Last summer we reviewed the current-canon novel Star Wars: Alphabet Squadron by Alexander Freed from Del Rey, and found it to be one of the better installments in Lucasfilm Publishing’s recent output. And now we’re anxiously awaiting its sequel, Star Wars: Alphabet Squadron – Shadow Fall from the same author, due out this June.
This week Del Rey shared the final cover (seen above) of Star Wars: Alphabet Squadron – Shadow Fall and an excerpt from the novel via an exclusive post on io9.
The previous "placeholder" cover for "Shadow Fall."
What’s happening:
- Star Wars: Alphabet Squadron – Shadow Fall is a sequel to the 2018 novel Star Wars: Alphabet Squadron.
- The novels are set in the period after Return of the Jedi in the wake of the Empire’s destruction.
- The story follows a group of pilots who band together under General Hera Syndulla amid the formation of the New Republic to pursue the Empire’s elite TIE fighter unit known as Shadow Wing.
- The final cover of Shadow Fall features pilot Chass na Chadic, a Theelin female with an affinity for music.
- Beyond Alphabet Squadron, Author Alexander Freed is best known as a writer for the Star Wars: The Old Republic PC game, the novelization of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and the video game adaptation Star Wars: Battlefront – Twilight Company.
What they’re saying:
- James Whitbrook, io9: “Shadow Fall will indeed catch us up on what General Syndulla and her unruly pilots in Alphabet Squadron are up to in their quest to stamp out the Imperial Remnant. But as the title implies, we’ll also be diving even deeper into the machinations of what Shadow Wing themselves are like. Now lead by Major Soran Keize—Yrica’s former mentor when she was part of the 204th—we’ll not just see their plans to go after the New Republic’s fledgling starfighter forces, but how what’s left of one of the Empire’s most elite fighter divisions is coping in a galaxy where their Empire has exploded right before their eyes.”
Star Wars: Alphabet Squadron – Shadow Fall is due for release on Tuesday, June 23 from Del Rey. For now, you can prepare yourself for the novel by reading io9’s exclusive excerpt.