Star Wars Battlefront: Twilight Company Review

When Star Wars: Aftermath released back in September one of the big controversies was that it didn’t feature the “Big 3” of Star Wars. The psychotic “Give Us Legends” crowd spammed Amazon’s review page for the book, sent death threats to the author, and even disrupted conventions partially because they were angry that Luke, Han and Leia weren’t featured in the book. But those who actually followed the old EU will remember the great Rogue Squadron series, which didn’t really focus on those characters.

Battlefront: Twilight Company isn’t really a video-game tie-in novel. Sure it carries the title of Battlefront, and it’s being released near the game, but it’s really the new canon’s version of Rogue Squadron. The difference here is that it focuses on ground infantry instead of X-Wing pilots. That doesn’t change how great the book is, as those who loved Rogue Squadron will definitely enjoy this novel.

Set before and after the Battle of Hoth, Twilight Company tells the story of what is basically the Rebellion’s clean up crew. These are the tough guys who go in after a big battle and sweep up the straggling Imperials and those who just don’t want to give up. It follows this company on a pretty entertaining adventure involving an Imperial who wants to defect, and there’s even a supporting story showing a Stormtrooper and why she decided to join the Empire.

Battlefront: Twilight Company shares one of the best elements of the recent comic Shattered Empire by showing the Galactic Civil War from the perspective of the normal soldier. It’s not Luke, Han and Leia story, and it shouldn’t be. I really like the new canon going deeper into the Star Wars universe with stories like this. It contributes to the “lived in” feel of Star Wars by showing “normal” people dealing with the war between the Rebellion and Empire. Lost Stars did this as well.

Just as Rogue Squadron was a long-running series in the old Legends EU, I hope to see more stories of Twilight Company. There are a lot of Star Wars battles for them to still experience in the time between this book and The Force Awakens, so I hope we get to see those. It’s not hard to recommend Twilight Company to any Star Wars fan, even those who can’t let go of the old EU canon.