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ahotpotofcoffee's review against another edition
3.0
It's a fine end to the series. Not willing to kill a main character felt wrong, especially when the death was earned and felt right for the first time characters.
mayakittenreads's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
peresr's review against another edition
4.0
Després d'un inici de trilogia ple d'errors i mancances, he de dir que aquest tercer i últim volum m'ha sorprès gratament.
Tinc la sensació que si a les 460 i pico pàgines d'aquest llibre hi afegíssim uns quants capítols incials d'unes 150-200 pàgines tot resumint els anteriors dos llibres tindríem entre mans una gran història: un arc argumental de revenja, dilemes ètics, acció a dojo, personalitats complexes, estrès post-traumàtic i un cop d'ull al que és la vida del soldat més enllà de l'èpica amb tot el que implica emocionalment.
Aquest cop si que tenim connexió amb els personatges, com a lector comparteixes el seu patiment, les seves alegries i la batalla final que porta a la conclusió és èpica en tots els sentits. M'ho he passat molt i molt bé.
És un llibre que em recorda els bons llibres d'Star Wars que avui són considerats Legends (no-Cànon) i que trobo que des que Disney va agafar les regnes de la franquícia costa molt de trobar ja que la majoría de coses que Disney ha fet són planes, simples, infantils (en el mal sentit de la paraula), naïfs i plenes d'errors bàsics.
Una llàstima, vist el nivell d'aquest últim volum, recordar com en Alexander Freed ho va fer tant malament en els anteriors dos volums, em sorprèn que ningú a l'editorial hagi fet res per intentar solucionar-ho o limitar el danys i només puc pensar que la prioritat era vendre 3 llibres i poca cosa més. Al més pur estil Disney: milk it! no matther what, milk it.
Tinc la sensació que si a les 460 i pico pàgines d'aquest llibre hi afegíssim uns quants capítols incials d'unes 150-200 pàgines tot resumint els anteriors dos llibres tindríem entre mans una gran història: un arc argumental de revenja, dilemes ètics, acció a dojo, personalitats complexes, estrès post-traumàtic i un cop d'ull al que és la vida del soldat més enllà de l'èpica amb tot el que implica emocionalment.
Aquest cop si que tenim connexió amb els personatges, com a lector comparteixes el seu patiment, les seves alegries i la batalla final que porta a la conclusió és èpica en tots els sentits. M'ho he passat molt i molt bé.
És un llibre que em recorda els bons llibres d'Star Wars que avui són considerats Legends (no-Cànon) i que trobo que des que Disney va agafar les regnes de la franquícia costa molt de trobar ja que la majoría de coses que Disney ha fet són planes, simples, infantils (en el mal sentit de la paraula), naïfs i plenes d'errors bàsics.
Una llàstima, vist el nivell d'aquest últim volum, recordar com en Alexander Freed ho va fer tant malament en els anteriors dos volums, em sorprèn que ningú a l'editorial hagi fet res per intentar solucionar-ho o limitar el danys i només puc pensar que la prioritat era vendre 3 llibres i poca cosa més. Al més pur estil Disney: milk it! no matther what, milk it.
booksunderthewoods's review against another edition
5.0
A fitting close to the Alphabet squadron trilogy. I really enjoyed how this series dealt with the war from the perspective of normal soldiers/pilots on both sides. This series proved to me that Star Wars doesn’t need Jedi or the force to stay interesting. I hope this author keeps writing books with star fighter battles because he really puts you in the heart of it.
mightythor460's review against another edition
5.0
Great conclusion!
After a mediocre second outing, Freed brings the Alphabet Squadron trilogy to a rousing conclusion. The best decision he made was to make Hera Syndula a POV character. She brings so much heart and life to any story she is a part of.
After a mediocre second outing, Freed brings the Alphabet Squadron trilogy to a rousing conclusion. The best decision he made was to make Hera Syndula a POV character. She brings so much heart and life to any story she is a part of.
poppyparkes's review against another edition
2.0
I don’t have much to say about this book except that I was disappointed with the way the series ended.
capnhist's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
neilrcoulter's review against another edition
5.0
Alexander Freed has done what no one else has been able to for post-Endor Star Wars in the new canon. The Alphabet Squadron trilogy is a bold, honest look at the galaxy as it deals with the aftermath of the Empire and the establishment of the New Republic. In this concluding volume, Victory’s Price, the threads of the series (and the year after Endor as a whole) are brought together in satisfying, complex ways. The Emperor’s Messenger, which has lurked in the background of the previous two novels, now becomes something more—and what it’s connected to is something that finally allows Star Wars to comment on current issues in the real world. (None of the new-canon books, and certainly not the sequel trilogy, has done that at all.) George Lucas originally saw a number of connections between the first trilogy of films and current events, and I suppose he must have thought he was making some statements about contemporary politics through the prequel trilogy. But since Disney took over, the series has been adrift, even where it has occasionally been thoroughly entertaining as Star Wars stories (Rogue One, Solo, Rebels). Alphabet Squadron (and, to a lesser extent, The Mandalorian) is what should have launched the Disney era.
The fascinating thing about the mission that’s generated by the Emperor’s Messenger in this novel is that it is a moral quandary. It isn’t a simple good-vs.-evil narrative, nor is it a retread of any typical SW plots; it’s genuinely complicated, and any of the possible outcomes, even up to the climactic moment, seems justifiable. It’s resolved in a nuanced way that allows Quell to confront her past, skillfully blending a personal journey with something that’s also significant to the galaxy. Freed never lets his characters off with easy answers to the burdens they bear from the war. “I’ve accepted what I’ve done,” says one character. “I know the awful deeds I’ve committed and I’ve tried to move past my guilt, because it stopped being useful long ago. . . . I live with the memory of what I’m capable of every day. I need the memory to do better” (420).
There are no easy answers, but there are points along the way where a person simply needs to move ahead. As Hera tells Quell, “What you deserve . . . is a question for philosophers” (440). For a lot of characters in this series, the easiest answer would be to die in battle and not have to confront what life means after the war; in fact, there were points during this novel at which I thought that by the end of the story, none of the original Alphabet Squadron ships (and maybe none of the pilots) would survive to the end—which seemed appropriate. But this is not Rogue One. Some of the characters are asked to survive and endure, which is a much harder quest.
This all relates to what is perhaps my favorite thing about Freed’s perspective on Star Wars: individual lives matter. He shows us space battles, almost tempting us to get so involved in the exciting action sequences that we stop caring about the almost anonymous people who are dying. But he always reminds us that the lives of individual are exactly what’s important. Some poignant, beautiful things happen during the battle of Jakku that bring the value of life right to the forefront even while the battle continues.
Alphabet Squadron is not perfect, but it’s tremendous. Some of its shortcomings: We never learn nearly enough about the perspective of Shadow Wing. I wouldn’t mind if Freed would write another book from their side of this story. Wyl Lark may be a little too perfect (and his idealistic communication attempts only just barely pay off at the end), and Kairos a little too mysterious. And I would have preferred to see Chass persist in her religious faith, rather than discard it relatively quickly, after a lot of buildup. In this final novel, I felt there is at least one epilogue too many. Especially the last one is unnecessary, but it may have been better to eliminate all of the “what happened to them after the war” segments. Let the reader stay at the end of the war and ponder the future possibilities.
Those criticisms aside, this series has easily been the best Star Wars I’ve read. Freed not only crafts stories that are intriguing, but he seems to understand what it would feel like to be in Star Wars, a skill that no other current SW authors have demonstrated to this extent. He captures little moments of Star Wars that made me smile and think, “Yes, it would feel like that, wouldn’t it?” It’s like reading an author who can channel memories of how I played SW as a child, much of which I’d forgotten in all the years since. I had a great time being brought back to the wonder of the SW galaxy.
The fascinating thing about the mission that’s generated by the Emperor’s Messenger in this novel is that it is a moral quandary. It isn’t a simple good-vs.-evil narrative, nor is it a retread of any typical SW plots; it’s genuinely complicated, and any of the possible outcomes, even up to the climactic moment, seems justifiable. It’s resolved in a nuanced way that allows Quell to confront her past, skillfully blending a personal journey with something that’s also significant to the galaxy. Freed never lets his characters off with easy answers to the burdens they bear from the war. “I’ve accepted what I’ve done,” says one character. “I know the awful deeds I’ve committed and I’ve tried to move past my guilt, because it stopped being useful long ago. . . . I live with the memory of what I’m capable of every day. I need the memory to do better” (420).
There are no easy answers, but there are points along the way where a person simply needs to move ahead. As Hera tells Quell, “What you deserve . . . is a question for philosophers” (440). For a lot of characters in this series, the easiest answer would be to die in battle and not have to confront what life means after the war; in fact, there were points during this novel at which I thought that by the end of the story, none of the original Alphabet Squadron ships (and maybe none of the pilots) would survive to the end—which seemed appropriate. But this is not Rogue One. Some of the characters are asked to survive and endure, which is a much harder quest.
This all relates to what is perhaps my favorite thing about Freed’s perspective on Star Wars: individual lives matter. He shows us space battles, almost tempting us to get so involved in the exciting action sequences that we stop caring about the almost anonymous people who are dying. But he always reminds us that the lives of individual are exactly what’s important. Some poignant, beautiful things happen during the battle of Jakku that bring the value of life right to the forefront even while the battle continues.
Alphabet Squadron is not perfect, but it’s tremendous. Some of its shortcomings: We never learn nearly enough about the perspective of Shadow Wing. I wouldn’t mind if Freed would write another book from their side of this story. Wyl Lark may be a little too perfect (and his idealistic communication attempts only just barely pay off at the end), and Kairos a little too mysterious. And I would have preferred to see Chass persist in her religious faith, rather than discard it relatively quickly, after a lot of buildup. In this final novel, I felt there is at least one epilogue too many. Especially the last one is unnecessary, but it may have been better to eliminate all of the “what happened to them after the war” segments. Let the reader stay at the end of the war and ponder the future possibilities.
Those criticisms aside, this series has easily been the best Star Wars I’ve read. Freed not only crafts stories that are intriguing, but he seems to understand what it would feel like to be in Star Wars, a skill that no other current SW authors have demonstrated to this extent. He captures little moments of Star Wars that made me smile and think, “Yes, it would feel like that, wouldn’t it?” It’s like reading an author who can channel memories of how I played SW as a child, much of which I’d forgotten in all the years since. I had a great time being brought back to the wonder of the SW galaxy.