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erdicooper 's review for:
Aftermath
by Chuck Wendig
I should start off my saying that I've LOVED the Star Wars Expanded Universe since I was in high school and had read well over 60 of the books. I totally understand the sting of losing all of that (especially Timothy Zahn's wonderful Heir to The Empire trilogy), but if I'm honest with myself, the Legacy of The Force series and Fate of The Jedi series really left something to be desired (as in they were cumbersome and seemed set on making things "unfun") and APPARENTLY not everyone loved the New Jedi Order series as much as I did. I guess my point is that, while it does sting, their decision to make a new canon sort of makes sense to me.
So, this book, right? I absolutely loved it. Star Wars: Aftermath, as indicated by it's title, is really more about how the galaxy reacted to the death of the emperor and the destruction of Death Star II (and thus the huge shift in power between the Alliance and the Empire). The story is told in a way that focuses on a main group of people who were all affected rather profoundly by the war in one way or another, but also includes occasional interludes that don't really affect the main cast, but depict the galaxy in an interesting way. The main story is pretty simple (which is actually a relief after the weirdness of FoTJ and Crucible), but it still has a very strong star-warsy feeling to it that I really enjoyed.
I only have a few real misgivings with the book. The biggest one is that it clearly is meant to set up for the rest of the trilogy. That's alright in the long run, but for now it's a bother because I have no idea when the next one comes out! My other big issue is that Chuck Wendig, who I love, has a certain "voice" in his writing. Typically it just means things feel more active and exciting, but in the early part of the book he went a little far with it and it just ends up feeling really halt-y. It clears up pretty quickly, but it definitely gave me concern at first.
Beyond that, there were a couple interludes that didn't grab me and ended up just feeling unnecessary (the Cloud City one, for instance), but none of these problems stopped me from loving the book. The only thing I can think to say that I haven't is that, while this book is post-RoTJ, it's about 30-40 years before The Force Awakens, so it doesn't really answer/spoil anything for the new movie.
So, this book, right? I absolutely loved it. Star Wars: Aftermath, as indicated by it's title, is really more about how the galaxy reacted to the death of the emperor and the destruction of Death Star II (and thus the huge shift in power between the Alliance and the Empire). The story is told in a way that focuses on a main group of people who were all affected rather profoundly by the war in one way or another, but also includes occasional interludes that don't really affect the main cast, but depict the galaxy in an interesting way. The main story is pretty simple (which is actually a relief after the weirdness of FoTJ and Crucible), but it still has a very strong star-warsy feeling to it that I really enjoyed.
I only have a few real misgivings with the book. The biggest one is that it clearly is meant to set up for the rest of the trilogy. That's alright in the long run, but for now it's a bother because I have no idea when the next one comes out! My other big issue is that Chuck Wendig, who I love, has a certain "voice" in his writing. Typically it just means things feel more active and exciting, but in the early part of the book he went a little far with it and it just ends up feeling really halt-y. It clears up pretty quickly, but it definitely gave me concern at first.
Beyond that, there were a couple interludes that didn't grab me and ended up just feeling unnecessary (the Cloud City one, for instance), but none of these problems stopped me from loving the book. The only thing I can think to say that I haven't is that, while this book is post-RoTJ, it's about 30-40 years before The Force Awakens, so it doesn't really answer/spoil anything for the new movie.