Star Wars: Aftermath: Empire’s End

*All posts in the Star Wars Canon series contain minor spoilers

 

8 weeks until Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

“ ‘It’s time to start over,’ she says to Hux. ‘That is our first order. To begin again. And to get it right, this time.’ ” –Grand Admiral Sloane, Star Wars: Aftermath: Empire’s End

Star Wars: Aftermath: Empire’s End is about the Empire’s last stand during the Battle of Jakku.

Written by: Chuck Wendig (author of From a Certain Point of View short story, Aftermath, and Aftermath: Life Debt)

Published: February 21, 2017

When does Aftermath: Empire’s End take place?

After Return of the Jedi.

Or more specifically: during the Battle of Jakku in the year 5 ABY.

Synopsis:

As Norra Wexley’s team chases Grand Admiral Sloane across the galaxy, they discover all that remains of the Empire has gathered above the remote desert planet of Jakku. After being separated, Norra, Jas, and Mr. Bones land on the surface of the planet to continue the chase after Sloane while Temmin and Sinjir head back to warn the New Republic.

Now Mon Mothma and the other leaders of the New Republic are faced with the decision to send their troops to Jakku to finish the fight and hopefully bring an end to Palpatine’s Empire once and for all.

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Star Wars: Aftermath: Empire’s End is the third and final book to the Aftermath trilogy, a grand finale not only to the trilogy but also the Imperial Empire. And through that end is the beginning of the First Order, a clear start to the path towards stories and characters centred around the newest Star Wars trilogy.

Many characters have a strong arc throughout the three books and I thought the end few chapters of Empire’s End did an excellent job in tying up loose ends and bring a satisfying finish to those character arcs. Norra’s team really did become like family over their adventures and I was happy with where they each ended up.

As with the other two books, Aftermath: Empire’s End had a few Interlude chapters sprinkled throughout to show what was happening on various planets and ships across the galaxy. This book had my favourite Interludes and included characters such as Lumpawaroo (Chewie’s son who first appeared in the Star Wars Holiday Special), Jar Jar Binks, Lobot, and Lando Calrissian. There was also an interesting Interlude centred around the Journal of the Whills.

Overall, I did enjoy Empire’s End, but I still have to say that Life Debt is my favourite out of the three Aftermath books.

I would recommend Aftermath: Empire’s End to anyone who is interested in the timeline between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens, and to anyone interesting in reading about how the Empire turned into the First Order.

 

Next week: Last Shot

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