Reviews Books The JC Lit Reviews Special: AFTERMATH (Spoilers)

Per my assessment here, my rating is 8/10. Good story, but I have some problems with the galactic situation and I did not care for the writing style.

 

This is pretty much what I wrote on Goodreads. And is supplemented by posts here.: I'd give it a 5/10 stars

My hopes have been dashed. The story...has potential Yet I had almost no understanding as to why the Imperials have focused on the planet of Akiva. Or even why they are meeting there.

Wendig's writing is juvenile. There are parenthetical thoughts and additions that are incredibly unnecessary. They could be italicized or even just a part of the text. Sentences are choppy and sometimes disjointed. It makes me never want to read another novel from him again. Yes, the editor is supposed to help him fix any errors, but in the end, the writer has the final say.

Every few chapters there's an interlude that also seems to be irrelevant.

I didn't realize until the day before it came out that this is the first in a trilogy. That explains the multitude of characters and even interludes to a point, but a 366-page book is not meant to be a mess of a setup. Fortunately, the main characters aren't difficult to keep up with, even though there are quite a few of them.
And again, Wedge isn't even one of them.

There are actual typos on pages 142 & 157.

Here are some of my thoughts as I read:

- The timeline is so lame. I miss the Legends timeline.
- Sloane is still sharp and a great leader.
- I love that the term "New Republic" is used.
- Mothma hopes to demilitarize the government and push for the end of the war.
- I love that the idea of people calling themselves Grand Moffs has remained.
- Page 161 mentions something about "being scared of daddy's belt." Really? We're putting such Earth-like thoughts in Star Wars? Give me a break. Oh and later there is the mention of a toilet...a milkshake....a game of chicken. This is all absolutely ridiculous.
- There is a random Operator helping the New Republic too much. It's as shifty as Fulcrum in "Rebels" initially was. It's also stupid, like the NR can't do anything without the help of a secret person.
- Mister Bones is a pretty awesome droid!
- Is Imra from the comics? If so, it's nice to know there is that continuity. Unlike between Del Rey and Dark Horse, until probably 2005.
- The Han & Chewie interlude was actually a bit relevant, which I didn't expect.

The biggest feelings I got from this were 1)Wendig doesn't know the 'verse at all, even in the context of the new and 2)he's not a good author.

 

9/10. Awesome new characters, great writing style, loved the interlude chapters. Can't wait for the rest of the trilogy, and I hope Wendig gets to write further adventures of the Mom Pilot crew. Good stuff!

 

6/10. Good for what it is, but it's not what it was advertised to be.

 

My full review is over on Amazon,https://www.amazon.com/review/RS3EHCE8ETMIH/ref=pe_1098610_137716200_cm_rv_eml_rv0_rv

In brief, I enjoyed it, it was a fun read with a brisk pace and the interlude chapters were great. Would have liked the characters to get a little more development, but it's the first part of a trilogy so I anticipate that being amended down the line. I'll say 8/10.

 

7.5/10

I didn't mind the writing style at all. It was a fun read, but I expected more. And by more I mean something more impactful, bigger in scale. I liked all of the new characters quite a lot and I certainly don't mind having more stories with them.

Spoiler

Judging from the ending of the book, it's almost a given we'll see them again. The only character I didn't like is Temmin Wexley. He annoyed me so much, that one of the reasons I don't give this book a higher score is him. I understand that it was the authors intention to be annoying and not very likeable, but even with that in mind I just couldn't wait stop reading about him. Other than Temmin, all the other characters were great.

The first half of the book felt a bit slow to me, but the second half picked the story up nicely. The interludes were very interesting and intriguing.

Overall, I liked the book and I look forward for part 2. And I wouldn't mind having Chuck Wendig writing a SW novel again.

 

8.5/10

What I loved most about this book (apart from Wendig's very enjoyable prose - especially enjoyable in he Marc Thomspon audiobook which is basically a full-on unabridged Radio Drama) was its ability to show a broad, believable view of the effects of revolution on a crumbling empire, and newly successful revolutionaries.

Throughout the main narrative, we see vignettes from all over the galaxy, from the politically-divided family, to released prisoners, to scavangers, to conflicted Heroes, all trying to figure out their 'north'. The question, "Ah crap, so, we did the thing, so, umm, what now?" looms huge over the characters in this book. I was completely engaged. Those vignettes held some serious dramatic tension, that could honestly almost each be the catalysts for their own books/series.

I've read Star Wars novels since the original Tim Zahn Trilogy in 1991, which I loved. This is something new. It is different than what has come before. And you know what? I loved that about it. It's clear the author loves Star Wars and this universe, and was thrilled to bring his unique voice to telling this tale. It was a blast to read, and left me ready for Volume 2. Bring it on!

This isn't just a Very Good Star Wars novel, it's just a fascinating and Good Work of Fiction, period. Worth your time.

 

I give the book a high 9.30 rating out of 10. Reading some of the complaints, its obvious by a long mile that all here love too much the Legends material and in their eyes, its the only thing that should have remained post ROTJ. The new story group, EU way of doing things has really scarred many long time star wars fans, and many of them are here on these forums. So they could have told any kind of story and no matter what, many here would not like it on principle and comparison against some of the stories of Legends.

Part of the reason this book got the higher rating (I wanted to give it 7.60) is because its the first of a new trilogy that is suppose to be "official" and part of a trilogy that is suppose to state what happens within the 30 years before The Force Awakens. While three books may not seem like a lot for the 30 year period, my guess is that while they will be supplemental books on the side, everything will be about the sequel material and pushing that agenda forward.

Like Taalcon said, I love this new approach which is different than what came before.

 

9/10

Here's why:

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertai...-never-ending-battle-review-article-1.2348097

 

So yeah this book….

I mean SW novels have been pretty bad with the NEU, but this for me really takes the crown.

Outside of Rae I could not get myself to care for anyone in this, and that properly is more holdover from AND (which btw is still brilliant and people should buy additional copies of it instead of this).

Hell I even groaned at the Wedge stuff and that truly is an accomplishment because I just love the guy.

Whilst some of the dialogs between the Imperials are pretty good at galaxy building (maybe because Rae is there for a lot of it) and some of the Interlude stuff also works in that, this novel does not actually have a
story.

It is a random jumble of scenes thrown upon scenes with so very little to connect it that I wondered why they bothered, with a cast I just hate and is much, much, much to big.

The unique writing style of the book did very little to help this and you can tell in was written very quickly, it has typos, grammar that is actually worse then mine and I swear there was a line by one of character that was repeated at least 4 times.

The best things I can say about it properly is that it actually made we want to re-examine Lost Stars because especially in contrast that book deserves more praise then I gave it. Also Tarkin is now no longer the worst of the NEU novels, so well done I guess.


2.5 of 10

 

I reckon I'm one of the few people that liked the Interludes. I found almost all of them interesting which unfortunately can't be said for the main story-line.

I'd give it 5/10, because even though I know it's bad, I still enjoyed it to some extent just because it was Star Wars and the excitement of "New Canon after ROTJ!"

 

This sums up my thoughts pretty well. I too didn't realize this was part of a trilogy either and if this is part of a "Journey to the Force Awakens" I didn't really get that vibe at all. A brief interlude about someone on Jakku and some shady beings getting a certain lightsaber aside, I didn't really see anything that points directly to the new movie.

This was the first star wars novel I've read in many many years and I was very disappointed. If the real meat of this story comes out a year or so after "The Force Awakens" then it being a "Journey to the Force Awakens" is really irrelevant as we'll have seen the movie. I thought a part of this "journey" was to help set up the new movie for us but it just seemed like some random post-Jedi novel that really didn't grab me at all.

 

I'm actually surprised that so many people took the "Journey to the Force Awakens" title so seriously. For me it was always an obvious gimmick and I didn't really expect it to actually have much to do with the new movie.

 

10/10. Favorite novel of the new canon, followed by Tarkin. I found the story pretty engaging, I loved seeing Rae Sloane reappear, and I can't wait to see where the trilogy ends up going.

Me too. They never said that all the books would reference, hint at, or relate directly to TFA. JtTFA was announced Asa publishing program, and that's all I've seen it as.

 

Don't want to keep this thread going off track, but consider this:
- Each book is part of the Journey through a 30 year period. Aftermath is one preliminary chunk that does set it motion some major galaxy-shifting developments, and seeds the first steps in that long Journey.
- Each book said there would be 'puzzle pieces' that directly tie into the film that may not be recognized until the film is released.
-I think it's likely the JTTFA banner will remain on publications following the release of the film that fit into this timeline.

Expecting this one book in the early stages of this publishing program to be a single bridge leading basically up to the opening crawl are expectations I think, that go way beyond what was ever promised. in Shattered Empire and Aftermath we get the very beginnings following Endor, Lost Stars goes a bit beyond Aftermath in overall timeline scope, and then with the YA Big Three novels in their prologues/epilogues we leap to incredibly close to the opening moments of TFA.

 

6/10. The snippets we actually got of, er, the aftermath of ROTJ were nice. I don't have any problems with the writing style/gay agenda either. Just a shame the A-plot and most of the original characters were so bleesh.

 

One star! No, five stars! No, one star! Five stars!



mmm... 8/10

 

8/10. It wasn't perfect, but I really liked it.

 

8.5 or 9 out of 10 for me.

I loved the interludes, loved how they (primarily) used tiny intimate stories to show the state of mind of the galaxy following Endor. I really enjoyed the writing style and found the characters to be interesting. (While some are not likeable, I don't see that as a problem with a text. Not everyone needs to be a decent being as long as their story is interesting to read.)

It is by far my favorite of the new canon "adult" novels and also the one that I devoured most quickly - I think the terse, scrambling prose styling made me read through it more quickly.

 

118,55/16= ~7.4

 

I liked all the new characters (with the exception of Norra's son, but I think he was supposed to be unlikable) and look forward to reading more about them. Sloane was great throughout, and consistent with how she was written in AND. All of the Ackbar scenes were cool too and unexpected. I really enjoyed most of the interludes, though I thought a few seemed somewhat irrelevant and unlikely to ever be touched upon again.

I enjoyed the writing for the most part, although I noticed a few errors that got missed in editing. Plus there were some lines that were just... ugh (space diapers? really?).

I'll give Aftermath a 9/10.

 

This was the second Star Wars book I've read, the first being Kenobi, and while it's not as good as Kenobi I did enjoy it a lot.

I really liked the writing style - I like playing with tense and person a lot, so I don't mind books that go against the norm in that. I also liked most of the main characters, though Temmin annoyed me a lot of the time.

9/10

 

Palizinha

Hmm if you liked Kenobi you might want to give A New Dawn a read, since it is by the same author and also really good.