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A review by adam_z
Aftermath by Chuck Wendig
3.0
Ah... Aftermath... The most cussed and discussed book in the new Star Wars cannon. What can I say about it? This is the first SW book Chuck Wendig has written, so it's a "new" voice, and he does write using a style that stands out as different from other SW writers. It took a little while to get used to his frequent [constant?] use of the present-tense, but I eventually stopped noticing it as I became immersed in the story. In short, this isn't earth-shatteringly great, but neither is it the abysmal waste of time that many reviewers have made it out to be. I give it 3 stars because I do like the book.
Between Aftermath and Claudia Gray's [b:Lost Stars|25067046|Lost Stars (Star Wars Journey to the Force Awakens)|Claudia Gray|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1462731623s/25067046.jpg|44751860] we've got two early books in the "new" cannon that both largely focus on original characters never seen before in the SW universe. After all the "Legends" books focused so much on the main characters of the films, it's interesting to see The Powers That Be greenlight not just one, but two early books in the new cannon that are such bold departures from the previous norm. I think that the timing of this book's release (just 3 months before The Force Awakens hit theatres) combined with how it was launching the new cannon, created expectations from many readers that were not fulfilled. People picked this up hoping to learn more of what Luke, Leia, Han, Chewy & co. were up to following the events of Return of the Jedi, and we actually get very little of that. Han and Chewy appear only briefly during one of the "Interlude" chapters of the book, and this is mainly a setup for the next book, where I've been led to believe that there will be more of Han & Chewy. There's a little bit of Wedge, and a little bit of Ackbar, but both are no more than secondary (if not tertiary) characters here.
Aftermath succeeds in giving the reader a sense of the pulse of the galaxy following the destruction of the second Death Star & the pending collapse of the Empire. Through the eyes of the main characters, along with some vignettes into other people in various places in the galaxy, Wendig does an excellent job of giving the readers a good sense of the way that different people in different places in the galaxy feel about recent events. For some there is excitement in the sense of victory and the establishment of new governance, while others feel a sense of dread. Some are ambivalent, and others view the war and the shift of power with great skepticism, or even trepidation.
Complaints I've seen regarding short, choppy sentence structure are overstated IMO. Yes, if I want to cherry pick particular passages I can find examples of this, but it's nowhere near as prevalent as some reviewers make it out to be.
Something I've seen the book praised and criticised for in different circles is the inclusion of gay & lesbian characters - which is a first for Star Wars, I believe. It doesn't bother me to think that there are people with same sex attraction in the Star Wars universe (why wouldn't there be such a thing?), but the inclusion of such characters seemed somewhat heavy-handed to me in the way it was done. One of the main characters is made known to be gay, then there is a lesbian couple that appears as secondary characters in the book, AND there is a minor character who makes a reference to having grown up with two dads. That just seem like a lot for one book in contrast to the rest of the collective stories of the Star War universe. Going from no LGBT inclusion in Star Wars to "Here's not just one, but FOUR examples of homosexuality in Star Wars" made it seem like there was a diversity agenda rather than simply having LGBT characters included.
Overall, I think Wendig succeeded in what he set out to do with Aftermath. I think the most negative reviews from people who say they're fans of Star Wars (and SW books) are rooted in the reader expecting something more or something different from what Aftermath delivers. If you go into the book looking for lots of info about main film characters, or if you're looking for hints on the origins of Snoke, or the parentage or Rey, etc. then you will be very disappointed with Aftermath. Reading it without preconceived expectations and taking the story at face value, it makes for a fun read, and I DO plan to begin reading the follow-up [b:Aftermath: Life Debt|26895161|Aftermath Life Debt (Star Wars Aftermath, #2)|Chuck Wendig|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1449268300s/26895161.jpg|47250982] soon.
Between Aftermath and Claudia Gray's [b:Lost Stars|25067046|Lost Stars (Star Wars Journey to the Force Awakens)|Claudia Gray|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1462731623s/25067046.jpg|44751860] we've got two early books in the "new" cannon that both largely focus on original characters never seen before in the SW universe. After all the "Legends" books focused so much on the main characters of the films, it's interesting to see The Powers That Be greenlight not just one, but two early books in the new cannon that are such bold departures from the previous norm. I think that the timing of this book's release (just 3 months before The Force Awakens hit theatres) combined with how it was launching the new cannon, created expectations from many readers that were not fulfilled. People picked this up hoping to learn more of what Luke, Leia, Han, Chewy & co. were up to following the events of Return of the Jedi, and we actually get very little of that. Han and Chewy appear only briefly during one of the "Interlude" chapters of the book, and this is mainly a setup for the next book, where I've been led to believe that there will be more of Han & Chewy. There's a little bit of Wedge, and a little bit of Ackbar, but both are no more than secondary (if not tertiary) characters here.
Aftermath succeeds in giving the reader a sense of the pulse of the galaxy following the destruction of the second Death Star & the pending collapse of the Empire. Through the eyes of the main characters, along with some vignettes into other people in various places in the galaxy, Wendig does an excellent job of giving the readers a good sense of the way that different people in different places in the galaxy feel about recent events. For some there is excitement in the sense of victory and the establishment of new governance, while others feel a sense of dread. Some are ambivalent, and others view the war and the shift of power with great skepticism, or even trepidation.
Complaints I've seen regarding short, choppy sentence structure are overstated IMO. Yes, if I want to cherry pick particular passages I can find examples of this, but it's nowhere near as prevalent as some reviewers make it out to be.
Something I've seen the book praised and criticised for in different circles is the inclusion of gay & lesbian characters - which is a first for Star Wars, I believe. It doesn't bother me to think that there are people with same sex attraction in the Star Wars universe (why wouldn't there be such a thing?), but the inclusion of such characters seemed somewhat heavy-handed to me in the way it was done. One of the main characters is made known to be gay, then there is a lesbian couple that appears as secondary characters in the book, AND there is a minor character who makes a reference to having grown up with two dads. That just seem like a lot for one book in contrast to the rest of the collective stories of the Star War universe. Going from no LGBT inclusion in Star Wars to "Here's not just one, but FOUR examples of homosexuality in Star Wars" made it seem like there was a diversity agenda rather than simply having LGBT characters included.
Overall, I think Wendig succeeded in what he set out to do with Aftermath. I think the most negative reviews from people who say they're fans of Star Wars (and SW books) are rooted in the reader expecting something more or something different from what Aftermath delivers. If you go into the book looking for lots of info about main film characters, or if you're looking for hints on the origins of Snoke, or the parentage or Rey, etc. then you will be very disappointed with Aftermath. Reading it without preconceived expectations and taking the story at face value, it makes for a fun read, and I DO plan to begin reading the follow-up [b:Aftermath: Life Debt|26895161|Aftermath Life Debt (Star Wars Aftermath, #2)|Chuck Wendig|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1449268300s/26895161.jpg|47250982] soon.