Books Aftermath: Empire's End (book 3) by Chuck Wendig

Jello at least has style and class when he's in Imperial mode, Hux doesn't even have that.

 

I've mentioned i like the First Order and find them intriguing enemies, far more intriguing than the Galactic Empire since I like the idea of misguided nostalgia as well as passing on one's sins to the next generation. I also believe the FO is an interesting idealogical enemy for the 21st century, reflecting fears of terrorists and ideologues without being obvious stand-ins for ISIS and other groups. However, I'm annoyed because it seems the FO gets a lot of praise from real jerkbags in other forums and amused defense of the FO is hit far harder than GE ones as I got banned from RPG.net because of it.

But, seriously, Why the First Order are the Good Guys.

 

Wait did you just compare what Jello does to pretending to be Hux? Oh man he is gonna be pissed. Loyalty and support for the First Order is childsplay next to the glory of serving our Empire!!!!

 

The First Order is a proper people's revolution against the heinous treachery of the New Republic as well as loathsome resistance.

Are you going to acquiesce to disorder?

 

When I watched TFA I was like "okay, Hux still is young..." but then he is 34

 

I actually like that North Korea-esque element.

He's a general because his dad was a general.

 

So I decided to have a look into the Tarkin book for a moment and I began to wonder. Do you believe that Tarkin was one of Palpatine's true closest? Would he have played a big role in the contingency? Comparing Tarkin to several others of the emperor's close circle featured in the books, how close was he?

 

Really?

I mean considering Tarkin and Palpatine did infact have a long ago back story, plus entrusted with the Death Star which in reality is more supreme than Palpatine's contingency (if you know what I mean). It'd make sense that Tarkin was also one of the closest.

 

Not sure about Tarkin, but I think Yularen and Screed would have been part of the Contingency, had they lived. (I'm also surprise that we haven't heard more about Screed in the new canon; the few mentions of him in the Aftermath trilogy made him look like a big player, bigger than he ever was in Legends.)

You forgot that Jello hates Tarkin!

 

And I thought he was an imperial supporter such as myself.. In all seriousness, I wish to see in the future the entirety of Palpatine's close circle unfolded. In my head Palpatine entrusting Tarkin with the death star is proof enough for close circle status. Yularen is confirmed to be part of this close circle, not sure why though, they definitely need to alter Yularen to be more ruthless and empire-y to have us forget his behavior in the clone wars which quite frankly doesen't seem Palpatine-worthy. (Rebels is doing a good job though).

To be fair, we haven't seen much of Yularen post TCW. I look forward to more of these character appearances.

 

Yeah I mean it's not like Yularen became a father figure for a jedi padawan. Oh!. Ah.. Wait.. Also Tarkin's depiction in Rogue One was PERFECT! How dare you even use the word insecure about Tarkin.. He handled him like a boss and it backfired into Krennic's face. (see what I did there?)

He couldn't be too rude to Krennic considering Death Star progress depended upon it and Tarkin knows the value of progress. Even then he sort of won the arguments with Krennic and in the end look what happened to him.

 

He made sure a loose end was silenced. Krennic did fail as a commander by failing to conceal the secret of the death star. Krennic could no way win the emperor's favor.

 

No I haven't, and whatever it is I doubt it justifies the statement that Tarkin was petty in Rogue One

But I'm curious, what is this thing from Catalyst you refer to?

 

Chapter 33

• Wow, this is a long chapter.
• I did NOT like the mention of a “string bean.”
• Slone still believes in what she feels the Empire was, what it should be. I still think there’s a naivety of the Emperor, but I do love that her character hasn’t changed; she still has strict morals and values that she wants to follow.
• I really like that Ackbar is a history buff.
• I feel like there’s communication between space ships and ground forces that wasn’t always prevalent. I like that too.
• The scenes with Agate were audibly beautiful (except Thompson doesn’t pronounce her name the way I do in my head). THAT is what a space battle is; that is what a sentient experiences during one.
• “When they say to one another, May the Force be with you, it is precisely this that they mean: It is a wish that when the time comes to leap into the void and to make a decision based on instinct and trust, you are rewarded for that act and not punished.” – that is beautifully perfect.
• I actually feel for Agate’s death. If she was in the previous books, I remember nothing about her, not even her name. But she is a great woman. The respect Ackbar has for her and his deep emotions put me in the moment of her death.
• There is mention of how technology has advanced and improved, which I enjoyed. That technology allows the New Republic to bring down the Ravager. Is that likely the Star Destroyer we see in TFA?
• I obviously knew Temmin would survive, but seeing his point-of-view as the Ravager came down was pretty awesome. But there were yet again too many descriptors and comparisons! The SD was like a ceiling coming down on a child’s toys? *rolls eyes* At that point, it was like a ceiling coming down on a child
• The sub-scene when the troopers found Temmin was very odd. First off, the one who took off his helmet was very out of character for a trooper. Then they were arguing about how to best kill him! It was dumb.
• Yay, Bones is dead! A ‘heroic’ death, I guess, if you can call a droid programmed a certain way to be heroic. *sigh* Thompson’s voice acting though, his despair as he spoke through Temmin’s voice, almost made me feel bad for the boy and the droid.
  Almost.

Chapter 34

• “My heart is a nest of dead birds.” – Sinjir
  What the kriff does THAT mean?!
• Throwing fruit at Wartol is pretty hilarious. And…crap. I hate zealots. I almost wish Sinjir killed him, but the fact that he didn’t shows his own growth. I get it Wendig—he’s pissed. But I’m glad (for Sinjir) that he insisted on a trial. Of course, I have a bad feeling about that.

Interlude: Liberty’s Misrule

• Or, a new name for the Annihilator.
• I don’t feel like the word “damn” was needed.
• Elodie is familiar but I don’t know why.
• I understand why some people may feel this interlude wasn’t needed, but I feel it was helpful, in a way. Hey, ships escaped Jakku—what happened to them? Though, having this as an epilogue would have likely been better.

 

Chapter 38
- It is quite odd that the space battle at Jakku lasted for many months. I’d understand skirmishes cropping up, but not a full battle.
- Oh my sweet hell, Temmin. A destroyed droid cannot watch over your father in the afterlife. Droids are not sentient.
- I’m glad that we saw Jom’s death, and that he died to save others, but I feel terrible for Jas. It’s strange to see her laying around for a week. Again—doesn’t seem terribly in character.
- Wendig. No one gives a flying damn about the damn ass rumors surrounding Ben’s birth. How about you give us what actually happened? You, sir, make absolutely no sense at all.
- Daddy Han is adorable and I love the scene with him and Ben. It’ As someone who reacts to a crying baby the same way, I feel for him!
- I fully agree with Sinjir—babies are foul
- I don’t want Norra and Wedge to be together because I find her too boring for him, but really, Wedge is pretty boring too in the NEU, so I almost don’t care. Yet there’s a spark of hope for him, so in that sense, I don’t want them to rekindle their romantic relationship.
- I absolutely love the friendship between Jas and Sinjir.

Epilogue: The Unknown Regions
- This is a great end to the story. The deal Sloane and Armitage make is perfect for their characters. Sloane beating Brendol was just as fantastic as her punching Rax. Better, even. Brendol is a scumbag and bully; Rax was just psychotic.
- The path through the Unknown Regions left my skin tingling.
- The absolute end was very fitting for Sloane.

 

It would be good to remind people who wonder at a months-long battle on Jakku exactly how long the battle at Stalingrad lasted...

 

I could understand a ground-based battle; it's the space battle that boggles me. I was thinking of even current wars/battles, but again, they're ground. Anything with fighter planes is fairly quick.

 

Okay, I just finished it and wow, it was awesome. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time, I personally thought more people would've died. When the Senate building was bombed I thought, "No Mon!" I was worried when Sinjir got shot too. Bones death...ugh & Jom too. I'm glad to see how it ended the way it did kinda open-ended for each of them. We saw a lot of great emotion in this book as well as description. It was nice seeing the Battle of Jakku and what a hole it is. This book also shows a lot of hints for the FO and Kylo. Those kids were plain freaky. I thought we'd see more mention of Thrawn in that chapter he mentioned, to allude to his status as well. Overall, great, Wendig ended it well and can't wait to see these characters again if we do.

 

He wasn't as close to him as Vader. When Vader and the Emperor talk the Emperor makes clear that the Empire is but a means to an end to him (similar to what Rax says in Empire's End). I think he held quite a bit of respect for Tarkin, but at the end of the day he views him as disposable.

 

Tarkin was in the inner circle I believe. He was able to keep as close though I also think due to his shrewdness. It was a small circle after all...Rax was beyond disposable. The Emperor tells him as much so he wasn't that close either obviously.