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

So Jello wants his own version of the empire? I rebel!

 

I found this image of him (unofficial). I personally don't picture him that way just because his entire personality was extremely ugly and had zero redeeming qualities.



I pictured Rax with a much doughier face and a rather unthreatening manner but with a sharp glint in his eyes. Reminiscent of Senator Palpatine in TPM.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Yeah, there's no way Rax is that good-looking.

 

In fan art, everyone tends to be ridiculously good-looking.

 

Jello & I have discussed this numerous times, but there is a really interesting story to be told about post-Jakku Coruscant. You've a situation where Amedda is a figurehead watched by the New Republic, but also a large group of Coruscanti citizens from the lower/middle classes that were fighting against the Empire and ultimately delivered Amedda to the New Republic. There is a balance that would need to be attained post-Jakku. Sure, we know that 20 years later Coruscant is a full New Republic member (given that worlds have to democratically choose to join, I'd imagine that the non-upper classes probably swayed that vote), but how did it rebuild in the post war years?

I didn't get the impression that Coruscant looked anything list what we saw in Dark Empire, but it obviously had to rebuild some infrastructure. The citizens that rebelled would need to be part of the powersharing government, did they form a popular assembly? Did they transform the old Senate Rotunda into a Coruscanti Senate to discuss matters and approve usage of funds? How long did Amedda remain a figurehead and when did the world formally vote to join the New Republic? How did the world's upper classes react to the loss of prestige?

There is a VERY good story weaved into all those little tidbits, I hope we see it explored one day!

--Adm. Nick

 

I'm pretty sure Rax actually WAS meant to be good-looking, wasn't he? Just because he's a creep doesn't mean he has to look like a living corpse.

 

Isn't he described as good looking at one point? I swear that came up, maybe I just assumed it when he seduced Sloane's aide.

--Adm. Nick

 

Maybe she's just attracted to Power.

IIRC, when someone asked Chuck on Twitter how he saw his characters, he said he purposely didn't try to fan-cast them, so to speak, and let the readers make it up for themselves. Except for Sinjir. Sinjir is Michael Fassbender all day long.

 

But who is Number Six and who is Roslin?

 

I just finished the book last night and I really enjoyed it. It's a nice conclusion to the trilogy, but one that leaves a lot of character-and-scenario threads around for pulling in later works. I agree with folks who highlighted the opportunities for storytelling with Rae Sloane and the Huxes in the Unknown Regions. I think Eleodie Maracavanya's pirate nation and Kiza and the Acolytes of the Beyond are also fertile ground for new stories.

The whole Aftermath trilogy's biggest success, for me, has been making the galaxy feel unified post-reboot. Other people might've felt this earlier, and I'd guess some still don't feel it, but this trilogy is the first bit of connective tissue that really links the OT and the ST in a way that isn't just like stepping stones across a river or cairns marking a trail up the face of a mountain. I expected the universe to reach this point eventually, with enough stories being told, but I didn't know when the pieces would fall into place, so to speak. I guess it's now, with this book, and I'm mostly pleased with the results. I'm not exactly satisfied with the state of the New Republic and its eventual fate--my issues fall in line with other folks frustrated with how fast it became corrupt--but there's plenty of potential for New Republic stories that I think I would like, so I'm not too bothered.

Final thought: between Gallius Rax and Orson Krennic, we can all agree that the new canon's trying to ruin capes for Jello, right? (Shot in the dark: it's failing to ruin them for him.)

 

UGH I still don't forgive her for that.

 

I think the only indication that he may be good-looking is Adea being seduced by him. Like others said, she could've been seduced by power, though likely it at least means he isn't completely hideous. All we know about his looks is that he was a pale-skinned brunette with dark eyes when he was in his 20s, and that he kept himself in good shape up until his late 40s. The way he acts makes it seem like he considers himself attractive; looking at the mirror was mentioned as one of his daily activities, after all. And he cares quite a bit about visuals and theatricality, too.

Reading the Adea scene from Life Debt again, though, you get the impression that she's somewhat pressured to stay the night. He doesn't outright force her to do so, but there's an implication that she's not attracted to him, that she's "cold," and that she feels pressured to stay. Something about the balance of "hot" and "cold" and how each character is associated with each gave me this impression. I believe Rax is said to be cold to the touch, but the narration then becomes less literal and Rax is described as the one who is "on fire," and Adea becomes the one who is cold. Adding to that, he's very touchy with Sloane, kissing her in the forehead, placing his hand on her at least once, and toward the end even mouthing a kiss at her, if I recall correctly. All of these things add up to a very creepy personality, that reminds me more of a decently-attractive but eventually abusive man. Or a lecherous actor, who likes to make others uncomfortable.

I do like that Wendig doesn't truly fan-cast, though the half-joking exceptions he gave were quite good (especially Norra as Elizabeth Mitchell). Rax seems very difficult to cast; every time I have someone in mind, they seem inappropriate in another scene, yet the character is still very much Rax. Sometimes he reminded me of Michael Fassbender (too handsome), other times of Sam Witwer (too young), and yet other times even of John Simm (too weasely). I will say, James Callis (Gaius Baltar) is quite good, though I do have trouble seeing him leading an Empire (okay, or even the manic, suicidal version of the Empire Rax created). TPM-era Palpatine is quite interesting, especially considering how theatrical Ian McDiarmid is, which definitely fits with Rax.

 

Since this image is unofficial out of curiosity did they ever really describe what Rax looked like? I don't believe I ever remember getting a defined description of characters looks. The only characters I could really picture in my head were those that we already knew what they looked like based off of them appearing in some other form of official source.

 

I've start a third, much slower read through of EE. Typically, I fast read it once, revisit all my favorite parts twice, and then really do a deep dive/slow read the third time around. The Mon Mothma scenes in particular continue to delight me, even more so after last weeks episode of Rebels. The depth that they have provided her character is one of the best parts of the new canon. Period. Damn shamed we don't get to see her re-election in the book, but I'm all for more stories with Mon Mothma in the NR-era. A Luceno penned book on Mon Mothma would be beyond awesome, or one written by Chuck, for that matter.

I'll give Chuck credit for adding a few new layers to Ackbar's character too. In the NEU, Ackbar hasn't really been overly used, outside of his "noble admiral" role. I do like that Chuck's trilogy added a few layers, including his studying of martial arts (reminded me of Thrawn in a recent Rebels episode) and his interest in military history. Neither is all that surprising for the NRDF's top flag officer, but I like it. Ackbar's compassion, something the old EU showed best in the Black Fleet Crisis series, also reappeared in EE. His caring for Agate, his compassion for his troops, his solid & steady resolve- all fit very well in the character. His personal loyalty to Leia is another thing I love, it too harkens back to the BFC series. So while Ackbar hasn't really changed much in the NEU, EE restored a lot about the character that I loved from the old Legends stories.

--Adm. Nick

 

The only physical description we get of Rax is from when Sloane finds a holo image of him as a 22-year-old, in Life Debt:

"The boy looks like a dirt-cheeked rube shoved into an ill-fitting academy uniform. His hair is dark, his skin is pale. Those eyes, though. A familiar arrogance shines there. Each a black hole swallowing the light."​

And that's approximately 25 years before the story's present. The narration implies he might look different now, since Sloane only recognized him from his eyes and was not entirely sure at first whether it was him. Empire's End mainly describes his clothing, but it does say he looked "tightened, stripped down, worn away" by his time on Jakku, something Rax found pleasing. I do like the idea of him being reminiscent of a younger Palpatine, he's definitely the closest thing to a successor the Emperor seems to have had in the new canon. Someone like Denis O'Hare would fit well with that, and can certainly carry the theatricality.

The mystery of who exactly is in the Eclipse will continue to be intriguing as we learn more about the birth of the First Order. It's unclear whether it was Palpatine or Rax who sent the Eclipse ahead, or how closely Rax stuck to Palpatine's plan. Re-reading the portions with him and Tashu at the Observatory well, it seems the original plan was for him and Tashu to toss the artifacts into the borehole—possibly even only the holocron, staff, and banner—to set off the chain reaction that would "break the demesne in half." So in terms of the leadership Palpatine planned on sending to the Unknown Regions, only Hux seems to have prevailed. Everything else seems to have gone exactly as Palpatine originally planned it.

Re-reading another portion of EE, it does mention a tall girl with a shaved head and an emotionless face among Hux's child-soldiers, as another user said, so I'm really picturing that as an allusion to Phasma. It would also add texture to her apparent disdain for the Empire's stormtroopers (mentioned in the Visual Dictionary), if she was trained to overpower and kill them from a young age.

 

Yeah definitely possible that is intended to be Phasma. If so though she is a little bit older than I pictured. For that to be Phasma she would likely have to be in her late 30's/early 40's by the time of TFA. I looked up the age of the actress who plays her and she is in her late 30's as well though so I guess it would fit after all (I imagine we'll see Phasma without a helmet on before the ST is over).

 

With some of your reviews at my side, I began the audiobook yesterday. (spoiler cut for size)

Spoiler

I'm very slow with audiobooks, so I'm still on hold for the physical copy at my library. There's also a quote from the prelude that I didn't catch, so I'll hold off on that part of my review as I listen:

Chapter 1

• Mercurial Swift’s reasoning for live merchandise (because it’s easier to transport…and easier to hurt one’s self carrying a dead body) is perfect. The fight scene was done well. I may not like Wendig’s writing, but I can appreciate his skill at bringing a person into a battle. (Or…maybe that’s Marc Thompson and the fact the audio is like a radio drama).
• I didn't realize Ithorian was pronounced "eye-thor-ee-an." I always mentally said it with a soft I.
• OK, Wendig. I get it. Imperial credits are worth crap.
• So yeah…I completely forgot Black Sun was canon.
• Norra’s thirst for revenge makes sense but her behavior is irritating, and horrid. It almost makes me feel bad for Swift!

Chapter 2

• Han and Leia make a beautiful couple. I can definitely see Han going stir-crazy.
• The distrust people have of Mon makes a lot of sense. That, and Leia juggling between her different duties, worrying about what to do in the future, fits well with Legends.
• By the end of this chapter, I was surprised at how little I disliked the book.

 

Trying to avoid spoilers like the plague, but I wanted to post that I got my copy of EE today and as I was checking out, the cashier said "Hold on, I think I've got one more signed copy," left the register, and came back with a copy that was, indeed, signed by Chuck Wendig! So I'm pretty psyched by that.