Ex-Imperial interrogator Sinjir Rath Velus is on a similar life path from the opposite side of the war: after deserting during the Battle of Endor, he wants to drown his sorrows in drink and nearly succeeds before being found by the mercenary bounty hunter Jas Emari.Ī key figure on the Imperial side of things is Rae Sloane, an admiral aboard the Star Destroyer Vigilance. Shell-shocked Rebel pilot Norra Wexley flew her Y-Wing into the Death Star II and barely managed to escape, and now returns to her mechanically-oriented teenage son to try to restart her life. The new characters are the true focus of the story, and are some of the most memorable, personable people to come out of Star Wars novels in a long time. The book hits its stride at about halfway through and doesn’t slow down, becoming a fast-burning action scene that include both gunfights and space battles.

When Rebel pilot Wedge Antilles is captured by Admiral Rae Sloane, a group of four reluctant Rebels find themselves breaking into a palace to save him. Both the Empire and the Rebellion are re-forming, and Aftermath shows some of that. Do the New Republic and the Empire become the Resistance and the First Order? Is it even that simple? How different will the new Expanded Universe be from the one fans know and love?īoth the main story in the novel and the two-to-three-page “interludes” in between offer glimpses at the future of the Star Wars universe, especially the galactic governments. Set about 30 years before The Force Awakens, Aftermath is the best opportunity so far to find out what the franchise will look like in the future. It’s only with Aftermath by Chuck Wendig, though, that the new material starts showing what happened after Return of the Jedi, exploring territory once chronicled in a panoply of books and comics but now a daring, new frontier.Īftermath shoulders the burden of answering questions fans have going into The Force Awakens, at least enough to pull back the curtain a little bit on J. The first canon novel, appropriately enough named A New Dawn, tied into the Star Wars Rebels television series.

The first canon story outside The Clone Warswas the comic series Son of Dathomir, an extension of the animated series. It’s been a time of firsts in the Star Wars franchise since Disney purchased Lucasfilm and rebooted most of the continuity.

Star wars aftermath chuck wendig