Book Review: Star Wars: Battlefront II - Inferno Squad

 

This is a Star Wars canon novel set after A New Hope, that is told from the perspective of the "regular" (non-sith) imperials. The main character, Iden Versio, leads an elite Imperial unit called "Inferno Squad" which is tasked with tracking down and eliminating the remnants of Saw Gerrera's partisans, who are still carrying out attacks separate from the rebels. The book actually begins with the destruction of the first Death Star, with Iden surviving the battle and crashing on Yavin IV.

The book is actually a setup for the video game Battlefront II and basically follows Iden and her team as they embark on a series of missions to infiltrate and then take down various rebel groups. What is interesting about the book is that it is written from the perspective that the Empire is the peaceful entity in the galaxy and the rebels are terrorists trying to disrupt life in the otherwise peaceful and lawful Empire. The members of the group do start to see cracks in that narrative as the book goes along, but in the end, the team is still resolved to take out the rebels at any chance they get.

The book tells a good story and is a fairly easy read. It is one of the shorter adult canon novels (about 330 pages) and can be read in a couple of days (depending on how much time you have to read). You do not need to have followed the characters in the video games to follow the story or connect with the characters. It is well-written and definitely leaves open the possibility of future novels based around the group. So, if you are someone who reads some, but not all, of the novels, this is a good one.