According to this link: http://www.starwars.com/news/coming-soon-to-your-personal-jedi-archives-journey-to-star-wars-the-force-awakens-sneak-peek

Wedge will be a major figure in the first main adult novel set after Return of the Jedi.

“Star Wars: Aftermath (Del Rey), written by Chuck Wendig

As the Empire reels from its critical defeats at the Battle of Endor, the Rebel Alliance — now a fledgling New Republic — presses its advantage by hunting down the enemy’s scattered forces before they can regroup and retaliate. But above the remote planet Akiva, an ominous show of the enemy’s strength is unfolding. Out on a lone reconnaissance mission, pilot Wedge Antilles watches Imperial Star Destroyers gather like birds of prey circling for a kill, but is taken captive before he can report back to the New Republic leaders.

Meanwhile, on the planet’s surface, former Rebel fighter Norra Wexley has returned to her native world — war weary, ready to reunite with her estranged son, and eager to build a new life in some distant place. But when Norra intercepts Wedge Antilles’s urgent distress call, she realizes her time as a freedom fighter is not yet over. What she doesn’t know is just how close the enemy is—or how decisive and dangerous her new mission will be.

Determined to preserve the Empire’s power, the surviving Imperial elite are converging on Akiva for a top-secret emergency summit — to consolidate their forces and rally for a counterstrike. But they haven’t reckoned on the Norra and her newfound allies — her technical genius son, a Zabrak bounty hunter, and a reprobate Imperial defector — who are prepared to do whatever they must to end the Empire’s oppressive reign once and for all.”

This makes me super excited that we might get definition on who Wedge is (though Allston and Stackpole’s Wedge will always be my real Wedge, unless someone with equal or greater talent comes along to write New Wedge’s story). It also makes me super worried that they’re going to kill Wedge off because Denis Lawson (totally justifiably) chose not to appear in The Force Awakens.

I hope that this Wedge will have similar qualities to his EU:

1) Corellian (the Alderaanian thing is Tycho’s!)

2) Best pilot ever

3) A fantastic small-unit strategies, tactician, and leader

4) A father to his troops

5) Intensely ethical, but not boring

Wedge also needs to be the same sarcastic ******* we all know and love. Also I hope that Tycho, Wes, and Hobbie make an appearance
Can't have the rogues without them

Ship guide is also exciting.

I hope the climax involves a massive space battle over Akiva with Wedge either in an X-Wing or a liberated <insert starfighter model here>. I am worried they are planning to kill him off though in retaliation for his actor not wanting to do episode VII.

I am worried they are planning to kill him off though in retaliation for his actor not wanting to do episode VII.

If they did, they'd probably have to go into hiding to avoid the legions of Wedge fans...

Ouch. Not impressed by that release.

Determined to preserve the Empire’s power, the surviving Imperial elite are converging on Akiva for a top-secret emergency summit — to consolidate their forces and rally for a counterstrike. But they haven’t reckoned on the Norra and her newfound allies — her technical genius son, a Zabrak bounty hunter, and a reprobate Imperial defector — who are prepared to do whatever they must to end the Empire’s oppressive reign once and for all.

Actually... Nevermind. Most Star Wars novels have been rather questionable, particularly new characters, so why not? Yeah, I'll have a copy on my shelf terrible or not.

Lost me at genius kid, super sick of that over used trope.

That is what killed it for me too...but it's like a crack addiction. I know it's bad, and often painful yet I keep buying.

Yeah. The writer hasn't impressed me with his online persona - never read his stuff, but he seems very similar to the most recent crop of writers Lucas Books likes to hire - fast, cheap, popular online, writes middle of the road stuff without any real intelligence.

Lost me at genius kid, super sick of that over used trope.

Kid genius or just a genius who happens to be the son of another character though?

Lost me at genius kid, super sick of that over used trope.

Kid genius or just a genius who happens to be the son of another character though?

Nothing that brings memories of Wesley crusher can ever be good.

I don't hate all kid genius characters. Doogie Howser still brings back fond memories. Lucas in Seaquest wasn't that bad in the first season, and pretty much everything was worse in season 2 IMO. I actually did like a couple of the characters introduced in season 2 and a few of the episodes but the overall writing was a disaster, and it was pretty clear that neither the writers nor the editors cared about keeping the story consistent. (In season one the UEO was newly formed having been founded at the most a few months before the pilot. In season two set two or three years later one character mentions wanting to serve the UEO when she was a child and the captain is stated to have been part of a UEO wargame before his original retirement from the military despite the UEO forming near the end of his retirement, and that wargame being almost a decade before the UEO was founded.)

Even Wesley Crusher was ok IMO on the rare occasions the writers weren't writing him as being smarter then everyone else on the crew combined.

Back to the main topic is there anything stating how old Norra;s son is? Based on what I've seen he could be a kid genius or he could be a genius in his 20s or 30s depending on how old Norra is and how old she was when she gave birth to him.

We have an excerpt featuring Wedge's point of view:

http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/7846/aftermath-star-wars-by-chuck-wendig/

I like Wedge’s resourcefulness, but solo-Wedge is not the Wedge I love. I love Leader Wedge. Additionally, they’re clearly ignoring Rogue Squadron, which makes sense given that Wedge flew as Red Leader at Endor, but Rogue Squadron is such a legend it seems they would want to bring it back.

It’s funny how much the Admiral Rae Sloane stuff mirrors Pellaeon’s POV at the beginning of Heir to the Empire - the devestation wrought by all the Imperials who died in the Death Star and Executor.

I’m incredibly annoyed at the present tense writing.

Update: more excerpts revealed here! http://www.ew.com/article/2015/07/16/star-wars-exclusive-actual-opening-aftermath-reveals-tragic-violent-uprising

No new Wedge information (repeats the same stuff at the first link), but there's a prologue of the Special Edition Palpatine statue scene from Return of the Jedi.

It's funny, it feels like Wendig is blatantly copying the EU (Major Tschel/Pellaeon from Heir to the Empire, the Luke get's tractor beamed from the same novel, and the statue scene from X-Wing: Iron Fist). I wish I knew if he was doing this king of thing because he is paying homage to the originals, or if he's just not very original.

His overall arc and a lot of characters were probably given to him. So it might be Disney paying homage to the EU. Admiral Pellaeon is one of the better characters in the EU. That's a good thing if they've salvaged a lot of his personality and position.

Yeah, maybe. Often the writer for large multiple author arcs is given characters that must be in the story and certain points that must happen. They are usually given free reign outside that. It's possible that they are paying homage, but I would expect if so its not Disney as from every clue so far they are wiping the slate clean.

Sucks.

Much of EU is bad, but I really want Mara Jade, Thrawn, Palleon and Daala in the future. Yes I said Daala.

Edit: present tense writing is painful. That might totally break it for me.

The present tense just feels so trendy. And it's not even terribly competent writing. This is what I was afraid of for the new Star Wars books - intent-popular authors who mimic publishing trends, but don't provide something as enjoyable or solid as the old EU's high points.

I want all the people you mention except Daala, plus as many X-Wing pilots as they can squeeze in.

I hope (nay I demand!) that Abhrams gives Wedge a big enough role in 8 that Lawson signs up. I also demand that Tycho and Wes (and the rest of the gang) make appearances at some point. Of course my list of people to return from the EU could go on for a long time.

Jade, Thrawn, Pellaeon, The Fels, The Solos, Kyle Katarn (Maybe Jaden Korr), Revan and the gang, Exile and the gang, Page's commandos, Gev maybe, Saba Sebatayne, Tesar Sebatayne............

But back to the point, they better not screw Wedge up.

I guess it all comes down to, I wish Allston was still alive...

You and me both, friend. Allston was a giant.

Lost me at genius kid, super sick of that over used trope.

Kid genius or just a genius who happens to be the son of another character though?

Nothing that brings memories of Wesley crusher can ever be good.

"But, Mr. Wedge...if we inverse the polarity of the teleinomic conflibutor and focus the beam on to th-"

"That'll be all, Mr. Wexley."

Even Wesley Crusher was ok IMO on the rare occasions the writers weren't writing him as being smarter then everyone else on the crew combined.

Yea, the episodes, where they actually focused on his character development and not 2 lines about how to fix the ship were good.

You and me both, friend. Allston was a giant.

Yeah Allston was my favorite Star Wars author. I'm still sad that his final Star Wars work was IMO the worst. I was hoping Mercy Kill would be much closer to Iron Fist or Wraith Squadron then what we got

The present tense just feels so trendy. And it's not even terribly competent writing. This is what I was afraid of for the new Star Wars books - intent-popular authors who mimic publishing trends, but don't provide something as enjoyable or solid as the old EU's high points.

I want all the people you mention except Daala, plus as many X-Wing pilots as they can squeeze in.

I thought Daala could have been a decent character if A: A competent writer had done her initial appearances instead of one who fell back to the slept her way to the top cliche by only having her win battles against the good guys when the odds were absurdly lopsided in her favor and B: The writers of the end of LOTF hadn't completely lost their minds.

Yeah, outside of space battles Daala was ruthless and competent. As soon as anybody put her in a space battle she was pathetic. I suppose if she were Imperial Army instead of Navy she'd be overpowered...

Speaking of Wraith Squadron... does anyone else think the personal-colors X wings flown by pilots who are some of the best and a "Resistance" separate from the NR sounds pretty familiar?

Yeah Allston was my favorite Star Wars author. I'm still sad that his final Star Wars work was IMO the worst. I was hoping Mercy Kill would be much closer to Iron Fist or Wraith Squadron then what we got

I thought Daala could have been a decent character if A: A competent writer had done her initial appearances instead of one who fell back to the slept her way to the top cliche by only having her win battles against the good guys when the odds were absurdly lopsided in her favor and B: The writers of the end of LOTF hadn't completely lost their minds.

I actually really loved Mercy Kill. It wasn't the towering achievments of the Wraith trilogy or Starfighters of Adumar, but it was a much better balance of humor, drama, and emotional connection than the Legacy of the Force/Fate of the Jedi stuff.

Yeah, Daala never really got a competent writer who advocated for her. Anderson loved her, but he wrote her so incompetently that every time she shows up in one of his novels, I just want to go read something else. The Death Star novel made her a bit less incompetent, but focused on the affair a bit too much to really fix the problem.

Speaking of Wraith Squadron... does anyone else think the personal-colors X wings flown by pilots who are some of the best and a "Resistance" separate from the NR sounds pretty familiar?

Yeah...as I said, I think this EU is going to be the same as the old EU, only faster and less character development.

Yeah Allston was my favorite Star Wars author. I'm still sad that his final Star Wars work was IMO the worst. I was hoping Mercy Kill would be much closer to Iron Fist or Wraith Squadron then what we got

I thought Daala could have been a decent character if A: A competent writer had done her initial appearances instead of one who fell back to the slept her way to the top cliche by only having her win battles against the good guys when the odds were absurdly lopsided in her favor and B: The writers of the end of LOTF hadn't completely lost their minds.

I actually really loved Mercy Kill. It wasn't the towering achievments of the Wraith trilogy or Starfighters of Adumar, but it was a much better balance of humor, drama, and emotional connection than the Legacy of the Force/Fate of the Jedi stuff.

Yeah, Daala never really got a competent writer who advocated for her. Anderson loved her, but he wrote her so incompetently that every time she shows up in one of his novels, I just want to go read something else. The Death Star novel made her a bit less incompetent, but focused on the affair a bit too much to really fix the problem.

Speaking of Wraith Squadron... does anyone else think the personal-colors X wings flown by pilots who are some of the best and a "Resistance" separate from the NR sounds pretty familiar?

Yeah...as I said, I think this EU is going to be the same as the old EU, only faster and less character development.

Mercy kill wasn't a bad novel but I really think it would have been better as a stand alone novel then as an X-Wing novel. When I pick up a novel with X-Wing in the title I go in expecting a lot more lasers flying and spacecraft exploding then we got in Mercy Kill. Also my favorite parts of Star Wars have always been the space battles and the skimming over or absence of space combat in much of the later Legends material was one of the many things I disliked about them. (There was period where I was finding the space battles in the Halo novels more entertaining then the ones in the recently released Star Wars novels.) I bought Mercy Kill thinking that it would be a return to the good old days when it was rare for Star Wars novels not to have at least two or three significant space battle or fighter battle sequences and was disappointed on that front.