Book Review:Aftermath (Star Wars: Aftermath #1) by Chuck Wendig

Aftermath (Star Wars: Aftermath #1)

by Chuck Wendig

Hardcover, 366 pages

Published September 2015 by Del Rey

Like many Star Wars nerds I was stoked by the job JJ Abrams did on Episode 7. When the mouse house bought star wars I was not worried becausee they seemed to making some good calls. JJ, Lawrence Kasdan, Kathleen Kennedy. All good calls. While I was bummed that all the time I spent reading EU novels got ejected, I understood. You have to relaunch the stories.

I had questions after finishing Force Awakens. Mostly they were in relation to the dynamic between the New republic/ First Order/ resistance. So I intended first to read Alan Dean Foster's novelization. I listened to that one on Audio book and was disappointed that it brought very little to table that was not on the surface of the film.

The book I needed to read was Wendig's Aftermath. The answers were there in this extremely well written an smart re-boot of the SW universe and how it connects between Jedi and Awakens. It answers my questions on what happened in between. As a plotting and narrative structure geek there is alot to get excited about.

Wendig has one through story that follows a set of characters he invented and peppered through out are interludes that take place around the galaxy and give the novel an epic scope. It felt to me that the interludes were setting up novels that will make up the entire re-booted EU. Some like Han and Chewie's interlude just have to be novels. Has to be!

The actual prose was fantastic and will cause me to read more Wendig for sure. His invented characters from rebel fighter Norra Wexley and her son, to imperials like Admiral Slone and the bounty hunters in between are all solid. A fun read that weaves together with perfect pacing. an Excellent Star Wars that bodes well for the EU.