TOPIC: Star Wars: Aftermath (Spoilers & Discussion)

Started reading Aftermath this morning, will update this post w/new info as I read it. Some snippets of the old cannon (OC) are being incorporated and I'll mark that info with (OC). So, spoilers:

• Information about the destruction of the Death Star II and the deaths of Palpatine and Vader is spreading throughout the galaxy.
• The Imperials are reeling from the loss of their best commanders and trained combatants when the Death Star and the Executor were destroyed (OC).
• Wedge no longer flying fighters but performing long range reconnaissance to track Imperial forces.
• The Imperials are being pushed back to the Outer Rim.
• New Republic (no longer the Alliance/Rebellion) is disseminating propaganda about the Imperial losses at Endor.
• There is a new Senate on Chandrila (the birthplace of the Rebellion in the OC) headed by Mon Mothma.
• Star Destroyers have game rooms.
• Fulcrum (aka Asohka Tano) recruited Wedge to the Rebellion.
• Offhand description of “images of men in dark robes with red faces” on a vase (OC: the Sith race?).
• Mon Mothma wants to cut the New Republic’s military forces by 90% after the war has ended (perhaps this is why there is a “Resistance” in TFA; the New Republic is fighting a proxy war with the New Order).
• A figure called the “Operator” is feeding the New Republic Imperial intel.
• Interesting character: Tashu, a former advisor to Palpatine versed in Sith lore but not a Force adept.
• “Carrack” class Imperial cruiser mentioned (OC, first seen in “The Truce at Bakura”).
• An Imperial forces summit (Moffs, Admirals, etc.) agree that the Death Stars were a tactical mistake and agree not to repeat pouring so many resources into a single weapon. Palpatine described by a "point of view character" (Imperial Admiral Shale) as "a decrepit old goblin who believed in the 'dark side' of some ancient, insane religion."
• VERY interesting monologue from Tashu that’s probably a TFA clue: This commentary line up well with the premise of the Thrawn trilogy from the EU; Palpatine spread his resources out into the Unknown Regions and found people like Thrawn.
• Some planets are now under attack by pirates with the order the Empire supplied gone.
• Blue milk mentioned (Bwah-hah-ha!), Cereans as well (Ki-Adi-Mundi's species).
• Tashu mentions that the Sith could siphon the Force energy of their captives to strengthen their connection to the dark side and lengthen their lives into the centuries.
• Dengar appears in an interlude and is worrying about the future of bounty hunters in a New Republic galaxy.
• HUGE TFA tie-in: “Acolytes of the Beyond” who claim that “We are not violent. Not yet.” Are hunting down Sith artifacts and Vader related things. They buy a red lightsaber (maybe Vaders) and plan to destroy it “So that it can be returned to its master in death.”
• Han and Chewie are investigating Imperial supply lines. Brief mention of the Wookies being used to build the Death Star(s). Han is feeling constrained by the New Republic and is going AWOL to help free Kashyyyk.
• Coruscant is still under Imperial control.
• An interlude on Tatooine features two people haggling over “acid” dented Mandalorian armor. Hmm. I wonder what this is an oblique reference to? *sarcasm* Their is still a power vacuum after Jabba's death.
• Lobot and co. are trying to take back Cloud City.
• Bickering Imperials (a Moff and an Admiral) make an oblique reference to someone thought dead, but not really dead. Clearly not Palpatine but someone important enough to have a Super Star Destroyer.
• An interlude on Jakku sets it up as a place as a place where things end up that nobody wants.
• It is revealed that the Imperial Fleet Admiral who orchestrated the culling of inept Imperial leaders on Akiva (where 80% of the story takes place) is a mastermind tactician, appreciates art, and plans on operating out of the Unknown Regions. This is some severe Thrawn baiting if I’ve ever seen it. It probably isn’t a character named Thrawn but will probably be some kind of analogue.

My Thoughts
A satisfying read. No A-List characters appear for more than a few pages. Han is the only one of the big three to have a chapter devoted to him, Luke is briefly mentioned, and Leia appears in propaganda vids so anyone looking to see them swashbuckle around the galaxy will be disappointed. This novel is interested in setting up the status quo for the Imperials and the New Republic and is not invested in spelling out exactly what happened post-Endor to the main characters. I feel like the POV characters are well written and the main Imperial antagonist, Adm. Sloan (last seen in New Dawn) is generally a likeable character cut from the same cloth as Pellaeon from the OC.
There are some major teases about the fate of some characters like Fett (heavy insinuations he escaped the Sarlac) and there are some nascent ideas that see some development (such as Vader fanatics in the vein of Kylo Ren). The author really can’t do much more than tease as this far out from the release of TFA no major plot points or character motivations can be revealed. Han’s solo act (couldn’t help the pun) seem to be setting him up for a split from the New Republic. I'm interested to see where the next two books in the trilogy take this.

h2soy wrote:
This one makes me think of Rhinann, the Elomin who used to advise Darth Vader and joined Jax Pavan "Rebellion" group to escape certain death. This sure seems interesting ! ^^

Tashu is one of those dudes who wore the purple robes on the Death Star in ROTJ. I think more Sith related info will come out of him later.

I googled Tashu, it's apparently also the name of a very attractive Indian actress/model.

I will have to pick that up before seeing the movie. Thi thing I am most curious about, which you touched on is, if there is a New Republic, what is the Resistance all about?

Not touched on at all in this novel. This is the first of a trilogy so if something happens it'll probably be in a later book. I can speculate that this bit: is relevant to that topic. I could see the New Republic and the Empire settling into a cold war and funding proxy factions that become the Resistance and the New Order (NO) since they can't "officially" be at war with each other. Most of the wars of the latter part of the 21st century (and today) were/are operated in this manner. Also the Fantasy Flight X-Wing miniature game's new core set has the Resistance and the NO as sub-factions of the Rebel/Imperial factions so that could be pertinent to the political situation in TFA.

That is a cool theory.

I'm seeing pretty so-so reviews on this book, which is a bit of a bummer. Even the ones that like it sortve say it almost apologetically. With movies and books I still go for it and figure out my own opinion, but its too bad it doesnt seem to really be thrilling people that much.

Darth Floyd wrote:
Maybe the Resistance is a Republic-supported insurgency within areas still controlled by the Imperial Remnant?

I think people were expecting something along the lines of a new Thrawn Trilogy which was an engaging galaxy wide adventure that shook up the status quo for the Big 3 (Han, Luke, Leia) and introduced a number of lasting characters and concepts to the EU.

The problem is that there's that 30 year span between ROTJ and TFA were none of the main characters from TFA can be introduced and the Big 3 can't be played with because the new status quo being introduced in TFA needs to be "fresh" for the movie. No new persistent characters or concepts can be introduced either because of the TFA factor; things can only be hinted at. This is a very "safe" book, it can't play with all the toys in the toy box.

The new characters are ok but are no Mara Jade or Thrawn. The only real standout out is Sloan because she's a competent Imperial officer who standouts because everyone else is either venal (moffs), incompetent (other officers), or a nut (Tashu).
That seems likely too. Unless there's some sorta Imp attack which takes out the new Senate it seems like the Resistance and the NO are split off factions.

I am seeing some harsh reviews as well on Amazon. I think the disturbing thing is that it's more the quality of the prose that's being attacked than the story, although that's being ripped on too. ( I expected most of the negativity to be about the difference between the old extended universe vs this new interpretation.)

In any case, if you have a kindle you can download a free sample from Amazon. I downloaded and will take a look today. At least that will give me a taste of the writing.

Good news is that Dark Disciple is receiving very positive reviews, and I've always liked the Asajj character

Interesting. I like Asajj but I reeeeeally didn't like the book. Clunky dialogue, awkward romance, characters serving the plot rather than characters driving the plot. Not my cuppa tea.
The prose isn't that bad compared to other Star Wars novels I've read. I think people are so disappointed because they were wanted movie level plotting and action. What they got was something more akin to a script from the "Rebels" animated show (stuck on one planet, lots of interpersonal interactions taking up pages). Interestingly the majority of the characters in the novel are women (3 of the 5 POV characters are female) and I wonder if that's a factor making a subconscious influence.

So... prequel level, then?

LOL, yeah, or season 1 Clone Wars level.

Thanks for the summary of story points. After looking over the sample chapter, there's no way I can handle reading the entire book, or condone giving the author money. Post-Disney books continue to bat zero for me...

A shame, because the writing in the comics is so damned good.

The Kindle sample is brief, only a chapter, but I think it's enough of a taste to form an impression: I actually didn't think it was half bad. The writer has his own style which I would describe as a punchy plain-style of prose that sometimes comess across as stilted, but it's definitely not aimed at the young adult crowd or dumbed-down, which is what I was really afraid of. I thought the single chapter did a decent job of trying to tie in the new fragmented nature of the Empire with an episode involving a familiar character, Wedge. I think I probably will download the rest of the book, but we'll have to see if it holds up past a single chapter...

Almost universally, I am seeing feedback for this book that basically boils down to "good story, bad writer".

Is it worth forking out the 14 bucks for the Kindle version, or no?

Ehhhhh.... Maybe when it drops to $9 in a month or two. The plot points are listed are the most interesting thing about the novel and they comprise about.... 15% of the book?

h2soy wrote:
Well that's disappointing.

Though, I've also heard that the author supposedly wrote the book in a month and a half, "and it shows". Not sure if the thinness of plot is the fault of the author, or the list of bullet points he was told to hit by the new regime, however.

I'll probably try to find a copy eventually, at least to get up to date on the salient points. Seeing as how the only other Star Wars novels I've ever read were the novelization of ESB and I, Jedi, I figure at least I'm not in for as much EU-related disappointment as some of y'all have been subjected to.

While I have to admit that all of this discussion has dulled my enthusiasm for this book, I will likely pick-it up anyway, just so that I can form my own opinion, and know those things that they really wanted to cover in the lead-up to the movie.

If the storytelling is really lacking, it would be rather disappointing, as I have read a lot of SW novels that I thoroughly enjoyed. I would submit that the novelizations (combined with the Clone Wars series) of the prequel movies gave me a new appreciation for them. Of course, it is true that no movie should require supporting material to appreciate, but I found the nuances portrayed in the books added a great deal more depth to the characters, especially Anakin Skywalker. Knowing what was going through his mind definitely helped understand his fall to the dark side. Much better than the sometimes ham-handed way it was portrayed on-screen, and let's face it - his fall to the dark side was pretty much what all 6 of the movies revolved around, in some fashion. So, having a better understanding of it feed through your whole experience. At least, it did for me.