This is a very special post today,
friends. After months of toil including two of the longest weeks of
my life I've finally returned to my old lifestyle. The job at the
Alzheimer home is over, and an attempt at working for a local party
store didn't work out. Now I'm back to just my old shelter job and
doing my own thing most of the time. It's a true return to form which
allows me the time to get things back in shape around here while
expanding my presence on other sites and maybe even finding a paying
gig here and there. Yea I'll have to hunt down another job eventually
but for now I've got some clearance to work on my own projects and
goals.
It's rather freeing after months of
awful. In truth, I enjoyed the company of most of my co-workers. It
was simply one of those business where the folks in charge are slowly
grinding the place into the dirt while treating their employees like
leaches. Not a good scene, especially for a place with an already
strange and sorrowful atmosphere. But ya know what? I'm not here to
talk about depressing locals or the shitbirds who run them. No, this
is truly a time to return to the good stuff. And with that in mind,
let's get back to one of my favorite features in that galaxy far far
away with another installment of the Star Wars Book Club.
Star Wars Aftermath is notable for a
variety of reasons, as the first post Jedi novel in new continuity,
the beginning of a new trilogy, and the worst received title so far
in this publishing initiative. I'm talking about some downright
savage one and two star reviews just tearing this thing apart for
everything from punctuation to character development. Given some fans
reluctance to accept the new expanded universe it's usually a safe
idea to approach every bad review with some skepticism. I mean this
book couldn't possibly be as bad as so many made it out to be, could
it? Truth is, this is a pretty weak tale. Not one completely without
merit mind you but definitely the lamest New EU novel I've
encountered so far. Let's check out why.
We open not long after the events of
Retrun of the Jedi. The remnants of the Empire are struggling to
regroup with a meeting of top brass military on the planet Akiva. In
charge of this gathering is Admiral Rae Sloane who you may remember
from New Dawn and a couple short stories. Honestly it's nice to see
her again as she's so far been a more level-headed imperial baddie.
The plot description on the book
itself may lead you to believe that Wedge Antilles is one of the main
heroes of the tale but that's not the case at all. Wedge is captured
early in the story and barely makes an impact on following events.
Instead our heroes are a band of misfits on the planet surface.
Norra Wexley is...well she's kind of a
drag really. The best way to describe her in one word is baggage. She
left her son behind to join the rebellion in a vein attempt to search
for her prisoner of war husband. She never found the guy during her
service though she did participate in major battles such as the
destruction of the second death star which has left her with PSTD.
Here's the thing. I have no problem
with believing soldiers in this universe suffer with emotional trauma
but to pin Norra's PTSD on one of the most heroic moments of the
franchise is kinda lame. We're supposed to believe that while
everyone else was dancing with teddy bears, she was crying in the
shower. It would have served the character much more to have a more
personalized trauma for us to identify with. As it is, she's just a
massive buzzkill most of the time.
The reason for Norra's return to Akiva
is to reunite with her son Temmin who we later know as Snap in The
Force Awakens. Temmin isn't the worst character here though he
suffers from behaving like he's a good deal younger than the stated
fifteen years old. I mean we're lead to believe he's built up his own
shop, salvaged his own droid bodyguard named Mr. Bones and frequently
deals with criminals yet I couldn't shake the feeling the author was
envisioning a whiny eleven year old certain interactions.
Speaking of Mr. Bones, he's a tough
topic. On the one hand he does provide some genuine humor and plays
well off surrounding personalities. At the same time, at lot of his
lines and jokes can come across very forced and a little
cringe-worthy. It's like the author decided Mr. Bones would be a
crowdpleaser and tries to force it rather than letting it happen
naturally.
Next up in our motley crew is Sinjir,
a former Imperial agent who now spends his time drinking away
memories. He comes across a bit better than the rest of the team
thanks to a mix of being well-spoken, self-serving, and more than a
little sarcastic. Those with an interest in inclusion might be glad
to know he's also gay, though this effects the story in no meaningful
way.
Then we have Jas, a female bounty
hunter working for the alliance. Truthfully I'd be hard pressed to
describe her personality as it's rather flat. She's a fairly standard
resourceful loner. Thankfully she lacks most of the irritating lady
warrior tropes. Other than that, there's not much to her.
As you might imagine, this oddball
group slowly comes together in hopes of eliminating the remaining
Imperial officers. As you may also guess, being the start of a
trilogy they're not entirely successful. That's not what matters so
much as is the adventure entertaining? It is.....sometimes.
Author, Chuck Windeg throws a few
curve-balls our way. First he presents the tale in simple present
tense. At first I couldn't quite peg what bothered me about this
until I remembered these stories explicitly begin with the phrase “a
long time ago.” Secondly, Chuck is a big practitioner of bullet
points and sentence fragments. Don't be surprised to find page after
page that looks something like this.
The biggest issue of all is pacing.
We're already dealing with a large cast of characters in different
locations, necessitating frequent shifts of perspective and hanging
plot threads. This is understandable until the book doubles down on
the issue with interludes that are completely unrelated to these
events. Imagine reading three separate action scenes that have been
left hanging for dramatic effect only to switch over to some war
orphans on Naboo, or the awkward dinner of a family split between
Empire and Alliance. While I enjoy the notion of learning more about
post Jedi events, these sections only add to the troubles of a story
that barely holds itself together as is.
What's more, only a few of these
interludes are actually interesting. In one case that's a good thing
as it's apparently the set-up for the second book in the trilogy.
Another involving a black market deal to sell Darth Vader's
lightsaber to a group of cultists is just cruel. I want more of this
story, how did the saber get there? Who are the oddballs obsessed
with a dead man's laser sword? It comes out of nowhere and leaves in a
hurry.
And that's sort of the ebb and flow of
this book. Plot threads are constantly put on hold, interesting
concepts are teased only to suddenly be dropped, and the whole time
the reader is struggling to care as the pacing doesn't allow for a
smooth reading experience.
It's not all bad though. As I
mentioned earlier, Rae Sloane continues to be a unique threat. Not
altogether villainous so much as dedicated to her cause. The main
cast also has the potential to become likable leads now that they've
mostly sorted through dull emotional trauma and come together as a
group.
As far as hints toward the greater
Star Wars mythology there are two items of note. One is the
revelation that during his reign, Emperor Palpatine sent out
exploratory missions into uncharted space where he believed Sith
power originated. One of the imperial officers suggests the remaining
fleet head out and regroup there which seems likely to happen.
The other point of interest is a
mysterious informant offering aid to the alliance. There's nothing
much to go on currently but maybe we'll get lucky and find this to be
an old foe returning to action or perhaps one of these threads leads
to more info on Supreme Leader Snoke. A nerd can hope.
In the end this one is solely for
dedicated Star Wars fans. It lacks the gripping narrative of Lost
Stars, the fun of New Dawn, and the character interplay of Tarkin.
For now, Aftermath rests firmly at the bottom of our power rankings
which currently stand as:
- Lost Stars by Claudia Gray
- New Dawn by John Jackson Miller
- Tarkin by James Luceno
- Aftermath by Chuck Wendig
As you can see by the top photo, I've
already got the next title lined up and waiting. I gotta tell you
folks, it feels so great to be back simply working for the shelter,
and having the time to catch up on writing, reading, watching,
walking, just everything. The past three months of nonsense are over
and it's time to make this year count for something. You'll be seeing
a lot more of me soon with more articles here, elsewhere, and
possibly some video content as well. Got lots to do, may the force be
with us all.
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