Aftermath is a long-anticipated glimpse behind the curtain of the new post-Return of the Jedi continuity. Intrigue, espionage, shoot-outs, and space battles surrounding a secret imperial summit on the backwater world of Akiva should have made a compelling introduction to the birth of the New Republic. Instead, the story of that meeting and its disruption by a hastily-assembled group of local rebels unfolds into a fragmented, unfulfilling mess that reveals very little of interest about the state of the galaxy after the Battle of Endor.
Like many Star Wars novels before it, Aftermath attempts to mingle popular movie characters with original heroes and villains. Sadly, the new cast of protagonists mostly fall flat. Sinjir, an Imperial loyalty officer turned accidental Rebel, has some promise, but he rarely gets the chance to shine. Bounty hunting sniper Jas begins the tale as a satisfyingly imposing adventurer but ultimately disappoints. Former Y-Wing pilot Norra has an interesting back story, but I could never bring myself to care about her attempts to heal the rift with her insufferable, pedantic child Temmin. And patched together droid-warrior Mr. Bones (yes, that’s his name) is just stupid. Cringe-worthy, Attack of the Clones-level stupid.
Of all the new cast, I found capable Imperial Admiral Rae Sloane (first introduced in New Dawn) most interesting, particularly enjoying the time spent inside her head as she deals with her evolving self-doubts in the face of crisis. But there’s just not enough revealed of her personality to make her a particularly memorable or sympathetic character. When more familiar faces like Wedge, Mon Mothma, and Ackbar show up, they’re largely wasted. Hotshot pilot Wedge Antilles spends most of the novel on the ground. Mon Mothma spouts political rhetoric. Ackbar just spends time feeling bad about life and making boring decisions. And in the one surprise instance a couple of truly beloved major movie characters appear for a few pages, they immediately set off on a mission to do something exciting and cool, but we never see a moment of their actual adventure.
A hundred pages into the last prominent post-Endor Star Wars story, Heir to the Empire, I couldn’t wait to find out more about Grand Admiral Thrawn, Talon Karrde, Mara Jade, and Joruus C’Baoth. At the end of Aftermath, I’d met almost no one I cared about. The lack of compelling character development highlights a larger problem with Aftermath: everything that’s happening feels so small, so at odds with the more interesting story you feel might be taking place somewhere off-camera.
Sadly, the frequent digressions outside of the main narrative add little of any real interest. Aftermath is interspersed with frequent cut-away interludes, flashes to events in other corners of the galaxy. We catch glimpses of a stirring rebellion of Coruscant, a backroom Tatooine deal over an iconic suit of battle armor, a cultic group attempting to purchase a Sith lightsaber in a seedy tenement. Some of these moments really do grab you for a second…where did that red-bladed saber come from? Who are these Vader-worshiping acolytes? But most of the interludes lead nowhere. Like the main narrative, they reveal little about the people and events defining a new era of the galaxy, too often alluding to more exciting or interesting moments that we never see materialize. They’re stale clues without the promise of a greater mystery revealed, and they add to the general sense of incompleteness that plagues the book.
Aftermath often feels like a tease. I might have been able to embrace the microcosmic approach to Akiva’s intrigues and battles had they provided a satisfying and engaging story. But there’s a haphazard quality to the whole thing, a sense that this is only the first part of a larger work, a leg of a tripod unable to stand on its own. People in the warring galaxy, are confused and frightened, these are times of great uncertainty, a theme driven home again and again, but after a while even danger becomes monotonous.
It’s sad that author Chuck Wendig’s stylistic talents are wasted on such a mediocre and unfulfilling story. He cleverly utilizes tense changes and flashes between events to create a well-woven descriptive tapestry that paired with a stronger narrative could have been truly compelling. But his hands feel tied, and I walked away with the sense there just wasn’t a lot of freedom granted to inhabit the blank slate of the post-Endor universe with compelling people or events.
