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Regarding the Aftermath book trilogy recently released in full....

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Q: So I just inadvertently saw the fate of Jar Jar Binks on the "trending" news (even though they said spoiler alert...but it's Jar Jar and I wanted to know his fate according to this writer....

A: So he becomes a street clown and the most hated Gungan on Naboo....forbidden to ever return. Really? That's his fate? Not....good...enough! Kill that awful character ten times over, man! This is a terrible way to send off the most hated GL created character ever made....not only do we not get any sort of closure to this creature, but he lives and pretty much remains the way he was in the prequels....a goof that's banned from his people. Uh...was that not how it was in the beginning? *Sigh* He could have at least had him killed in an alley or beaten to death by those angered by his handing over the Republic to the Emperor. That would have been some what more suitable end for the likes of him.

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Q: So, that's that. All done. It isn't the equal of Life Debt but it's way better than Aftermath.

A: I think this book will frustrate and irritate many given how Life Debt ended. Then, it seemed as if the stage was set for the Battle of Jakku, a big, much talked-of event, but this book doesn't start with that and takes its time getting there. In short Empire's End is not the comprehensive, detailed account of the Battle of Jakku that was hoped for. (This may be a benefit, in that the way is open for Freed to write it as a story of Twilight Company.) What is shown suffices for the story and certainly a book like this would be ill-suited for showing the battle, animation might be better - a starting point for a post-Jakku series perhaps?

As a finale, it remains what it has always been - a story about a set of characters who are not Luke, Han and Leia - oh they feature and, Luke may have turned up here and there, intertwined with a question Legends never really got to ask, never mind answer: What happens when the war is over? What do you do? The story shows a variety of answers to these questions.

It does provide a most fitting answer too to why the Empire collapsed as fast as it did, for, in a way: All was as the Emperor willed it. The notion that Sidious did not ever have any tolerance for the concept of succession planning is no surprise, so it should not be so that, in the event of his death, the Empire is to go up in flames with him! At the same time there's a nod to what has to be Snoke, with something calling Sidious to the Unknown Regions, something only he detected.

In the battle of villain versus villain, the Rax-Sloane relationship is indeed an interesting meditation on honesty and deception, for if he is nothing else, at the end Rax is open about what he is while Sloane has become a bit too good at lying to herself and others, which, right at the end of the book, sets her on course for a fate worse than death.

An area where I think there will be a lot of criticism is the New Republic politics, which do not come out of this at all well. Far from Bloodline representing a state of long, gradual decay, from the start we have opponents engaging in criminal activity for political gain. Maybe there's a politics book of what happened after Jakku to come, but right now there's a big void and no way to reconcile the conflicting pictures of the Republic, decades apart, yet similar, except Bloodline gave the clear impression the Republic had worked, which this book blows up.

In response to this it might be asked: What was the Rebellion for? And the answer, I think, has to be that it was always more than politics. It was being able to go for a walk without being stopped by a cop for no reason. It is meeting up with friends, going to a pub, then a meal without the conversations being monitored or being arrested as a result of them. It was to be able to live. Think of all the little freedoms you exercise easily on a daily basis and then consider how different your life would be if they were all gone. That's what it was for, not just the politics.

With respect to continuity, there is a neat weaving in of Thrawn and a nod to Shattered Empire.

This was a good read and a good finale, but like its initial predecessor, Aftermath, the advertising hasn't helped and could work against it.

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Q: With regards to Jar Jar, what nonsense. The point of the character is that despite his clumsiness he's a game changer. This a step down for Jar Jar's character after his Clone Wars appearances.

A: All I could do when I saw those spoilers was laugh...As someone else suggested, I just had this image of Jar Jar painted up as a clown. It's ridiculous; some images should never be created or implied.

He was aiming at some kind of subtle tragedy but it comes off as pretentious nonsense,

In regards to Jakku ...it seems my suspicions about it are correct. Its importance is only to the Aftermath trilogy, and in as much as it is important to the sequel trilogy, it is only important because Rey is from there. I suspected this when TFA scrawl does not even mention that the final battle between the Empire and Rebellion happened on Jakku. You would really only know this from reading the books or playing the games otherwise you may just assume Jakku was the site of some random battle between the two galactic powers.

Glad to see what is implied about Sloane. I felt like her character had some First Order in her.

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