SPOILER Jelena’s Review of Aftermath: Life Debt by Chuck Wendig

The only reason I think some of the chracters will be killed off is we know Jakku was the Empire's last stand and the 3rd book is called Empire's End. We know the First Order will be formed out of what is left but some these characters in the book seem really invested in the Empire specifically. it seems to me like they will not survive. To me that's mainly Sloane. She seems to be anti FO without even knowing it will come to that eventually. She seems to be disgusted with the FO ideology and we know it does end up going that route.

Gallius Rax being Snoke is WAY too simple IMO too.

 

oh i don't believe for a moment that Rax is Snoke (that makes no sense to me). but i also don't think Rax represents the ideology of the FO if that's what you mean when you said Sloane is anti-FO.

it seems like we're definitely seen the nascence of the FO, but i'm not quite reconciling Rax's methods with what we see in the movie or the book (outside of favoring the indoctrination of children). politically, Rax doesn't seem to fit the FO, actually. i suspect he'll get the ball rolling and there will be a coup of some kind from within whereby Snoke takes over and remolds the organization into what we see of it in TFA.

the FO as it is in TFA strikes me as having qualities of the organization Rax has in mind, but the ideologies actually don't quite match up. in fact, Rax struck me as radically Sidious-minded, which is not the FO to my understanding.
we may learn more or maybe i need to re-read Life Debt. this is just my initial impression.

 

No I agree. Rax isn't quite all out the same as the FO. I just meant that Sloane is definitely not at all. She basically wants the Empire to be the Galactic Police if you break it down as simple as possible. I personally don't even think her idea of the Empire even makes sense based on what we have seen go on in the Galaxy. I think like you said, Rax sets it up but it doesn't take actual shape to what it becomes in TFA until Snoke steps in and finishes the picture.

--- Double Post Merged, Jul 18, 2016, Original Post Date: Jul 18, 2016 ---

I do still think Snoke takes over not according to Rax's plan also.

 

i think the writers have struggled with justifying the Empire ~ i agree Sloane's reasons are only good as far you can believe she's that self-deluded.
Cienna in Lost Stars was the same way.

 

If the Empire was people like Rae Sloane all over and not like Palps, it wouldn't have been so evil.

 

Oh my. One of my predictions is that Brentin does not make it out of Jakku. And Temmin in some way realizes his father is gone in some way and start shifting that paternal image he'd been looking all his short life onto Wedge. So much that by the time we see him again in TFA, he's known as Snap - as Wedge used to call him.

Or - even bloody sadder - Wedge is the one who bites the dust and that's why Temmin starts using the Snap.

Hope the three of them make it. They might take different routes afterwards, but hope they make it.

Agree.

Maybe they will be cell neighbors in the New Republic prison.

Sloane is like the utopic version of the Empire, aiming for order and control following a centralised government. Her moral compass might dwell into the greys, and that is exactly what I like from this work being currently done: not all the Imperials are utterly evil nor all the Rebels are angelic and good.

 

you're so right. Wedge is a dead man. : o p

 

And we still need that "Sad" icon.

 

I like this book quite a bit, so far. I'm not quite halfway in, but so far the narrative is moving briskly, the characters are being given a lot more depth than the first novel, and it also feels like the story of Norra and co. is beginning to be important to the larger story arc, and not just a tangent. I also am really beginning to appreciate Wendig's style. It's casual but not lazy. I think it suits the Star Wars universe far better than Kevin J. Anderson, whom I loathe. He's the reason I gave up on the EU.

Wedge becomes Snap's step-dad? I buy it. I like it! Will we see the Damerons in the next book? The origin of Snoke? What the hell is so important about Jakku?

Yep. I'm in the tank for the Aftermath series. I wasn't sure after the first book, which I liked but didn't love. I've come around.

 

As I'm sure you know what I was getting at was Benicio Del Toro is Peurto Rican. I'm sure he can act w/ any number of accents however, so that's part of the reason it was more just a joke. BDT playing Rax might actually make more sense than any of the other ideas that are out there for his character. Hopefully VIII and IX will have a villain that can match wits with Luke Skywalker and the rest of the heroes because I think that's more feasible than a character that can match Luke with the force. (EDIT: It's obviously setup for Snoke to be the main adversary in IX but as he would say "We shall see..., We shall see.")

 

Thanks for the suggestion. I got the audiobook for a second reading and it is quite nice! To have the music from the movies and the sound effects makes it a different experience!

 

Well. This bit:

Spoiler: Chapter 31

She dreams of herself on a table, dying as her child—no, children—are born.

Either she has a glimpse of the Legends, or sees herself as Padme, or Chuck Wendig is just giving us more food for speculation.

 

I enjoyed aftermath and didn't really understand the criticism of the author. At the end of the day his hands were tied on what he could write and he was probably briefed by the story group to the point that he was more or less a ghost writer. One of the problems I've had with all the novels so far is that they don't really add anything to the larger story. But that is definetly not the case with life dept. But I still feel that we will not get really good Star Wars novels due to the fact that all the good stuff will be kept spoiler free for the films. i think it's a shame that from these two books there's hardly been any mention of Luke or lando and a lot of other characters and events from the original films. But I really enjoyed this book. Looking forward to empires end. And more interludes

 

There was that little bit with Lando in the first Aftermath book, one of the interludes. I imagine they have to stay away from Luke, as much of his story is still a mystery as far as the movies go. I am sure after VIII comes out, we will get more fill in with Luke and his journey. I kind of want some more OT in between the movie stories just for fun too.

 

If they end up doing a spin-off movie with Sebastian Stan as post-ROTJ Luke in his lone journey I won't be mad

 

Lol I guess this would be sort of what I imagine end of Chapter 37 - though maybe Han was more scruffy-looking lol.

 

Canon pregnant Princess Leia seems more badass, than Thrawn Trilogy pregnant Princess Leia.

 

Of course!!! Here she is more on her own, rather than being depending on Winter for a lot of things. Or the Wookies. Or the Noghri.

Agree at first she relies on the Aftermath team for the rescue mission, but at the end she just gives a call to her pal Evaan and steal the MF. Yaaas!