Kyle’s Review of Aftermath: Empire’s End by Chuck Wendig (Non-Spoiler)

aftermath empire's end cover

Chuck Wendig has brought us to the end of the line with his last entry in the Aftermath trilogy, Empire’s End. While the cover and title give any casual Star Wars fan a sense of what to expect in this book, there are still plenty of great surprises and revelations in this novel. This review, however, will remain completely spoiler-free.

 

 

This probably goes without saying, but don’t even try to read Empire’s End without having read the two previous installments, Aftermath and Aftermath: Life Debt. Our reviews to both of those novels can be found here and here. Empire’s End wastes little time back tracking those events and there were several times I had to take a few seconds to try and recall if certain characters or events were being described for the first time. That’s not a complaint, it just speaks to the fact there is so much going on in this trilogy, and it will make a second read of each entry well worth it. Chuck Wendig is a very talented writer, and if I were to compliment his greatest strength, it would be his ability to juggle all of the characters and events unfolding in these three novels.

 

imperial fleet snapshot

 

The only spoiler in this review will allow is one already given away in the title:  this is the end of the Empire. Yes, we know that decades later the First Order will seemingly take up where the Empire left off, but this is the end of the Empire. If there is anything this novel does, it underscores the void felt by so many of the Imperial officers in the absence of the banner they pledged their allegiance to, and their realization that it can never be what it was before the Battle of Endor. The sense of loss shared with most every Imperial is mostly coupled with the ambition to take control of whatever last straws they can cling to. That may be a poor metaphor, because few of these Imperials give off an air of desperation. Most of the Imperials are very confident that their effort to carry on the flame of the Empire is the only way.

 

The difference between the Empire that falls and the First Order we meet down the road is underscored by the conflicts between those who would grab power. The failure of the Empire is accepted and a “scorched earth” approach to rebuilding it is shared among the two who would be leaders, Gallius Rax and Rae Sloane. While Sloane is preoccupied with a journey that would take her back to Rax to claim vengeance for the betrayal in Life Debt, she is driven by the desire to take control and rebuild whatever the next version of the Empire is. Rax, on the contrary, only takes steps to further the vision he feels he has a mandate to carry out. Neither of them seem to have any illusions about whether the New Republic is now the dominant force in the galaxy.

 

One thing you can look forward to in this novel is learning a lot more about who Gallius Rax is and how he came to be. Where Life Debt may have left you hanging with his introduction to Sheev Palpatine, Empire’s End will answer most of those questions. Rax has been waiting his whole life for the Empire to fall, not in anticipation, but to fulfill a purpose engrained in everything he grew to be. Rax went from a scavenger on Jakku to one of the top Imperial officers. In Empire’s End, Rax comes across as a much more hands-on officer, and by the end of the book, the reader realizes how far he is willing to go to fulfill a destiny handed to him as a child. Yes, we learn a lot more about Gallius Rax, but with that said, there is still plenty of room to fill in the blanks down the road if the Lucasfilm Story Group chooses.

 

 

Grand Admiral Rae Sloane is, in my opinion, the star of Empire’s End.  Sloane shows that she is willing to do anything to get back her command in the Empire. As self-serving as that goal sounds, there is a noble selflessness in Sloane’s pursuit to get back to the top of the mountain. Yes, the Empire is a hideous, totalitarian government that has kept it’s thumb on the galaxy for much longer than it ever should have, and I’m not denying that. Yet, Sloane shows the humanity that often gets lost in the portrayal of the behemoth that is the Empire. Sloane does not want power for the sake of having power and controlling those below her. My impression is that she sees herself as some sort of steward to the Imperial remnants. Wendig’s portrayal of Sloane is so well written that often times I had to remind myself that what she really wants is a pretty terrible thing; but it goes to show, that adversarial empathy is something that was rare to find in the Star Wars Universe, and I’m glad it’s showing up. Rae Sloane is a great example of the nuance and complexity that exists in the conflict between good and evil.

 

New First Order shot from TFA

 

By the conclusion of Empire’s End, I felt I understood why the First Order was a more sinister and unhinged version of the Empire. I kept recalling a moment in the Marvel Poe Dameron comic, where Captain Phasma resents the First Order being compared to the Empire. The ones who come after the Empire are taught by those who survive Empire’s End, and you will see why the events in this book leave a lasting impression on those who will help usher in the era of the First Order.

 

aftermathempiresend-norra wexley poster

 

The Wexley family is again caught in precarious positions on both fronts of this final conflict between the Empire and the New Republic. Norra continues her matriarchal role of the Wexley family. By Empire’s End, it should be pretty obvious to the reader Norra is afraid of nothing and will do whatever it takes. In Life Debt, Norra was dealt a devastating loss, which she attributes solely to Rae Sloane. Norra seeks retribution in Empire’s End, and like Rae, she frequently demonstrates her selflessness while caught up in what could be interpreted as a selfish impulse for revenge. Norra maintains through some incredibly rough patches of the story, all while trying to protect her son, Temmin, and trying to reconcile that her husband, Brentin, could be lost to the Empire. While Norra pursues Rae Sloane, she manages to be the hero the New Republic needs in the galaxy’s convoluted state. Norra is fearless in every danger Empire’s End throws at her, and her courage is only rivaled by her maternal instinct to protect her family, especially her son. The Wexley family is once again put through hell in this concluding novel, but you’ll see Norra backs down from nothing.

 

 

Another character I walked away from Empire’s End feeling I had a better understanding of was Mon Mothma. Mon Mothma embodies a graceful strength that many in the New Republic do not see. The New Republic is not only in it’s infancy during the Aftermath trilogy, but it is being tested by the last remnant of the Empire. As the galaxy waits and watches, the consequences and responsibilities fall into the lap of Mon Mothma. I came away from Empire’s End with a new respect for the leader. Her role in this is similar to what we saw in Rogue One, navigating a military conflict while trying to weave through politics and bureaucracy.

 

In the same respect as understanding how the First Order would be shaped from the demise of the Empire, I feel I better understand why the Resistance exists apart from the New Republic during the events of The Force Awakens. Between Empire’s End and Claudia Gray’s Bloodline, the New Republic is portrayed as a very fragile entity. There seems to be this fine line of caution underlying every move it’s mechanisms make. Everyone is afraid of repeating the trap of creating a vast military that gave way to the Imperial war machine post Clone Wars, but they also don’t know the best way to address the threat of the Empire. Politics are a crippling factor to any threat the New Republic faces, so it’s understandable why someone like Leia Organa would decide it’s necessary to step outside that arena. That’s a dangerous precedent set, but Leia’s perspective as a survivor of Alderaan makes it clear she is unwilling to wait for action.

 

general Leia ROTJ

 

Leia’s role in Empire’s End is also a complicated one. The dilemma of having to go rogue to get things done is not like the decisive move to create the Resistance. Leia wants to give Mon Mothma some breathing room, or plausible deniability, so Leia gives commands in the shadows while Mon Mothma deals with the political arena. From the first time Leia blasted a hole in the cell block corridor of the first Death Star, we’ve learned she is never someone to sit idly by while others try to cautiously approach a problem. There is nothing irrational about Leia’s need for immediate action. She is often put in the most difficult positions of having to make heavy decisions in Empire’s End. Alderaan’s demise still shapes the urgency of Leia’s decisions, as I can’t help but think the mantra “never again” must swirl in her mind each time a decision presents itself. That mantra, coupled with the fact she is about to bring a child into the galaxy. There is nothing more urgent than a parent wanting to make the best life for their child.

 

general Han Solo

 

Han Solo is also coming to terms with the fact he’s about to become a parent. Han does his best to reconcile his freedom and his loyalty not only to Leia, but to the New Republic. He’s faced with a similar dilemma about what he can do to help those who need it, but also knowing that his decision to act unilaterally in Life Debt helped shape the current political climate of Empire’s End. Han is always compelled to do good, no matter what casual exterior he portrays. Han’s abilities have been a bedrock for other characters who face existential and spiritual crises. He is strong and loyal to his friends and those he knows are doing good, and will stand by them no matter what. We see Han juggle the role of hero, husband, and father, while trying to do his best to help those in need.

 

aftermath trilogy covers

 

There are many more characters and stories packed into Empire’s End. As I said here, there will be no spoilers in this review, but I will say that I expect the Cantina discussions to be quite active in the days following the Empire’s End release due to what’s included in the “Interlude” portions of the book. There are familiar characters, continuations, and implications that will certainly be the basis of some serious fan discussions (as well as debates). Between the Aftermath and Shattered Empire stories, fans have been given a pretty clear framework of how the Empire was defeated and the New Republic was able to form; but, there is still plenty of room to fill in the gap between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens. My guess is we will have to wait until either after the premiere of The Last Jedi, or the conclusion of the Sequel Trilogy, for a lot of those stories. While on the surface that may seem frustrating, I really think it will be worth the wait. I got the feeling Chuck Wendig knows a great deal more than we fans do and that he held back in certain spots of the Aftermath story. I can’t wait to see what he and other writers do once they are free to tell everything that happened.

 

 

My hat’s off to Chuck Wendig for undertaking a very big and difficult task like this. It can’t be easy trying to write a compelling story with such high expectations as we Star Wars fans gave him, as well as the constraints of plot points I’m sure the Lucasfilm Story Group were firm on. In the relatively short amount of time these novels were released in, it’s impressive that Wendig not only wrote a damn good trilogy, but did it while under the pressure of what must have been some pretty brutal publication deadlines. I hope this is not the last Star Wars project Chuck Wendig undertakes, as I feel his writing is a solid contribution to the ever expanding Star Wars canon.

 

If you have been holding off on reading the Aftermath trilogy, I recommend you give in and treat yourself to these novels. Empire’s End was not only a fun read, it was a breeze to get through. The only reason it took me a few days to read it was because my time was limited. Empire’s End is such a fun read that I imagine most fans would burn through it in a day or two, especially if they had a couple afternoons free to kick back and get lost in the pages. Sure, there are still plenty of questions that beg for answers, but with the conclusion of this trilogy, we certainly know which ones to ask.

 

4 out of 5 Star Destroyers

stardestroyerrating

 

+ posts

Kyle Larson lives in Portland, Oregon. When he's not running trails, he's reading and writing.

Kyle Larson

Kyle Larson lives in Portland, Oregon. When he's not running trails, he's reading and writing.

81 thoughts on “Kyle’s Review of Aftermath: Empire’s End by Chuck Wendig (Non-Spoiler)

  • February 21, 2017 at 7:11 am
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    Uh, I certainly hope this IS “the last Star Wars project” this guy attempts. Sorry, but Aftermath was a disaster. Period. Bad call Disney. I don’t know who’s shilling for who, but this writer sucks.

    • February 21, 2017 at 9:03 am
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      Disagree.

    • February 21, 2017 at 11:53 am
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      Even worse than Troy Denning of the old EU who kept getting jobs too in spite of being unable to write a decent story.

    • February 21, 2017 at 12:22 pm
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      Tav. Have you read Life Debt? I was just wondering because I don’t like Aftermath but Life Debt is my favorite NEU book.

    • February 21, 2017 at 3:15 pm
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      I also disagree with you.

    • February 21, 2017 at 5:02 pm
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      He’s a good writer. Just not a good Star Wars writer.

      • February 21, 2017 at 10:15 pm
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        I disagree.

  • February 21, 2017 at 11:52 am
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    Only read Aftermath and after that, Finishing up this trilogy is definitely at the bottom of my list of SW series to finish. It’s not just that he’s a hack but he has the shittiest attitude of any writer who’s ever written for the saga. I seriously think he has some kind of mental issues he needs looked at.

    • February 21, 2017 at 11:54 am
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      The cover art is equally hideous too.

      • February 21, 2017 at 10:15 pm
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        Agreed. it looks like a bad photoshop job from a Legends novella or something.

    • February 21, 2017 at 3:39 pm
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      Separate art from the artist.

  • February 21, 2017 at 2:29 pm
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    After aftermath I couldn’t pick it up. Just waiting for someone to fill me in on the important canon points.

    • February 21, 2017 at 10:14 pm
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      I think I’ll just read the plot summary on Wookieepedia.

      • February 23, 2017 at 8:05 am
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        We have spoiler reviews on the way, so hopefully check those out as well. Some great reviews written by my pals Jordan and Jelena that flesh out more details.

        • February 23, 2017 at 1:30 pm
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          Sounds good!

  • February 21, 2017 at 4:35 pm
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    Empire’s end…hoping it’s Wendigs end…at least as a SW author. None of these had the “feel” of SW except the use of main characters(which was sparse). And even with those, it felt like he missed it. Could make a whole list of issues with these books. Hoping for better stories and better authors moving forward.

    • February 21, 2017 at 5:02 pm
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      This. I can tell he’s a gifted writer and storyteller, but he doesn’t quite “get” Star Wars. He thinks it’s sci-fi, when it’s really fantasy. And he lets his political views leak into his writing far too often.

      • February 21, 2017 at 6:23 pm
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        Which political views?

        • February 21, 2017 at 6:33 pm
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          Haven’t read Empire’s End, but the excerpt with Lando is clearly advocating for refugee migration. He increased the LGBTQ population in the Star Wars universe by an order of magnitude, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but is certainly an indication of his political views and reeks of pandering, especially with that gender-queer pirate in Life Debt. I almost stopped reading when I saw those stupid made up pronouns. Wendig’s not alone in this. Remember in “A New Dawn,” when Miller casually and clumsily mentioned the genders of the stormtroopers that raided the bar that Kanan frequented, for no apparent reason? I will be extremely surprised if there isn’t a Donald Trump reference somewhere in Empire’s End.

          • February 21, 2017 at 6:49 pm
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            they really should leave the political commentary to star trek. they’re way better at it.

          • February 23, 2017 at 8:04 am
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            Except it’s not political commentary at all.

          • February 23, 2017 at 6:45 pm
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            i mean in general.

          • February 23, 2017 at 11:28 pm
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            Re: “Except it’s not political commentary at all.”
            Exactly!
            Omg… SW now has characters that reflect diversity we see in our own universe….(gasp!).

            These people had hoped that a “galaxy far far away” didn’t have any non-straight characters.

            In SW terms…I expect people with these opinions to secretly hope the First Order, with dogmatic/rigid beliefs & bigotry, wins in the end.

          • February 24, 2017 at 12:15 am
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            Stop embarrassing yourself. Please. It’s just too cringey for me.

          • February 21, 2017 at 8:04 pm
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            Since when is being gay a political view?

          • February 21, 2017 at 8:52 pm
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            It’s not. Pandering to the LGBTQ community is a hallmark of the Left in the US, though.

          • February 21, 2017 at 9:12 pm
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            I believe it’s LGBTQIA now. Try and keep up. 😉

          • February 21, 2017 at 9:17 pm
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            I see your IA, and raise you an addition T, Q, A, and P: LGBTTQQIAAP.

          • February 21, 2017 at 9:23 pm
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            Lol. We’re gonna need a bigger alphabet.

          • February 23, 2017 at 11:25 pm
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            Re: “I see your IA, and raise you an additional T, Q, A, and P: LGBTTQQIAAP.”

            Why don’t you and G.A.Dux go find another forum to tell each other “fag jokes” & snicker about it there instead of SW forums?

          • February 23, 2017 at 11:38 pm
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            That’s the full abbreviation. If you think it’s a joke take it up with the people that made it. I find it hilarious, myself. What exactly is a pansexual, by the way?

          • February 24, 2017 at 12:01 am
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            Re: ” If you think it’s a joke take it up with the people that made”

            “I see your & raise you” – that wasn’t meant to be a joke? A joke making fun of the topic?

            Puh-lease… try to deflect here.
            Admit it…it’s obvious from your comments & what you joke about, you’d enjoy a good ‘ol “fag joke”. You just can’t opening write those as comfortably as you could years ago, as society in general has become educated & matured on the topic (note: I’m not including you in the “in general” count).
            You can’t make those “out loud” jokes now, directly attacking the groups, so you mask them as making fun of abbreviation & diversity & backing up claims that an author who includes non-straight(/gender norm) characters is obviously crossing a line into politics. Coz…*ick* – ammiright?

            Puh-lease… educate yourself and take your anger/bigotry comments to another forum.

          • February 24, 2017 at 12:08 am
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            Uhhh…I thought I made myself clear that it WAS a joke.

            Please try to separate “gay people” from the “gay community”. One are people that happen to be gay and which I have no problem with. The other frequently makes fools of themselves by doing such things as making gigantic acronyms that include the made-up term “pansexual”. Puh-lease try to be less stereotypically SJW in your future responses. You’re making a fool of yourself, and you’re most likely not an actual fool.

            And yes, there are only two genders. As much as Wendig and others would like there to be more, there aren’t. It’s just basic biology.

          • February 24, 2017 at 12:50 am
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            Re: “The other frequently makes fools of themselves by doing such things as making gigantic acronyms”
            Yet YOU are the one bringing up the acronyms (well technically abbreviations, as LBGT+ isn’t an acronym) …& then trying to cleverly disguise your “gay joke” as commentary on it.
            Then you go off on a tirade about the penis & vagina, demonstrating your lack of understanding of gender vs sex(/genitalia). Sounds like something YOU spend way too much time thinking about (along w/”acronyms”)….along with worrying too much about the gender/sex of characters in a book FFS!

            Pathetic.

          • February 24, 2017 at 1:24 am
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            I was explaining why a “gender-queer” pirate makes no sense.

          • February 24, 2017 at 1:29 am
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            Re: “gender-queer” pirate makes no sense
            It’s fantasy!
            Besides… your main problem seems to be with conflating inclusion of gender-norm/sexual orientation inclusion with politics.
            Then YOU introduce the LGBT+ abbreviation joke.
            Fine – you want to read books by political conservative writers with no LGBT+ characters.
            Go read those books.

          • February 24, 2017 at 1:42 am
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            No. I want to read Star Wars books, with no real-world politicking whatsoever. Stop twisting my words. I’m perfectly fine with gay characters. I love the character of Moff Moors in Lords of the Sith. And I like Sinjir, too. There’s a right way and wrong way to include gay characters in a story. Wendig got it mostly right with Sinjir, but got it horribly wrong with the rest.

            And the whole gender-queer-pronoun-other-kin movement thing is largely political in nature. Most people who are conservative agree that such a thing is ridiculous. Most people who are liberal agree that such a thing is not ridiculous. Then there are a whole bunch of people in the middle who don’t care either way, but mostly agree that it’s kinda ridiculous but are just nicer about it than me. Why not just avoid it altogether in a novel meant for wide consumption instead of alienating half (or more) of your potential reader base?

            There’s a whole genre of gay fiction that Wendig can add gender-queer space pirates to to his heart’s content. Keep it out of Star Wars.

          • February 24, 2017 at 1:47 am
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            You realise the Emperor is a dictator, right? Yet you want no real world politics in SW?

            It would be very tempting to suggest that the real issue here is latent homophobia, whether conscious or otherwise.

          • February 24, 2017 at 1:52 am
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            Classic liberal response. “You disagree with me, so you must be a bigot.”

            I don’t want hot button current political issues in Star Wars. You end up alienating wide swathes of people when you do that. How would you like it if the next Star Wars book is all about the evils of abortion?

          • February 24, 2017 at 2:51 am
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            I’m not a liberal, I am a centrist. I’m not even American. Your partisan fear speaks volumes.

            Homosexuality and gender are not political issues, that is what you fail to understand.

          • February 24, 2017 at 1:57 am
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            I’m not twisting your words – I’m quoting you & commenting on the progress of this thread.
            YOU brought up LBGT+ & then joked about it.
            YOU commented on the association of LBGT+ with politics.
            YOU went off on a tangent with gender/sex.

            It’s funnier still to see you doubling down on this, after I brought up that it’s *fantasy*(!!), with gender-queer-pronounce ramblings. When…again, it’s *fantasy*! This is NOT our galaxy. I don’t care if some aliens can/do change their sex (/orientation), heck in our real animal kingdom this happens (science for the win!), or have multiple genders/sex.

            You’re the one imagining politics being brought into this & spending too much time thinking about gender/sex & deciding to make fun of LGBT+ abbreviation.

            Give it a rest – it’s fantasy & you’re most likely tilting at windmills here.

            On the whole gender-queer-pronoun & your rant about the presence of a penis / vagina, I’ll just leave this:
            “Only a Sith deals in absolutes.

          • February 24, 2017 at 2:01 am
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            Wasn’t the gender-queer pirate a human, though? I could be mis-remembering that part.

            If I’m a Sith, do I get force lightning and a red lightsaber, too?

          • February 21, 2017 at 10:30 pm
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            So including gay character is “pandering” is it? I find this line of thinking bizarre given that scientists almost universally agree now that homosexuality is genetic. It’s not ideological to be gay. Any reasonable person should see acceptance of gay people as a good thing, well, at least people not beholden to religion. I mean, was it “pandering” to the black community when Lando showed up in Empire for instance? Or Nichelle Nichols in Star Trek back in the 60s?

            Now, if he was banging on about, for instance, a socialist societal structure, then I’d get the argument that he’s putting in his politics.

          • February 21, 2017 at 10:46 pm
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            No. Including a gay character or two is not pandering. Adding 5 gay characters in the span of two novels, including a gender-queer pirate (whatever the heck gender-queer even means) for no apparent reason, and the backlash that Wendig had against criticism of his novel, tells me he was pandering to the LGBTTQQIAAP community.

            There’s a right way to include gay characters (see Lords of the Sith), and a wrong way to include gay characters (see Aftermath series). One is a natural way to flesh out a character, and another is a ham-fisted attempt at generating buzz. You ever notice that we don’t actually know the sexual orientation of the vast majority of the characters in Star Wars? Why is that? It’s because we don’t need to know. It serves no story purpose. Saying, “Oh. By the way. Porkins is gay.” does nothing to serve the story and is pandering. Saying, “Moff Moors had an affinity for Twi’lek dancing girls” paints an altogether different picture for her character and actually serves a purpose. Why do we need to know that Snap has lesbian aunts? We don’t. It serves no purpose other than to be a throwaway line to generate buzz. Sinjir being gay also serves a story purpose. That gender-queer pirate in Life Debt was just another throwaway to generate more buzz. It’s hackish and it’s called pandering.

            One could argue that Lando was, in fact, in response to criticism that the first movie had no black people. I wouldn’t make that argument because he’s a well thought-out and fully-fleshed character and he just happens to be black.

          • February 23, 2017 at 8:03 am
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            He’s not pandering to anyone. Star Wars is for everyone and the LGBTQ community should no longer be treated as fringe or edgy when it comes to science fiction. Wendig’s inclusive writing is not gimmicky or pandering at all. As a writer myself, I’ve included gay characters in my books because it is normal. Please keep your mind open and don’t think of differences as some sort of offensive on your beliefs.

          • February 24, 2017 at 12:22 am
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            I would hope that the sexuality of your characters play some role in the story, though. Otherwise it’s pointless. Do you mention when a character is heterosexual without demonstrating that they are? If you don’t demonstrate that a character is homosexual in any way or it doesn’t play into the story in any way, there is no need to include it in the story other than for attracting gay readers.

      • February 21, 2017 at 6:51 pm
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        zahn also wrote more hard sci fi sw novels, but he better understood the universe and knew how to create memorable characters.

  • February 21, 2017 at 4:54 pm
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    Can’t wait to dive into the end tonight!

  • February 21, 2017 at 4:59 pm
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    Contrary to some, I am a big fan of the Aftermath book series. The first book, I argue was very weak on a technical sense(present tense, yuck) and its plot was paper thin. Honestly, the interludes were a lot better and had the book been an anthology of those short stories, I would have been fine. But I liked the characters. Life Debt was a massive improvement. An excellent tale that really helped set the scene for what we are going to see with Empire’s End. So yeah, I cannot wait to read this book and I look forward to finally figuring out what happened during the Battle of Jakku.

  • February 21, 2017 at 5:37 pm
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    Once again, hats down to you, Kyle. I would never be able to do a spoiler-free review because there is SO MUCH in this book. I cannot wait for more people to read it to deep dive into the spoilers and all the goodness.:)

    • February 22, 2017 at 8:05 pm
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      Me too! I have the eBook, and I keyword-searched: Sith, dark side, Tashu Palpatine and observatory. Man, some interesting nuggets out there for sure!

    • February 23, 2017 at 7:57 am
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      Thank you, Jelena! Excited for folks to read yours.

  • February 21, 2017 at 5:46 pm
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    I have attempted to read Aftermath and Life Debt and had to stop 2-3 chapters in. IMO, the man pushes too far into his own personal ideology and not enough into actual character development. Please note, If he was writing something that pushed the opposite agenda I would say the same thing! Politics are ok to bring into a story…James Luceno does an incredible job without going full tilt into a dissertation. I think Chuck is a good Sci-Fi writer, however he is not a Star Wars author.

    • February 21, 2017 at 6:21 pm
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      “his own personal ideology”?

      • February 21, 2017 at 6:44 pm
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        He speaks too long on personal politics rather than the story in my assessment. If he was preaching a sermon in Star Wars I would say the same thing.

        • February 21, 2017 at 8:03 pm
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          What are his personal politics?

          • February 21, 2017 at 8:20 pm
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            Compare his Twitter account to his writing. 🙂 It’s a mirror

          • February 21, 2017 at 10:08 pm
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            I can’t say I have read his Twitter feed.

          • February 21, 2017 at 10:13 pm
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            Lucky you.

    • February 22, 2017 at 5:35 pm
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      This criticism is so freaking stupid. If you have a problem with the so-called “personal politics” Wendig is pushing, you need to get over yourself. Star Wars is a massive galaxy; the representation in the Aftermath books is natural and more than that, it’s compassionate and right.

      • February 22, 2017 at 7:14 pm
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        Angry much? 🙂

        • February 22, 2017 at 7:33 pm
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          Wendig ISN’T PUSHING A POLITICAL AGENDA. He’s populating the Star Wars universe with a diverse group of new characters similar to those who exist in the real world.There is nothing inherently political about that.

          • February 22, 2017 at 7:46 pm
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            I think most folks are ok with putting in new characters, but reading what I have from made up pronouns to Lando’s refuge hiring push ala starbucks, this is a political push, IMO. And yes, I know my opinion sucks to you…understood. But that’s ok. Your opinion is not wrong to me, it’s YOUR OPINION….

          • February 22, 2017 at 9:42 pm
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            There’s nothing political about treating people with basic respect.

          • February 23, 2017 at 7:56 am
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            I disagree with you completely. The inclusion of refugees goes back to the prequels. There is nothing political about Wendig’s story, and this was written months before the controversy in the real world. Your opinion doesn’t suck and I understand what you are trying to say, but I don’t think Wendig was trying to insert subversive political statements that apply to the current political climate of the real world.

            Even if he was, that is nothing new to Star Wars, as George has stated countless times he referenced historical events while crafting the saga.

            Again, not trying to pick on you or make you feel dumb, just saying that I think you are misunderstanding Wendig’s intentions.

          • February 24, 2017 at 12:25 am
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            “this was written months before the controversy in the real world”

            No it wasn’t. The refugee crisis in Syria has been going on for years, and Trump made comments on it back in the 2015-6 primary season. This is clearly an attempt to color his story with his own political views.

          • February 23, 2017 at 11:04 pm
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            I think what you really meant to say was. Wendig took the official Star Wars Logo and sat it in his toilet…then took a big ol crap on it and then slapped a title on it.

  • February 21, 2017 at 5:51 pm
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    I am one of the many readers who didn’t enjoy the first Aftermath book. There were a great many things to criticize about the book and believe me I did. As a fan of Star Wars(and quite a few other IPs), I feel it is important to be honest when assessing stories and products. I won’t give things a pass just because they are set in my favorite fictional universe. Aftermath had some cool tidbits and details about the Star Wars universe post RotJ, but those things don’t excuse a lackluster main story and a group of characters that were mostly uninteresting.

    I still stand by my assessment that the first Aftermath is a bad book. Additionally, I agree with many others that the way Wendig handled the criticism of his book was unprofessional and dishonest, painting most people who didn’t like the book as homophobic or whiny fans who just hated anything that isn’t part of the old Expanded Universe(now rebranded Legends). The false nature of these accusations was soon rebutted by the popularity of the Lost Stars novel that was released at the same time and by the fact that Aftermath wasn’t the first SW novel to include a homosexual character(other well received novels in both Legends and the new canon went there first).

    After all of that, I frankly had no interest in reading Life Debt when it came out. However as time went by I continued to see positive reviews of it by other readers like myself who also didn’t care for the first book. Additionally, I saw posts by Wendig himself where he seemed more reasonable and he also mentioned how he was trying to channel authors like Timothy Zahn and Michael A Stackpole(two of my favorite Legends writers) while writing Life Debt. Given all of that, I decided to give Life Debt a chance. Honestly, I’m glad I did. Life Debt is a much better book than Aftermath. It isn’t as good as the best stuff by Zahn and Stackpole IMO, but it’s still a very enjoyable book that fixes most of the issues I had with the first one. It felt much more like a proper Star Wars novel and more importantly, he actually managed to make me care about his characters. I can honestly say that I’m happy I gave Wendig a second chance with Life Debt.

    I can now say that I am actually looking forward to reading Empire’s End.

    For those of you who felt the same way about the first Aftermath novel, I recommend giving Wendig another shot with Life Debt. I can’t guarantee that you’ll like it, but there are quite a few people like myself who didn’t like Aftermath but loved Life Debt.

    • February 21, 2017 at 6:20 pm
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      Hmm. I appreciate the review. I might just give Life Debt a go after reading this. I didn’t like Aftermath. I didn’t mind homosexual characters. It’s 2017 and their deliberate inclusion didn’t bother me. I also wasn’t bothered by his writing style. Too many folks developed some apparently latent skills as literary critics when this book was released. Unsurprisingly, all of their criticism sounded the exact same.

      But I still didn’t care for the book. There were too many elements from our world that took me out of the story. Details like the deck of cards featuring “Wanted’ Imperials to the resource trading game mentioned early on were too thinly veiled analogies to things in our world.

      And like you, I was soured by Wendig’s response to his critics.

      That all being said, I think I’ll give the next installment a crack.

      • February 21, 2017 at 7:03 pm
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        Glad to hear you’ll give it a chance.

        I agree that there was too much focus on his writing style, which while it might have been a deal breaker for some, it didn’t bother me near as much as other people. In fact focusing on it so much tended to deflect attention away from other more important issues as to why the book didn’t really work that well. Things like lackluster characterization of most of the main characters was a much bigger problem IMO.

        The real world allusions bug me too, for some strange reason it seemed to be an edict from the higher ups in the Story Group early on, although with more recent novels that trend has seemed to cool. It’s like they thought their readers were to dumb to understand things like duracrete being the Star Wars version of concrete, hence Aftermath just using the word concrete.

        Life Debt is much better in that respect as well. If there were any real world allusions, they certainly weren’t as glaring as what we got in Aftermath.

    • February 21, 2017 at 6:21 pm
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      It’s refreshing to see someone who won’t fawn over something just because of a brand name, but your advice unfortunately points to “pay for and read a crap book in order to enjoy one that’s a bit better”. To be honest, I’d rather save my money.

      • February 21, 2017 at 6:48 pm
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        I don’t blame you, my thoughts were more directed at readers who had already bought the first book and were disappointed by it. Hence, they’ve already invested money in the book series. Who knows though, they might release the whole series as a discounted collection at some point, if it’s cheap enough and Empire’s End is good too, it may be worth it to others who are still unsure. Otherwise, you can always just get the important details from other sources like this site and Wookieepedia ;).

      • February 23, 2017 at 7:51 am
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        Understandable that you may want to save your money. There will be spoiler reviews posted in the coming days, which will detail the more consequential events in the book.

    • February 21, 2017 at 10:39 pm
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      Awesome. I really did love Life Debt. I’m in the minority where I liked the first Aftermath book, BUT it had plenty of problems. Present tense and second person is just so weird. It isn’t wrong, as it is something that isn’t usually associated with fiction books. Maybe, it is due to how Wendig is a screenwriter. Because, I know Screenplays most of them are written in present tense.

      But technical stuff out of the way, the plot was very jumbled. Honestly, the interludes were the best part. And a part of me wished that Aftermath was just an anthology with these short story interludes. Because, what I love about Aftermath the first book is that it works well as a world building book. I can slot this within Legends, right before the Thrawn trilogy and in my head canon, it makes sense. But I also came to like the characters at the end. Sinjir being one of my favorites.

      Life Debt was a huge step up. The plot was a lot stronger. It seemed like Wendig humbled up and really did his homework. I loved the stuff with Sloan and Rax and the book managed to tell a great story, while setting up for this book.

      A book I have been looking forward to because the Battle of Jakku was a big deal. Should have been touched upon in TFA. But regardless, we are getting it now. So yeah, I cannot wait to read this. 🙂

    • February 26, 2017 at 3:22 am
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      Update, I read Empire’s End and I thoroughly enjoyed it, best book so far. I can now recommend the overall series even more despite the disappointing first book.

  • February 21, 2017 at 6:25 pm
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    i almost didn’t give life debt a look because of how god awful aftermath was but i’m glad i did. life debt is a huge improvement and it sounds like this novel continues that upward trend. i understand (and mostly agree with) the prevailing sentiments about wendig’s skills as a writer overall, but sw is too good for even he to screw it up.

  • February 22, 2017 at 12:56 pm
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    Why is it not available to Audible Australia?

  • February 22, 2017 at 10:21 pm
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    Even with all that happened, I’d have to think two of the current players in the Empire won’t make it. There’s next to no trace of them in the movie it seems, the only one left is the heir solely in the command structure. The future rights to the throne seem obvious to lie in the Unknown Regions. I could see another trilogy about these events coming out next year or after Episode IX. Or they save it all for the next cartoon series which they would love to milk for stories.

  • February 23, 2017 at 10:56 pm
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    This whole trilogy was terrible and a waste of time. very disappointing.I am glad they got this out of the way so we can move on to hopefully bigger and better things…I guess if you are an avid star wars fan and need to know everything it is worth the buy… but if you actually like substance and story, save your money. Chuck Wendig is a terrible writer…the dude is a hack and had no business writing one Star Wars novel, let alone THREE…he had no idea how to portray Han Solo on paper and make him seem legit, it felt like a joke.. his shoe horned star wars references made you think…”oh yeah, I am reading a star wars book…”…. I still don’t understand the point of writing a whole trilogy about the empires fall when they could have done the same thing in two or three paragraphs in another book….these are the worst books in the new Canon by far in my opinion..maybe I just had my hopes too high because I actually like action and adventure and good writing…

    • February 24, 2017 at 1:47 am
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      I actually really liked Life Debt (minus the gender queer space pirate). And I like Empire’s End so far.

  • February 24, 2017 at 9:54 am
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    I read the first book and did not like it. I don’t actually DISLIKE many books. A bunch of PC crap for no reason and the characters were super disconnected. Way too many things were happening, lacking cohesion.

    I’ve read probably 50 SW books now, this was one in the top 5 worst written. I might try the the second one to see if it’s any better, will pretty much read anything SW. The only character I connected with was Sloane, and the only emotion was when injured and running.

    Thanks for the review!

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