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I gave [b:Aftermath|25131600|Aftermath (Star Wars Aftermath, #1)|Chuck Wendig|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1426620007s/25131600.jpg|44828548] three stars. This book is not notably worse than Aftermath, but I was excited about the Star Wars universe when I read Aftermath, and I am not now. I'm in the minority of people on the entire planet: I did not like The Force Awakens, and reading this book, which is a direct prequel to the new films, I find myself missing the old Extended Universe so much. The EU was hopeful. It was optimistic. It promised friendship and cooperation and new adventures ahead! Now, I know that for the original series characters -- the characters that I love -- things are just going to end up being shitty. Where's the fun in that?
These issues with the Star Wars universe as a whole are obviously not Wendig's fault, but even beyond them, this book has problems. It takes until about halfway through to really get going, and even then, Wendig seems to do whatever he can to avoid major dramatic moments. Heck, this is a book where a main character -- well, supposedly a main character; he's so dull I actually had no memory of what he even did in the first book -- In place of this, oh yeah, I definitely want more dregs of the Empire politics. Oh, and a cameo by the father of everyone's favorite Nazi Imperial, Hux. OH WAIT EXECPT ACTUALLY I WANTED THE OPPOSITE OF THAT.
Look, the one good thing about these books -- and the one reason I went back for a second round after Aftermath -- is Sinjir. I love Sinjir -- he is the drunk gay asshole of my dreams. But this is supposed to be an ensemble piece and I don't care about the rest of the ensemble at all. Call me when Sinjir gets his own solo series -- or better yet, his Solo series, which involves him being stuck on a book-long adventure with Han, at whom he is angry the entire time for being so handsome. If the new Star Wars universe goes in that direction, I might finally be able to get on board.
These issues with the Star Wars universe as a whole are obviously not Wendig's fault, but even beyond them, this book has problems. It takes until about halfway through to really get going, and even then, Wendig seems to do whatever he can to avoid major dramatic moments. Heck, this is a book where a main character -- well, supposedly a main character; he's so dull I actually had no memory of what he even did in the first book --
Spoiler
loses an eye to torture -- and it happens offscreen. OFFSCREEN!Look, the one good thing about these books -- and the one reason I went back for a second round after Aftermath -- is Sinjir. I love Sinjir -- he is the drunk gay asshole of my dreams. But this is supposed to be an ensemble piece and I don't care about the rest of the ensemble at all. Call me when Sinjir gets his own solo series -- or better yet, his Solo series, which involves him being stuck on a book-long adventure with Han, at whom he is angry the entire time for being so handsome. If the new Star Wars universe goes in that direction, I might finally be able to get on board.