Book Review: 'Star Wars: Aftermath: Empire's End' (Book Three of the Aftermath Trilogy)

(C) 2017 Del Rey Books and Lucasfilm Ltd.

On February 21, 2017, Random House's Del Rey Books imprint published Star Wars: Aftermath: Empire's End, the final volume in author Chuck Wendig's Aftermath trilogy. Set in the turbulent days after the Battle of Endor, the destruction of the second Death Star, and the deaths of Emperor Sheev Palpatine and Darth Vader, Wendig's trio of canonical Star Wars novels reveals some of the events that occur in that "galaxy far, far away" between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens. 

Wendig begins Empire's End with a short prologue set before the Battle of Endor. Emperor Palpatine, perhaps sensing his approaching demise, orders Imperial Fleet Admiral Gallius Rax aboard the still incomplete Death Star II to receive his final instructions:

"I need you to be ready."

"I am always ready." 

"It may soon be time for the Contingency." 

At that, Rax's throat tightens. My destiny...

Palpatine continues: "You will go far away from here. You will take the Ravager and hide in the Vulpinus Nebula until the events of this shatterpoint resolve."

"How will I know?

" You will know. I will send a sentinel."

Rax is a Palpatine loyalist and will obey the Emperor's commands, even it means that someday - perhaps soon - he will return to his home world of Jakku. There, in a facility known as the Observatory, lies the key to Palpatine's last gambit to reverse the Empire's doom - and restore his dark vision for the galaxy. 

Wendig then picks up the narrative shortly after the events of Star Wars: Aftermath: Life Debt. New Republic pilot Norra Wexley, her son Temmin, Zabrak bounty hunter Jas Emari, former Special Forces trooper Jom Barell, and ex-Imperial loyalty officer Sinjir Ras Velis are on the planet Taris on a sting operation to catch Mercurial Swift, a bounty hunter with connections to Grand Admiral Rae Sloane.  The team captures Swift and gives him the third degree regarding Sloane's whereabouts. But the bounty hunter resists the interrogation - until Sinjir warns Swift that if he doesn't cooperate, Norra's team will send Temmin's modified B-1 battle droid, Mr. Bones, to pay Mercurial's mother a little visit.  

Defeated, frightened, and angry, Mercurial reveals to the team of Imperial hunters that he saw Sloane and an unidentified male on Jakku, a miserable desert world somewhere in the Western Reaches of the Empire. He also mentions that the fugitive Grand Admiral was seeking a ship called the Imperialis and a mysterious man called Rax. Norra and the team then leave Taris to continue their search for Sloane, and a vengeful Swift decides to collect an outstanding Black Sun bounty on Jas - knowing that she is heading for Jakku.

As the final showdown between the New Republic and the Empire draws near, all eyes turn to a once-isolated planet: Jakku.

The Battle of Endor shattered the Empire, scattering its remaining forces across the galaxy. But the months following the Rebellion's victory have not been easy. The fledgling New Republic has suffered a devastating attack from the Imperial remnant, forcing the new democracy to escalate their hunt for the hidden enemy.

For her role in the deadly ambush, Grand Admiral Rae Sloane is the most wanted Imperial war criminal—and one-time rebel pilot Norra Wexley, back in service at Leia's urgent request, is leading the hunt. But more than just loyalty to the New Republic drives Norra forward: Her husband was turned into a murderous pawn in Sloane's assassination plot, and now she wants vengeance as much as justice.

But Sloane, too, is on a furious quest: pursuing the treacherous Gallius Rax to the barren planet Jakku. As the true mastermind behind the Empire's devastating attack, Rax has led the Empire to its defining moment. The cunning strategist has gathered the powerful remnants of the Empire's war machine, preparing to execute the late Emperor Palpatine's final plan. As the Imperial fleet orbits Jakku, an armada of Republic fighters closes in to finish what began at Endor. Norra and her crew soar into the heart of an apocalyptic clash that will leave land and sky alike scorched. And the future of the galaxy will finally be decided. - Dust jacket blurb - Star Wars: Aftermath: Empire's End

Meanwhile, on Chandrila, former General Han Solo and his wife, Princess Leia Organa, mull over the changes in their life since the Battle of Endor. The Galactic Civil War is over - or almost so. The Emperor and Darth Vader are gone, but systems such as Tatooine, Horuz, Kerev Doi, and Demesel are either under Imperial occupation or controlled by criminal syndicates. Leia wants the New Republic to free them, too, but the Senate is too timid - cowardly, in Leia's mind - to do so expeditiously.  Leia, who has been fighting the Empire for as long as she can recall, doesn't like this: to her way of thinking, Mon Mothma is too soft on military issues and is leaving the New Republic wide open for another attack by the shattered Galactic Empire.

And as if that wasn't enough, Leia is pregnant; she and Han are expecting a baby boy that they have already named Ben. Like any good prospective parent, she wants this war to end so she and Han can raise their son in a galaxy free from the traumas of war and the shadows of the Empire's tyranny

Leia knows that Grand Admiral Sloane is still at large, and that as long as the remnants of the Empire still have the ships and troops to resist the New Republic, the war will go on. Determined to finish the job the former Rebel Alliance started at the Battle of Endor, Leia assigns Norra Wexley and her team to find and capture Sloane - and thus hasten the Empire's end.

My Take:

Chuck Wendig's Star Wars: Aftermath trilogy covers only a short period of the 30-year gap between Star Wars - Episode VI: Return of the Jedi and Star Wars - Episode VII: The Force Awakens. This novel is set roughly a year after the Battle of Endor, so if you expect to find out everything about the origins of the First Order and the creation of Starkiller Base, or even how Kylo Ren comes to be, you're in for a disappointment.  Other novels written by other authors, including Claudia Gray (Bloodline)  will explore the genesis of the Resistance and the rise of Snoke and the First Order.

Not that Wendig doesn't sow some seeds for the Sequel Trilogy in Aftermath: Empire's End. As you can probably imagine, the novel does take the reader to Jakku, where the Empire's forces will make their desperate last stand.  Much of the book's last chapters delve into the Battle of Jakku - and Wendig even mentions the fall of that forlorn Imperial AT-AT seen lying on its side not far from the crashed hulk of a Star Destroyer in The Force Awakens. 

We also learn that Niima Outpost is named after a wily and deadly crime boss; that Brendol Hux's young son Armitage - already ruthless and an integral part of Rax's plan to train children to be killers for the Empire - will be the First Order's military leader; and we also see Ben Solo - the future Kylo Ren - as a cute infant who captures the hearts of his parents - Han and Leia. 

Wendig also takes the reader into side jaunts to other parts of the galaxy. In one, Lando Calrissian returns to Cloud City, now under Imperial occupation, and liberates it with the help of his friend and aide, Lobot. On Naboo, we see what happened to one of the saga's most divisive characters, and on Coruscant, we see what becomes of Grand Vizier Mas Amedda - Palpatine's Chagrian toady and Vice Chancellor during the last years of the Republic and the early days of the Empire. 

Although Wendig's writing style takes some getting used to, after reading two novels written in a spare, no-frills (and present tense/omniscient) narrative you know what to expect. Some readers might still find it too terse or comic book-like, but it works for me. Wendig is particularly good at creating characters that are interesting and entertaining, and even though sometimes I wish his prose was more like Timothy Zahn's, I still think he does a good job in Aftermath: Empire's End. 

All in all, Star Wars: Aftermath: Empire's End is an exciting conclusion to Wendig's first literary journey to the Star Wars galaxy. Despite what some of his detractors have said about his bona fides, Chuck Wendig is both a good writer and knowledgeable Star Wars fan. Based on his work on this trilogy, Disney-owned Marvel Comics also hired Wendig to write the script for its well-received four-issue comics adaptation of Star Wars: The Force Awakens.