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3.24 AVERAGE
3.24 AVERAGE
adventurous
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
medium-paced
In a universe full of amazing characters and stories, tied together by fate and "the force," there are apparently uninteresting people in uninteresting places doing uninteresting things too. Aftermath is a book about them. Attempting to create as much action in 400 pages as possible, it is basically a description of events with too many characters–none of them well-developed–and nothing of literary of philosophical interest whatsoever. It's not horrible–I might read the rest of the trilogy just for how it fits into the greater plot–but it is definitely disappointing.
Ignore the reviews and give Aftermath a shot. It's worth it.
2.5
I expected a lot more of a BRIDGE between ROTJ and this book. I mean there were obvious connections and it explained some of what happened but for the most part I was like "who are these people?"
In the end, they formed a rather likeable bunch if not unlikely. I will be reading the rest of the trilogy because I have to.
I expected a lot more of a BRIDGE between ROTJ and this book. I mean there were obvious connections and it explained some of what happened but for the most part I was like "who are these people?"
In the end, they formed a rather likeable bunch if not unlikely. I will be reading the rest of the trilogy because I have to.
adventurous
funny
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
A novel that is supposed to serve as transition to the upcoming Star Wars film. Unfortunately, none of the characters (the only major character from the films here is Wedge and he is not too prominent) is very engaging and the storyline is a jumbled mess told in a jumbled manner. There are some nice moments, a couple of action sequences that would be fun on a big screen and a couple of interesting ideas not completely realized. Disappointing.
adventurous
emotional
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Abandonment
This was the first Chuck Wendig novel I've read and did with some trepidation; I had glanced at some of his prose before and found the use of present tense eccentric if also instantly recognizable. Now after writing in present tense myself for a short story I found it wasn't for me at all, but Wendig owns it, and after page one I didn't notice it at all. In fact, it was an asset here, the choppiness lending a sense of urgency to everything. Wendig has a way with description too; stars turning into spears of light and clouds like melting steel grabbed me in a way I wasn't expecting in Star Wars tie-in fiction. If Wendig's like this with a tie-in book then I can't wait to read his original work to see him without constraints.
It was the characters that truly made this for me though. I'm grateful to see a Star Wars book focus on entirely new characters for the most part. Wedge Antilles is there, but he turned out to play a smaller role than I expected, and this isn't a bad thing at all. Among the heroes, I found the pilot Norra, her son Temmin and ex-Imperial scoundrel Sinjir the most compelling. These were deeply flawed, damaged characters—Norra's PSD from narrowly surviving the second Death Star's destruction, Temmin's resentment for Norra and selfishness, Sinjir taking advantage of formerly being an Imperial officer for whatever perks he can still scrounge up—and their struggles, physical and mental, were deeply compelling. On the other side is Rae Sloan, an Imperial admiral trying to keep her chunk of the Empire afloat after the events of Return of the Jedi. Her moments were some of the best in the entire novel.
The action was exciting, as needed for a Star Wars novel and aided by Wendig's style, but I was surprised by how interesting I found the scenes of Imperial officers squabbling over the future of the Empire. The book is littered with interludes that show what else is happening around the Galaxy that don't add much but help in showing how vast Star Wars should be. Most satisfying for me was the manipulation of the media to turn people against the Empire, but we also get some good moments on how the loss of the Empire really was a bad thing for some people. I can't care much for the prequel trilogy but I like the use of material from them like abandoned Confederacy droid factories; might as well use interesting elements from the prequels.
On the downside, there are some really strange dialogue choices here. Distractingly bad. I know Star Wars has some clunkers, especially A New Hope and all of the prequel trilogy, but homaging that isn't the best choice.
The inclusion here is a big step up from most Star Wars fiction I've seen. Wendig manages the difficult feet of having more than one major female character—one of them even a woman of color—and including some LGBT characters. A nice start. The movies sure could use more women of color and LGBT inclusion.
Reading two novels offering different takes on after the original trilogy ended, Heir to the Empire and Aftermath, I'm looking forward to where Aftermath's sequels go more.
It was the characters that truly made this for me though. I'm grateful to see a Star Wars book focus on entirely new characters for the most part. Wedge Antilles is there, but he turned out to play a smaller role than I expected, and this isn't a bad thing at all. Among the heroes, I found the pilot Norra, her son Temmin and ex-Imperial scoundrel Sinjir the most compelling. These were deeply flawed, damaged characters—Norra's PSD from narrowly surviving the second Death Star's destruction, Temmin's resentment for Norra and selfishness, Sinjir taking advantage of formerly being an Imperial officer for whatever perks he can still scrounge up—and their struggles, physical and mental, were deeply compelling. On the other side is Rae Sloan, an Imperial admiral trying to keep her chunk of the Empire afloat after the events of Return of the Jedi. Her moments were some of the best in the entire novel.
The action was exciting, as needed for a Star Wars novel and aided by Wendig's style, but I was surprised by how interesting I found the scenes of Imperial officers squabbling over the future of the Empire. The book is littered with interludes that show what else is happening around the Galaxy that don't add much but help in showing how vast Star Wars should be. Most satisfying for me was the manipulation of the media to turn people against the Empire, but we also get some good moments on how the loss of the Empire really was a bad thing for some people. I can't care much for the prequel trilogy but I like the use of material from them like abandoned Confederacy droid factories; might as well use interesting elements from the prequels.
On the downside, there are some really strange dialogue choices here. Distractingly bad. I know Star Wars has some clunkers, especially A New Hope and all of the prequel trilogy, but homaging that isn't the best choice.
The inclusion here is a big step up from most Star Wars fiction I've seen. Wendig manages the difficult feet of having more than one major female character—one of them even a woman of color—and including some LGBT characters. A nice start. The movies sure could use more women of color and LGBT inclusion.
Reading two novels offering different takes on after the original trilogy ended, Heir to the Empire and Aftermath, I'm looking forward to where Aftermath's sequels go more.