Aftermath (Star Wars) (Star Wars - The Aftermath Trilogy)

Given the importance of this, the intro to the New EU, I am also baffled that they picked such a poor writer. Did Chuck Wertig grow up reading only text messages? Or Tweets? Maybe it's supposed to be all edgy-n-angular, but what it is just lame. What happened to the authors who did a much better job on the old EU? I heard a rumor that The Mouse felt that they were too expensive and so went with cheaper options. To the story, I guess this is the background? Kinda pedestrian. Maybe only deserved being texted out to the group. Kids, this is not your father's Star Wars. Honestly, I am almost embarrassed about all these tattoos. I am pretty irritated that they keep pumping out SW material and we keep buying it. Well, I got this from the library, and you should too!

For the build up from the first two books, I came away from this one disappointed. It got away from really being action packed to way to much about a bromance between two gay guys, blah blah, who cares about romance in a Star Wars novel. As Timmon was the first character really strongly introduced in the first book it should have really been a story about him. Nora should have stayed a primary supporting character. But as I am totally an old school fan the main story in any Star Wars novel and or movie should always be about the Force users. That reason alone would put this down with some of the novels that dealt with bounty hunters, Joba's palace, etc. Keep overt sexuality out of the story, doesn't matter if it's gay or straight, has no place. Especially when it is a completely secondary character. Lastly, if Rax was at the least Force sensitive, as the first two books implied the ending was rather lame, he died to easily. I still don't buy a woman no matter what training being able to physically defeat a man if he is a foot to a foot and a half taller and twice her weight in a good old fashioned fist fight. I just don't get this taking the Force out of Star Wars, it just makes the whole story well average at best. My advice is Disney just needs to forget their wanting to put their stamp on things and let the original cannon return as being the only true Bible of all things related to Star Wars.

I can’t teally think of anything good to say, but I don’t want to ONLY harp on the negatives... Oh ok, I love Bones. Great character! But on to the real review:

Firstly I don’t like the style it’s written in. Waaaaaaay too much metaphor. I mean, the author even has Han Solo speaking in metaphor in the second book. And there are a lot of short, choppy sentences.

Second, the story jumps all over the place, and there are a lot of completely unnecessary characters and chapters that don’t tie in to anything else. For instance? Five pages on Jar Jar Binks. Completely unrelated to the rest of the story. The one paragraph on Jar Jar in the second book was more than enough, we didn’t need a whole throwaway chapter.

Another thing that isn’t huge but still really bugged me was the semi-frequent use of earth terms. For instance, AT-ST’s being called “chicken walkers.” No chickens in Star Wars that I’ve ever heard of. Cats are also mentioned a couple of times. And the game chess. None of those things belong in the Star Wars galaxy in my opinion.

All in all, truly a sub-standard series. It doesn’t fit well in the SW universe, and the characters and story weren’t compelling. Leave it to authors like Timothy Zahn and Claudia Gray. They know how to write Star Wars.

I read the first book and was very disappointed. Empire's end was better but still a disappointment. The characters are not very well rounded, the writing style is confusing, and the book is just long. I think that the fall of the Empire after Return of the Jedi would make a great story but Disney got the wrong storyteller. It is sad when people can come up with a great story but be horrible at story telling.
My suggestion is not to buy this book.If you want to find out what happens then you should know that this book is better as a summary on Wookiepeedia. I hope Chuck Wendig does not write anymore Star Wars books.

Star Wars: Aftermath Empire’s End was written by Chuck Wendig, a New York Times Best Selling Author. It is the third and final installment in the Aftermath trilogy.

SUMMARY: All the characters from the previous Aftermath novels are present in this tale. Our team of heroes are on the search for Grand Admiral Sloane. They desperately want to find her, and bring her in, so justice can be served.. if they don’t decide to kill her first.

The antagonist, Sloane, is on a mission of her one to find out more about the mysterious Gallius Rax. She want’s to find out what his plans are for the Empire. She’s desperately wants to seize control for herself.

Finally, the Battle of Jakku takes place! This confrontation is the last desperate attempt for the Empire to recover, to heal its wounds before the rebellion/new republic takes them completely out.

CHARACTERS: Gallius Rax was interesting, in the previous book. In Empire’s End he remains mysterious, until the end. His character and his plans were a major let down.

The other characters were consistent and honest to who they were in the previous Aftermath books. They were just so boring, dramatic, or gay.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: Thank you Lord, this trilogy is over. I was really hoping this book was better than the previous books. Life Debt was better than the first book, this one sinks right back down to the crap of the first book.

The best part of the book was that it was fast paced. The rest of it, an intense build up to a major… major let down.

The story is full of action packed scenes that keeps you reeled in. I liked all the characters involved, well fleshed out. (no spoilers) the ending was very interesting, I can't wait to see where they go from here.

Worst book I've ever read.

The writing style is horrible. If I was not such a huge star wars fan I would not have forced myself to finish it. The writing is hard to fallow. Its distracting. Unpleasant to read. The story bounces around. The characters are week. I don’t understand how this got published.

Update:
I have now read all 3 books in this series. And they are still the word star wars books I have ever read. I have read a HUGE amount of star wars books and greatly enjoyed nearly all of them. These book could have had a EPIC story… but they didn't…

Here are a few of the things to look forward to if you decide to suffer through these books…

- Han Solo is depicted as a bumbling buffoon. A moron.
- The main group of character are shallow, unlikeable, and have boring conversations.
- The author pulls his ideas HEAVILY from the 6 movies. Its kind of silly.
Example: There is a young character in the story.. who is a mechanic/tinker, who makes a android, who at one point launches himself off a 2-3 story building onto the side of a air born space ship – heading into space, hangs onto the side of the ship until a bag guy opens the window, then the kid reaches out and pulls the bad guy through the window & climbs in?!?!? Its pretty much the Exact same thing luke skywalker does in return of the jedi when he is on the sail barge. This sort of thing happens over and over in all 3 books. Not to mention that we are talking about a KID who jumped off a freaking building and some how magically attached him self onto the side of a moving space ship heading into space and then magically has the ability to pull a full grown adult out of a window?!?!?
- The author uses moder jargon/words/slang.
- The vast majority of the story line is … how to put it… Unmemorable at best…
- The writing style is horrible. Here is an example. Instead of saying “the ship flew through the blue swirling nebula” the author would say it “A fast ship. Flying quickly. Blue nebula swirling.”
- The author is going to feed you His modern day political opinion. Which I am not at all interested in readying about.

This story could have been really good. But it was not.

What a load of crap, if your looking for insight into force awakens pick something else. The 3 books take place over the span of 9 months ( that's 29 years and 3 months left to wonder about) Leia gets pregnant on endor and the this book ends with the birth of Ben. We follow some stupid family through 3 books and in the end if the family hadn't left there planet NOTHING would of changed. The family has nothing to add to the plot and don't change the outcome in any way. Everything that's happens would of happened regardless of the family's involvement, but we would of been spaired the constant fake out of death through out the series, and for a galaxy these few people are constantly running into each other. It's like there's only so many planets and if you believe the books and need a bounty hunter make an appointment because the same 6 are constantly popping up.
Of the writing I'll say this the writer needs a few more descriptions in his arsenal. I counted a "nose goes pop" 3 times, guess it doesn't make any other sound when hit. And if your in a fight and fall down your only option is to crab walk backwards, it also appears 3 times.

Spoiler the only redeeming thing that happens is that stupid droid dies, and I couldn't of been happier.

This whole series is pointless and I'm sorry I paid to read it. I'll summarize it Luke is gone( we know this), Han and Leila have a kid ( knew this to), mon momtha is the chancellor ( we know this two). Seriously nothing in these books mater. They give you nothing new, and add nothing to the mythology of Star Wars.
This book is an improvement over the others, the writer got better as he went along I'll give him that. But it's so boring, so I give it a better rating then book one but seriously I can't stress this enough NOTHING of important happens.
If you must read any of them ( can't believe I'm saying this) pick up life debt. Start at page 170 ( you'll thank me)
If we never get another story involving the wexlys ( spellings wrong) we'll be better off.

I'm not sure who owns the publishing rights to the Star Wars books anymore but I'm going to assume it's Disney. This book deserves one star, but I'm giving it two because I've read every single Star Wars books out there (I'm that guy) and I love Star Wars in general. I cannot wrap my mind around what anyone was thinking letting someone who knows obviously nothing about the universe, canon or not (see dedication to sister about seeing "Empire" first in a drive-in movie theater or really any of the references to the universe we live in).

First, the writing style is terrible. It has a lot of introductions to scenes where it just goes, "Inside - 'start paragraph'" then it's goes, "Then", "Now". Not that I'm a professional writer, but I do have degrees in English, Creative Writing, Marketing and Journalism - so I know a bit.
There is no character development besides the droid Mr. Bones as it's not hard to develop a droid since he only describes a battle droid, which we all know what it looks like anyway.

Long, short of it is - you'll hear almost nothing about the characters you want to hear about, and everything about the ones you don't care about. Wedge is in it, but he spends the entire books getting beat up. Read the books if you want to, I'm only going to continue, to hope that the next two books can save how terrible "The Force Awakens" was.

I have no idea how Chuck Wendig is a published author. I've read some terribly boring books before (some of them from the old Star Wars EU) but Wendig's Aftermath trilogy has been a painfully boring slog that is actually terribly written on top of it. I honestly can't even recommend these books to the most hardcore of fans. Definitely read an of the new books by James Luceno, Claudia Gray's "Bloodline" (which is only slightly above average), or "Ahsoka" instead, if you need your fix of new Star Wars canon

By the start of chapter 27 (66% of the way through), I wanted to make this a DNF. Until chapter 26, this was 3 stars. After that, my lack of care for ANY of the characters, even some of my favorite ones, made me want to give this 1-2 stars. But it's not as bad as the first in the trilogy, so a 3-stars it is.

I'll work on making this as spoiler-free as possible.

Wendig really is overly descriptive. It’s quite distracting. Another thing that’s distracting is the script-like writing.
Him: blah, blah, blah
Her: blah, blah, blah
And, along with the short sentences, makes a lot of scenes that should be important feel like fluff. At least it’s easy to read through.

As I was listening/reading to this, I was also reading the “Jedi Academy Trilogy by Kevin J. Anderson. This is a bad idea! I found myself getting confused: is Mon Mothma sick or just recovering from an assassination attempt? Is Leia pregnant or just struggling to balance between the political duties and those of being a mother to twins? Yet despite the confusion, I find it fascinating to see how Legends and Disney differ and yet mesh together. There are indeed overlaps, such as Han and Leia going off on a mission (or separate missions) as Chewie goes off to free Wookiee slaves (from Kashyyk in the “Aftermath” series and Maw Installation in Legends), the New Republic working to fully defeat the Empire, and a particular planet housing secrets (Jakku vs. Anoth). I am not a fan of Wendig, at all, which is why I have switched to the audiobooks; yet, I have to grudgingly admit that he knows his Legends. In a broad sense, he knows the ‘verse.

- I feel like we're retconning everything. It doesn't help I'm rereading Legends books too, so it all feels like a jumble of mismatched information.
- The fight scene in chapter 1 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).
- 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.
- But oh, there is Mr. Bones. Someone shut him up. The bad thing is that, with the audio, I have to hear it! I think he’d irritate me less if it wasn’t for the audiobook. As it is, I’m looking forward to his eventual demise.
- Temmin is bloody annoying. “Wah, I’m an aduuulllttt (sort of).” BUT that is [actually] not the fault of Wendig. No, I have to say that Wendig gets down the “entitled” teenager pretty freaking well. His behavior is what I hear from my own students about their parents.
- I only now realize yet another reason why Wendig’s writing bothers me. There is a plethora of similes and metaphors about pretty much every situation.
- I like that all the Imperials are at Jakku. It explains so very well why there would even be a battle there, and is a great intro to that battle.
- There weren't too many interludes until the end, which was nice. And most weren't even annoying!
- All the Senators (aside from Mon Mothma) believe the Empire to be completely destroyed. It’s incredibly naïve of them, reminiscent to what the Empire itself believed in ANH.
- It’s very sad to see what happens when pacifists feel forced to change.
- I do agree with Mon that facts are needed. No mission or decision, especially at the political level, should be done without having data and facts. That type of information is vital.
- I really cringed at “his words echo, echo, echo.” Wendig. All you need is one ‘echo.’
- Hm. One gripe with Thompson: I don’t like how he grumbles in Huttese and then translates, whereas Wendig only provides the translation.
- I completely understand why Wendig wouldn’t delve more into Rax’s past; that’s not what this novel is about. Yet I would love to see it more developed, especially with him being “a lie.” Watching Slone track him was fascinating. It’s personal, yet she’s true to form—she wants to have an Empire that provides legitimate justice. She’s contradictory, as seen when she shoots the trooper who helps her, and yet even that fits in to her character. She can’t stand someone who goes against his or her orders.
- Sinjir and Jas make a fantastic team. I love how he cares for her wellbeing. Him becoming a father figure to Temmin is beautiful.
- The politics are brushed over a bit too much. This book is so political that while I don’t enjoy the politics much, they are sometimes needed.
- “[The Empire] is a corrosive force eating at everyone and everything.” – That was one of the best things I have seen from Wendig. What an apt description.
- I find it interesting that Thompson has made Rax sound a bit like Palpatine. And the written description of Rax is very much like Palps. We can really see that the former Emperor was a great influence on Rax.
- How does one shrug with their eyes???
- Nakadia sounds like a beautiful place. I love it as a contrast to Coruscant. However, it doesn’t sound right for the new Senate seat. First, why would that be temporary? It can’t be a good idea to be constantly moving the Senate around. Secondly, it’s a world of little crime and drama. Well, now they’ve got to go and ruin it by putting politicians—some of THE MOST CORRUPT AND DRAMATIC PEOPLE THERE ARE—on the planet for at least one season/year/whatever you want to call it. Third, it’s so opposite of Coruscant (droids are looked down upon, only biologicals (I found it quite interesting that word was used over sentients) are allowed on the streets, and it’s agricultural) that I’m sure many Senators will be uncomfortable there.
- Norra trying to justify her desired actions against Sloane was terrifying. “I’m a good person, even if I do kill her.” But she’s unarmed; it’s not a fight like it was in the previous book, and I am so glad Norra didn’t go through with it. You can’t justify evil actions in that way. Wendig may or may not have done this purposely, but he was able to perfectly portray just how a person turns evil, lets the devil in, justifies so many wrongs in order to “do right.”
- The way the Force is described in the interlude between chapters 24 and 25 is almost poetic. And we can really see how the Dark Side breeds jealousy.
- The constant “War is coming” didn’t irritate me like I expected it to. No, instead, it did what it was supposed to—set the tone for what was coming next.

- Temmin wants to go off and do his own thing with Wedge? /shocking. I’d expect nothing less, seeing as there have been constant unauthorized side missions that have ended up well and therefore leading to people being congratulated. It’s no wonder that he wants it to be the norm. It’s annoying, don’t get me wrong, but not surprising. HOWEVER, this is the second or third time THIS book that Temmin has thrown in Wedge’s face the fact that he “doesn’t care” about Norra or about people.
I have honestly rolled my eyes so much during this portion my head is starting to hurt. I might punch Temmin in the face.
Shut. The hell. Up. I can’t believe you’re whining about being an adult and then guilt-tripping someone who is doing his damn job. The fact that Wedge gave in makes me more frustrated. I agree that doing the right thing does not always mean following the rules, but Wedge knows better. HOW ABOUT YOU ASK?! Ever think of that? Opening your damn mouths and saying, “hey, we need all hands, and this is what I’ve witnessed this kid (and Temmin, in their eyes you’re a kid, shut the kriff up) doing, and here is how he’s done in the sims.” Just, you know, an idea. I’m flipping pissed at this scene. Pissed at Wedge and Temmin and Wendig. Flipping poorly produced, poorly written.
(This is when I wanted to be done).

- Wendig DID do a good job of describing the tactical aspects of war, and of PTSD.
- Rax mimics Palpatine in how he takes Hux as a protégée and talks to him, puts him in charge. It’s eerie.
- Armitage Hux is a total sociopath.
- Slone still believes in what she feels the Empire was, what it should be. I still think there’s a naivety of the Emperor, but I do love that her character hasn’t changed; she still has strict morals and values that she wants to follow.
- “My heart is a nest of dead birds.” – Sinjir
What the kriff does THAT mean?!
- Wendig. No one gives a flying damn about the damn ass rumors surrounding Ben’s birth. How about you give us what actually happened? You, sir, make absolutely no sense at all.
- There is a great end to the story

Because I am straight, any review I write here will easily be dismissed as homophobic or even bigoted. I am a life-long fan who likely has most every Star Wars book ever written, whether fiction or non-fiction, for adults or children, and this book makes me want to chuck it all away (pun intended.) The Star Wars of George Lucas has often been described as a story for children. This is definitely not; unless you seem overly concerned about forcing human sexuality down pre-pubescent throats. I have now officially begun measuring time as AD (after Disney) and BD (before Disney).

I have to say that the Aftermath Trilogy is not my favorite of the new Star Wars expanded universe stories. I think I would have actually given this book a lower rating if I read it instead of listening to the audiobook. Marc Thompson is an amazing author and I love to listen to Star Wars books because there is a good chance he is the narrator. I think he does an amazing job with all the different voices that he produces in this book. There are quite a few of them and I think he pulls it off really well. There are a few that sound a little too similar, but I was able to forgive it because he's just so good! Thompson's narration is probably why I actually decided to finish this series in the first place, instead of just DNFing the rest of the series after the first one.

This book was okay, but again like the other two books in this story, we get stuck with these useless "interludes". WHY??????? Granted some of these are important to the story because we get Rax's background with The Emperor and I did like the Lando one, but the rest don't really matter to the overall story. The Lando interlude just left me with more questions and I wanted to know what he was doing this whole time. I like the "main" storyline in this book, and I would have liked this one better if these interludes just weren't included at all. They annoyed me so much!

The story is interesting, and I liked that we get to see Mon Mothma just be a straight up cunning politician. I also feel conflicted because it feels like she does some shady stuff in this book. I thought the new republic were supposed to be better, but it just feel like the same stuff different name type of thing.

I do love Noora and her crew. I loved that they all kind of became a family together. My heart wrenched for her in this book. That woman has gone through hell and back, and somehow makes it out alive. Poor Wedge! I felt so bad for him in this book. I like this ragtag of rebels so much, that I think it's why I hung in there to finish this series out.

This book isn't my favorite and at the end of the book I felt like I had more questions that answers. You get The Battle of Jakku in this novel, so you understand why it's the way it is when we see it in The Force Awakens, but there are still a lot of things I need to know. Like, who exactly was Rax? And how does Snoke play into all of this? Also, where the hell is Luke? We know Ben (AKA Kylo Ren) hasn't been born yet, so where does Luke fit into the mythology of what happens between Return of The Jedi and The Force Awakens. I think we are slowly getting trickled down books to explain things, but this trilogy was not enough.

I also want to talk about Rae Sloane. I am very conflicted by her, because I don't really like her, but I also don't really hate her. I don't like The Empire, but I think a lot of that stems from knowing that Palpatine was straight up evil. Sloane believes in the stability of The Empire and believes it is something "good." She is one of the Imperials that really wants to promote peace, but she believes that the way The Empire does it is the right way. There's a part in the novel where The Empire does something really backhanded and she is used as a distraction, and this horrifies her. Sloane wants to do everything by the books, but she also thinks the rebels are terrorists. I have to admire her for wanting to fight for what she believes in. I also don't know if either The Empire or The Rebellion are "right", I think it's a little more complicated than that.

I'm not thrilled with this Trilogy, but I think if you want to know what happens directly after Return of The Jedi they are a good place to start. Also if you want to read about The Battle of Jakku.

I enjoyed Wendig's first two installments of the Star Wars: Aftermath trilogy, so I was very much looking forward to Empire's End. So much so, in fact, that I preordered the book in July 2016! Wendig's work was well worth the wait. Besides learning the fate of the Empire, I was most excited about catching up with the fantastic characters introduced in the first two books. There are wonderful character arcs for most of them. We see characters mature, learning more about themselves, their own paths, and their relationships with one another.

Incidentally, I am very happy with the diverse mix that Wendig has brought to the Star Wars canon, though other readers are not. To each their own - the galaxy is a big one indeed, and there are plenty of other Star Wars novels to choose from if the Aftermath trilogy is not your cup of caf.

I feel that if you enjoyed Zahn's Thrawn Trilogy, you'll like Empire's End (and, of course, the first two books of the Aftermath trilogy). Wendig's present-tense and humorous writing style is a fun change of pace. If you like these books, you might also consider Wendig's Zer0es and Invasive - I've read them both, and they're fantastic. Of course, he has many other books as well, but I haven't read them (yet).

May the Force be with you!

Much better than the first book. This book explains many things that weren't clear in The Force Awakens but also leaves you with a lot of questions. The character development improves drastically;although, I still don't enjoy the attempt at bringing characters from past movies in for half a chapter when it doesn't relate to the storyline. I'm glad the main characters of this storyline are brought to a satisfying conclusion.

I truly wanted to like this trilogy, and I was looking forward to finding out what happened after the battle of Endor. After reading a few chapters of Aftermath I just couldn't go any further. Many have said that Wendig's present simple writing style makes it a rough read. I'll take a step further and say it is simply unbearable. I also agree with those who said these books needed an editor. They did, desperately so. How on earth can some of the things Wendig wrote get past an editor is beyond me. I think there were times I flipped forward fifty pages just to put an end to my misery, and somehow justify the money I had spent on these books (I bough Aftermath and Empire's End). As for Jar Jar... well, that any author would use the most hated character in Star Wars... again... deliberately... that speaks volumes. There are narrative holes in the books that are so big and so far-fetched that one really has to wonder whether the author has actually bothered to even watch the movies (and I'm not talking about that pile of c..p that is Episode 8). Other reviews have drawn attention to the fact that Wendig's trilogy somehow is a reflection of Disney's LGBT agenda. It is. Very much so. And it's starting to get annoying (unfortunately, Star Trek has also fallen victim to it). People may have different opinions on this issue, and that's fair: what I don't accept is the fact that, as soon as you mention this, you are labelled an "idiot" or worse (quote from another review on the store.com). So much for respecting other people's opinions... Welcome to Disney's new Star Wars.

I’ve been reading Star Wars novels since Heir to the Empire came out when I was in High School. Admittedly some of them have been of dubious quality. When I’d heard that Disney had spent a billion dollars to purchase Star Wars, and were re-booting the EU I was cautiously optimistic. I hoped that since they had made such a huge investment, they would want to protect it, and improve the writing talent for the novels. Alas, they’ve gone another way. Apparently Disney thinks they can get away with hiring 4th rate writers, and the books will still sell, as long as they slap Star Wars on the cover. In the aftermath of slogging through this book, I’m unlikely to pick up another Star Wars book for awhile.

I enjoyed Wendig's first two installments of the Star Wars: Aftermath trilogy, so I was very much looking forward to Empire's End. So much so, in fact, that I preordered the book in July 2016! Wendig's work was well worth the wait. Besides learning the fate of the Empire, I was most excited about catching up with the fantastic characters introduced in the first two books. There are wonderful character arcs for most of them. We see characters mature, learning more about themselves, their own paths, and their relationships with one another.

Incidentally, I am very happy with the diverse mix that Wendig has brought to the Star Wars canon, though other readers are not. To each their own - the galaxy is a big one indeed, and there are plenty of other Star Wars novels to choose from if the Aftermath trilogy is not your cup of caf.

I feel that if you enjoyed Zahn's Thrawn Trilogy, you'll like Empire's End (and, of course, the first two books of the Aftermath trilogy). Wendig's present-tense and humorous writing style is a fun change of pace. If you like these books, you might also consider Wendig's Zer0es and Invasive - I've read them both, and they're fantastic. Of course, he has many other books as well, but I haven't read them (yet).

May the Force be with you!

Much better than the first book. This book explains many things that weren't clear in The Force Awakens but also leaves you with a lot of questions. The character development improves drastically;although, I still don't enjoy the attempt at bringing characters from past movies in for half a chapter when it doesn't relate to the storyline. I'm glad the main characters of this storyline are brought to a satisfying conclusion.

I truly wanted to like this trilogy, and I was looking forward to finding out what happened after the battle of Endor. After reading a few chapters of Aftermath I just couldn't go any further. Many have said that Wendig's present simple writing style makes it a rough read. I'll take a step further and say it is simply unbearable. I also agree with those who said these books needed an editor. They did, desperately so. How on earth can some of the things Wendig wrote get past an editor is beyond me. I think there were times I flipped forward fifty pages just to put an end to my misery, and somehow justify the money I had spent on these books (I bough Aftermath and Empire's End). As for Jar Jar... well, that any author would use the most hated character in Star Wars... again... deliberately... that speaks volumes. There are narrative holes in the books that are so big and so far-fetched that one really has to wonder whether the author has actually bothered to even watch the movies (and I'm not talking about that pile of c..p that is Episode 8). Other reviews have drawn attention to the fact that Wendig's trilogy somehow is a reflection of Disney's LGBT agenda. It is. Very much so. And it's starting to get annoying (unfortunately, Star Trek has also fallen victim to it). People may have different opinions on this issue, and that's fair: what I don't accept is the fact that, as soon as you mention this, you are labelled an "idiot" or worse (quote from another review on the store.com). So much for respecting other people's opinions... Welcome to Disney's new Star Wars.

I’ve been reading Star Wars novels since Heir to the Empire came out when I was in High School. Admittedly some of them have been of dubious quality. When I’d heard that Disney had spent a billion dollars to purchase Star Wars, and were re-booting the EU I was cautiously optimistic. I hoped that since they had made such a huge investment, they would want to protect it, and improve the writing talent for the novels. Alas, they’ve gone another way. Apparently Disney thinks they can get away with hiring 4th rate writers, and the books will still sell, as long as they slap Star Wars on the cover. In the aftermath of slogging through this book, I’m unlikely to pick up another Star Wars book for awhile.

It was an interesting book and a good end to the trilogy. The characters are fairly true to their established personalities, although some of the changes to them seemed to come from Betty minor other incidents. It was almost as though many months at a chapter break would pass that we just wouldn't hear about (which does happen).
Probably one of the somewhat frustrating parts of this novel was how directly it leads into Episode VII. The way that the battle over Jakku rages and the principle characters move into their positions for that movie makes it seem more like it should be set a year or two from the start of the new trilogy instead of twenty years. Another (movie based) thing that hurt this book was the (superficial at least) similarities of the Imperial Hunter band that Norra and the rest made up for most of the trilogy to the characters in Rogue One. I was almost too conscious of this by the end.
Still, very much worth a read even if not up to the standards of the novels by Zahn.

This one took a while. Even though I think Chuck Wendig is a really cool dude --he actually signed my copy of this book in Star Wars Celebration-- I can't say I loved the last instalment of the Aftermath trilogy.

Simply put, it's not that compelling a story. Actually, it's quite messy, and even though we've been following most of these characters for three books, I felt almost nothing for the majority of them. I liked the way the Battle of Jakku is staged, though, as well as some of the interlude chapters. Want to know the fate of Jar Jar Binks post-Return of the Jedi? Well, this novel gives an explanation, and it's both sad AND a little inspiring, believe it or not.

In the end, these books were supposed to bridge the gap between Episodes 6 and 7 in a really epic way, and I can't say their mission was accomplished. The stories feel messy and some characters behave in very un-StarWars-like ways. Still, it's not a HORRIBLE book, and if you want some explanations for some of the images we got to see in The Force Awakens (and some characters; we actually get to read about a young Armitage Hux!), you'll definitely get them. It's just not as exciting as you would've want it to be.

...short of hitting up an 8th grade junior high English class. The worst series of Star Wars I've ever read.

I HATE Chuck Wendig's writing style. He can't go a single paragraph without some nonsensical simile. His inability to describe something without using "like a.." is so infuriating there were instances I would completely tune out of the story for the remainder of the page. I am absolutely astounded by, and find it somewhat suspect there are so many 4 (even 3) star reviews. I have talked to several people who have read all three books and they ALL hate his writing style.

The ONLY saving grace of these books is the connective tissue that helps bridge ep VI to VII. Were it not for the mandated bits provided by Lucasfilms and Disney, this trilogy would be laughable.

All three Aftermath stories bridge the gap between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens.  If you are curious about Jakku and the First Order's formation, this provides insight. It includes familiar Star Wars characters including Princess Leia, Han Solo and Mon Mothma.  One chapter includes Lando Carissian and another features Jar Jar Binks.  I am not sure why the story includes them unless it sets up future comics, books or movies.  
I find all Star Wars stories to become dry when describing the fight scenes.  They become technical and I am more interested in the characters and events.  I have re-listen to those scenes.  

I love Marc Thompson's narration.  He does distinctive character voices and vocal inflections.  The sound effects and music enhances it and adds to the listening experience and captivate your attention.  

This is a great story to learn about  significant  events between of ROJ and TFA, this is worth buying. 

Firstly , there are positive things to take away from this book. I did feel better about its predecessors. What drew me into this trilogy was Rae Sloane and the knowledge that this would be giving us background information on several characters for th sequel trilogy. Furthermore, we would finally be able to see the “mystery” of Imperial involvement on Jakku as is referenced even in Rey’s Replica Journal. We do get some of that, yes, however not as much as one would believe.

I do not believe Chuck should have been the one to write Leia’s pregnancy; referring to the unborn child as a ‘parasite’ as well as using every Han appearance to explain how much Han is being dragged into a role he didn’t want was irritating and also made one go “No wonder Kylo killed him” which I’m not sure was necessarily supposed to be the feel given other novels. Chuck does a huge disservice to several OT characters by latching on to only one of their larger personality traits and writing nothing else. The first page of Lando, for instance, was amusing then devolved further and further into something that felt like juvenile fanfiction.

The original/newer characters in Chuck’s book vary. The first two books I was able to ignore some flaws, howevee in this book there were several times that the characters had suddenly personality changes that I forgot who was speaking. There is also a lot of unnecessary political agenda pushing. I HATE saying that as I feel it is an overused statement. The other new canon Star Wars books also feature LBGT+ characters though and they feel natural rather than stereotypical and in-your-face. I say this as a bisexual. It felt far more like a “look at me” move from Chuck. Definitely could have been handled better.

The droid, Bone, was nice at times and over the top at others. He became more and more obnoxious/repetitive to where he started to feel like a parlor trick.

Rae Sloane truly did make this series for me. At times I was also invested in Norra Wexley’s side as well. Yet with Nora Chuck set up a certain triangle early on where, given how his writing was, I had already predicted the lazily written outcome that prevented Norra from having to face the consequences of her choices. It caused what would have been a more emotionally gripping scene to have absolutely no effect on me.

Another positive is that, in my opinion, Chuck is quite adept at writing fight scenes. I did enjoy those parts as well.

The jab at how one is named was another tasteless move, especially considering another character pointed out how it is cultural and the first said essentially that that didn’t matter. Considering how it ties in with other REAL countries/cultures, this was another of those “Chuck is pushing his political views” moment that was unnecessary.

There are hints for Snoke’s background, however they are “blink and you’ll miss”. I liked that aspect, as it gives us information while also allowing Snoke to remain an enigma.

This is definitely one of the weaker of the new canon books, but I do believe it is technically worth the read. It definitely is not worth the full price, and I am somewhat hoping that Chuck is NOT given more Star Wars books to write.

While I am quite a bit disappointed in the novel, I AM ultimately glad that I read it.

You would think that the characters in Star Wars book would be painted on broad generalities: the Hero on an Hero's Journey, Cardboard Villains, etc, but you won't find these here. Chuck imbued his characters with, well character. They are people with complex thoughts and conflicted drives who grow and change in small ways until they become someone new but still of the same essence. It's good stuff.

Chuck on his blog has a story guideline he kind of follows which involves screaming and running around. I think it can be summed up by the Fire Performer's rules for planning an act:

Go big
Go bigger
Safety 3rd

After how unrelentingly terrible the first of Chuck Wendig's Star Wars novels were, I decided to take a look at the third and see if matters had improved one iota.

They haven't. The writing is still embarrassing, the characterization is still absent, and the novel is still a waste of perfectly good trees.

Avoid.

So another one down in the story that helps bridge the gap between Jedi and Force Awakens I guess....? I suppose I look at the trilogy somewhat with a certain bias since as a whole the trilogy started on a severe sour note. It took til about halfway through Life Debt to get the taste of Aftermath out of my mouth. The characters that Chuck Wendig creates for this story do grow on you and from most reviews it was different characters that people liked, which is good. Meaning that Wendig effectively did a great job of creating new characters in this universe for us to like. For me personally, I just never got behind the Wexley's, probably my least favorite part from the beginning to end of this trilogy --- which is probably bad because they are some of the main players. Partly because Norra became this impossibly ridiculous character that escaped death 2-3 times in the first book that were simply absurd. From then on it was hard for to believe anything about that character or their story arc. As for Snap..(Sorry Greg Grunberg but your side character's backstory is pretty awful) The other biggest thing in this book was metaphors and hyphens. So on Earth we have monkeys, and we have lizards, but in Star Wars their are "monkey-lizards" mmmmmmkkkkk. Face palm moments occur when reading things like "herrkily jerkily" It also makes me think I should have been a writer. With complaints aside, if you can read Aftermath (which I would recommend because that's when all the main players of this story are introduced) once you get to Life Debt the action picks up with your characters, and by the end of this book your given some subtle hints of what's to come in the future of Force Awakens, it's average, Definitely not my favorite, but certainly not the worst of new canon---Heir to the Jedi still holds that title. Alas this trilogy is done, I'm curious to see if another author is chosen to write another trilogy of books.

Overall, Aftermath: Empire's End was good in my opinion. I did read the first two Aftermath books prior to Empire's End. I didn't like Aftermath. Aftermath: Lifedebt "righted" the ship for me. The story kept me interested to the very end. His writing style didn't bother me nearly has much as it did in Aftermath. I felt that the interludes were a better fit. They didn't take me out of the main story. My negatives with this book were I felt Sinjir wasn't "used" a much in this book and Mr. Bones(something happens to the droid. Where I felt "really?"). The questions I had from TFA & Lifedebt were answered in Empire's End.

I read a lot of Star Wars novels in the past while in college, probably upwards of twenty books. Eventually, I realized it was a waste of time to continue when there are so many much more important books to read. I was pulled back in to one more trilogy of books, however, once the new movie sequel trilogy got me excited for it again. I told myself I'd make it the last and now that I've completed the Aftermath trilogy I think I can put it to rest for good. It was mostly fun to get immersed in Star Wars again, but this is not the Star Wars I loved. This is pure leftist propaganda in a Star Wars candy shell. Not that I care much if politics are explored in fiction like this, but this is as lazy as the writing in the new films. Straight out of an HR department. Such a lazy way to write at best, disturbing at worst. C-3PO notwithstanding, gayness was never what appealed to me about Star Wars yet these books seem to have been written solely to push homosexuality front and center in Star Wars along with compelled speech by introducing us to zhe/zher pronouns in the text. Outside that ridiculousness, I found these books never really gave us anything all that interesting or revelatory. It all mostly revolves around the character "Snap" Wexley, a character even maligned The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson was quick to scrap. It's all left to be so mysterious as to never get any real development. Things do wrap up as well as they can, I suppose, in this overlong final book with some good action, but there just isn't much to it all save for laying more groundwork for imposing leftist ideology on the Star Wars fandom. It is just so blatantly in your face that it doesn't read as Star Wars to me at all. Save your money and buy Jordan Peterson's new book instead.

I read the book to see how Jakku got the way it was. I've read dozens of Star Wars books, and like the genre. But these new books are so different from pre-Disney Star Wars, that they are a real disappointment, thematically. And this one, in addition to the graphic descriptions of torture, is tortuous to read. It is like reading a script proposal, in a painful 3rd-person descriptive manner. For people who like that, enjoy. But I won't even try to read the other 2 books of the trilogy. And after reading the first couple chapters of Phasma, it seems that the Star Wars space opera has become a Star Wars horror story, trying to make up in gruesome details what it can't in good science-fiction story telling.

This is a great ending trilogy first started in Aftermath then followed by Aftermath: Life Debt, The story is both filled with political intrigue and family connections, It gives an overview how the New Republic seen in the Force Awakens comes to defeat the Galactic Empire. It also heralds the birth of Ben Solo who later becomes Kylo Ren. Also Luke Skywalker is briefly mentioned too. Great action and the writing is crisp. It is a very enjoyable book. A must read for anyone wanting more Canon after the Battle of Endor.

Great end to the trilogy. Special kudos to the author for finding the most fitting job for Jar Jar. I'm not going to lie, I found myself a little upset on the death of Mr. Bones (and at the beginning of the series, he was my most hated character)

(Audio book version) So much wasted potential. This book just comes across as tone deaf to what the fans want (one of the interludes in particular was infuriating and a waste of pages). I really can't stand the writing style of this author, or the reading style of the narrator, so this was a painful listen for me. I pushed through it for the interesting pieces that build cannon but those were few and far between.

Came for info that would tell us what happened that lead to the fall of the Empire. Got too little of that in a style that drove me crazy. Really hope that future books touted as the main source for cannon info are given to a different author. I'm sure he's a great guy, just not a great Star Wars author.

I loved the first in the series, and then the second was ok, but this one seemed very loose. The arc which begins in book one seems like a loose thread remembered halfway through the story. Norra spends two books realizing, and working to repair, the damage she did to her son by running after his father, and then flippantly tosses a thought about how doing it again would hurt Temmin, then does it anyway. I enjoyed the references to HK-47 more than I did the conclusion of the three book arc. Overall it seemed rushed and the creativity stifled. But then again Chuck could just be bad at endings.

A satisfying end to the Aftermath Trilogy. The way Wendig develops these bunch of loveable rag tag characters is nothing short of amazing. The fact that he incorporates strong female leads on both sides makes the books even more enjoyable.

You'll probably read some reviews, here and elsewhere, that are short sighted and negative. My best advice is ignore them. Give this Trilogy and especially this book a chance. I promise you won't be disappointed.

The force is with these Aftermath Novels. Always.

I love Star Wars, but Chuck Wendig is the wrong author for this. The text is akward and clumsy. Terrible transitions. It is almost impossible to sit and enjoy. Not the kind of book I can read, enjoy, and lose track of time.

Excellent conclusion to the Aftermath trilogy. It is so good to follow the characters of the Star Wars universe, old and new, in such a good story.
Highlight of the book ? Sinjir dialogues. So powerfull and memorable.
Bonus ? So many threads connecting it to other stories of the Star Wars universe, some obscure and some well known.

Can't wait to read more !

A wild trip during the last legs of the Imperial Remmant and a game that keeps you guessing which of our favorite character makes it to perhaps the start of Episode 7. A few questions are answered by the last books and the movie but not enough that you are still left with the hunger to excavate further.

I've been reading these books with a growing sense of dread with the overall narrative direction Disney is taking the Star Wars universe. Empire's End is my break away point. Wendig does a serviceable job with what he is allowed to explore, and disclose to the audience. Just like the previous books though, his efforts to tell a compelling tale seemed to be hampered by shadowy Disney editorial dictating which characters and story beats can and can't be explored. What is revealed to the audience falls in the same vein as the worst of the EU. Unoriginal, uninspired, and absolutely not worthy of Lucas's saga. Pallpatine's plans for the Empire being the most offensive of them. There are a few, a very few high points in the book though. The most hardcore fans might want to pick this up for them. Otherwise I'd suggest just sticking to the movies for you Star Wars fix. This isn't the expanded universe we're looking for.

Reading Empire's End has without a doubt been one of the greatest Star Wars experiences I have ever had. I have fallen in love with the new cast of characters, been enthralled by the richness imparted to so many corners of the Galaxy, and been deeply moved by the connections with the larger Star Wars mythos. I do hope to see more Star Wars from Chuck Wendig in the future!

Disjointed mess that has tons of filler that doesn't relate to the main story. Author isn't able to write military or romantic themed material. At best its a poor fan fiction, at its worst its boring.

Empire’s End is the culmination of the first 2 books, bringing together all of the many plot lines and the different Character storylines into one final epic blast.
Han and Nora (and their merry band of rebels) continue their fight on Kashyyyk, meanwhile, a very pregnant Leia is discovering she has the ability to talk to the baby through the force (well, communicate basic things), but is also working with Mon Mothma, trying to establish their fledging Government and give it some legitimacy in the face of the Galaxy and the new Defunct Empire. As a part of this, there is a massive battle over the top of Kashyyyk that leads to the freedom of the planet. This is a really interesting part of the series as you get a look at how the New Republic was established by those that won the war against the Empire. It is interesting to see how the ‘Rebels’ had to go from being a Rebellion to trying to run the Galaxy, and the issues that they faced. Wendig does a fantastic job of creating this time period, of letting us understand the challenges they faced and how difficult it was for them.
Another interesting part of the story is how several events lead to a gathering, and final showdown at Jaku. Given the relevance of Jaku in later stories, especially Episode VII, it is fascinating that the story ends up here so early in the timeline. Whilst the original series had Tatooine and Coruscant even Naboo as pivotal planets in the series, Jaku is most definitely a key planet for all parties concerned.
We also learn that the Emperor had contingency plans in place for the Empire as well as his Sith Legacy should things happen to him, and the unfolding of these plans, his legacy, and the characters involved with performing these actions is utterly fascinating for anyone who is into Star Wars.
This book would have fit well into the old EU, with the Emperors Hands, etc, but this time, thing have played out slightly differently, and Wendig has tried to pay homage I think to the original ‘Legends’ series in some aspects, but at the same time, create his own Canon, and the result is an epic tale definitely worthy of Star Wars.
All the previous characters are back from the first 2 books, Nora, Wedge, Jom, Sinjir, Temmin, Jas, and every bodies favourite psychopathic robot Mr Bones, who is seriously the best droid in Star Wars behind R2, and K2SO.
The character writing is so good, that you even start to feel for the Imperials in some parts of this story, well almost…
With the Emperor, the Empire has become a free for all, and Wendig again does a masterful job of describing just how a vast Empire would crumble in on itself when its two main leads, Palpatine and Vader both vanish in an instant, taking a large chunk of the fleet and the new Death Star.
This is very cleverly written as not only a great lead up to the beginnings of the New Republic, the fall of the Empire, but also the start of what could be the First Order from those remnants of the Empire. It is an incredibly brilliant piece of writing, and a must read for any fan of Star Wars, new or old.
As I said in previous reviews, this is easily one of the best Star Wars stories to be written (the whole series), in either the EU or the current new Canon series, and should not be missed.

A decent story focusing on a small group of Rebels an Palpatine's continent plan. The plan itself was interesting, and it has ties to Thrawn (and maybe Rey's origin?), which I found interesting. Also, I liked reading more about the Wexley's, Han and Leia's relationship, and the New Republic, but it glosses over the battle of Jakku and doesn't really answer many questions we have from TFA.

Just finished it. What a rush. The book fleshes out a lot of fascinating elements of the burgeoning trilogy (no spoilers) and makes the wait for Episode 8 and 9 that much more painful. Teasers aplenty of what's next and how and WHO.

This entire trilogy does a great job stitching the last trilogy with the new one, and nowhere better than here.

The battles and action are exhilarating. The characters new in this trilogy are developed well. The dialogue has zing.

I cannot imagine being a Star Wars fan and not reading this book/trilogy; I really cannot imagine not enjoying it. I certainly did.

This felt like a real star wars book to me. I couldve done without certain agendas being pushed throughout this trilogy but im over it. Other then that i have grown connected to these characters and love seeing how their actions have set the stage fir TFA I am fully satisfied at how things have wrapped up.

The Aftermath trilogy just got better and better. I was lukewarm toward the first book, enjoyed the second, and this one had me enraptured. The plot threads that we've become invested in throughout "Aftermath" and "Life Debt" come to satisfying (although not always happy) conclusions here in "Empire's End." The cast of characters includes the team we've come to know from the previous two books, an expanded assortment of New Republic personalities (some of whom I am sure we're going to hear more from in the future), and includes a few charming and familiar cameos via the story's interludes. If you're on the fence about this book, especially if you've read the previous two, I'd definitely nudge you in the direction of picking it up. Not only am I happy I read "Empire's End," the narrative payoff this book offers made me glad I read the other two books as well. Highly recommended.

This book is an excellent tie in to what happened at Jakku. I always thought the first book (didn't realize it was going to be a trilogy at first) was going to do that. This book doesn't disappoint. So many Easter Eggs to be found. Like; why does Snap Wexley have a beard? Worth the time to read.

I've been enthralled by this series from the very first book. Wendig manages to encapsulate the feeling of a Star Wars movie in this trilogy. I absolutely adore Mr. Bones and Sinjir. The political background of the New Republics rise and watching their political wheels turn is fascinating.

A fantastic read.

I really hope the people at Lucasfilm and Del Rey have a better plan for future novels then this trilogy. I didn't expect Heir to the Empire quality here, but I was hoping we'd atleast see something on par with past Star Wars EU novels. Extremely disappointed to see this is the start of new novel Canon.

I listened to this on audible. Honestly, after listening to it drone on and on for 7 hours, I increased the speed to 2.5x. Sadly, there was so little going on, that I didn't miss anything with it that fast. It's sad that there is so little depth to it that I can go that fast and not miss anything.

I purchased the ebook on Play Books, in order not to purchase the hardcover and wait for the paperback. I may not purchase the paperback after reading.

Easily one of the worst Star Wars (Legends included) books ever written. I had extremely low expectations due to the first two books of the Aftermath trilogy. I love Star Wars and the new Canon novels have been great except for this trilogy. The first book was readable, the second was okay, this one I could barely read, it was just boring.

We need to allow some of the great Legends authors to come back and give us some more great stories.

A pretty traumatic and poignant conclusion for this trilogy. The New Republic group is severed and broken, confused and enraged by the betrayal of its freed compatriots, specifically Nora's husband. Meanwhile, Grand Admiral Sloane is on rampage to find Counsellor Raxx to exact vengeance.
There is a massive battle, the description of which is rather well done by Wendig. There are also multiple sacrifices to the cause of the Republic - meaning, the end of the Galactic Empire. Heroic deaths all for the end game .... or is it? Is the Empire really over? If so, who will be left to run it?

I might be biased to this series since it's based on Star Wars and I'm a loyalist, but I thought this was well done.

Please forgive any misspelled names. This was read via Audiobook.

I thought the storyline of this book was good, I liked the characters, and I felt like it revealed a decent bit of what happened after ROTJ, with a few nods to events leading to the new trilogy. My biggest complaints are 1) No Luke Skywalker. Other than a brief mention of him, we learn nothing of what Luke is up to during this time. 2) I did not appreciate all the LGBT propaganda in the book. Star Wars is something that has always united and brought people together. This is one of the most controversial issues of our time and I think it needs to be left out of Star Wars. I bought this book to read a Star Wars story, not to read a gay romance novel with a nod to transgenderism too. Lucasfilm and disney need to stop trying to be politically correct and keep sexuality out of the story. Other than these 2 things though, I liked it. Do I think it could've been done better? Yes. Why they didnt recruit a seasoned star wars veteran like timothy zahn or James luceno is beyond me. I recommend reading it just due to the info it gives you about after ROTJ, but you may just want to rent or borrow it.

It's not great, but if you feel you have to read this series anyway I recommend avoiding the Audible version. The narrator overacts so badly even William Shatner would tell him to tone it down a notch or two.

Ive listened to hundreds of audio books and this is the first time ive decided to offer a negatuve review. These characters are ciphers, representing nothing but a vehicle to move narrative. In particular, the child Temmon is as annoying and one-note (grating) as any ive ever read. A whining, moralizing brat. I found myself wishing that his droid would put him out of his (and our) misery...

Much better than part two of the trilogy, and almost as good as part one. Interestingly, the story makes reference to Admiral Thrawn from Tim Zahn's SW series. We learn about General Hux (as a boy) and the planet of Jakku ahead of 'Force Awakens'. Is Finn one of the children taken by Hux's father? We see Ben Solo enter the worldill go. We meet Maz Kanata who will see again in Episode 7. Still no sign of Luke though. The very last page of the book gives us the term 'the first order', one possible explanation of how the villians from E7 got their name.

The same style problems make this last entry very difficult to enjoy. Wendigs character manipulation and focus on his own characters, (rather than the timeless character of the star wars saga) add insult to injury. I'd like tp say I understand what he was trying to do, and I enjoy the diverse cast of characters. They are featured so heavily while the author can't even bother to give us the actual story of Ben's birth.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Empire’s End and I am certain the trilogy will remain a cornerstone in Star Wars lore. The characters are unforgettable and the impact of their actions influence the galaxy as a whole. It is easy to build a story around well known characters like Han Solo and Mon Mothma since you already know who they are. Being able to turn big names into supporting characters to build up new ones is remarkable writing. Although easy to read, Chuck does not mince on the meaning behind his words and it is refreshing to have that for 3 whole books. For anybody first starting out with the Star Wars Novels, making the Aftermath series your first read is a decision you won’t soon regret.

I have read almost every Star Wars book going back over 20 years and I must say this book was not very good. It was the best of the three Wendig Aftermath books, but other than Mr. Bones, none of the characters were memorable.

I was so bored with this story, then after seeing the homosexual agenda forced into Star Wars I was really disappointed.
Not much of a battle to end the Empire either, once the book finally got to that. Not recommended at all.

Aftermath: Empire’s End brings together a large swath of plotlines to their final conclusions, at least for the time being. From the battle of Jakku to the Empire’s surrender, there’s some significant events that go down in this novel. Many characters meet their fates, some finding rewards or new purposes in life while others find their deaths. It’s a long story with many paths winding together with the Empire’s fall. While not perfect, it’s a pretty enjoyable read that pushes you on to read the next chapter, and the next, and the next.

With this being the third book in the Aftermath trilogy, it’s hard to talk about what happens without spoiling anything. However, the surprises therein are definitely worth retaining. On one hand this book tells the tale of the battle of Jakku, something we’ve caught mentions of and a battlefield we all saw in The Force Awakens. After all, Jakku is Rey’s homeworld or at least it’s where she grew up. It’s a sandy desert planet littered with the corpses of the Empire. Massive ships jut out from its dunes. And while we all asked where they came from, Empire’s End answers that question. More importantly, it answers what happened to the Empire after Return of the Jedi. Through this story, Chuck Wendig lays down the history of what happens to the Empire, their fleets, and their commanders. He reveals how the galaxy reacts, how the New Republic’s government comes to be, and the challenges that Mon Mothma is faced with. From a big picture standpoint, Empire’s End is essential reading.

On the other hand, Empire’s End is also a personal story of individual characters finding purpose in their lives. There are the original characters at the heart of the story: Norra and Temmin ‘Snap’ Wexley, Grand Admiral Rae Sloane, Sinjir Rath Velus, Jas Emari and Gallius Rax. There’s an assortment of original side characters, many of them showing up in the interludes sprinkled throughout the book, and then there is also the legacy characters like Han, Leia, Chewbacca, Lando and Mon Mothma, some of whom show up in the interludes and others who play a part in the main story. All of those characters have a story in this book. For Norra, it’s a journey to hunt down Sloane and to face her inner demons for a chance of peace. For Rax, it’s a twisting, mysterious plotline that offers glimpses into Palpatine’s master plan and how the First Order came to be. Readers get to see Chewbacca reunited with his son, Lando returning to Cloud City, and Jas interacting with bounty hunters from her past that will surely have some fans grinning ear-to-ear. With Mon Mothma, we get a meaty story arc highlighting her struggle to lead the fledgling New Republic. Han and Leia mostly stay on the sidelines, but we get the birth of Ben Solo. Every character, every storyline plays its part and adds a little something to the overall story. In the end, it gives readers a lot to like as there’s something for everyone.

Yet regardless of history or characters, the real merit of any story is the enjoyability of the adventure. Chuck Wendig does have a very different style from other authors as he uses third person present tense narration. And, as with any author, he brings his own sensibilities with his characters. Plus there is his take on what happens after Return of the Jedi. These three factors play a very important role in the entertainment value of the story. Thankfully, in my opinion, they all manage to work. In regards to the third person present tense narration, the first book in the series was the most jarring. The second book was less jarring. Somehow Empire’s End wasn’t jarring at all. In this book, Wendig found his groove and the story flowed quite smoothly. The style and prose was easy to get submerged into and lost in. I didn’t find myself thinking how weird something sounded, but instead was captivated by what was happening in the story. That’s the kind of magic you want in a book. Part of that magic is capturing intriguing characters. While I didn’t like all of the characters in Empire’s End, for many reasons Norra eluded me throughout the entire series as a character I just couldn’t get behind, there are so many to choose from that it allows for you to dislike some and still get a lot of enjoyment out of the book. So in that regard, Wendig succeeded in providing a cast of characters that readers can latch on to. Bringing that altogether, it still relies on the base story points that form the foundation of the tale. With so many stories having been told in Legends, this version of events has to compete with what some readers have already read, and with what other fans have simply created in their head after seeing the films. Tackling the fate of the Empire and our beloved characters is no easy feat. Yet even in this, Wendig manages to do a good job, presenting readers with a sensible chain of events and some entertaining surprises.

It would be hard to recommend checking out Empire’s End without first reading the other two books in the trilogy. I had some serious reservations with the first novel, but looking back at it, even with its flaws, it’s not a book you can skip for the trilogy to truly worth. To get the most out of it, you have to read the entire Aftermath trilogy. Empire’s End isn’t perfect, but it does have its rewards and there are some great moments. Furthermore, it helps detail the fate of the Empire in the post-Return of the Jedi era, making it essential reading for Star Wars fans thirsting for more. While it won’t reveal who Snoke is or who Rey’s parents are, Empire’s End is an enjoyable read that will keep you entertained from beginning to end. I give it a four out of five.

Chuck Wendig is great first and foremost. His writing style is unique and very poetic and choppy and sloppy but perfectly written aka tells a realistic story. It has the makings of drink a nice ipa and read till you bleed and do not bother trying to hard to figure it out it always unfolds to tell a beautiful story. His writing style is very forgettable and most notably pleasant. I LOVE AD-LIBING! FREEDOM! Counter intuitive writing is actually progressive and sparky which make it so DARN awesome! And this is STAR WARS were talking about... So please grab a beer and hold on for the ride do not worry memory is just an effective tool being strengthened by his style! Best of the three btw or maybe its just the overall process I love? PEACE and LOVE Chuck Wendig is f-ing awesome!

As for PLOT and SYNOPSIS - YOU GET TO HEAR AWESOME LEGENDS AND VILLANS TALK; AND INTROSPECTIVE INTO JAKKU AND MOST NOTABLY THE GRAVE YARD OF GIANTS...zzzWhats sleeping?zzz... (just buy the damn thing if you read this you know what to do)

This book explained the years directly after the fall of the Empire and set up the future movies. Looking forward to seeing the remaining movies and reading subsequent books that tie everything together.

This book wraps up the arcs of the series' characters while building up to the the Empire's final stand. Fast-paced and a worthy conclusion to the Aftermath trilogy. Highly recommended for all Star Wars fans!

The final book in any sort of series is always tricky because expectations are riding high. Yes an author can tell you a great story but can they wrap it up in a way that won’t leave people going “Wait what?” or “That’s it?” Good news: Chuck Wendig does exactly that with Empire’s End. I am completely satisfied with how the stories of Norra Wexley’s team, Rae Sloane, and the Empire come to their end during the Battle of Jakku. Honestly, I don’t know the last time a series left me feeling so satisfied at the end. A great deal with that has to do with how well-handled the storylines for Sinjir and Sloane were. They are what really make the book. It’s also worth noting that Wendig’s prose has become better and better with each book to the point where I almost shed a tear twice. Just go read this book already. Seriously. Mister Bones commands it.

Don't believe dishonest one star reviews. They are disgruntled fans with a fundamental misunderstanding of how the continuity of Star wars worked before now. This entire trilogy sends us on a much more logical and enjoyable direction post Rotj. This is the star wars we have been waiting for.

Love the conclusion. This series got progressively better with each installment. I give this book 5 stars, and the series 4. I would recommend the Audible, rather than reading it tho. The Audible narration definitely makes it feel more like Star Wars.

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away somebody must have gotten hold of a book by Sheryl Sandberg. Did anyone notice how many Star Wars characters wanted to "lean in" or having "leaned in" did something amazing? I'll read anything Star Wars but it seems like pop culture references and lingo from Planet Earth abound in the past.

Despite all the negativity I read about Aftermath, this trilogy has shaped up to be quite good. I wasn't especially fond of the first volume, but the second and third volumes were very enjoyable. I feel somewhat melancholy saying goodbye to the characters Chuck Wendig created for this trilogy, and it is my hope that he (or other authors) will include these characters in future Star Wars novels.

Probably the best of the 3 books! Could do without the whole gay relationship characters, but like how Dengar the Bounty Hunter shows up. Plus you find out the origins of Supreme Chancellor Snooke in this one. Would have been cool if Wendig had an interlude chapter about what Luke was up too.

The previous two novels of the Aftermath trilogy were so magnificently BAD that I had sworn off reading the final installment. Chuck Wendig is truly the worst Star Wars author in the history of anything. But, call me overly hopeful but I was willing to give him one final chance to prove that he has the chops, the understanding, and the respect (for the saga and for its fans) demanded of anyone contributing to the Star Wars canon.

Alas! Wendig does not. Hopes crushed, bigtime.

The ONE thing which MIGHT be enough to entice a hardcore fan to buy this book is the peppering of lore throughout its pages which elaborate upon or otherwise hint at what was happening on the galactic stage between Palpatine's overthrow and The Force Awakens. There are even tantalizing clues as to the possible origin of Snoke: arguably the biggest mystery of the new film trilogy. But, only a real diehard fan hungry for any morsel of canon is going to find that virtue enough to pay good money for Empire's End, and when you consider that Wendig most likely didn't formulate those elements on his own anyway but merely followed the directions of the Star Wars story group, it makes Empire's End even more superfluous.

So what exactly IS wrong with Empire's End?

Bad characters. Bad dialogue, especially from the bad characters Wendig keeps shoving into the way almost like a distraction away from the REAL action. The Battle of Jakku? We don't even really see it at all! Was Wendig capable of portraying something we've been led to believe was so monumental in the lore? It's like Wendig was handed a billion dollar budget to make Tora! Tora! Tora! and instead gives us a third-rate Mall Rats set inside the Pearl Harbor post office. Bad plotting. A motive for Palpatine's machinations which makes NO sense whatsoever. More wildly out-of-place Earth elements. A shocking dearth of war in a... you know... Star WARS story. Just a general failure to grasp the reader and suck him or her in.

The in-your-face "social justice warrior" that Wendig notoriously channeled with his previous two books is not as big a thing here. That alone demonstrated that Chuck Wendig has none of the requisite respect for either the material or its audience. Maybe cooler heads at Disney prevailed and compelled him to rein-in his personal political agenda with this third outing. Even so, there will be some who will scream that whatever negative criticism Empire's End will receive is only because such critics are homophobic misogynistic Trump-voting troglodytes. When in fact it is simply a BAD novel.

The Aftermath trilogy should have been one novel, compressed into a solid chunk of meat and potatoes. Instead it is a meandering mess of mind-muddling mediocrity possessing all too few moments of real interest. And those iotas of info you will almost certainly find in forthcoming literature in the months leading up to The Last Jedi. Don't pay money for them here. Wendig had his chance and he blew it. His eternal contribution to Star Wars? How NOT to contribute to Star Wars.

This book is the best of the trilogy. It takes a laser focus on bringing us the context for the Battle of Jakku and offers us the thrills that befit Star Wars. The interludes offer insight into the aftermath of the galaxy, and it has real lasting consequences that lead directly into The Force Awakens.

It was well-written in a very immediate, present-tense style. It might turn some people off, but if you can get into it, it's thrilling. Wendig has a way with metaphor as well, working them in in the best way possible.

A fitting ending for the whole trilogy: disappointing, just as "Aftermath" and "Life Debt"!

Though Wendig's language is not as annoying as in the first book anymore, he still isn't able to write engaging characters. The only motivation anyone seems to have in "Empire's End" is revenge. Especially for Norra and Sloane, nothing else seems to count. Revenge makes them totally blind and dumb. Why plan anything or think ahead? Just run into a dangerous situation without thinking twice! - Don't get me wrong, it's okay for characters to make irrational decisions from time to time. But when the entire book is full of stupid and irrational decisions, I can't sympathize with these characters any more - sorry!

Furthermore, there are still far too many characters in the novel for me to care about all of them. Not including the interludes, which (re)introduce even more characters, we are following Norra, Temmin, Jas, Sinjir, Mr. Bones, Conder, Wedge, Jom, Han, Leia, Mon Mothma, Sloane, Brentin and Rax. That's 14 characters and we're supposed to care about and be emotionally invested in all of them, plus the characters in the interludes! That's just impossible. Some characters don't appear for 100 pages or more and then they suddenly show up again and you've already forgotten they were supposed to be someone you like and care about. It would have been much better for the novel to concentrate only on a few characters and make them really compelling, give them more personality and motivation. I wouldn't miss anything, if half the characters were deleted from the book.

The novel also starts off very slow. As in the first book, for the first 280 pages you have to read a lot of uninteresting and irrelevant scenes about characters getting captured and freed by their friends again and similar mini-adventures. None of this really advances the overall plot. Only when the battle of Jakku starts does the plot become more fast-paced and interesting.

One of the main things I was excited about was Rax' masterplan. I wanted to find out what he is planning and which role he plays in the battle of Jakku. However, Rax' super-secret masterplan is not nearly as intelligent as you might have expected. And, worst of all: He could have executed this plan in book 1 already! Why bother us with two more books by Chuck Wendig? All the revelant plot in the whole trilogy could have compressed into one book! Maybe that book could even have been a good one then...

All in all, I can't recommend this book or the trilogy at all. Not even the ending makes it worth reading. Go and read Claudia Gray's books or any other Star Wars literature instead - you will have a much better time! And please, Disney / Lucasfilm: No more novels by Chuck Wendig! Thank you very much!

I have almost every Star Wars book ever written and this will be the last one I ever read or buy. It does not even feel like a Star Wars novel and ALL the Disney books, except Rouge One, have been politically correct trash. Disney is making it more important to be gay and use gender correct pronouns than to make a good story. I went to see The Force Awakens and I thought it sucked. The Force Awakens was more like a family reunion of old friends who should have stayed long gone. Rouge One should have won the Oscar for best picture but in the PC world we live it most likely some POS movie no one ever heard of probably won. Death to the Mouse (Please KILL MICKEY) and I hope Disney has to sell Lucas arts to some company that can do Star Wars justice. Also 1 star was the least I could give this pile of crap.

Empire 's End is the third and final book of the Aftermath trilogy. The war between the Empire and the New Republic finally comes to a head. We learn the details of the contingency plan the Emperor has in mind with Gallius Rax in charge and both Rae Sloane and Norra Wexley out for revenge. Along the way, the ugly head of politics managed to place much needed assistance on Jakku.

It was great to see the gang back in action, Norra, Temmin, Mr. Bones, Brentin, Has Emari and Sinjir Rath Velus all return in fine form. For this particular book, it has a great storyline and characters, but seemed to be drawn out. About a third of this could've been trimmed and many of the interludes were unnecessary. Lives are changed and some wind up in unexpected places, most notably Sinjir, one of my favorites with his caustic wit. I read this using Immersion Reading, listening to the audiobook. Marc Thompson is superb as usual and his narration and character voices are spot on.

This is another book of the series Aftermath by Chuck Wendig. This books fleshes out more of the minor characters in the Rebellion and show how close of a relationship was Leia and Han Solo to themselves and how it almost mirrors her real parents relationship. In both relationship, the actual marriage was kept secret until both mothers were obviously pregnant (spoiler). I wonder if this child is the one who turns to the dark side as shown in the movies.
Anyway, this book explains why Han Solo and Leia can't stay permanently in same place for long because of the different roles they play in the Rebellion--think long distance relationship with someone who works a different job level as you CEO versus mail clerk). Both were on the same side, but had completely different roles to play.

Empire’s End is the culmination of the first 2 books, bringing together all of the many plot lines and the different Character storylines into one final epic blast.
Han and Nora (and their merry band of rebels) continue their fight on Kashyyyk, meanwhile, a very pregnant Leia is discovering she has the ability to talk to the baby through the force (well, communicate basic things), but is also working with Mon Mothma, trying to establish their fledging Government and give it some legitimacy in the face of the Galaxy and the new Defunct Empire. As a part of this, there is a massive battle over the top of Kashyyyk that leads to the freedom of the planet. This is a really interesting part of the series as you get a look at how the New Republic was established by those that won the war against the Empire. It is interesting to see how the ‘Rebels’ had to go from being a Rebellion to trying to run the Galaxy, and the issues that they faced. Wendig does a fantastic job of creating this time period, of letting us understand the challenges they faced and how difficult it was for them.
Another interesting part of the story is how several events lead to a gathering, and final showdown at Jaku. Given the relevance of Jaku in later stories, especially Episode VII, it is fascinating that the story ends up here so early in the timeline. Whilst the original series had Tatooine and Coruscant even Naboo as pivotal planets in the series, Jaku is most definitely a key planet for all parties concerned.
We also learn that the Emperor had contingency plans in place for the Empire as well as his Sith Legacy should things happen to him, and the unfolding of these plans, his legacy, and the characters involved with performing these actions is utterly fascinating for anyone who is into Star Wars.
This book would have fit well into the old EU, with the Emperors Hands, etc, but this time, thing have played out slightly differently, and Wendig has tried to pay homage I think to the original ‘Legends’ series in some aspects, but at the same time, create his own Canon, and the result is an epic tale definitely worthy of Star Wars.
All the previous characters are back from the first 2 books, Nora, Wedge, Jom, Sinjir, Temmin, Jas, and every bodies favourite psychopathic robot Mr Bones, who is seriously the best droid in Star Wars behind R2, and K2SO.
The character writing is so good, that you even start to feel for the Imperials in some parts of this story, well almost…
With the Emperor, the Empire has become a free for all, and Wendig again does a masterful job of describing just how a vast Empire would crumble in on itself when its two main leads, Palpatine and Vader both vanish in an instant, taking a large chunk of the fleet and the new Death Star.
This is very cleverly written as not only a great lead up to the beginnings of the New Republic, the fall of the Empire, but also the start of what could be the First Order from those remnants of the Empire. It is an incredibly brilliant piece of writing, and a must read for any fan of Star Wars, new or old.
As I said in previous reviews, this is easily one of the best Star Wars stories to be written (the whole series), in either the EU or the current new Canon series, and should not be missed.

A fitting ending for the whole trilogy: disappointing, just as "Aftermath" and "Life Debt"!

Though Wendig's language is not as annoying as in the first book anymore, he still isn't able to write engaging characters. The only motivation anyone seems to have in "Empire's End" is revenge. Especially for Norra and Sloane, nothing else seems to count. Revenge makes them totally blind and dumb. Why plan anything or think ahead? Just run into a dangerous situation without thinking twice! - Don't get me wrong, it's okay for characters to make irrational decisions from time to time. But when the entire book is full of stupid and irrational decisions, I can't sympathize with these characters any more - sorry!

Furthermore, there are still far too many characters in the novel for me to care about all of them. Not including the interludes, which (re)introduce even more characters, we are following Norra, Temmin, Jas, Sinjir, Mr. Bones, Conder, Wedge, Jom, Han, Leia, Mon Mothma, Sloane, Brentin and Rax. That's 14 characters and we're supposed to care about and be emotionally invested in all of them, plus the characters in the interludes! That's just impossible. Some characters don't appear for 100 pages or more and then they suddenly show up again and you've already forgotten they were supposed to be someone you like and care about. It would have been much better for the novel to concentrate only on a few characters and make them really compelling, give them more personality and motivation. I wouldn't miss anything, if half the characters were deleted from the book.

The novel also starts off very slow. As in the first book, for the first 280 pages you have to read a lot of uninteresting and irrelevant scenes about characters getting captured and freed by their friends again and similar mini-adventures. None of this really advances the overall plot. Only when the battle of Jakku starts does the plot become more fast-paced and interesting.

One of the main things I was excited about was Rax' masterplan. I wanted to find out what he is planning and which role he plays in the battle of Jakku. However, Rax' super-secret masterplan is not nearly as intelligent as you might have expected. And, worst of all: He could have executed this plan in book 1 already! Why bother us with two more books by Chuck Wendig? All the revelant plot in the whole trilogy could have compressed into one book! Maybe that book could even have been a good one then...

All in all, I can't recommend this book or the trilogy at all. Not even the ending makes it worth reading. Go and read Claudia Gray's books or any other Star Wars literature instead - you will have a much better time! And please, Disney / Lucasfilm: No more novels by Chuck Wendig! Thank you very much!

I have almost every Star Wars book ever written and this will be the last one I ever read or buy. It does not even feel like a Star Wars novel and ALL the Disney books, except Rouge One, have been politically correct trash. Disney is making it more important to be gay and use gender correct pronouns than to make a good story. I went to see The Force Awakens and I thought it sucked. The Force Awakens was more like a family reunion of old friends who should have stayed long gone. Rouge One should have won the Oscar for best picture but in the PC world we live it most likely some POS movie no one ever heard of probably won. Death to the Mouse (Please KILL MICKEY) and I hope Disney has to sell Lucas arts to some company that can do Star Wars justice. Also 1 star was the least I could give this pile of crap.