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

Topped off the trilogy! Still gathering the specifics comments, but overall I think it had an ok first half and a pretty solid second half. The transition between the two is a little bumpy, however. The span of time implied does not seem sufficient to turn the Imperial remnant on Jakku into a more feral force compared to what Sloane last saw before Chandrilla. The subplot stopping the NR from attacking Jakku interrupted the momentum of the story (however it ended up turning into a good subplot, i jjust wish it could have been timed earlier or reapplied to something other than Jakku directly).

That said, Sloane's story of revenge contrasted with Norra's worked well, even if i feel Norra didn't work that well as a POV character. The actual Battle of Jakku actually made me tense up and get goose bumps when they finally bring down the Ravager and during moments of the final fight in the Observatory. The battle itself may be a bit of an overview (which isn't unexpected for this trilogy's style), but apparently we get more of it in other sources so that's ok. I do wish the Starhawk's tractor beam tech had been setup earlier, however. Or that we had a picture of the class somewhere.

And, of course, the Interludes continue to be the true highlight of the series. Like getting a mini-anthology book tucked amongst the core trilogy. The Lando one was well done too- I wouldn't mind Chuck writing a full Lando story sometime.

The nods towards the Lando comic series, the vague Dark Empire echoes (which fits the overall progress of the ST thus far as well, as previously noted), as well as the implication about (part of) Mister Bones' origin were small delights and I can't wait for Mister Bones to rise up from the sands.

Palpatine being petty enough to want the board wiped clean after his death is something I need to dwell on. On the one hand, I think that fits with some of the Shattered Empire stuff (from what I recall- it's been awhile) and it'll certainly be interesting to see how that plays out with whatever role Palps has in TROS. On the other, it's a shame that the Empire came to an end through a deliberate self destruct at a final stand that wasn't really a final stand. Cleaner than the EU's version of events, perhaps, but feels more like a narrative convenience at times. Seems like there would be much more efficient ways to use those resources.

Overall, it did make me feel something more in the backhalf, which is more than the other two books did.

Do we have a Review Special thread for this book? I couldn't find one on our search or Google.


My ranking: 7.75/10

Ranking NU Adult Novels so far:
-The Last Jedi 10.0
-Catalyst 9.5
-Lords of the Sith 8.5
-Aftermath: Empire's End 7.75
-Aftermath: Life Debt 7.5
-Tarkin 7.0
-Aftermath 7.0

 

It seems like longer because of what takes place seemingly due the wear of time and events on people and such, but Leia's pregnancy sorta forces it to be in that 1 year range (whether Han's "night on Endor" guess was correct or not).

 

I don't have much concern with the speed of the Empire's fall. I can see it happening over the course of a year. I just take more issue with the rapid degradation. Kashyyk i get because it was cut off from supply or reenforcement, but we go from a place in Aftermath where the NR seems to have the advantage over the Empire but they're somewhat evenly matched to the point where the NR can only focus on a few theaters of war at a time to a few months later in LD where the Empire is losing but still has some very strong, peak-Empire operations going on (Rax/Sloane's fleet, hidden reserve fleets, the other council forces, etc) with normal crew, etc, to a few months later at Jakku where suddenly those same forces have become feral, undisciplined and suicidal.

You end up with maybe 2-3 months at Jakku at most. I see there being a year of hell factor going into play if they were there longer, but, oh no, a couple months on Jakku broke the Empire and years of training? A planet, while distinct for its residents from Tatooine in terms of how lost/unconnected they are from the galaxy, is essentially no different in environment from Tatooine as far as Imperial occupation goes, plus they have an entire fleet of resources and operations supporting them? Sandtroopers didn't go savage during longer deployments.

I'm fine with the timeline of events otherwise. But it would have been nice had there been a year between Chandrila and Jakku.

 

Aftermath was set three months after Endor, I gather, and Life Debt is two months after, and covers a month. Alphabet Squadron is between Endor and Aftermath.

So, there were six months for the Jakku bunch, and Rax pressed that feral edge hard, so I suppose its feasible but its harder to see. Six months of collecting Imperial assets and encouraging that fanatic mentality that the FO eventually had, Sloane notwithstanding.

The Empire does seem to have been rendered almost moot by the time of Empire's End, but that's to the Senate who seems to see Kuat as the massive turning point, while the military is conscious of missing assets and the like. We see that the Empire still exists in Battlefront II and Lost Stars, what with the Empire attacking Naboo again.

 

EE does give the out that the fighting on Jakku lasts for months and other hold-outs are still out there in the galaxy, so ample room for more battles in the wake of the cease-fire.

 

Definitely. I liked that.

It plays into Lost Stars and the Propaganda book.

 

Isn't it just?

 

If it pans out that way, sure.

 

I pulled up some video of BF2's Jakku level(s?) after finishing the book. The Ravager seems to go down in the far distance, whereas in EE it seems to be much closer to the heroes shadows overhead and such, more violent effect from impact to the area), which would suggest they're in different regions of the battle.