Reviews

I find myself rooting for these pilots despite all their flaws (maybe because of them?). This book has done a good job bridging the "we've become a team" of book 1 and what I expect will be "final showdown" of book 3. Sometimes the middle book in a trilogy feels like a place holder of sorts, but this one had a lot of plot and a lot of character building going on.

I'm looking forward to book 3!

vivamonty's review against another edition

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adventurous dark slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

I thought the first book was promising but found this one to be a slog. It’s meant to be a character study but very few of these characters are demonstrably changed from the beginning, the things that occur to them not really pushing their arc. Will have to think over whether I want to invest time in the finale.

inkandplasma's review

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4.0

good morning what the fuck was that ending im starting book 3 immediately

nvy368's review against another edition

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Alexander Freed again proving why he’s the best Star Wars writer out there at the moment. Superb.

jayspa65's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I’m in a bit of a weird place with Shadow Fall, the second book in Alexander Freed’s Alphabet Squadron trilogy. I’m enjoying the era, the characters, and the plot that’s unfolding. Still, this book was quite a slog to get through, and I think that I finally know why.

Freed’s Star Wars novels are more militaristic science fiction while my preference remains the space opera side of Star Wars. There’s nothing wrong with Freed’s writing or this book, but it just took a while for me to get through it.

Shadow Fall follows the mercurial Alphabet Squadron as they continue their hunt for the Empire’s (well, what’s left of it) Shadow Wing. And, while due to… circumstances… we don’t get a full space battle between the two sides, the lengthy end battle serves as a mega-springboard for one of the galaxy’s newest heroes in Wyl Lark.

While the first book was very broad-but-shallow in character work, Fall goes all-in on everyone except the ever-mysterious Kairos. We do, however, get to know how Kairos and Caern Adarn met and developed a strong bond.

Coming into this book, I still felt like I was leaning towards Yrica Quell being the hero of this story, and despite her apparent defection, she may very well come through for Alphabet Squadron in the end.

wynwicket's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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