A review by billyjepma
Victory's Price by Alexander Freed

challenging emotional hopeful reflective 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

4.5

"The war ended a year ago. It’s time to walk away."

A thrilling, intelligent, and moving end to a consistently excellent trilogy. Freed has written a fitting, often beautiful, occasionally painful, and always empathetic conclusion that respects its characters enough to let them face real consequences with all the messy, misguided honesty that befits them. It thrilled me, it moved me, and it's one of the most thoroughly satisfying Star Wars novels I've ever read. And I've read a lot of them.

I love how Freed takes his time in this book. He's always shown an aptitude for introspection, but he outdoes himself here. This book is borderline slow, but that slower pace is crucial to the book's success. Every character arc and plot thread is addressed, reckoned with, and resolved in a way that feels, as all good conclusions should, like an end and a beginning. And he does it all so deliberately that every piece of the puzzle fits snugly into its proper place.

I could ramble on and on about how much I loved this book and its characters and their tragedies and their bravery...but I won't. I hope it continues to find an audience in the future, though, because it's a story I'm very glad exists and one that will stick with me for a long time.