Aftermath

I started reading this well aware of the controversy and the one-star review campaign against. Some people hate the first-person POV and short punchy sentences, other hate it simply because it's the new Star Wars canon, and there are other who loathe it because it has the audacity to mention gay people in the Star Wars universe. Which... utterly confounds me when we're talking about so many alien species and worlds and cultures and certainly types of sexuality we cannot even comprehend. Why/how could they all be heterosexual? But anyway.

I started reading, looking for the controversy. I finished the book in two days--it reads fast because wow, is it packed with action. It really feels like a Star Wars book and it has me even more hyped show more for the new movie (please don't suck, please don't suck). But as for the elements that were so offensive... I'm befuddled. There are a couple of mentions of folks with same-sex partners or an interest in such. That's it. Just casual and utterly real things. No bludgeonings-by-rainbow on every page, no raunchy scenes. I will say the one thing that DID really jolt me was mention of venereal disease. I guess, in keeping with other reviews, I should give this one star and scream at Chuck for ruining Star Wars by giving everyone the clap.

It's a thoroughly enjoyable book and introduces fantastic characters--I loved seeing a mother and son, both competent in their own ways, and of course there is Mr. Bones, the B1 battle droid who is actually good at his job. There is one chapter that starts with him returning with the announcement, 'I PERFORMED VIOLENCE' and I busted out laughing.

Well done, Chuck. If this is how you destroy America and Star Wars, then keep on destroying. I'll keep buying. show less

I had to take a break from reading only teen literature and children's biographies, to finally dive into a Star Wars novel. (I have several older SW books I've been dying to get to, I love reading them all, no matter how silly, but I've been a good little YA librarian and kept setting them aside. No more!) I had to read this brand new "Journey to Episode VII The Force Awakens" novel right away, on release weekend as if it was a new Harry Potter book, just in case any of my many SW fan friends let something slip before I'd had a chance, and also so that I'll be able to talk about it with them once we've all read it. (Don't worry, no spoilers here.) Well, no danger, I think, of anything in this novel being an outright spoiler for the new show more movie. I am trying to remain as major-spoiler-free as I can, so I would not have read this if I was concerned about big reveals. The book takes place only a few months after the Battle of Endor [the movie Return of the Jedi, for those not quite as steeped in the SW universe :-) ] whereas the new movie will be set many years later. But, there were SO MANY CHARACTERS introduced in this novel, in the "Interlude" chapters, that I feel certain at least one of them surely will crop up in Episode VII. The main storyline involves a Rebel pilot, her 15-year-old son whom she hasn't seen in three years (so see, I could possibly justify this as a teen read :-) All SW books are teen-appropriate anyway) and two new friends they make: an ex-Imperial "loyalty officer" (a very chilling job that I don't think I'd seen in any of the previous novels, and it was a logical job for an Imperial to have), and a female Zabrak bounty hunter (the Zabrak are the same horned species as Darth Maul from The Phantom Menace). There's also the requisite coldhearted Imperial admiral "bad guy" character and all the related crew, plus a very fun battle droid belonging to the teenage son who provides some great comic relief moments. The only "big name" movie character with a part to play is Wedge Antilles, the rebel X-Wing pilot, and I loved seeing him in a book again. The setup is that he's been captured and Norra, the woman Rebel pilot, has to decide if she wants to try to rescue him and risk becoming further estranged from her son. That's all I'm going to say about the plot. It's too complex to easily summarize, and you just have to go along for the ride. I thought it was very well-written and moved quickly, but had good quiet character moments and descriptions too. This was one of the best Star Wars tie-in novels I've read. It stayed true to the spirit of SW, with betrayals and clever escapes and surprise twists; had the galaxywide setting, and some clever banter, and cruel villains; an exciting space battle and various hand-to-hand combat scenes; and a good mix of familiar planets, species and technology from the existing Star Wars Universe along with some brand new invented stuff. (One of the fun aspects of reading a SW book, for me, is that I have my SW Encyclopedia and SW Atlas handy so that as I go along I can look up a species mentioned in the story for illustrations and more info on it, or see exactly where a planet is in the SW galaxy and remind myself what else has happened on that planet in other books. OK I realize that is probably a VERY geeky thing to do, and it stretches out my reading time by quite a lot. But it's all part of immersing myself in the wonderful SW universe. Even though they're starting a whole new continuity with the new sequel novels, a lot of the existing universe will still apply, thankfully.) This new novel also takes a look at democracy-building, survivor's guilt, post-traumatic stress, and includes not just the usual SW diversity of species but also of same-gender romantic relationships, albeit very subtly and almost in passing, which I liked, as it was just another normal part of the universe. (Yes even Star Wars novels are just like all science fiction and have some real world parallels, at least the best ones do.)

So I mentioned that the characters are all new. However, one of the Interlude chapters does include another couple of popular SW movie characters, and I loved it! Can't wait to see what happens next there! My thinking is that the interludes are either throwaway teases about upcoming movie characters, or, what I really hope happens, setups for future SW novels. Each of them was a complete short story in just three or four pages, with actionpacked opening scenes and great characters, and familiar settings like Cloud City and Naboo. They've really got my curiosity piqued. On the one hand, those chapters are part of why I only rated this four out of five stars: it was hard enough following all of the main action, as it was constantly switching between different characters POVs on different planets, etc, which always happens in a SW novel. When you added in all the interludes--I think there are over a dozen!--your head almost begins to spin and you want to start taking notes. I think that was unnecessarily complicated and distracting, and we could have gotten by with only a small number of interludes. But, again, I did enjoy them once I stopped grumbling about having to switch gears in my brain to new plots. The other reason I didn't give the book five stars was just that I personally wanted to have a Force user in the book, not necessarily a Jedi but just someone, anyone, who was tuned to the Force. And we got nothin'. Also, I love SW for the romance--come on, it was Han and Leia that really got me hooked in the first place way back when. I know not every SW novel can have a nice romantic angle, most of them don't, but it would have been nice. I am thinking that the next one on my list, Lost Stars, billed as the teen SW novel, will be a romance, so I'll wait for that. But, on the third hand, Aftermath is Book One of a Trilogy, so....who knows what the future books will hold? :-)

And now that I've spewed out all of my thoughts about the newest SW novel, which I hope encourages others to read it, you'll pardon me while I go off and dive back into a galaxy far, far away.... show less

Logging a re-read, post "The Force Awakens." I'm even more impressed by this after having seen the movie twice. Wendig does a good job laying down a lot of the bits and pieces that establish the new canon of the post Endor era in Star Wars. Looking forward to Life Debt.

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Non-stop. Excellent reboot of the post "Return of the Jedi" era.

Taking nothing away from the classics now deemed "Legends," Wendig launches a great story, well paced and with plenty of twists and turns. The measure (to me) of a good Star Wars novel is one that turns the dial of "fantasy" down and the dial of "hard SF" way up. Zahn is a master of that, along with Karen Traviss - authors who can take the Universe of the GFFA and build a credible hard SF story in show more it.

Wendig likewise draws in the vocabulary, races and settings of Star Wars, and builds a fun, thrilling story - I hope to see more!

It's interesting also, to see how the tone and ideas can reflect our times. Disillusioned soldiers, PTSD, liberated lands with crumbling infrastructure - there's things in here that give you a way to reflect on our own galaxy, not so far away. show less

Judging by other reviews I’ve seen, people come into Star Wars tie ins with a lot of baggage. I’m a lifelong SFF reader and watcher, but I’ve only ever been a casual Star Wars fan. I watched the original trilogy on VHS as a kid (yes, before the extra CGI) and enjoyed them, but was unimpressed by the prequels that came out in my junior high years. I’ve never read any Star Wars EU materials and I’m unfamiliar with the animated series. Aftermath was my first experience reading a Star Wars tie in. It's also my first time reading a Chuck Wendig book, though I’ve been an inconstant reader of his blog, terrible minds, for a few years.

Readers: Aftermath is SO GOOD.

The story takes place shortly after the events of Return of the Jedi show more and deals with the (oh, you aptly titled book, you) aftermath of the deaths of Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine. It’s easy to forget that just because our heroes won the battle it doesn’t mean they’ve won the war. There’s a vast power vacuum that needs to be filled. Wendig’s trilogy is meant to bridge the gap between RotJ and the events of The Force Awakens.

I’ve seen Aftermath referred to as a TFA prequel, which might be technically true, but don’t let that mislead you. While it’s part of the universe, there’s still a lot of ground to cover from Aftermath to TFA. Very few characters appear in both. If you’re looking for adventures of the original trio or our newly beloved sisterhood of the traveling jacket, this is not your book. (If that’s what you’re looking for, Disney Publishing Worldwide and Lucasfilm announced 20 books/e-books and some of them will fit that bill.) If you’re looking for a clever, more-inclusive space opera with strong pacing and sprawling worldbuilding, get thee to the library (or bookstore or e-book retailer of your choice).

I’m going to be upfront that while I loved Wendig’s choice of present tense, it’s a deal breaker for some people. I’d err on the side of ‘really, you should give this book a try,’ but if it doesn’t work for you, it doesn’t work for you. That said, I was very impressed with Wendig’s writing style. He can deftly transition from dryly funny to gut-wrenchingly emotional. Aftermath’s format is interesting, with the primary narrative being interwoven with a scenes depicting the chaos of ‘liberation’ across the galaxy.

When I first started reading Aftermath, I wasn’t entirely sure who the main character was. I went in expecting a Chosen One hero’s journey and soon realized I’d been gifted a wonderful ensemble of memorable characters. There's a lot of great dialogue and strong chemistry between the leads and I loved all of them to pieces.

Our main ‘heroes’: Norra Wexley, a war-weary Rebel Alliance freighter pilot who flew a Y-wing in the Battle of Endor, returning home to Akiva and a son who grew up without her; Norra’s son, Temmin, a smart, sarcastic punk making a semi-legal living running a spare-parts shop (and who appears in adult-form in The Force Awakens, played by Greg Grunberg); Mister Bones, an old B1 battle droid that Temmin’s modded into an efficient, loyal killing machine; Jas Emari, a Zabrak (spiny-headed humanoids) bounty hunter on Akiva in hopes of bagging an Imperial leader’s head; and Sinjir Rath Velas, an ex-Imperial loyalty officer, delightfully snarky drunkard and a canonically queer lead character in a Star Wars novel! *fistpumps*

There are also appearances by: Captain Wedge Antilles, Rebel pilot and Aftermath’s designated damsel in distress (which was so great, okay, I loved that the white dude I thought was going to be the lead was the character who needed to be rescued; I also loved that he was a little shit and kept trying to escape custody); Sergeant Major Jom Barell, a member of the New Republic Special Forces who’s sent to Akiva to help retrieve Wedge; Admiral Rae Sloane, lady of color and all-around badass, who’s gathering Empire bigwigs on Akiva to start the Imperial Future Council (i.e. decide who’s running this galaxy, now); Chancellor Mon Mothma (a character from the original trilogy with no lines) is smart and tiny and deciding whether to vote for demilitarization of the Republic in the wake of massive losses; Mon Calamari (amphibious, fish-type dudes) Republic Admiral Gial Ackbar, who’s coordinating efforts to retrieve Wedge; the Anklebiter Brigade, a group of orphans who report Imperial movements on Coruscant to the Rebel Alliance; and a very quick appearance by Han and Chewie, who plan to gather some free Wookiees for a chance to free slaves on Kashyyyk, the Wookiee homeworld.

There are many more wonderful characters, because the world of Aftermath is the sprawling, richly lived-in Star Wars universe that’s so easy to love.

I highly recommend Aftermath for Star Wars fans and newbies, alike. Wendig does a great job of clarifying any SW jargon without turning into Wookieepedia, seamlessly rendering a believable backdrop for a fun, fast-paced SF adventure. show less

Shockingly good. Wendig does such a good job of establishing the first post-Endor moments of the Galaxy that you're glad the old Expanded Universe is toast.

Oh, and huge spoiler: LOBOT LIVES!!!!!

If I could, I'd give it three and a half stars.

I wasn't planning on reading this one. After reading reviews by those whom I follow, it didn't strike me as a must-read. It's not an angry fan boy thing. Except for two volumes of the Knights of the Old Republic graphic novels, I haven't read any of the pre-Disney Star Wars novels either. But then I received this book for Christmas and so I had to read it.

I didn't like the writing at the beginning of the book. It was all short, choppy sentences, a good many of them incomplete. It was more like someone blocking a scene in the script to a movie. Fortunately, that style was abandoned and a true narrative took over. This is my first Wendig novel, so I have no idea if he does that sort of thing. show more Maybe he felt the need to set the scene that way, give the feel of a watching a movie. I liked his writing the rest of the way. Action scenes were choreographed well and his descriptions of the setting made it easy for me to visualize the scenes.

Other reviewers have pointed out how difficult it was to connect with characters that have never made it into film. I get that, but that wasn't much of a problem for me. Wendig's characters were well-developed. I particularly liked Jas the bounty hunter and Sinjir the ex-Imperial loyalty officer. I couldn't stand Norra's teen-aged son Temmin because Wendig nailed it (being a parent of one and a soon-to-be one I can attest to it), so props to you, sir! I think that Wendig had more freedom to develop these new characters than the familiar faces—I found Wedge Antilles to be sorely lacking, but Admiral Ackbar was ok, albeit limited.

Every few chapters there are "interludes." These short tales offered a glimpse into the lives of the everyday people on several worlds and how they dealt with the aftermath of the fall of the Empire. To be honest, I enjoyed these more than the story itself.

Which brings me to the reason why I didn't really love this book: the perceived significance of the events portrayed here. There's more drama packed into the lives of the Interlude characters than the main story. Sure it's entertaining, but I never got the impression that the stakes were high. The Epilogue may have teased something, but it was left too vague to ascertain what was actually teased. If Aftermath were a collection of Interlude short stories, I think I would've enjoyed it more.

All in all, this is still a fine book by an author forced to write with one hand tied behind his back. show less

ALL THE FEMALE CHARACTERS SURVIVED TO THE END LET'S SING A HALLELUJAH CHORUS BECAUSE THAT'S THE FIRST TIME IN NEW CANON

Only real problem with this book was the incredibly choppy narrative style that's used liberally throughout the book rather than sparingly to emphasize action. But all the ladies survived (despite a couple of moments when they tried to make you think Norra was gonna die) so that rates as a good book to me.