Empire's End: Aftermath: Star Wars

The third installment of the Aftermath series was excellent. The pacing was good, the character development truly reached a climax for each main character, and it had great action. It does a fair amount of talking and setup, but the final showdown made it truly worth it. It also answers nicely one of the bigger plot holes in the new canon: how does a militaristic, fiercely loyal, and extremely powerful galactic Empire collapse within a year of Emperor Palpatine's death? As a direct sequel trilogy to the original trilogy, it pails to the original Thrawn trilogy. That is not a bad thing, as the Thrawn trilogy was a pioneering Star Wars work that focuses on the main characters from the movies and pits them against one of literatures' best villains. That is one of my very few problems with the Aftermath trilogy: Gallius Rax, the chief villain, is not overly special. He's not a sith or a brilliant tactician, he's just a powerful politician with a stunning master plan. All of that being said, Empire's End is a great novel that handily concludes the original trilogy era and offers some set up for The Force Awakens. I truly recommend it, but you have two read the previous two books in the trilogy beforehand, preferably in a short time period. It was probably a month between each of the books for reading them, so I forgot a few side plot points by Empire's End.

Color me surprised.Possible spoilersFor as little as I liked the first book in the trilogy, Wendig's Aftermath story really grew on me, and there are some very tantalizing bits that I'm hoping will be expanded on in the future: Mentions of past events in the Star Wars universe that we haven't heard of before? What exactly was Palpatine looking for out in the area beyond the known galaxy? What did Brendol Hux and the other passengers of the Imperialis discover on their voyage, and how did that lead to the creation of the First Order? I know a lot of people were disappointed in the writing off of the Expanded Universe novels in favor of these in-canon novels, but I'm glad it happened. These novels have expanded on the movies and really add to the tapestry of the overall Star Wars universe in ways that the movies probably wouldn't be able to do, and the fact that they are all aware of each other and stick to the same storylines just adds volumes to the SW experience.While I still wish that this entire trilogy had been released prior to the release of The Force Awakens as it really fills in some of the gaps leading up to that movie, the finished product stands strong on its own. And as much as reading Chuck Wendig's writing still bugs me (there's something about how he structures his sentences that drives me nuts when reading it, but listening to the audio works just fine for me - weird, I know) I hope that he is given an opportunity to flesh out some of the other plot lines that were left open or maybe give us some of the backstory to the events mentioned throughout the series from SW history.For fans of SW and especially the new trilogy of films, I think that this would be a necessary reading experience, and something that would still hold up well for the casual SW reader.

While I will agree with some others that this book doesn't butt right up against Episode 7, it does a very nice job of filling in some of the gap, and a great amount of story in the aftermath of the destruction of the second Death Star. It wasn't like they blew the space station up, knocked over a few statues, and then waltzed into the old senate building and started a new government. It does sew the seeds for the First Order, and you get a glimpse of some history and learn Sheev's plan for his empire if he were to die. A rather selfish plan indeed.Taken as a whole all three books keep a the story building. They introduce new characters to care about, and since they are new, some might not make it to the last page. There are a handful of romances as well as a heck of a lot of action. It took a a chapter or two for me to really get into the story, but that might be because it had been a while since I was absorbed in reading an actual book.For those wanting to read a story closer to E7, check out Bloodline, as its time frame is much closer to E7, and does more than hint about a lurking imperial presence.

I enjoyed Wendig's first two installments of the Star Wars: Aftermath trilogy, so I was very much looking forward to Empire's End. So much so, in fact, that I preordered the book in July 2016! Wendig's work was well worth the wait. Besides learning the fate of the Empire, I was most excited about catching up with the fantastic characters introduced in the first two books. There are wonderful character arcs for most of them. We see characters mature, learning more about themselves, their own paths, and their relationships with one another.Incidentally, I am very happy with the diverse mix that Wendig has brought to the Star Wars canon, though other readers are not. To each their own - the galaxy is a big one indeed, and there are plenty of other Star Wars novels to choose from if the Aftermath trilogy is not your cup of caf.I feel that if you enjoyed Zahn's Thrawn Trilogy, you'll like Empire's End (and, of course, the first two books of the Aftermath trilogy). Wendig's present-tense and humorous writing style is a fun change of pace. If you like these books, you might also consider Wendig's Zer0es and Invasive - I've read them both, and they're fantastic. Of course, he has many other books as well, but I haven't read them (yet).May the Force be with you!

Each book better than the last. A welcome bridge in the story. So many possibilities from here. I eagerly look forward to them.

Bom final para a trilogia Aftermath. Fui obrigado a comprar o livro em inglês pois a Editora Aleph não publica mais o livro e ele está esgotado em todas as lojas do varejo.Só peca pela qualidade do livro em si, material e acabamento e não tem os cuidados que a Editora Aleph tinha nas versões em PT-BR. Parece até aquelas versões pockets. De todo modo é um bom livro e ainda aproveitei para treinar o inglês.

All good!

Best book and awesome value for moneyGot it for only mere 200 rupees.Amazon delivery is awesome.It is hardcover moreover.

A decent end to somewhat unbalanced trilogy.As the whole of the trilogy, what works? The settings, the extra information documenting what happened after Endor (which bridges with the Force Awakens), the answers to certain questions and the general immersion in the Star Wars universe.What doesn't work for this trilogy? The rushed writing style which is at times very difficult to follow, lack of immersion, fails to capture the "essence" of Star Wars for me, shoehorning in character cameos.To conclude, it is a missed opportunity to create a truly great transition between the main saga trilogies.I can recommend to Star Wars fans who care enough about the universe, but not to casual readers.