Lit Wendig and Aftermath - why the hate?

I have the books (audio version + hardcover) since they were released, but it is now my 5th try to go through them. But at least I'm now at 4 hours into the first audio book. Never been so far until now and I hope I will finish both until Empire's End is out. But for me the problem is mainly the lack of our known characters like Luke, Han and Leia. The new characters don't really do it for me so far. Additionally the lack of force users and force related topics. But this seems to be a trend.

 

People who believe that Chuck was "mean" regarding bad reviews must not follow him on Twitter or read his blog. He ranted about the one-star review campaign (which WAS a thing; he was getting emails and one-star reviews as soon as the book was released), and the homophobic reviews/tweets he received. That's not being "mean", that's pointing out hypocrisy. ("I have nothing against gay people BUT WHY DO YOU HAVE TO SHOVE IT DOWN MY THROAT?!") Chuck is very open to speaking with fans and even took the time to answer questions for this site.

As for the book itself, some people disliked the writing style, which is fine. What isn't fine is expecting Chuck to change his writing style because some people dislike it. That's why he was hired.

 

My favorite Star Wars sex joke:

: "Don't get excited!"
: "Captain, being held by you isn't quite enough to get me excited."
: "Sorry sweetheart. I haven't got time for anything else."
:

 

I wasn't expecting TFA-relevant information, but an adventure with the OT trio and friends taking place just a few years after ROTJ shouldn't have been off limits, right?

 

So I have loved Star Wars since I was very little (I'm in my 20s now). I was usually generally aware of what was going on in the EU but I honestly never read any of the adult novels. I read things like Galaxy of Fear, the young reader Boba Fett books, etc. I did occasionally do a Wookieepedia binge and I would have a sense of the state of the EU. I guess there were three main reasons why I never got a round to reading any of the EU novels:
1. Money. As a kid I didn't exactly have any disposable income.
2. Time. Too busy with school, sports, friends, etc.
3. Overwhelming. There were just soooo many novels covering different eras and characters that I was frankly very overwhelmed. This was one of the main things stopping me from diving in.
Fast forward to 2014 with them wiping the slate clean and starting a new canon. Finally the perfect opportunity for me to jump in. I was older and had more time and more money. So the new canon novels are my first real taste of "expanded universe" Star Wars. That being said, I loved Aftermath 1 and 2. Maybe it's because I wasn't familiar with the old EU novels? I don't know. But I think generally people in my situation are much less harsh in their criticism of the novels. That's not to say I blindly love every of the new novels. For example, I thought Heir to the Jedi and Dark Disciple were lacking.

Just my two cents. Maybe others here can relate.

 

Seeing as the reveal of Ben was (understandably) reserved for the movie, having an adventure with Han or Leia a 'few years after' would have spoiled that. (And possibly any other children they may have had...) Also, we STILL don't know the extent of Luke's travels, experiences, and mission during that period.

They DID give us 3 new books focusing on Luke, Leia, and Han, including themes that inform their TFA stories. (Weapon of a Jedi, Smuggler's Run, Moving Target). We also got Shattered Empire which shows immediate post ROTJ missions with Han, Leia, and Luke.

The movies are still planning on giving us info about what happened during that period, and those will be the Big Massive Beat reveals, even though there are still some fascinating and exciting stories to tell in that period.

 

I didn't really have issues with the LGBT characters. The writing was sorta kinda, it could have been better. A lot better. He could've definitely gotten a better PR department, sure. However my main problem was the story, and boy what a big problem it was. A Galactic Empire somehow falls within the span of a single year. Imperials continuously treated as mooks and even worse is his clear personal bias in favour of the Rebels that ruin the setting for the entire post-Endor nu-canon by removing any possibility of the Empire still existing in a threatening capacity. He basically turned a well-oiled machine into a banana republic that just fell as quickly as it was formed.

 

There are some in-story-relevant reasons for how and why many of the Big Names and Big Guns were falling so hard so quickly in the Empire, but it definitely goes into spoiler territory for anyone who hasn't read the Second Book.

 

The Emperor, his right hand and at least half the ruling council perished on the second Death Star. Gallius Rax also ordered Sloane to hunt down and kill all officers that had no place in his new Empire. The Empire still controlled some systems within the Core and Inner Rim after the Battle of Jakku.

 

Disclaimer: I encourage character variation. LGBTQ characters? Absolutely, just write them well! That is all I ask.

The two Aftermath books are some of the worst books I've ever read and here is why.

First of all, books like Jedi Trial, Planet of Twilight, and The Crystal Star are also awful, but for different reasons that most people generally accept.

With this book, Chuck Wendig uses a writing style that is very frequently grammatically incorrect. This was a constant thorn in my side while reading through these two. Also, his attempt at the present tense seems like a very cheap gimmick to distinguish himself from other authors. I would equate this to kids in high school who dye their hair blue to set themselves apart.

Sentences like, "Norra straight punches her in the gut." or "His breath catches in his chest and won't release because spiders" are actual sentences in Life Debt. Chuck obviously panders to the Millennial generation by writing his dialogue and description (inexplicably) with Millennial slang. It is jarring to read and feels like someone's step-dad trying to fit in with his wife's kid. As a Millennial, I nearly gag every time I see his authorisms.

The writing style feels eerily similar to his twitter rants about the "one star reviews coming in." To me this whole books could have been copy and pasted from his twitter account and I wouldn't have noticed.

Another thing that annoys people is that Chuck Wendig takes pride in how fast he can write a book. I think I heard something like 30 days is the average time he puts into these.

"Mockingbird, took me 30 days." - Chuck Wendig

To me, that speaks entirely of their quality. I don't need to say much more on this, you can read for yourselves and judge the lack of quality. (The weak plot, endless Deus Ex Machina, social justice cram, poorly crafted dialogue, poorly chosen words (and lack of word variation), and paper-thin characters.)

His direct responses to one star reviews on Amazon are unbelievable in itself, forget everything I've said above. But if it wasn't enough for you, the first sentence of the entire book (Life Debt) is "The boy runs." Many, many more chapters open like this.

I'm honestly not trying to attack the author, I know it is against the rules, and I'm not trying to do that at all. But to answer the question, I had to be honest, and I've never come across an author like this before. These books are simply low, low, low quality, and I'm not happy he got a three-book deal.

 

lol, 30 days.

KJA would have done it in three.

 

^It kind of felt to me that he was saying that people who don't like the books don't like them because of the gay characters.
He's very caustic in his responses, which turns me off to him even more.

I love Sinjir. He's a hoot.
It wasn't the innuendos so much that bothered me; it was [I forget the chick's name] talking with Sinjir and then she pretty much said "I'll sleep with you" out of the blue and Sinjir was all "um...no..."
Then she got peeved and essentially said "AM I NOT PRETTY ENOUGH FOR YOU?!?!"
"No, I'm gay."
"Oh kay then NVM"

Why couldn't she just be okay with "I'm not attracted to you?" that bothered me.

I also had issues with the writing. And. The short sent- (whoops not sentences, sorry and let me break out into random parentheticals too) phrases.
Fragments.

I listened to the 2nd audiobook and it was so much better. It's made me conclude that the written dialogue is meant to be spoken, not read.

Additionally, I have terrible retention, for anything. I loved Battlefront but can't remember much from that.
Still, I read the Wookieepedia summations recently to refresh myself and as I was reading, info was leaking from my brain. I cannot connect with most of the characters; I felt that almost all of them are a little flat and/or annoying.

 

From Chuck Wendig's blog linked above:

It's after all THAT that he finally addresses the Anti-Gay haters. There ARE (far, far too many people) people who expressed that the very idea drove them made with rage, but it's not the only one. But it's really the only one he doesn't concede as being understood as a valid reason for someone not digging the story.

Aftermath got more attention than Heir to the Jedi, Tarkin, Lords of the Sith, etc, mainly because of setting. These were more 'familiar'. This started going into the realm that solely belonged to The Old EU, viewed as Sacred Ground. And if anyone was going to have a starting place to start complaining about New Star Wars Ruining Their Star Wars, this was going to be the place. And as I said before, in addition to people just not digging it, there was a lot of fan anger that was taken out on this book. Literal campaigns were run and set in place before the book wasn't even out. People were told to boycott it, and buy copies of Truce at Bakura on the release date instead. I KID YOU NOT.

People who posted positive reviews on Amazon were harassed in comment responses, name-called, declared disney shills and friends of Chuck Wendig posting fake reviews, and sought out and had OTHER reviews they made attacked.

It got dirty and personal. And this doesn't happen over, "This writing style in this tie-in book doesn't work for me."

 

Imagine the hate Wendig will get if he kills of Wedge in Empire's End......

 

Present tense is not a cheap gimmick. Present tense is a valid writing choice - a very COMMON writing choice. If you don't like it, fine. I don't often like first person, but it doesn't stop me from enjoying a book. One of my favorite novels ever is in first person (The Icarus Hunt), and I loved I, Jedi. That said, I really did not like the first person prose in Heir to the Jedi. That doesn't mean it's not a valid choice for Star Wars.

 

Is it? It seems like going out of your way to complicate what you're writing and sacrificing characterization at the same time.

 

Of course it is. As only one example, Stephen King, an author not unknown, uses Present Tense to great effect in many of his books, including key parts in his series generally heaped with honors, The Dark Tower.

I find present tense to be one fantastic way to give an added sense of immediacy both in the narrative, and to get to the heart of a character's thoughts as they are happening, rather than as a description of something that has already happened. It's this use of it I've appreciated also for the type of story and characters Wendig was writing.

And as he conceded, it's not for everybody. But what kind of writing is?

 

You are right, and I'm not saying his choice of present tense was the gimmick, I'm saying his use of it was. He choice to use it and what he did with it did not read easy. It is possibly the most common complaint of the novel. I've read several other present tense books that flowed well.

I think the author simply didn't use it well, and it came off to me as a gimmick. I would compare it to a film director choosing to do a movie in black and white. It isn't the same, I know, but stick with me here. Some directors can use black and white and make incredible movies, Schindler's List is a great example. Then other times, you'll see movies that use black and white simply as a ploy to get people to think their movie is artsy. Their use of black and white I would consider a cheap gimmick also.

I think this is similar. The present tense style just seemed clunky and strange.

 

It's how he writes. And the publishers were very well aware of this when they hired him to write Star Wars. They hired him because they liked his storytelling and approach, not in spite of it.

Again, I get that it's not your cup of tea, and that's fine. But just realize your disdain for the style as being 'a cheap gimmick' isn't necessarily a shared majority view of readers of fiction generally and broadly.

 

But they all just fade into the New Republic by the time of Bloodline. Why? An Empire that's practically the successor of the Old Republic would have a lot of loyalty backing it. Just seems off to me, a government like that collapsing if its a banana republic. It might be nu-canon's take on it, but I still dislike it.

 

One of the consistent themes in the new canon is that the Empire was basically a thug with its boot on the galaxy's throat from the off. Now, so long as the pressure is maintained that works fine, but after Endor it slackened enough and the entire house of cards collapsed, probably as it was intended to for does anyone really think Sidious is a guy who does succession planning?

Sure, the Empire would have laid claim to being the successor of the Republic, but after two decades of bleeding the galaxy dry, few still believed that, so yeah, the collapse, when it happens is spectacularly fast.

Changing tack, what was funniest to me about the whole writing style crapstorm is that this was Star "George, you can type this ****, but you sure can't say it" Wars! All of a sudden it seemed as if people were expecting... Literature. Quite literally.

 

Here in Brazil, when the first book was release, it have a add, in yellow, that says that this book was the important to start the journey until The Force Awakens, i bought before the movie, i think it's not a perfect book, but it's decent, but for me, the marketing was so wrong to says that this book was important for TFA, in the end, all the JOURNEY FOR THE FORCE AWAKENS now for me, looks bizarre.

 

Yeah, I can't repeat this enough: if you want to talk about substanceless "gimmicks", the whole Journey to TFA brand was definitely an actual example. I liked everything in it, but none of it was really setup for the movie.