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3.24 AVERAGE
3.24 AVERAGE
This is the first novel I've read of the new canon; it was OK. Nothing too great to right home about on this one. Jas and Sinjir stand out the most for me. Curious to know who the Imperial Fleet Admiral is. Will give it a 3 out of 5 stars and plan to read the next one.
Like milk sitting out in the hot sun, this one curdled on me.
I figured I would start out using a simile that is similar to what Chuck employs frequently throughout. Reads like a highschooler writing their first book. Which is somewhat a shame since there's some fun story elements in there. Don't read this series.
I figured I would start out using a simile that is similar to what Chuck employs frequently throughout. Reads like a highschooler writing their first book. Which is somewhat a shame since there's some fun story elements in there. Don't read this series.
I picked up this book because Chuck is friends with some of my favorite YA authors. I love his terribleminds blog. And #bdub, along with Shannon Hale's children, is hilarious. It was about time I read a book of his! With the current Star Wars craze, this seemed a good place to start.(And it didn't hurt that the Twitterverse was giving Chuck shit about gay characters. Spoiler alert: there is nothing to get your knickers in a bunch about here!) My 3 star review is all about me. I quickly discovered that I like my Star Wars on film more than in print. Too many interludes and "one off" characters never really came together for me. I was intrigued enough, however, with Norra and Temmin and Jas and Sinjir to see it through. There is plenty of action, intrigue, and adventure throughout the novel. I will certainly recommend Aftermath as a good read to my Star Wars fanatics.
3.5 stars. I'm not a fan of Wendig's writing style, but man, I love Star Wars.
I'm still trying to figure out this new Canon for the post ROTJ Star Wars universe, but Chuck Wendig makes some interesting points on how the New Republic consolidated themselves in the early days.
I knew I was in trouble from the first chapter, when Wedge reflected on that thing that Han "always said": fly casual. He "always" said that, did he? Are you sure it wasn't just a random line he happened to say once in one of the original movies, regurgitated here for the dopamine hit certain fans seem to get when they can turn to each other and crow, "He said the thing!"?
This book was everything I find annoying in Star Wars(TM). Repetition of OT lines was of course rife; poor Admiral Ackbar has never said the word "trap" so often and so meaninglessly. The characters were boring; the good guys were especially bland, with even the bounty hunter unable to muster a bit of moral ambiguity, and with several instances of the most egregious plot armour I've ever read. The dialogue was more interested in being pithy than in sounding like a person spoke it. Worldbuilding mostly amounted to name-dropping creatures and places with which we were already familiar, or repurposing things that exist in the real world.
But the worst thing wasn't any of that. It was Wendig's writing. I don't mind present tense in theory, but it needs to be used judiciously and with skill, and that is not done here, so it's just off-putting. The same can be said for Wendig's use of similes, but even more so. To put it lightly, they were excessive. Worse, they totally failed in their purpose. Similes are meant to paint an extra-strong picture, but that is impossible when Wendig insists on comparing things with other things we've never seen before. It makes my face look like that of a hundak that just lost its goopah. Can you picture that? No? Me neither, but I guess it sounds all Star Wars-y, which we all know was really the point, wasn't it?
I guess I shouldn't complain. When Wendig makes his occasional forays into similes that make sense, they're truly terrible, so perhaps it's for the best that he stays in the realm of indecipherable nonsense.
I should also note that I listened to the audiobook. That was both a blessing and a curse. The enhanced experience with all the sound effects and voices etc were good fun, very immersive. On the other hand, Marc Thompson was irritating as hell. He's obviously a talented voice actor, but he made some extremely annoying choices with some major characters, and the way he intensified his narration was often jarring and sometimes completely out of place. Unfortunately, I think he only highlighted a lot of Wendig's failings, particularly the poor dialogue and occasionally clunky pacing.
Why two stars, after all this? Probably just because of the production, to be honest. Also, I liked Mr Bones. Yeah. One star just for him.
This book was everything I find annoying in Star Wars(TM). Repetition of OT lines was of course rife; poor Admiral Ackbar has never said the word "trap" so often and so meaninglessly. The characters were boring; the good guys were especially bland, with even the bounty hunter unable to muster a bit of moral ambiguity, and with several instances of the most egregious plot armour I've ever read. The dialogue was more interested in being pithy than in sounding like a person spoke it. Worldbuilding mostly amounted to name-dropping creatures and places with which we were already familiar, or repurposing things that exist in the real world.
But the worst thing wasn't any of that. It was Wendig's writing. I don't mind present tense in theory, but it needs to be used judiciously and with skill, and that is not done here, so it's just off-putting. The same can be said for Wendig's use of similes, but even more so. To put it lightly, they were excessive. Worse, they totally failed in their purpose. Similes are meant to paint an extra-strong picture, but that is impossible when Wendig insists on comparing things with other things we've never seen before. It makes my face look like that of a hundak that just lost its goopah. Can you picture that? No? Me neither, but I guess it sounds all Star Wars-y, which we all know was really the point, wasn't it?
I guess I shouldn't complain. When Wendig makes his occasional forays into similes that make sense, they're truly terrible, so perhaps it's for the best that he stays in the realm of indecipherable nonsense.
I should also note that I listened to the audiobook. That was both a blessing and a curse. The enhanced experience with all the sound effects and voices etc were good fun, very immersive. On the other hand, Marc Thompson was irritating as hell. He's obviously a talented voice actor, but he made some extremely annoying choices with some major characters, and the way he intensified his narration was often jarring and sometimes completely out of place. Unfortunately, I think he only highlighted a lot of Wendig's failings, particularly the poor dialogue and occasionally clunky pacing.
Why two stars, after all this? Probably just because of the production, to be honest. Also, I liked Mr Bones. Yeah. One star just for him.
I had a lot of difficulty getting into this (which is normal in my experience with Star Wars book), but once I did it was a ride. The story has a brisk pace, clear action, and, aside from a handful of awkward phrases, the present tense is really effective.
Sinjr is sarcastic as hell and now clearly the love of my life, so I'm expecting him to die horribly before this series is ended. Norra is a wonderful lead, and I'm really invested in her relationship with (and acceptance of) Temmin, so I'm interested in seeing where their relationship progresses. And Mister Bones. I can't even start.
The villains in this piece are also nuanced and amazing. Sloane has my respect and empathy, even though she's an Imperial, and that's no mean feat. Overall, I'd say the character work is one of the strongest elements of the novel.
I'm looking forward to grabbing a copy of Life Debt!
Sinjr is sarcastic as hell and now clearly the love of my life, so I'm expecting him to die horribly before this series is ended. Norra is a wonderful lead, and I'm really invested in her relationship with (and acceptance of) Temmin, so I'm interested in seeing where their relationship progresses. And Mister Bones. I can't even start.
The villains in this piece are also nuanced and amazing. Sloane has my respect and empathy, even though she's an Imperial, and that's no mean feat. Overall, I'd say the character work is one of the strongest elements of the novel.
I'm looking forward to grabbing a copy of Life Debt!
This was fine, but that’s about it. I ended up skimming some of the POVs in the last half because I just did not feel engaged. The writing itself is alright for the most part, but sometimes cliche.
There were a handful of cool parts I enjoyed - mostly in the interlude snapshots of different locations across the galaxy. But overall I feel the POV alternated way too much in the main storyline (like, multiple times in one chapter), which instead of having a fast-paced effect, just made it feel messy and hard to concentrate on. I wonder whether the characters would’ve felt more interesting to me if there had been more maintained depth/focus, and less frequent POV switching.
I might skim through the rest of the series at some point just cause I like Star Wars, but I’m really not itching to pick up the next book right now.
There were a handful of cool parts I enjoyed - mostly in the interlude snapshots of different locations across the galaxy. But overall I feel the POV alternated way too much in the main storyline (like, multiple times in one chapter), which instead of having a fast-paced effect, just made it feel messy and hard to concentrate on. I wonder whether the characters would’ve felt more interesting to me if there had been more maintained depth/focus, and less frequent POV switching.
I might skim through the rest of the series at some point just cause I like Star Wars, but I’m really not itching to pick up the next book right now.
This book was too choppy. The main story line with Norra&Co. and Admiral Sloane was good, but just when it would reach a nice flow, the author would cut away to something completely different. It seemed like the author was introducing new characters nearly every 5 pages. I suppose this was all set-up for the rest of this series, but it was too much to cram into this one book. It would have been better to focus on the Norra/Sloane story, introduce only A FEW other characters, and save introducing the rest of those characters for the later books, as needed.
I started this book with so much excitement. YES! I FINALLY GET TO SEE WHAT HAPPENED AFTER THE DEATH STAR BLEW UP! (besides the whole galaxy having a party). Except in this book I learned the whole galaxy wasn't having a party. And the war was not over yet. It seems like there is always an ongoing war in the galaxy that just shapes into new things but never fully stops. Like all other star wars books, this one was very informative and really helped me know more about all time periods of the galaxy.