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3.69 AVERAGE
3.69 AVERAGE
adventurous
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Solid
The Aftermath series always leaves me conflicted. I am bored by the main plot and characters but every couple of chapters there's a mini story about somewhere else in the galaxy. I think these mini stories are important to the new trilogy and should be paid attention to. Places keep getting mentioned and events and I'm like what is happening Star Wars? I need to know. I have a sneaking suspicion that Rey's parents will appear in some form in these random chapters.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Having cringed my way through "Aftermath", I was almost afraid to pick up this book. But given the story it would revolve around, and the excerpts I had read, I had to.
First of all, I still find the writing style disastrous. How isn't the editor (is there one?) making sure that some trademark things from the author, which are very annoying, don't end up in the final draft? There are once again far too many sentences with this structure "And the ones who did this? They're going to pay", which is incredibly cringe-worthy as it isn't limited to one character, but to all indiscriminately. There are also a lot of short sentences that end randomly, instead of using commas.
The plot itself was very interesting. I appreciate the new characters, and I want to know what happened in the aftermath of Endor in the new canon, but I mostly read stuff that concerns the original characters. So while the story focused mostly on the team we met in the first book, it was also about the liberation of Kashyyyk, and had some really good scenes with Han, Leia and Chewie that made the book worth it. I wish two things were different, though:
All in all, not only I did enjoy this one, despite those things, but it made me really look forward to the third.
First of all, I still find the writing style disastrous. How isn't the editor (is there one?) making sure that some trademark things from the author, which are very annoying, don't end up in the final draft? There are once again far too many sentences with this structure "And the ones who did this? They're going to pay", which is incredibly cringe-worthy as it isn't limited to one character, but to all indiscriminately. There are also a lot of short sentences that end randomly, instead of using commas.
The plot itself was very interesting. I appreciate the new characters, and I want to know what happened in the aftermath of Endor in the new canon, but I mostly read stuff that concerns the original characters. So while the story focused mostly on the team we met in the first book, it was also about the liberation of Kashyyyk, and had some really good scenes with Han, Leia and Chewie that made the book worth it. I wish two things were different, though:
Spoiler
that some explanation had been given about Luke's absence, and that they hadn't made Han and Leia get married in Endor. It's absolute nonsense that they did; I think they would have waited at least a couple of months and it really wouldn't have affected the new timeline. To make it so, for me, cheapens the treatment of their relationship, as it makes it seem more like a "heat of the moment/out of duty" thing rather than a conscious decision.All in all, not only I did enjoy this one, despite those things, but it made me really look forward to the third.
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Disclaimer at the start: I've been waiting for Life Debt for a long time. Aftermath made me yearn for it, made me a blood hound with a scent. So whatever Life Debt is to you, it may be very different for me, viewed through a lens of hope and expectation.
I loved Aftermath unreservedly. Aftermath was that first breath you take when you come up out of a long, ill-advised dive in the ocean, that burning, pure taste of air on your tongue, fire and sweet, sweet survival. Aftermath was all the idealism of a war unexpectedly won made flesh, the reality of a hope we don't dare to have. It's Yes We Can distilled into a novel about aliens and space ships.
Aftermath wasn't just idealism; while it did show you how much of a struggle it was to win a war, there was a very real sense of a galaxy being reborn, of getting a new lease at life.
Life Debt is the swim back to shore. It's that same air starting to choke you even as you need it to survive, it's your limbs seizing and the shore remaining so very far off. After victory there's trying to figure out how to lead. In the words you can all at this point sing along with: Winning was easy, young man, governing's harder.
If Aftermath was that glorious run up to the 2008 election, Life Debt is the next four years of compromise, disillusionment and hard, hard work to get not nearly what you hoped. It's walking into traps set by the very same forces you thought defeated.
Don't mistake this for an indictment – Life Debt is stunningly good at what it does and it's a perfect second in a trilogy. There is a sense of despair and disillusionment that's such a perfect follow-up to the hopefulness of the first novel that I can't fault it, even when I wish it could have been different, simply because I am so invested in this world, these characters and their destiny. Life Debt begins to create the galaxy we find in The Force Awakens and we all know that there isn't a lot of idealism to be had there.
My one disappointment with the book is, in the grand scheme, a small but emotional thing. I had hoped for certain relationships to play out very differently and took a comment by Chuck Wendig to mean something different than it did.
That said, I love these characters so much – Sinjir, Jas, Norra, Jom, Tem and Mr. Bones (and Sloane, always) are the heart of this story for me. Personally I would have been happy with a lot less of the original trilogy characters in there; I love them, too, but they have so many stories already, I didn't need so much of them in Life Debt.
Small criticisms aside, Life Debt is bigger in scale, has more of the cinematic characters and is sure to still annoy the shit out of sad puppies all across the globe. If you weren't sure about this book series, please be assured: it's vital Star Wars background, it's unapologetically queer, it tackles political issues with a deft hand, and it will never quite leave you. It's the Empire Strikes Back not just by virtue of position, but every narrative function.
Also, it has a lot of kissing in it. In my mind, I like to call it Kissing and Doubt, a how-to manual for making mistakes and paying for them.
Also: death to the mustaches!
I loved Aftermath unreservedly. Aftermath was that first breath you take when you come up out of a long, ill-advised dive in the ocean, that burning, pure taste of air on your tongue, fire and sweet, sweet survival. Aftermath was all the idealism of a war unexpectedly won made flesh, the reality of a hope we don't dare to have. It's Yes We Can distilled into a novel about aliens and space ships.
Aftermath wasn't just idealism; while it did show you how much of a struggle it was to win a war, there was a very real sense of a galaxy being reborn, of getting a new lease at life.
Life Debt is the swim back to shore. It's that same air starting to choke you even as you need it to survive, it's your limbs seizing and the shore remaining so very far off. After victory there's trying to figure out how to lead. In the words you can all at this point sing along with: Winning was easy, young man, governing's harder.
If Aftermath was that glorious run up to the 2008 election, Life Debt is the next four years of compromise, disillusionment and hard, hard work to get not nearly what you hoped. It's walking into traps set by the very same forces you thought defeated.
Don't mistake this for an indictment – Life Debt is stunningly good at what it does and it's a perfect second in a trilogy. There is a sense of despair and disillusionment that's such a perfect follow-up to the hopefulness of the first novel that I can't fault it, even when I wish it could have been different, simply because I am so invested in this world, these characters and their destiny. Life Debt begins to create the galaxy we find in The Force Awakens and we all know that there isn't a lot of idealism to be had there.
My one disappointment with the book is, in the grand scheme, a small but emotional thing. I had hoped for certain relationships to play out very differently and took a comment by Chuck Wendig to mean something different than it did.
That said, I love these characters so much – Sinjir, Jas, Norra, Jom, Tem and Mr. Bones (and Sloane, always) are the heart of this story for me. Personally I would have been happy with a lot less of the original trilogy characters in there; I love them, too, but they have so many stories already, I didn't need so much of them in Life Debt.
Small criticisms aside, Life Debt is bigger in scale, has more of the cinematic characters and is sure to still annoy the shit out of sad puppies all across the globe. If you weren't sure about this book series, please be assured: it's vital Star Wars background, it's unapologetically queer, it tackles political issues with a deft hand, and it will never quite leave you. It's the Empire Strikes Back not just by virtue of position, but every narrative function.
Also, it has a lot of kissing in it. In my mind, I like to call it Kissing and Doubt, a how-to manual for making mistakes and paying for them.
Also: death to the mustaches!
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
The middle book of a trilogy is often the weakest, in my opinion, but in this case I think the second book is stronger than the first.
There are a few reasons for this:
1. We are already attached to the characters, so it's easier to get into the story right away (that was my main criticism of Aftermath--we're introduced to a lot of new characters very quickly, and it can be difficult to follow).
2. This book came out AFTER The Force Awakens, whereas the first one came out before. Aftermath therefore couldn't really give anything away, it could only hint at how we got from the Empire to the First Order. Life Debt has more room to show the larger shape of things.
3. The stakes feel higher in Life Debt. Character development happens, and then other shit happens that really complicates things.
Again I'll mention that while many people find Chuck Wendig's writing style to be off-putting, I think it works incredibly well in audiobook format. Marc Thompson is a talented reader, and he really puts a lot of energy into his performance. The audiobook is about 14 hours long, and I binged the whole damn thing in four or five days (definitely stayed up waaaay past my bedtime, oh well).
A few surprising and a few not surprising romantic entanglements spice things up, but don't get in the way of the larger plot, which is exactly how I like my romance--sprinkled in between shit blowing up in space. And lot of shit blows up in this book, though not all of it in space.
As you might guess from the title, Life Debt revolves around attempts to liberate Kashyyyk, but there are other main plot threads as well. Rae Sloane remains a main character (and dammit if I don't like her way too much), and we get to see quite a bit of Han, Leia, and Mon Mothma.
Even if you didn't really like Aftermath, I'd suggest giving Life Debt a try, especially if you can get an audiobook from your local library.
There are a few reasons for this:
1. We are already attached to the characters, so it's easier to get into the story right away (that was my main criticism of Aftermath--we're introduced to a lot of new characters very quickly, and it can be difficult to follow).
2. This book came out AFTER The Force Awakens, whereas the first one came out before. Aftermath therefore couldn't really give anything away, it could only hint at how we got from the Empire to the First Order. Life Debt has more room to show the larger shape of things.
3. The stakes feel higher in Life Debt. Character development happens, and then other shit happens that really complicates things.
Again I'll mention that while many people find Chuck Wendig's writing style to be off-putting, I think it works incredibly well in audiobook format. Marc Thompson is a talented reader, and he really puts a lot of energy into his performance. The audiobook is about 14 hours long, and I binged the whole damn thing in four or five days (definitely stayed up waaaay past my bedtime, oh well).
A few surprising and a few not surprising romantic entanglements spice things up, but don't get in the way of the larger plot, which is exactly how I like my romance--sprinkled in between shit blowing up in space. And lot of shit blows up in this book, though not all of it in space.
As you might guess from the title, Life Debt revolves around attempts to liberate Kashyyyk, but there are other main plot threads as well. Rae Sloane remains a main character (and dammit if I don't like her way too much), and we get to see quite a bit of Han, Leia, and Mon Mothma.
Even if you didn't really like Aftermath, I'd suggest giving Life Debt a try, especially if you can get an audiobook from your local library.