Aftermath is the first of a trilogy of novels that are set after Return of the Jedi as the Rebels attempt to mop up what is left of the Empire. I honestly do not mind the story. Things that tend to upset some of the fans, such as having openly LGBT characters, do not matter to me one way or the other. What hurts the trilogy, especially the first book, is the lack of inclusion of the legacy characters. Leia and Han make a brief appearance in the book, but Luke is mentioned in passing, and really, the only character from the original trilogy that has a large role at all is Wedge Antilles, who was a pivotal but totally ancillary character in the original trilogy.
The book starts out on the outer rim planet Akiva, on which Wedge stumbles upon a meeting of remaining Imperial bigwigs. He is captured by Admiral Rae Sloane, who was introduced in the first canon novel released after the Disney takeover of Lucasfilm, A New Dawn. The main characters on the rebel side in this book are Norra Wexley, her teenage son Temmin "Snap" Wexley (who was played by Greg Grumberg in the sequel trilogy), Temmin's rebuilt B1 battle droid Mister Bones, a Zabrak bounty hunter Jas Emari, and an Imperial turncoat named Sinjir Rath Velus. The ragtag crew also discovers the Imperial gathering, finds out that Wedge is captured, and attempts to free him.
Overall, the story is fine. There are a lot of good action sequences, but they get broken up by Interlude chapters, which discuss things that are going on, like other planets, and introduce new characters (for example, the character Cobb Vanth, who would appear in live-action in The Mandalorian series). Personally, I think the first stories set after Return of the Jedi should have leaned on Luke, Leia, and/or Han and introduced new characters alongside the legacy characters. I also would have cut down on the interludes throughout the book, doing just one or two, maybe as a prologue and an epilogue. That would have allowed the main story to flow better. I certainly cannot say that everyone will like the book. Reactions to it seem to be all over the place. I am fairly lukewarm to it. I do not think it is the best of the canon novels by any stretch, but it is not as bad as some make it out to be.
The book starts out on the outer rim planet Akiva, on which Wedge stumbles upon a meeting of remaining Imperial bigwigs. He is captured by Admiral Rae Sloane, who was introduced in the first canon novel released after the Disney takeover of Lucasfilm, A New Dawn. The main characters on the rebel side in this book are Norra Wexley, her teenage son Temmin "Snap" Wexley (who was played by Greg Grumberg in the sequel trilogy), Temmin's rebuilt B1 battle droid Mister Bones, a Zabrak bounty hunter Jas Emari, and an Imperial turncoat named Sinjir Rath Velus. The ragtag crew also discovers the Imperial gathering, finds out that Wedge is captured, and attempts to free him.
Overall, the story is fine. There are a lot of good action sequences, but they get broken up by Interlude chapters, which discuss things that are going on, like other planets, and introduce new characters (for example, the character Cobb Vanth, who would appear in live-action in The Mandalorian series). Personally, I think the first stories set after Return of the Jedi should have leaned on Luke, Leia, and/or Han and introduced new characters alongside the legacy characters. I also would have cut down on the interludes throughout the book, doing just one or two, maybe as a prologue and an epilogue. That would have allowed the main story to flow better. I certainly cannot say that everyone will like the book. Reactions to it seem to be all over the place. I am fairly lukewarm to it. I do not think it is the best of the canon novels by any stretch, but it is not as bad as some make it out to be.
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