SPOILER FREE
Aftermath – Life Debt is the 10th novel released in Star Wars canon. It’s the second installment of the Aftermath trilogy and was written by New York Times Bestselling Author, Chuck Wendig
Summary: We have a rag tag team of characters that we were introduced to in the first book. The soldier, the pilot, bounty hunter, the imperial, and a droid sidekick. This team works for the New Republic, combing the galaxy for high ranking officials of the empire. Though the Empire suffered a major blow from what we witnessed in Return of the Jedi and read about in the first Aftermath installment, they haven’t completely fallen yet. This team is also tasked with an important mission, to find the missing Han Solo. Han Solo and Chewbacca both went missing on their quest to liberate Kashyyyk from the empires grip.
While the Empire is struggling for control of not just the galaxy but control within itself, Admiral Sloane is on a personal mission to uncover the true identity of the man calling all the shots throughout “her” Empire.
Characters: Only a few new characters are introduced including the high ranking antagonist, Gallius Rax. He somewhat interesting, manipulates those around him to his will. Some may speculate he may actually be Supreme Leader Snoke, I think not. The main characters such as Norra Wexley and SInjir, are okay, I still don’t care about these characters. The pet droid, Bones, hate him! “Roger roger.” Han Solo and Leia, written poorly… too whiney and absent of the voice have in other books and especially the films. I’d say he did a bad job with Mon Mothma, but because we don’t have her much in the films, we don’t know who the character really is, nothing to compare to… so that said, I don’t like Mon Mothma. Not the way she was written, but just as a character in general.
Overall Review: Alright, I hated Aftermath. My expectations were too high for the book. So upon the release of Aftermath Life Debt, I lowered them greatly and accepted the story being told. This book wasn’t my favorite. It wasn’t horrible either. I didn’t connect with the characters of the New Republic, I found Rax and Sloane interesting – I think it’s because Wendig did a better job writing the Empire, the New Republic coverage was tiring. The book has a lot of sexual content, still odd to have in what’s supposed to be a family friendly story. I lost count of how many characters pinched their brow. The writing style is still not my thing, there were a lot of predictable and convenient moments. The end of the book was indeed the best book, not because it was over! But because that’s when it got really interesting. I can’t believe I’m going to say it, but I’m looking forward to January’s release of Aftermath: Empire’s End.
Rating: I give this book a 2.5 out 5