‘Star Wars: Aftermath’: Opening Chapters Released Online
Star Wars: Aftermath is set to give fans one of their first glimpses into Disney’s new canon as it reveals the state of the galaxy after the fall of the Empire, and now the first few chapters of the novel have been released online.
The end of Return of the Jedi depicted the celebrations surrounding the destruction of the second Death Star and the deaths of Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader, yet now Aftermath is revealing that those events were hardly the end of the Empire, as fans long believed. The first few chapters of Aftermath paint a starkly different portrait of the Star Wars universe in the wake of the Battle of Endor, as the remnants of the Empire fight to maintain their power.
Exclusive: Read the opening chapters from ‘Star Wars: Aftermath’: http://t.co/pkN392LWRN pic.twitter.com/uGdBC9lhaD
— Entertainment Weekly (@EW) July 16, 2015
As the first few chapters of Aftermath (posted online by Entertainment Weekly) demonstrate, the Galactic Civil War is hardly over. The book opens with a victory speech given by Admiral Ackbar, who notes that even though the Battle of Endor was won, “the war… the war is just beginning.” The action quickly shifts to Monument Plaza on Coruscant, the site of jubilant celebrations at the end of the Special Edition of Return of the Jedi, as revelers tear down a statue of Palpatine. Their excitement is short-lived, however, as Imperial police arrive on the scene, and make a gruesome choice in dealing with the demonstrators.
STAR WARS: AFTERMATH Details What Happened Right After RETURN OF THE JEDI Ends http://t.co/BG43wVTVDt — pic.twitter.com/NOb2zs1YWb
— GeekTyrant (@GeekTyrant) July 17, 2015
Star Wars fans will be happy to know that stalwart character Wedge Antilles leads the story of Aftermath, as his search for Imperial remnants in the Outer Rim sets up the story’s conflict. As io9 reports, while much of the Expanded Universe canon that defined Star Wars in the 1990s and 2000s has been sidelined by Disney, the concept of a New Republic arising in the wake of the Empire’s defeat survives in the novel.
154 days until Star Wars: Did ‘Aftermath’ drop a clue about ‘Force Awakens’ red soldiers? http://t.co/aMZilCjgCf pic.twitter.com/iqpdfHqfnG
— HitFix (@HitFix) July 18, 2015
Aftermath is part of a multi-publisher initiative called Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which is intended to introduce fans to Disney’s new continuity. It was recently announced that the novel will be the first in a trilogy, as the Inquisitr previously reported, which will explore the period between the original Star Wars films and the upcoming sequels. Released on September 4, Aftermath will bring fans one step closer to the new Star Wars continuity that they will excitedly experience in The Force Awakens.
[Image: Del Rey/ Lucasfilm via io9]
