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hyperspacehistorian 's review for:
Life Debt
by Chuck Wendig
Star Wars: Cut Away
This book frustrated me, not just in that it took me several months to finish but in a way that made me want to chuck it out of the window every single time I read the words ‘Rae Sloan’
…I do not care for Rae Solan and you may quote me on that! Every single time one of her chapters came up I would count ahead how many pages I had to slog through to get to the characters I actually cared about. I don’t care about her, her views on the empire (I switched off when her character said that ‘slavery was necessary up to a point’-a sentence you would expect an imperial to say, but why was it presented in such a way that it felt like the author was playing devils advocate?) I don’t care about Rax, about Adea, I don’t care about any of it. Important to the plot maybe, but a boring stuck-in-a-room-talking villain also.
So…aside from that…the book was okay. I liked it in ways I didn’t the previous book, and disliked it in new ones. I felt that we were told about this bond between the crew, but never really saw it as we spent so much time focussing on other characters. Sinjir and Jas continue to be my favourite people to read as I truly get a great sibling vibe that grew from a reluctant friendship from the two of them, but the others? I wanted more but never got it.
To the ‘life debt” section of Aftermath: Life Debt, I like Han Solo well enough, and I love to read about Kashyyyk, but the book took so long getting to that point that it felt tacked on to me. Also by that time, half of the group have split off to serve the R*e Sl**n third act storyline that has been building up like a broken air-horn in the background, so the focus of the story is muddled and pulled in several different directions. ‘We freed the Wookiees, yay! But enough of that, SHOEHORNED POLITICS!’
I don’t want to sound too negative, I genuinely enjoy these characters and this book series, but as I try not to start a new book before I’ve finished my current one, Aftermath: Life Debt gave me enough time to marinate in my annoyance. It was long in all the most boring parts but short in all the one you actually want to read about. What I think this book suffers from the most is a case of ‘second book in a trilogy’. The story stands alone, but I can’t help thinking ‘let’s get this over with and get on to the more exciting bits’.
…and the Interludes……I’ve suffered through quite enough of those to last me a life time.
3/5 Stars for Life Debt, disappointing in regards to how much I enjoyed the first book. I’m hoping that Empires End will be far better than this.
This book frustrated me, not just in that it took me several months to finish but in a way that made me want to chuck it out of the window every single time I read the words ‘Rae Sloan’
…I do not care for Rae Solan and you may quote me on that! Every single time one of her chapters came up I would count ahead how many pages I had to slog through to get to the characters I actually cared about. I don’t care about her, her views on the empire (I switched off when her character said that ‘slavery was necessary up to a point’-a sentence you would expect an imperial to say, but why was it presented in such a way that it felt like the author was playing devils advocate?) I don’t care about Rax, about Adea, I don’t care about any of it. Important to the plot maybe, but a boring stuck-in-a-room-talking villain also.
So…aside from that…the book was okay. I liked it in ways I didn’t the previous book, and disliked it in new ones. I felt that we were told about this bond between the crew, but never really saw it as we spent so much time focussing on other characters. Sinjir and Jas continue to be my favourite people to read as I truly get a great sibling vibe that grew from a reluctant friendship from the two of them, but the others? I wanted more but never got it.
To the ‘life debt” section of Aftermath: Life Debt, I like Han Solo well enough, and I love to read about Kashyyyk, but the book took so long getting to that point that it felt tacked on to me. Also by that time, half of the group have split off to serve the R*e Sl**n third act storyline that has been building up like a broken air-horn in the background, so the focus of the story is muddled and pulled in several different directions. ‘We freed the Wookiees, yay! But enough of that, SHOEHORNED POLITICS!’
I don’t want to sound too negative, I genuinely enjoy these characters and this book series, but as I try not to start a new book before I’ve finished my current one, Aftermath: Life Debt gave me enough time to marinate in my annoyance. It was long in all the most boring parts but short in all the one you actually want to read about. What I think this book suffers from the most is a case of ‘second book in a trilogy’. The story stands alone, but I can’t help thinking ‘let’s get this over with and get on to the more exciting bits’.
…and the Interludes……I’ve suffered through quite enough of those to last me a life time.
3/5 Stars for Life Debt, disappointing in regards to how much I enjoyed the first book. I’m hoping that Empires End will be far better than this.