Empire's End by Chuck Wendig

Following Star Wars: Aftermath and Star Wars: Life Debt, Chuck Wendig delivers the exhilarating conclusion to the bestselling trilogy set in the years between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens. 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.

Having finished this first real attempt at post-Return of the Jedi stories in the new canon, I am predictably disappointed.

This new universe doesn't have room for the kind of expansive tales that the now-Legends universe of my childhood did. It's clear that the main characters (Luke, Leia, and Han) are off-limits to the author; they can do nothing notable since their past is reserved for the movie-script-writers. There are no new or innovative villains, but instead simple ones vaguely gesturing toward the future threat of the First Order. There can be no exploration of the nature of the Force, the establishment of a new Jedi order, or exotic alien threats. All of that would interfere with the backdrop for the new movies, and is thus outside the realm of the new EU.

Instead, we get a story about a new set of nobodies pursuing short-term objectives, and accomplishing foregone conclusions. The author tries to make them sympathetic and interesting, but in the end they're not our Star Wars characters from the movies; they're the author's inventions, who we know will not be carried forward unless this particular author writes yet more novels. This can be done well (see the now-Legends Rogue Squadron novels), but in this case it wasn't, perhaps due to Wendig's young-adult-novel writing style.

Given this precedent, I don't see a way forward for the new canon to achieve anything like the breadth and depth of the Legends Universe. The filmmakers clearly want to be unrestricted, leaving the books to fill in their wake instead of interleave into a single shared universe. Books in the new canon may provide an interesting diversion, but they won't recapture what we had.

As such, for fans like me who want an expansive Star Wars universe, it's best we return our attentions to the old Legends universe. We can re-read the stories it provides, while accepting the fact that its timeline will not continue indefinitely as we'd hoped.

Mr Bones, Mr Bones,
Calling Mr Bones
Mr Bones, Mr Bones...

Sigh.

For a series that started out well, the second book underwhelmed and this conclusion is just drawn out and disappointing.

The only reason I gave two stars was due to one wonderful interlude with Lando and Lobot.

Good

A well-told end to an important coda to Return if the Jedi with some delicious bridges to The Force Awakens.

Executive Summary: A decent conclusion, but not as good as [b:Life Debt 26895161 Life Debt (Star Wars Aftermath, #2) Chuck Wendig https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1449268300s/26895161.jpg 47250982].Audiobook: I love the Star Wars audiobooks. At least when Marc Thompson is narrating. He does so many voices and really adds that extra something that makes this a mandatory audio selection for me. Ordinarily I'd be opposed to the sound effects and music, as in most audiobooks they seem distracting or make it hard to hear the narration, but once again the people who do the Star Wars books did a fantastic job.Full ReviewThis series was a bit of up and down for me. I'm not sure what I was expecting when I first picked it up. I've never read anything by Chuck Wendig outside of this series. I found [b:Aftermath 25131600 Aftermath (Star Wars Aftermath, #1) Chuck Wendig https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1426620007s/25131600.jpg 44828548] a little underwhelming, although not for the reasons most people did. I thought [b:Life Debt 26895161 Life Debt (Star Wars Aftermath, #2) Chuck Wendig https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1449268300s/26895161.jpg 47250982] was the best of the trilogy, but that this book was better than the first one.This was pitched to bridge the gap between episodes 6 and 7, and I thought by the end it did a so-so job of that. Often times it felt like the main plot was too far removed from the bigger events. Likely this is due to Disney saving it for one of the 500 movies they have in the works. There are some good ties to some of the movies, but not enough for my liking. I think it would have been better pitched as simply a story that takes place in-between the two movies rather than a bridge.I will say Mr. Wendig's original characters really grew on me. It's always tough to come into a series with such well known/loved characters and then proceed to create your own to tell a story. It definitely took awhile for me to warm up to them, but I liked them all by the end of this trilogy. I wouldn't mind seeing them show up again somewhere else.Overall this was a decent series, but easily skippable. If you're looking for some extra Star Wars stories, there are probably some better options out there. If you're a fanatic and just have to read it all, this series was certainly enjoyable enough for me anyways.