I’m an unashamed nerd and I can hardly wait for the return
of Star Wars to the cinemas this December. So you can imagine how happy I was
to hear that there would be a trilogy of novels leading up to the events of The
Force Awakens, which we’ll all see on the big screen in not too many weeks’
time!
When Disney announced that the hundreds of expanded universe
(EU) novels were all going to be tagged as not-canon, I was incredibly
disappointed, because a heap of really great writers – Timothy Zahn, Michael A.
Stackpole and Aaron Alston amongst them – did some wonderful work, expanding
first on the original trilogy, and then on the prequel trilogy, and giving us
some memorable characters in the process: Mara Jade, Talon Kaarde, Corran Horn
and, of course, Grand Admiral Thrawn.
And let me tell you, if this is the indication of what’s to
come for Star Wars novels, I won’t bother. Chuck Wendig’s writing style is
infuriating, and his method of storytelling leaves a lot to be desired. Sure,
it’s not as bad as E.L. James’ work, but it isn’t much better. Some of the
descriptions and phrases he uses are something I expect to see from fan
fiction.
For the record, not all of the new canon novels are bad.
Paul S. Kemp’s Lords of the Sith featuring
Vader and Palpatine in the early years of their partnership was great. So was
John Jackson Miller’s A New Dawn.
Sadly, Aftermath doesn’t even come
close. The fact that Wendig is going to be writing the trilogy is going to make
it tough going for me – and, judging by a few reviews I’ve read online, a lot
of others – to get my fix of pre-movie events.
It’s a shame, because the story, set not too far after the
Battle of Endor, is pretty good, and features probably my favourite character
from a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, Wedge Antilles. There’s also a
bounty hunter, some members of the New Republic military, Admiral Ackbar, and a
meeting of a few of the split factions of the old Empire. Not surprisingly,
they’re keen to return things to the way they were, and return the Empire to
glory. Also not surprisingly, Wedge and the others aligned with the Republic,
or, at least not aligned with the Empire, are trying to stop that from
happening.
As much as I wanted to enjoy the plot, the writing style was
so poor that it was a tough 300-page slog. The ending was of particular
interest. You never quite find out who the Imperial mastermind behind the
entire scheme is – no names are given, or any tell-tale description, either –
and it makes me wonder if it’s the fearsome Thrawn, brought over from the
non-canon EU.
I guess the next installment will tell us. Or, at least give
a few more clues. I guess that’s reason enough to pick up the next one.
Hopefully it’s an improvement on Aftermath.
No comments:
Post a Comment