Star Wars: Episode VII: The Nerd Rage Awakens

[Allyn Gibson]

The reviews on Amazon for Aftermath are brutal. Over forty percent (out of over 200) are 1-star, and the criticisms largely attack the book's writing style (third person present and choppy, declarative sentences) and its lack of film characters beyond Wedge. There's also some criticism of expectations not matching reality (in other words, it's not the book they feel was promised), and a few are still mourning the EU.

I'm now dreading Aftermath when it arrives at the office in a few days.

 

[WarpFactorZ]

Benico Del Toro has been cast for Ep. VIII.

Clearly he'll be playing Khan.

 

[Hound of UIster]

The reviews on Amazon for Aftermath are brutal. Over forty percent (out of over 200) are 1-star, and the criticisms largely attack the book's writing style (third person present and choppy, declarative sentences) and its lack of film characters beyond Wedge. There's also some criticism of expectations not matching reality (in other words, it's not the book they feel was promised), and a few are still mourning the EU.

Wookiepedia admins hate NuEU. I think all entries still automatically go to "Legends" with the rebooted "Canon" falling under a sub-header. Some of them have gone so far to compare Disney with IS.

 

[Corran Horn]

The reviews on Amazon for Aftermath are brutal. Over forty percent (out of over 200) are 1-star, and the criticisms largely attack the book's writing style (third person present and choppy, declarative sentences) and its lack of film characters beyond Wedge. There's also some criticism of expectations not matching reality (in other words, it's not the book they feel was promised), and a few are still mourning the EU.

I'm now dreading Aftermath when it arrives at the office in a few days.

I like it so far. It has the benefit (from my perspective) of not being beholden to what had gone before. I think some of the negative reviews are likely, as you say, those mourning the end of the 'old' EU.

It's definitely evident that certain things are not expounded upon (character histories, etc) because they haven't yet been laid down.

I've detected some EU mentions that remain (pazaak still exists) and only one major deviation so far - and only that was a proposed course of action rather than something that has been ultimately decided. (so far, about 1/3 of the way in)

 

[Tulin]

Some of them have gone so far to compare Disney with IS.

And THIS is precisely why uber geeks/nerds/fans are looked upon with anything from pity to bewilderment and even disgust.

 

[cooleddie74]

I wasn't particularly interested in Aftermath anyways except to the extent that the book revealed some of the historical events between the Battle of Endor and the events in the new movie. A lot of Star Wars novels just don't live up to expectations or just plain aren't very good and I'm a lot more focused on the onscreen events in the new films and Rebels than I am in most of what happens in the new novels.

 

[Corran Horn]

I wasn't particularly interested in Aftermath anyways except to the extent that the book revealed some of the historical events between the Battle of Endor and the events in the new movie. A lot of Star Wars novels just don't live up to expectations or just plain aren't very good and I'm a lot more focused on the onscreen events in the new films and Rebels than I am in most of what happens in the new novels.

I think it's important to note that the book is just one of the first wave of books that'll explore this time period. Presumably there'll be many more. The book does not cover a 20+ year time period.

 

[cooleddie74]

Oh, I know that. I'm just not terribly excited about this one and hopefully the later books in the series will be better.

 

[Saga]

not that interested in the novels. comics thought, thats another story. i've enjoyed what Marvel has been putting out.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

I think it's important to note that the book is just one of the first wave of books that'll explore this time period. Presumably there'll be many more. The book does not cover a 20+ year time period.

I know, it's the first book in a trilogy. Del Rey was... unclear about that fact when the book was announced.

 

[Mr Light]

Aftermath is part of a trilogy?! I hadn't heard that before.

 

[Set Harth]

Some of them have gone so far to compare Disney with IS.

That's completely unfair. On their worst day no one in IS is as soulless and evil as Bob Iger.

 

[fireproof78]

TCW also had some nice designs.

BTL-B Y-wing starfighter
Clone Z-95 starfighter

Those are nice, but neither originated in TCW. The Y-wing is obviously meant to be in a form closer to being right off the assembly line than what was in SW77. The Z-95 has only minor revisions from the craft originally seen in the 1994 Tie Fighter PC game (the behind the scenes sections of the Wookieepedia articles on the Z-95 seem to have been written by people who don't remember 1994!)*.

[* - In fairness, the Z-95 may have appeared even before Tie Fighter, but I'd be unfamiliar with that.]

Although not a universal difference, one difference between a lot of craft PT vs OT is that the OT craft seem more cobbled together/beaten up/repaired beyond their service lives/etc. That's obviously intentional, because the Republic has fallen. The Imperial craft are an exception, of course. If you're a greeble fan like me, that tends to make the OT craft more appealing on that point alone. The OT Y-wing is a remarkable design. The CW version is a logical predecessor, but I just don't find it as interesting to look at.

I love the Y-wing design of the OT, but the CW design is very sleek and interesting evolution of the fighter. In my opinion, it adds more character to the design because it is such an older feeling ship, that has been around a while.

It also lends a greater sense of history to the OT in that the Y-Wing is presented as brand new in CW, but is used by the Rebels as a bit rough around the edges and more broken in.

All that said, I love the evolution of the Y-Wing, but I was also more open to the covered design of it because there was a concept art, or something like that, in the Visual Guides which showed a more sleek version of the Y-Wing.

As for the PT designs, I think they feel more fleshed out, in terms of culture and where they come from, and I like the look of many of them.

The Z-95 I think was mentioned in books prior to being in the game, but I could be wrong as well. I remember reading about it in a Star Wars dictionary that referenced it as predecessor to the X-wing.

 

[sojourner]

The Z-95 was first mentioned in Han Solo at Star's End. I don't think it was depicted visually until the West End Games edition of the Star War's role playing game.

 

[cooleddie74]

Aftermath is part of a trilogy?! I hadn't heard that before.

I didn't even know that myself until long after the first book was announced.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

The Z-95 was first mentioned in Han Solo at Star's End. I don't think it was depicted visually until the West End Games edition of the Star War's role playing game.

Ah, yes. If you scan the Appearances section of http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Z-95_Headhunter, you can see an annotation that Han Solo at Star's End is the first appearance.

 

[Mr Light]

Is Wendig writing all three books? Does the first one end on a cliffhanger or something? When do the others come out?

 

[Tulin]

Has it even been confirmed it's a trilogy?

 

[Allyn Gibson]

Has it even been confirmed it's a trilogy?

The title page of Aftermath says Aftermath is the first book in the Aftermath trilogy.

Wendig said on his blog over the weekend, in a post about the 1-star reviews on Amazon, that he's writing book two.

The trilogy was announced in July.

 

[J.T.B.]

The Z-95 was first mentioned in Han Solo at Star's End. I don't think it was depicted visually until the West End Games edition of the Star War's role playing game.

It was, however, depicted in the newspaper comic version of Han Solo at Star's End, c. 1980. A pretty un-inspired throwaway design; no X-wing cues, just a wedge with some fins IIRC.