SPOILER Chuck Wendig - Aftermath (Journey to The Force Awakens)

i finally finished reading this (took me forever because i kept getting interrupted).
i agree with a lot of things that people have already said, though i absolutely disagree that it's badly written in terms of grammar or style. to be honest i liked Wendig's style a lot more than Gray's in Lost Stars, which i felt was too internal monologuey, which just dampered the pace. Wendig kept things moving (and as others have noted, was far more cinematic, which is what i personally want from a Star Wars novel).

my main criticisms are Norra dying too many dang times and many of the interludes were just too random/jarring/lacked payoff. some of it worked as just seeing the big picture, but there were other moments where you wanted to know where it was going, but it wasn't going anywhere (the orphans, Dengar, etc.).

loved Sinjir, loved Jas. loved Norra until she just wouldn't stay dead ~ hahaha.

glad i decided to read this. i don't feel like it gives a whole lot of minable clues for the future, but it does have many nice moments and the Rae/Admiral scene at the end is certainly quite the tease.

 

Dengar's space diapers and the fact that the GFFA just got twitter didn't bother you?

 

i've discovered that very little bothers me compared to some fans ~ hahaha

 

Not a bad way to be my friend. I actually kind of envy you in the fact that you enjoyed Aftermath. I really tried to like it but I just didn't care for it at the end of the day, mainly because I never grew attached to the new characters other than Sinjir. That being said, I'm happy that other fans were able to enjoy it.

 

Sinjir was definitely the highlight!
i actually didn't care much for Temmin (he was a bit trying for me), but i did like Mr. Bones.
was it a great book? not especially. but yeah, i totally enjoyed it for what it was.

i'm looking forward to Bloodline now, though i hope Gray has a different prose style for her adult fiction as opposed to her young adult fiction ~ else i'll be skimming a lot ~ hahaha

 

I agree, good to see multiple takes on Star Wars for different kinds of readers. I feel the same, I want a book to feel like a book. I feel that different forms of media have different strengths. Novels in particular usually deliver stronger characterization through more introspective approaches. I suppose that's why a lot of Star Wars readers enjoy the books more than other fans, we're expecting them to feel like books rather than movies. That's not to say that they don't feel like Star Wars, but rather, Star Wars from a different perspective.

For me, while there was definitely a form of immediacy to be found in Wendig's style, it didn't make up for the lack of character development. I can see why some might like it though. I can't help but wonder, given his writing style and the fact that he's also a comic book writer and screen writer, whether his story might have worked better as a comic or movie.

 

oh absolutely! different tastes and all.

i don't want literature from Star Wars, i enjoy it at a much fluffier level. and i think @Admiral Petty's comparison to a comic book is apropos. and i read a lot of comics, so it makes sense that the style would resonate. i'm generally a much bigger fan of spare writing overall (literary or otherwise).

it's interesting how we have the exact opposite impression of the two writers. i think i described Gray in the Lost Stars thread as just filling in every detail and so heavily expositional (for my tastes) that i felt talked down to (as though she was writing for a specific audience who might not do the work themselves).

that's just my impression of most YA work in general. i know it's a style that people like, though, specifically because of the richness of that introspection.
i think i just prefer character who do rather than who think.

 

Well, it wasn’t a book that immediately grabbed my attention and reeled me in. In fact, for the first few chapters I had to literally force myself to keep wading through the murky present tense writing style, and the jerky, start, stop sentences. However, by the end I was glad I didn’t give it away. I don’t know if the writing improved as it went along, or if my brain adjusted to the writing style, but slowly I warmed up to the characters and the story. Not really a fan of the cinematic writing style, as cinema will always be better at visually portraying the story than descriptive words in a novel ever could be. Novels need to be more than just a description of what could be happening on a screen in front of you, even if the description is clever or apt. Aftermath was a bit of a wasted opportunity to not delve more deeply into the innermost thoughts and feelings of the characters, as this is where novels definitely have it over the cinema. It’s one thing to guess from the images and sounds what is going on in a situation or a character’s head, it’s another to be able to peer into their specific thoughts.

Superficial prose style aside, some of the characters were great regardless. M.Bones, the fiercely protective battle droid who seems to have been resurrected through voodoo and creative programming is definitely a highlight. As is Sinjir, the astute, broken ex-Empire Loyalty Officer who doesn’t quite know where his loyalties lie, and can only see failure and weakness everywhere he looks. Dulling his senses in the bottom of a bottle to deal with his pain and disconnect. His character development was definitely the most complex and interesting in the novel. I despised the reasonably well written Tashu, the sycophantic Sith occultist who seemed really only good for adding conjecture on where relics of the Sith ended up. Sloan was also a great example of a grey character, fiercely loyal to the Empire, but really hard to hate. In fact loyalty seemed to be a pervasive theme throughout the novel. Family loyalty was examined through Temmin and Norra, loyalty to your faction with Sinjir and Norra, loyalty to your friends, such as with Bones and Temmin and loyalty to your ideals.

Some of the twists and turns were enjoyable enough, though sometimes felt a bit contrived and left me feeling a bit played with and slightly cheated. The obvious one being with various characters who seemed to rival cats for the amount of lives they seemed to have. I did enjoy how some characters seemed to be easy to pigeon hole at first, but then surprised you with a bit of wild west justice.

My biggest gripe is that even though I get this novel is a set up for a trilogy, I didn’t think all the different stories were connected into a cohesive enough whole for this novel. That’s not too say I didn’t enjoy them, but I didn’t always get why certain stories were in the novel, or why they were important to the story now. Just not done cleverly enough for me, or I missed the point. I admit I probably continued reading whole sections after my brain had lapsed into a coma from wading through too much documentary narrative, so I probably did miss a bit.

Anyway, I’m still glad I read the novel, and not only for the canonical tidbits spread through it like breadcrumbs through the dark forest. It definitely sucked me in more as it went along, and I went from hating it at the start, to thoroughly enjoying it by the end.

Just my thought and experiences. Happy reading.

 

I saw that as well, it was a nice post by Mr Wendig.

 

This is crazy.

 

I know. Great post. I mean, people need to get over it. I mean, there might be things I don't entirelly like from the new canon, but let's face it, it is just like life. If real life was a book and I was a reader, of course there will be stuff we won't like at all - as Prince and David Bowie dead during this year - but we have to live with it. It is just a story, and I agree with his comment: go to fanfiction. I have read my fair share of Legends and there are stories I didn't like at all - like "Splinter in the Mind's Eye" or ""Shadows of the Empire" - but let's pretend they are stories that can coexist in another realm with the current canon. I sort of have come to terms with the fact that there is no more Jaina or Jacen but in my books they are still there. But at the same time I have Kylo and Rey. I guess the comics fans can give their example as how sometimes the movies don't reflect entirely what the comics have released.

 

I'm a simple guy, I take what is given.

Acceptance is one way to the light

 

Agreed, the way some of the fans of the EU community has acted has kinda embarrassed me as an EU fan myself. I get passionately loving something, but when it becomes a negative thing that you are spewing at other people, you have a problem.

This is the comment I wrote on the blog post in response to Mr Wendig's open letter.

Cool blog post Mr Wendig. I’m one of those people who had invested a lot of time in EU/Legends material previously. I was initially irked at the supposed disrespect the EU was receiving way back when The Clone Wars first started airing and it became apparent that George didn’t hold the EU in any way to be canon. The most painful part being when a series I loved was canned because of the story point from TCW that made the Mandalorians pacifists, that series being Karen Traviss’ Republic Commando series. That particular event caused me to stop reading EU material for quite a while, what’s the point of getting invested in a new book series if it can be either cancelled or forced into a messy retcon because of a children’s show.

In fact, that realization showed me a huge problem with the EU at that point in time. Even though it wasn’t considered canon by the higher ups at Lucasfilm, any new stories always had to line up with the canon material, which even led to Mr Chee creating the Levels of Canon. It led to awkward things like having to retcon multiple character deaths and so on. Rather than the EU being a separate living entity like say, how both Marvel and DC have comics completely separate from their movie continuities, the EU was awkwardly chained to the films and television shows, forced to acknowledge what changes they had made, but frequently receiving little love in return.

That realization is ultimately what led me to quit reading the EU at the time. I’m alright with the occasional continuity gaffes here and there, even with a well told story that is outside of canon, but I’m not alright with a story being forced to change due to other forms of media that don’t even acknowledge that story in the first place. I suppose that that realization ahead of time is what made me fine with the decanonization of the EU when it happened, after all, it was never truly canon in George’s eyes to begin with.

Another thing that gave me perspective on it was being a comic book fan. Anyone who has been a fan of comics for a decent period of time will be familiar with the fact that characters and backstories change all the time, frequently at the whims of the new creative teams who start their respective runs on those characters. The more reasonable readers will see that is usually a good thing(not always, but mostly) for the stories involved. That doesn’t even include the hard reboots of the universes like DC has done several times through the years. Even then though, that doesn’t tarnish my enjoyment of stories I loved in the previous continuity. I’ll always love Batman Year One, it may no longer be canon, but its still a great story. Having an open minded approach also allows me to love the new material, I adore Scott Snyder’s new take on Batman’s origin with Year Zero for instance. Other great stories I loved like The Dark Knight Returns and Superman Red Son were never canon to begin with.

As for the new material from LucasFilm that is in the books and comics, its nice to know that it is planned out ahead of time and wont be interrupted or changed mid story because of other forms of media. Thus far I’ve really enjoyed most of the new material, with my enjoyment being increased by the fact that I can pick up a book series without worrying that it wont be allowed to tell its story naturally. I do hope to see some Legends elements like Thrawn reappear in new material at some point down the line. With people like yourself, members of the Story Group and Dave Filoni who have always shown love and appreciation for old Legends stories, I have no doubt that we will see some more Legends material creep into the stories down the line. As long as its done organically and not at the expense of good storytelling, that’s only a good thing in my opinion.

 

Quoting Ahsoka: "There is a little bit of truth in Legends". Great post.

 

What a bunch of whiny spoiled brats. The sooner they go away the better.

 

I am currently reading "Aftermath" and so far I am enjoying it. Just one thing I was thinking about: Wedge was recruited by Fulcrum. When that exactly would had happened? My guess is that it might have been right before Malachor. But did Ahsoka keep her identity hidden from the rest even when the Lothal rebels knew she was Ahsoka Tano? Just wondering.

 

Good catch!

I am willing to bet that it happened sometime during Season 1. Bear in mind that Hera did know the true identity of Fulcrum. She kept it a secret from the rest of the crew. I am sure that was a similar situation with other small rebel groups; one point-of-contact for less risk, and I am sure Tano was busy.

I am going to go out on a limb here and guess we will be reading about Tano's recruitment of Wedge in the novel that's coming later this year.

 

Nice eye. I forgot about that one.

My question is about page 41. There is a conversation between a couple of women talking about camera shots or something and one of them says " Don't forget, too, to get a shot of the art installation in the city circle-- it's a bunch of stormtrooper helmets painted different colors, marked with different symbols like flowers and starbursts and Alliance sigils. It's by the artist--" Could this a reference to Sabine? Who we know likes to " Decorate " Imperial property, especially stormtrooper helmets and is known as the " Artist " in Rebels. Or could it be just someone else? Anyway just thought I'd ask your opinion on it.