Mount Readmore Book Review, 2017 38/100

Aftermath: Empire’s End By Chuck Wendig

Hardback Edition

Finished on 4/20/2017

Goodreads 

Genres: Scifi, Fantasy, Star Wars, Space Opera, YA, Lgbtq, Kickass Female Protagonist

The Empire has fallen, and now the New Republic struggles to pick up the pieces. Can Princess Leia and Mon Mothma retain control of the fledgling democracy? Will the Empire resurrect from its tomb on Jakku? And most importantly, what will be Sinjir’s drink of the day?!

Spoiler-tastic review

This is the first book of the new Star Wars canon I have read, and I am reading it as a part of the Star Wars New Canon Book Club.

This book was popcorn fun. Sometimes you just want something casual to read to unwind. This is one such book. Another (for me at least) would be the Dresden Files. You won’t find any complex literary prose or themes. You won’t find impressive characterization or plot. You’ll find laser swords and blaster battles. Simple fun.

Mr. Wendig wrote this book with a casual voice. Sentences frequently start with ‘Well,’ or ‘Oh,’ or ‘Hmm.’ This includes both dialog AND non-verbal narration, and that takes some getting used to. Additionally the paragraph structure the author employs was a little unconventional in places. Not unconventional bad necessarily, but different from what I was used to and I’m not sure if I liked it or not.

All of the characters, except Sinjir and Sloane, were inoffensively badass. The felt like a Disney Committee had designed them by checking boxes. In particular Temmin suffers from ‘Wesley Crusher’ syndrome of being almost but not quite annoying.

Sinjir and Sloane were the only ones who I actively liked because they had a checkered past and undergo character development during this book.

Who is this book for? Mega fans of the series. Not regular old fans who both like watching Star Wars movies and reading Science Fantasy books, but mega fans. If you are a regular fan of the franchise, be aware that this book was not fantastic but it was innocent fun.

Stay sunny!