All Hyperlanes Lead to Jakku in Chuck Wendig’s Aftermath: Empire’s End (Spoiler Review)

Out of all the reviews I have written for this site, writing the review for Chuck Wendig’s Aftermath: Empire’s End has been the hardest. Wendig provides us with such a treasure trove of excitement, character moments, revelations, Easter eggs and seeds for future stories that it’s hard not to get lost in the minutiae. However, I will try to stick to the main plot points of the story so as not to turn this review into a point-by-point recount – a difficult task when everything seems important – a testament to the richness of the world Wendig has created. I am grateful to Kyle for providing you with spoiler-free review, because I don’t know if I could have ever done so myself.

Before we get started, one last WARNING: this is a SPOILER review and gives away some of the major plot points. Here we go…

 

 

The novel starts several months after the Imperial attack on Chandrila (Aftermath: Life Debt). Our crew (minus Jom Barrel) is still hunting Rae Sloane. The Empire has seemingly disappeared from the galaxy and Norra Wexley is slowly losing patience. She is so driven that even some of her more cynical companions, like Jas Emari, are getting worried.

 

The crew sets a trap for Mercurial Swift, a bounty hunter known for having contact with Sloane. Sinjir has the opportunity to use his more subtle interrogating skills he acquired as the Imperial loyalty officer – namely, he threatens Swift’s mother. Because even the shady bounty hunters and murderers have a special place in their heart for dear old mum, they soon learn Sloane’s destination – Jakku.

 

Norra Wexley

 

After reporting to Leia, at Norra’s insistence, they jump straight to Jakku and right in the middle of the enormous Imperial fleet. In the tense scene that follows, Norra, not willing to give up her chase, decides to use the escape pod to launch herself to Jakku. Jas pushes her way into the pod and, seconds before they jump to hyperspace, Temmin orders Mister Bones to follow them and protect his mother. This way, Wendig separates our heroes. From here on, the story develops on two different stages – with Norra, Jas and Mister Bones on Jakku and Temmin and Sinjir on Chandrila. The former provides us with the information on far-reaching Palpatine’s plan and the role of Gallius Rax in it, while the latter gives us the political situation in the New Republic.

 

And that situation is complicated. The tyranny is easy; the democracy is messy. On Chandrila, the recovering Mon Mothma is embroiled in political struggle. After the attack on Liberation Day, she is seen as weak and her opponent in the upcoming elections, Torwal Wartol, is quickly gaining popularity and obstructing her proposals – including a decisive attack on Jakku. The situation is additionally complicated by the vacuum left after the fall of the Empire and the criminal cartels such as Black Sun and the Red Key which are gaining power and influencing the politicians through bribe and blackmail. With the Senate seat getting transferred from Chandrila to Nakadia, it is up to Sinjir, Temmin, Han Solo, Leia’s slicer Conder and Jom Barrel to try and resolve this conundrum. The spying games and undercover operations ensue.

 

Mon Mothma

 

I was impressed by Mon Mothma, the political player. Mothma is not above using subterfuge and tricks. She also never loses her idealism, while knowing that it is her weakness in the political game. This is why I was doubly impressed and not a little amused when she offered the position of her adviser to a certified cynic – Sinjir Rath Velus.

 

Jakku’s hostile environment got worse after the arrival of the Empire. All of our protagonists have a hard time reaching their goals. Norra and Jas face Imperial imprisonment and bounty hunters. Rae Sloane and Brentin have to make a pact with Niima the Hutt (Niima Outpost, anyone?), who has surrounded herself with a cult of head-shaven, tattooed, lip-sewn and drugged out followers, to get to the Imperial compound that houses Rax.

 

While reading the novel, several things will stand out to you. One is the developing relationships between the characters and their maturing. Whether it is mutual respect between Norra and Jas, deep friendship between Jas and Sinjir or Temmin refusing Han’s help because he is about to become a father, there is a sense that we are witnessing a formation of not just a rag-tag group of friends, but rather an extended family. These often brief moments between the characters – whether they be funny, sad, silly or heartbreaking – are a culmination of the characters’ story arcs across the trilogy. They are earned and deeply satisfying.

 

Sinjir by makeramidying.tumblr.com

 

Also, most of the characters have their moment to shine in one way or another. I never hid the fact that my favorite character that came out of this trilogy is Sinjir and that didn’t change after this book. The sarcastic ex-Imperial remained as entertaining and as effective as before. I have to admit that I worried for his destiny after he ditched Conder in the previous book, but Wendig didn’t disappoint. My only major complaint and the only source of dissatisfaction was the treatment of Jom Barrel’s character – from where we find him at the beginning of the novel to his strangely executed end. It left me empty and I didn’t like that.

 

 

The other thing is the feeling that the Aftermath trilogy is a field in which Wendig planted many seeds that will have huge repercussions in the future. The biggest of those is Gallius Rax. As the novel opens, we find Rax on the second Death Star above Endor. The Emperor is sensing a “shatterpoint”. And while he believes in the ultimate victory which includes replacing Vader with Luke Skywalker, he has prepared Rax for his destiny. If things do not go Palpatine’s way, Rax is to implement the Contingency. In another flashback, we see Palpatine teaching young Galli the rules of shah-tezh (dejarik, chess…). Through the game in which the player has the goal to protect the figure of Imperator, Palpatine teaches Galli that the Empire that fails to protect its Emperor doesn’t deserve to exist. Should the Emperor fall, the board should be broken and the new Empire started. That’s what the Contingency is for.

 

Imperialis

 

The mysterious place on Jakku that Galli protected as a child and comes back to in this book to carry out the Emperor’s plan is the Observatory, one of many established by Palpatine. While some Observatories hide the Sith artifacts or powerful weapons, this one has a different purpose – to wipe the board and open the road to the new Empire. Rax is to destroy the planet and both the New Republic and the Empire with it and use the coordinates plotted over time by the Observatory’s computers to reach the Unknown Regions and start again. Things don’t go exactly according to Palpatine’s plan, but enough of it is carried out that we can predict or speculate on the future. More importantly, the speculations that Rax is Snoke are put to rest by the business end of Sloane’s blaster.

 

Ravager crashing on Jakku

 

Empire’s End highlighted something I didn’t notice in the previous books and that is Wendig’s ability to describe environment or simply atmosphere in which the characters find themselves in through a few short sentences. Whether it’s a wasteland of Jakku, dread of pilgrims running from the creatures through crystalline landscape of Christophsis or the chaos of space battle through Temmin’s inexperienced eyes, Wendig puts you in the middle of the action and you can’t help feel what the characters feel. He doesn’t disappoint with the action either, whether planet-side or in space. The destruction and fall of the Ravager (that Super Star Destroyer Rey scavenges at the beginning of The Force Awakens) is magnificent, terrifying and heartbreaking at the same time – for both those in the New Republic and those in the Empire.

 

 

The interludes in this book can be divided in three major types: those which connect to the overall story of the trilogy and have an impact on the future events and our understanding of Star Wars lore, those who tie up older stories from the Saga and those which continue the stories from the previous interludes. Believe me, whether you read about Church of the Force, Acolytes of the Beyond, Chewbacca and his family, Jar-Jar Binks, Lando, the Mandalorian armor-wearing sheriff of Freetown on Tatooine or the non-binary pirate, they are all deeply satisfactory. They gave me the whole gamut of emotions: I was sad, I was freaked out, I laughed and I had a couple of genuine fist-pump moments. Some of the interludes deserve their own stories.

 

 

When the dust on Jakku settles and peace is proclaimed in the galaxy, when our characters take their own paths into the future, Wendig leaves you with a feeling of both great satisfaction and sadness. You cannot help but want to know what happens next with these people. He also leaves you with an enormous ellipsis that clearly leads straight to the events of the current movies. The speculations will last for years.

 

 

After finishing the book, I can’t help but feel that much more planning was invested in this trilogy than what we were led to believe, and I don’t mean just by the Story Group, but by Wendig himself. Aftermath starts with the small story and grand galactic picture. Most of the readers who were disappointed by the characters they didn’t know (we can talk about mismarketing of this book some other time), found some enjoyment in the interludes. Aftermath: Life Debt made the story of our core crew bigger and introduced some of the original characters, while scaling the interludes back. In Aftermath: Empire’s End, our rag-tag group takes part in the events of galactic importance and only the interludes that have bigger personal or galactic consequences remain. I feel that as the time passes and more readers come into these books, the trilogy as the whole will take its rightful prominent place in the Star Wars canon.

 

 

Aftermath: Empire’s End is an impressive conclusion to the trilogy, and I urge our readers not to miss the ride which will reward you handsomely in the end. I enjoyed Aftermath, I liked Life Debt very much, but I shamelessly love this book. And, if I have to put a number on my love…

 

 

… Aftermath: Empire’s End earns four and a half (4.5) downed Ravagers.

 

 

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Staff member, comic and book reviewer. Cheers for the Light Side, but would drink with Grand Admirals.

Jelena Bidin (LadyMusashi)

Staff member, comic and book reviewer. Cheers for the Light Side, but would drink with Grand Admirals.

53 thoughts on “All Hyperlanes Lead to Jakku in Chuck Wendig’s Aftermath: Empire’s End (Spoiler Review)

  • February 28, 2017 at 7:47 pm
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    Nice review. However, it’s clear that Rey exits a run-of-the-mill Star Destroyer (most likely the Inflictor) at the beginning of TFA, whereas she flies the Falcon through the SSD later in the film.

    Empire’s End was pretty darn good, with lot’s of little easter eggs and nods to other books, games, films, etc…and some nice setup for what we see and hear much later in TFA. A great way to finish off the trilogy that began with an arguably rocky start.

    • March 1, 2017 at 1:01 am
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      You’re correct; Rey scavenges through the Inflictor and then flies through the Ravager.

  • February 28, 2017 at 7:57 pm
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    Guys, if you have questions about any spoilers or Easter eggs (there are too many), feel free to ask them here. 🙂

    • February 28, 2017 at 8:36 pm
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      The photo of Boba Fett. What’s that about?

      • February 28, 2017 at 8:44 pm
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        There is a through-line (in all three Aftermaths) about Cobb Vanth, sheriff on Tatooine who picked up Boba Fett’s armor from Jawas, fights mafia who want to take over again and made a pact with Sand People. His ambition is to free the entire planet and, even if he gets killed, serve as inspiration for other people. He is badass and smart and maybe, just maybe someone who will take over Boba Fett’s mantle. Though he uses his own name…

        • February 28, 2017 at 8:47 pm
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          Oh, that sounds cool. Think I may have to read these books.

          • February 28, 2017 at 8:58 pm
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            You really should. Take the advice from user above, listen to audible versions.

        • February 28, 2017 at 9:19 pm
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          Thus rendering Boba Fett the SW galaxy’s answer to the Dread Pirate Roberts!

  • February 28, 2017 at 8:56 pm
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    If you are looking for major answers from these books, you definitely won’t find them (nor should you, it’s the films jobs to do the major reveals) What you will find is a hugely satisfying conclusion to a great trilogy of Star Wars books. I cannot say it enough but if you find that Wendig’s writing style isn’t for you, audible the books immediately. That is how I absorb all of new canon. You will not be disappointed.

  • February 28, 2017 at 9:17 pm
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    non-binary?

      • February 28, 2017 at 10:09 pm
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        My first job was programming non-binary load lifters

        • February 28, 2017 at 10:11 pm
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          Lol, that might have caused some head scratching, ha?

    • March 1, 2017 at 1:00 am
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      She doesn’t like traditional computer coding.

  • February 28, 2017 at 9:24 pm
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    Was hoping for a wee bit more than learning that there were Observatories, given all of Tashu’s lead-up dialogue about Palpatine’s belief that his power originated outside the galaxy – there wasn’t a heavy payoff there, but the fact they tied Thrawn into the thread was of interest. Curious to see what tie-ins next month’s ‘Thrawn’ novel by Timothy Zahn will have to this part of the story…

    • February 28, 2017 at 9:50 pm
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      Considering that it’s set prior to Rebels, I don’t know how much of it could be connected to post RotJ, but it is possible if Palpatine makes some inquiries. ¯_(ツ)_/¯

      • March 1, 2017 at 1:02 am
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        But there’s this wee bit from Chapter 35, so Palpy was clearly ‘doing the math’ on his theories of the origins of his power coming from way-way out vis-a-vis Thrawn:

        For decades, these computers have been plotting a journey. Outside the known galaxy is an unexplored infinity, Palpatine explained, one closed off by a labyrinth of solar storms, rogue
        magnetospheres, black holes, gravity wells, and things far stranger. Any who tried to conquer that maze did not survive. The ships were obliterated, or returned to the galaxy devoid of travelers. Communications from those explorers were incomprehensible, either shot through with such static as
        to make the content useless, or filled with enough inane babble to serve as a perfectly clear sign that the explorer had gone utterly mad out there in isolation. But Palpatine had one in the navy who knew something of the Unknown Regions: Admiral Thrawn, an alien with ice-blue skin who came from beyond the borders of the known galaxy. Palpatine only kept that one around because of what he knew of traversing those deadly interstices. Much of what Thrawn knew went into the computations of this machine.

        • March 1, 2017 at 10:05 pm
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          To me that sounds like Thrawn is going to mess up in a future rebels season, and Palpatine will only keep him around to explore the Unknown Regions (kind of like Legends).

          • March 2, 2017 at 7:17 pm
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            Could be! It looks like their 1st meeting (released in the USA Today excerpt) wasn’t quite so cordial until he name-dropped Anakin!

  • February 28, 2017 at 11:38 pm
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    I’ve only read Lost Stars. Where would I start/what books would I need to get all of this story?

    • March 1, 2017 at 12:11 am
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      Aftermath. Aftermath: Life Debt, and Aftermath: Empire’s End. That’s it.

    • March 1, 2017 at 1:00 am
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      The ‘Lando’ comics series (recent) from Marvel explains the Imperialis (Lando steals it w/ Lobot) and its onboard dark side relics, etc. Worth checking out!

    • March 1, 2017 at 3:13 am
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      Lost Stars is a great place to start, so you’re on the right track. Aftermath, it’s sequel, Life Debt, and then finish it with this. After that, I highly recommend Bloodline, that takes place further down the timeline, but not quite to TFA. It’s also written by Claudia Gray.

      • March 1, 2017 at 7:44 am
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        Thanks to everyone. I’ll try to get started shortly!

    • March 2, 2017 at 10:45 am
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      Tbh, I’m not sure Chuck Wendig’s writing style is for everyone but Bloodline is definitely top of the list for me and would suggest prioritizing that over this trilogy.

  • February 28, 2017 at 11:41 pm
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    It can’t be a coincidence that Rey grew up on Jaaku.

    Still betting that she’s a test tube baby, engineered by Imperial scientists in a secret lab on Jaaku. They made her from the DNA extracted from Luke’s hand. After ESB, his hand and saber were recovered from Bespin, and both sent to this secret facility on Jaaku. The Emperor wanted to create Clone soldiers that would be strong in the Force, specifically the dark side.

    For some reason, the project went on for several years after the Empire officially fell, and Rey was the only one that successfully lived. These scientists (one of who Rey thinks of as her parent) chose to abandon everything and leave her behind, for her own sake but perhaps also because they feared how dangerous she would become. They used Luke’s saber to barter for a ship or to hire a ship off of Jaaku.

    They left Rey in the care of the humans at that village seen in the opening of TFA. When she saw that she was being left behind, she ran after them to the spaceport and collided into Unkar, who snatched her by the arm, holding her back as the ship took off, telling her to calm down and be quiet. (So she wasn’t given to him — JJ purposely withheld showing us that flashback in its proper, full context.)

    • March 1, 2017 at 11:15 am
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      Considering the lightsaber and hand was once going to be part of the opening, this might not be to far from the truth.

    • March 2, 2017 at 1:42 am
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      I´ve been saying since the times of TFA that Rey was engineered with Skywalker blood.

  • March 1, 2017 at 3:11 am
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    Great review, Jelena! I’m glad the spoilers are out of the bag!

  • March 1, 2017 at 6:02 am
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    Does anyone know of a site dedicated simply to Star Wars film news?

    The way this one used to be before becoming riddled by ads and miscellaneous content.

    • March 1, 2017 at 7:09 am
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      Nope it’s called Star Wars news net now for a reason. And if it was solely dedicated to just the films it’d be a dry website considering all this secrecy around them.

      • March 2, 2017 at 5:15 pm
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        It akin to the indie musician who gets a bite from the big label [Ads.] At first, he’s producing really unique stuff; simple, straightforward. Then he sells out, lured by the dollar. The material becomes bland and gratuitous.
        ____

        And a site dedicated just to the films can be very interesting and in depth. Just look at starwars7news.com

    • March 1, 2017 at 10:41 am
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      Use an ad-blocker and it solves half your problem.

    • March 1, 2017 at 5:46 pm
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      StarWars.com

    • March 10, 2017 at 7:04 pm
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      I purposely disable adblock on this site because they aren’t too bad and it keeps them in business.

    • March 10, 2017 at 10:11 pm
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      Not sure what you mean by this. The amount of ads we have, has been pretty much the same. Do the ads get in your way of getting our content, because​ they surely don’t affect our reporting. And they definitely help us pay for the support of the site. 🙂

    • March 10, 2017 at 10:29 pm
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      Not sure what you mean by this. The amount of ads we have, has been pretty much the same. Do the ads get in your way of getting our content, because​ they surely don’t affect our reporting. And they definitely help us pay for the support of the site. 🙂

  • March 1, 2017 at 2:49 pm
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    So, if Gallius Rax is not Snoke, who is Snoke after all ?

    • March 1, 2017 at 4:35 pm
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      We’ll find out in VIII or IX

    • March 1, 2017 at 5:45 pm
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      Snoke is Snoke

    • March 1, 2017 at 10:02 pm
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      A dark being from another galaxy, if that’s indeed what they’re hinting at.

      • March 2, 2017 at 9:01 pm
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        That’s what I’ve been starting to think. It isn’t necessarily too far of a stretch for someone at Lucasfilm to think that they should figure out a way to play with the Yuuzhan Vong and adapt it in a way which could just be that the galaxy that we know is about to get a lot bigger when an outside observer who’s been watching for a long time finally comes in to make his play. I’d be impressed with a move like that. Even Palpatine would be smart enough to know that there is more out there than just the galaxy they reside in and with that are greater secrets and truths. Would reaaaaly like to see Snoke be from way out of town.

        • March 2, 2017 at 9:37 pm
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          I agree. I don’t want the Yuuzhan Vong necessarily, but I wouldn’t mind a name drop or something.

  • March 2, 2017 at 5:21 am
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    Rax has to be Snoke.. it matches up to much. being born on Jakku. having seen the rise and fall of the galaxy as previously stated in the TFA novel. He even has similar lines as Kylo Ren does such as “Look how old you have become” Sloan leaves quickly after “killing” Rat. He could have survived

    • March 3, 2017 at 4:09 am
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      Yeah, maybe. But Snoke is force sensitive, and don’t you think that Palpatine would have taken more of an interest in training Rax if he were force sensitive?

      • March 3, 2017 at 7:22 am
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        yea but i thought thats why Palpatine chose him in the first place. maybe i was just looking to much into it but he seemed to trust him a lot. and he operated like snoke. taking advantage of everyone. hiding in the shadows. but i agree, toward the end of the book when Rax admitted he thought Yup Tashu was an a religious fanatic it kinda pointed away from him being snoke

  • March 2, 2017 at 8:54 pm
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    I might be in minority on this but this book was decidedly mediocre. The characters are still uninteresting, the story plodding and the writing bordering on pretentious. Not as bad as aftermath but it looks like life debt was a fluke. Please don’t let wendig write anymore SW books. 2/5

    • March 3, 2017 at 4:09 am
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      Agreed.

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