Keize returns to the Imperial forces of Shadow Wing (the 204th) and takes command as advisor. Eventually he gets promoted to Colonel and true leader of the division. Alphabet Squadron is stationed at Troithe and sends out a secret message meant to lure Shadow Wing into a trap involving the asteroid CER952B to end them once and for all. But things don't go as planned and everything goes to hell...
In regards to Soran Keize's return (remember in the last book he was acting as a civilian--Devon--who never spoke on his past), he thinks, "Every call and response reminded him of how much the unit had changed--he had found Shadow Wing decimated, reeling from the loss of Colonel Shakara Nuress and with a roster of dead longer than any he'd predicted." But yet he moves forward with a plan to help Shadow Wing exact the revenge they so desire!
Canon Connections!!
-Twitch of the 61st Mobile Infantry is present throughout the novel--you'd know her from the novel Battlefront: Twilight Company. In fact the 61st is a big part of the story. The mysterious event at Blacktar Cyst is alluded to and the company's battle on Sullust which ended the Twilight Company novel is as well.
-Brief mention of the planet Skako.
-Brief mention of the Black Sun crime syndicate.
-Mention of Grand Vizier Amedda's being stuck on Coruscant. (see the Aftermath trilogy for more!)
-Brief mention of the Anoat sector being under control of the Empire. (reminds me of the Star Wars: Uprising MMORPG mobile game where you were stuck under the influence of the Empire's Iron Blockade)
-Coaxium is named.
-Sideways mention of Kanan!
-Soldiers swap stories about the Battle of Hoth.
-Vader's castle is alluded to.
-Lieutenant Seedia attended the Institute for Quantitative Studies at Bothawui (this planet is mentioned in "The Clone Wars" TV show as well as other print media).
-An Utai, a Vurk, a Houk, Gamorreans, a Harch (think Admiral Trench!!!!), an Aqualish, and a Kel Dor all make appearances.
-The Clone Wars are addressed quite a bit.
-Chass na Chadic gives a hefty nod to Rogue One which always makes my heart sing!!! "She thought about Jyn Erso, the woman who'd given her life to stop the Emperor's first Death Star. The woman whose sacrifice had inspired Chass to follow in her footsteps to ruined Jedha; inspired her to join the Cavern Angels. […] Jyn had been real. Chass was the antithesis of everything Jyn Erso was. Where Jyn died, Chass lived. Where Jyn brought life, Chass left the burnt corpses of her friends in her wake. Jyn had fought an impossible war against an overwhelming enemy. Chass was finishing an easy war from a position of strength--even if the New Republic was having a bad day." She even names herself Maya Hallik when she gets taken in by the Children of the Empty Sun in honor of Jyn's Liana Hallik. This is so powerful and so deeply true to what Chass is going through!!! My heart aches for the woman.
-Tooka-cats decorate a location on Troithe!
-There's a child's model of a podracer in a playground on Troithe!!
-Even Luke Skywalker is mentioned once in Nath Tensent's thoughts.
Trivia (some of this is a repeat from the first novel)--there is A LOT, this book excels at trivial minutiae...:
-Wyl flies an A-wing, Nath a Y-wing, Kairos a U-wing, Chass a B-wing, and Yrica an X-wing.
-Wyl Lark was born on Polyneus, a planet he simply refers to as "Home." The opening paragraph of the novel harkens back to this and reads, "On Polyneus, where Wyl Lark was born and lifted into adulthood by the Sun-Lamas of the Hik'e-Matriarch, the word city was synonymous with garden. Settlements on Polyneus grew on canyon walls like moss and sprouted from forest floors, cultivated and tended by their residents. In Cliff, where Wyl learned to fly the sur-avkas, the streets flooded and changed with every monsoon, and the residents rearranged their homes to suit what fate and drainage made of the landscape."
-The Cerberon System's central source of light and heat (although this makes absolutely NO sense to me) is a black hole...??? "its planets and moons and asteroid fields orbited the Cerberon singularity: a black hole like a burning eye, its ebony pupil surrounded by an iris of fiery debris." Planets of the system include Troithe, Catadra, and Verzan, among others. In a few thousand years, the singularity will have devoured these planets. How in the world does this provide light, much less heat???
-Troithe is a city-world that was poised to become Coruscant: "Centuries earlier, Troithe had rivaled Coruscant as the Republic's cosmopolitan jewel, its city encompassing half a globe and teeming with billions of residents--more than a few belonging to the Republic's most respected aristo-mercantile families." I'm SUPER curious to see if Troithe shows up in the High Republic publishing campaign!!… Troithe's governor is Governor Hastemoor who is quickly replaced by Fara Yadeez upon his death. To build the great city of Troithe, the Scar of Troithe, "a continent torn apart by mining machines, carved and honeycombed and chiseled until what was left lacked even the harsh beauty of a lifeless planet" was necessary. From Soran Keize's perspective, "It was an unexceptional world, Troithe--a slovenly cousin to Coruscant, a forgotten stepbrother to the colonial factory worlds."
-Verzan was an "airless garrison world", Winker's is a cantina there
-Catadra: "Then the mountains came into view: the uncarved stone peaks, jade-flecked and gray, with crags too narrow to build upon; then the brittle upper reaches, cushioned by pale fungi that lived on the heat of the solar projectors; and finally the slopes, intricately chipped into a band of streets and temples and palaces." A cantina on the planet was called Father Ambrosia's Glorious Revelation. Narthex is Catadra's moon, "though it had once been inhabited it had been left to fast growing crystalline brambles called dirkweed for the better part of a millennium. The weed's dull, slate-blue hue seemed to tinge the atmosphere, as if the whole world were obscured by campfire smoke."
-The Empire gave the Slipglass Conglomerate "total control of transport on Eufornis Minor."
-Quell's old squadmates included Xion, Tonas, Jidel, and Barath
-The Lodestar was the old Acclamator-class battleship that was Alphabet Squadron's central hub during the time of this novel
-Minor characters of the New Republic: Sergeant Carver, Nasha Gravas (Caern's second in command), Lindon Javes, Vitale (an infantry trooper), Zab, Stornvein (Hera's aid), Sergeant Yava-Thine and her nestmate P'i, Neihero (Meteor Four, a Rodian who Wyl shared "a hallway flirtation with"), Captain Giginivek ("a frail Ociock whose feathers had thinned to downy patches with advanced age"), Vifra, Junior, Ver Iflan, Prinspai, Denish Wraive (200 yrs old), Gorgeous Su, Ubellikos ("spoke with the stentorian articulation--and accent--of a Hutt), Lien Toob, Jorgatha, and Tssat.
-Minor characters of the Empire: Captain Gablerone, Lieutenant Palal Seedia (has a vocabulator), Lieutenant Kandende, Major Rassus, Cherroi, Moff Coovern, Teso Broosh (Squadron Five's commanding officer, remember him from the "Imperial Cadet" short-run comic series??), Captain Darita (Squadron Two's commander), Captain Phesh (Squadron Six's commander), Rogart Styll (captain of the Allegiance), Oratio Nenvez (the instructor from the Edict), Creet (a 204th veteran with a thick Twi'leki accent--not understanding this one), Wisp, Van Bragheer, Karli genFrie, Ran Chorda, Colonel Madrighast of the Unyielding, Hussor, Thrail LeNorra, Wilhona Breathe, Bangroft Casas, Lieutenant Falshoi, and Lieutenant Garmen Naadra.
SO MANY MINOR CHARACTERS!!!!!!!!!!
-The Aerie (a Quasar Fire-class cruiser-carrier), the Allegiance (a cruiser-carrier), and the Edict (a star destroyer located adrift in the Pormthulis system) were Shadow Wing's large ships.
-The planet Jarbanov is located on the outskirts of the junker systems and is not officially affiliated with the junker guild. Soran Keize "saw junk rings glimmering in the sky above Jarbanov's barren soil, and the domes of a colony rising on the horizon like triple suns. From one of the rings, a glittering stream trickled into the atmosphere like a distant waterfall. Leather-winged birds prowled the air, dipping close enough to study the TIE before veering off in search of easier prey."
-Cathar is a planet Quell carried out a mission on right after her Imperial Academy days.
-Aldraig manufactories make Imperial rations
-Vanguard Squadron was directed by Hera Syndulla herself as they flew on special assignment in the Bormea sector. Alphabet, Meteor, and Hail stayed behind for the Troithe battle with Shadow Wing.
-The Pyke Syndicate controls the Gyndine shipyards.
-Anx Minor: a massacre took place here.
-Beauchen: Shadow Wing had committed atrocities here
-When he was young, Keize had visited the ruins of Navosh-Hul in the Warplands of Fedalle.
-Other random locations: Rimma Trade Route, Koda Spur, Yaga Minor, Mek'tradi, Mon Gazza, Yordain Core, the cold moon of Harkrova, the icy world of Yethra, Parozha VII, Trenchenovu, Uchinao, Switchmount, Mardona, the Benevolence Tower on the outskirts of New Vertica on Nar Shaddaa, Koru Neimoidia, Kol Huro, the Meridian sector, the Echo system (has tube-yachts), the Redspace Reefs, Trydara, and Taka Shier.
-Random locations on Troithe: Cybersynth District foundries, Glimmere Tower, Thannerhouse District, Thanner Lake, the Gloried Chalic District, the Troithe Planetary Defense Center, Raddakkia Plaza communications center, Highgarden District, the Web, Nine Boats District, Hoorn Skyway, Core Nine, Taa Complex, and Old Skybottom District.
Again, SO MANY RANDOM LOCATIONS!!!!!!!!
-Interesting ships/vehicles: Kraken-class deep lurkers (submersibles)
-Apparently Hera REALLY likes coffee, haha! Me, too!!
-Chass na Chadic once flew with the Cavern Angels on Jedha!!!!! Her squadmates included Batriok and Snivel (whom she loved). She also grew up in a cult called the Inheritors of the Crystal.
-Yrica Quell's bisexuality comes into play again, but barely..."back when she'd first met the younger woman, when (she could admit it now) she'd felt a juvenile attraction crawling under her skin. She'd felt jealousy watching Chadic and Lark".
-Music: Loletian politi-folk, "a Weequay screamed a ballad about living as a Hutt laborer", high-pitched scatterbop
-Caern Adan once worked for the IGBC Financial Review on Muunilinst.
-Smashball is a sport.
-Cyclo-dioxis: an invisible, nonlethal gas, used to cause confusion
-Quell grew up on Gavana Orbital
-Nath's old crew included Piter, Ferris, and Reeka
-The leader of the Children of the Empty Sun is Let'ij, a fungus-faced woman...super creepy!
-Hera re-enters the fight aboard a Nebulon-B frigate called the Temperance.
---
1st book in the series:
Alphabet Squadron by Alexander Freed
Other works by Alexander Freed:
"One Thousand Levels Down" (a short story)
"The End of History" (a short story)
Battlefront: Twilight Company (an adult novel)
---
Well, goodness gracious, talk about a ridiculous amount of trivia!! Even I would have a hard time keeping all this straight. Again, the novel was far too battle heavy to peak my interest but I am so happy that it pleased so many others!! I went back and looked at my review for the previous novel and I seemed to have really loved it. Now I'm even more disappointed that this one didn't strike my fancy. *sigh* Not every book is written for me. And I'm totally fine with that as long as others enjoy them just the same!!
As in the first Alphabet Squadron novel, the chapter titles were hysterically long and convoluted. I really enjoyed trying to figure out how in the world these bizarre titles matched up with the story itself. Examples being: "High-Velocity Impacts on a Pitted Surface" and "Long Shadows of Astronomical Objects." Like, what?!?
On a very positive note, there were some brilliant descriptive passages that I found extremely good writing:
-"the titanic metal fiend striding toward him on four spindly legs. Its arched back led to an insectoid head bearing twitching gun barrels in place of mandibles, […], it moved among them like a predator through the grass."
-"In lesser hands a TIE was a garbage pail strapped with guns."
-"maneuvering through the clutterbomb-riddled passages honeycombing Tassahondee Station"
-In regards to the Messenger's "shrine" aboard the Aerie: "The intersection around the figure was decorated--anointed, Soran thought, distantly recalling lectures on the rituals of the Fedallese--with a hodgepodge of objects. Tucked into the space between piping and the corridor walls were rank plaques and officers' caps and bottles of contraband liquor. From a cable hung a line of medals and ribbons that swayed in reply to the thrumming of the Aerie's hyperdrive. On the walls themselves, writing etched by utility knives and laser torches filled whole panels--names of the dead from the 204th and elsewhere." And as for the Messenger itself, "using the name and voice of a dead Emperor who had strangled the galaxy as much as nurtured it."
-On the crew of the Edict, "The crew emerged slowly, like feral animals approaching a potential source of food and warmth."
- Adan says, as he's struggling to stay alive, "I move forward, because dwelling on my shame doesn't help anyone." This is a fabulous way to see life!!
As for the story itself, Major Soran Keize returns to the Imperial forces of Shadow Wing (the 204th) and takes command as advisor. Eventually he gets promoted to Colonel and true leader of the division. Alphabet Squadron is stationed at Troithe and sends out a secret message meant to lure Shadow Wing into a trap involving the asteroid CER952B to end them once and for all. But things don't go as planned and everything goes to hell...
In regards to Soran Keize's return (remember in the last book he was acting as a civilian--Devon--who never spoke on his past), he thinks, "Every call and response reminded him of how much the unit had changed--he had found Shadow Wing decimated, reeling from the loss of Colonel Shakara Nuress and with a roster of dead longer than any he'd predicted." But yet he moves forward with a plan to help Shadow Wing exact the revenge they so desire!
Canon Connections!!
-Twitch of the 61st Mobile Infantry is present throughout the novel--you'd know her from the novel Battlefront: Twilight Company. In fact the 61st is a big part of the story. The mysterious event at Blacktar Cyst is alluded to and the company's battle on Sullust which ended the Twilight Company novel is as well.
-Brief mention of the planet Skako.
-Brief mention of the Black Sun crime syndicate.
-Mention of Grand Vizier Amedda's being stuck on Coruscant. (see the Aftermath trilogy for more!)
-Brief mention of the Anoat sector being under control of the Empire. (reminds me of the Star Wars: Uprising MMORPG mobile game where you were stuck under the influence of the Empire's Iron Blockade)
-Coaxium is named.
-Sideways mention of Kanan!
-Soldiers swap stories about the Battle of Hoth.
-Vader's castle is alluded to.
-Lieutenant Seedia attended the Institute for Quantitative Studies at Bothawui (this planet is mentioned in "The Clone Wars" TV show as well as other print media).
-An Utai, a Vurk, a Houk, Gamorreans, a Harch (think Admiral Trench!!!!), an Aqualish, and a Kel Dor all make appearances.
-The Clone Wars are addressed quite a bit.
-Chass na Chadic gives a hefty nod to Rogue One which always makes my heart sing!!! "She thought about Jyn Erso, the woman who'd given her life to stop the Emperor's first Death Star. The woman whose sacrifice had inspired Chass to follow in her footsteps to ruined Jedha; inspired her to join the Cavern Angels. […] Jyn had been real. Chass was the antithesis of everything Jyn Erso was. Where Jyn died, Chass lived. Where Jyn brought life, Chass left the burnt corpses of her friends in her wake. Jyn had fought an impossible war against an overwhelming enemy. Chass was finishing an easy war from a position of strength--even if the New Republic was having a bad day." She even names herself Maya Hallik when she gets taken in by the Children of the Empty Sun in honor of Jyn's Liana Hallik. This is so powerful and so deeply true to what Chass is going through!!! My heart aches for the woman.
-Tooka-cats decorate a location on Troithe!
-There's a child's model of a podracer in a playground on Troithe!!
-Even Luke Skywalker is mentioned once in Nath Tensent's thoughts.
Trivia (some of this is a repeat from the first novel)--there is A LOT, this book excels at trivial minutiae...:
-Wyl flies an A-wing, Nath a Y-wing, Kairos a U-wing, Chass a B-wing, and Yrica an X-wing.
-Wyl Lark was born on Polyneus, a planet he simply refers to as "Home." The opening paragraph of the novel harkens back to this and reads, "On Polyneus, where Wyl Lark was born and lifted into adulthood by the Sun-Lamas of the Hik'e-Matriarch, the word city was synonymous with garden. Settlements on Polyneus grew on canyon walls like moss and sprouted from forest floors, cultivated and tended by their residents. In Cliff, where Wyl learned to fly the sur-avkas, the streets flooded and changed with every monsoon, and the residents rearranged their homes to suit what fate and drainage made of the landscape."
-The Cerberon System's central source of light and heat (although this makes absolutely NO sense to me) is a black hole...??? "its planets and moons and asteroid fields orbited the Cerberon singularity: a black hole like a burning eye, its ebony pupil surrounded by an iris of fiery debris." Planets of the system include Troithe, Catadra, and Verzan, among others. In a few thousand years, the singularity will have devoured these planets. How in the world does this provide light, much less heat???
-Troithe is a city-world that was poised to become Coruscant: "Centuries earlier, Troithe had rivaled Coruscant as the Republic's cosmopolitan jewel, its city encompassing half a globe and teeming with billions of residents--more than a few belonging to the Republic's most respected aristo-mercantile families." I'm SUPER curious to see if Troithe shows up in the High Republic publishing campaign!!… Troithe's governor is Governor Hastemoor who is quickly replaced by Fara Yadeez upon his death. To build the great city of Troithe, the Scar of Troithe, "a continent torn apart by mining machines, carved and honeycombed and chiseled until what was left lacked even the harsh beauty of a lifeless planet" was necessary. From Soran Keize's perspective, "It was an unexceptional world, Troithe--a slovenly cousin to Coruscant, a forgotten stepbrother to the colonial factory worlds."
-Verzan was an "airless garrison world", Winker's is a cantina there
-Catadra: "Then the mountains came into view: the uncarved stone peaks, jade-flecked and gray, with crags too narrow to build upon; then the brittle upper reaches, cushioned by pale fungi that lived on the heat of the solar projectors; and finally the slopes, intricately chipped into a band of streets and temples and palaces." A cantina on the planet was called Father Ambrosia's Glorious Revelation. Narthex is Catadra's moon, "though it had once been inhabited it had been left to fast growing crystalline brambles called dirkweed for the better part of a millennium. The weed's dull, slate-blue hue seemed to tinge the atmosphere, as if the whole world were obscured by campfire smoke."
-The Empire gave the Slipglass Conglomerate "total control of transport on Eufornis Minor."
-Quell's old squadmates included Xion, Tonas, Jidel, and Barath
-The Lodestar was the old Acclamator-class battleship that was Alphabet Squadron's central hub during the time of this novel
-Minor characters of the New Republic: Sergeant Carver, Nasha Gravas (Caern's second in command), Lindon Javes, Vitale (an infantry trooper), Zab, Stornvein (Hera's aid), Sergeant Yava-Thine and her nestmate P'i, Neihero (Meteor Four, a Rodian who Wyl shared "a hallway flirtation with"), Captain Giginivek ("a frail Ociock whose feathers had thinned to downy patches with advanced age"), Vifra, Junior, Ver Iflan, Prinspai, Denish Wraive (200 yrs old), Gorgeous Su, Ubellikos ("spoke with the stentorian articulation--and accent--of a Hutt), Lien Toob, Jorgatha, and Tssat.
-Minor characters of the Empire: Captain Gablerone, Lieutenant Palal Seedia (has a vocabulator), Lieutenant Kandende, Major Rassus, Cherroi, Moff Coovern, Teso Broosh (Squadron Five's commanding officer, remember him from the "Imperial Cadet" short-run comic series??), Captain Darita (Squadron Two's commander), Captain Phesh (Squadron Six's commander), Rogart Styll (captain of the Allegiance), Oratio Nenvez (the instructor from the Edict), Creet (a 204th veteran with a thick Twi'leki accent--not understanding this one), Wisp, Van Bragheer, Karli genFrie, Ran Chorda, Colonel Madrighast of the Unyielding, Hussor, Thrail LeNorra, Wilhona Breathe, Bangroft Casas, Lieutenant Falshoi, and Lieutenant Garmen Naadra.
SO MANY MINOR CHARACTERS!!!!!!!!!!
-The Aerie (a Quasar Fire-class cruiser-carrier), the Allegiance (a cruiser-carrier), and the Edict (a star destroyer located adrift in the Pormthulis system) were Shadow Wing's large ships.
-The planet Jarbanov is located on the outskirts of the junker systems and is not officially affiliated with the junker guild. Soran Keize "saw junk rings glimmering in the sky above Jarbanov's barren soil, and the domes of a colony rising on the horizon like triple suns. From one of the rings, a glittering stream trickled into the atmosphere like a distant waterfall. Leather-winged birds prowled the air, dipping close enough to study the TIE before veering off in search of easier prey."
-Cathar is a planet Quell carried out a mission on right after her Imperial Academy days.
-Aldraig manufactories make Imperial rations
-Vanguard Squadron was directed by Hera Syndulla herself as they flew on special assignment in the Bormea sector. Alphabet, Meteor, and Hail stayed behind for the Troithe battle with Shadow Wing.
-The Pyke Syndicate controls the Gyndine shipyards.
-Anx Minor: a massacre took place here.
-Beauchen: Shadow Wing had committed atrocities here
-When he was young, Keize had visited the ruins of Navosh-Hul in the Warplands of Fedalle.
-Other random locations: Rimma Trade Route, Koda Spur, Yaga Minor, Mek'tradi, Mon Gazza, Yordain Core, the cold moon of Harkrova, the icy world of Yethra, Parozha VII, Trenchenovu, Uchinao, Switchmount, Mardona, the Benevolence Tower on the outskirts of New Vertica on Nar Shaddaa, Koru Neimoidia, Kol Huro, the Meridian sector, the Echo system (has tube-yachts), the Redspace Reefs, Trydara, and Taka Shier.
-Random locations on Troithe: Cybersynth District foundries, Glimmere Tower, Thannerhouse District, Thanner Lake, the Gloried Chalic District, the Troithe Planetary Defense Center, Raddakkia Plaza communications center, Highgarden District, the Web, Nine Boats District, Hoorn Skyway, Core Nine, Taa Complex, and Old Skybottom District.
Again, SO MANY RANDOM LOCATIONS!!!!!!!!
-Interesting ships/vehicles: Kraken-class deep lurkers (submersibles)
-Apparently Hera REALLY likes coffee, haha! Me, too!!
-Chass na Chadic once flew with the Cavern Angels on Jedha!!!!! Her squadmates included Batriok and Snivel (whom she loved). She also grew up in a cult called the Inheritors of the Crystal.
-Yrica Quell's bisexuality comes into play again, but barely..."back when she'd first met the younger woman, when (she could admit it now) she'd felt a juvenile attraction crawling under her skin. She'd felt jealousy watching Chadic and Lark".
-Music: Loletian politi-folk, "a Weequay screamed a ballad about living as a Hutt laborer", high-pitched scatterbop
-Caern Adan once worked for the IGBC Financial Review on Muunilinst.
-Smashball is a sport.
-Cyclo-dioxis: an invisible, nonlethal gas, used to cause confusion
-Quell grew up on Gavana Orbital
-Nath's old crew included Piter, Ferris, and Reeka
-The leader of the Children of the Empty Sun is Let'ij, a fungus-faced woman...super creepy!
-Hera re-enters the fight aboard a Nebulon-B frigate called the Temperance.
---
1st book in the series:
Alphabet Squadron by Alexander Freed
Other works by Alexander Freed:
"One Thousand Levels Down" (a short story)
"The End of History" (a short story)
Battlefront: Twilight Company (an adult novel)
---
Well, goodness gracious, talk about a ridiculous amount of trivia!! Even I would have a hard time keeping all this straight. Again, the novel was far too battle heavy to peak my interest but I am so happy that it pleased so many others!! I went back and looked at my review for the previous novel and I seemed to have really loved it. Now I'm even more disappointed that this one didn't strike my fancy. *sigh* Not every book is written for me. And I'm totally fine with that as long as others enjoy them just the same!!
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