I was curious if somebody else is reading these books and what you thought of them.

So, I read "Aftermath" and am now in the middle of "Lost Stars" trying to finish it this week.

If you care about my opinion about Aftermath (as spoiler free as I managed):

And about Lost Stars:

I know this is slighty off topic for this forum, but who cares, new movie is next week And yes, I wanted to rant about Aftermath a bit to someone who gets overly invested in fiction as well.

Anyone read the other Non-Legends books? Suggestions? Anything that might be worth reading till next week? (I am a very fast reader) Some of the Books are "junior novels"...are these still enjoyable or readable?

I am curious, since we saw the Rebels now almost in control over the remains of the Empire in the Aftermath, how it would degenerate into the conflict shown in the preview of the movie.

That's pretty spot on for me. Aftermath was a steaming pile of dung that I didn't bother finishing (thus putting it in the The Crystal Star category as one of the very few Star Wars books I've abandoned in the middle) while Lost Stars was actually pretty good.

Heh, I liked Aftermath quite a bit. It avoided all the standard crap I've come to despise about most SW fiction...the endless lists of hardware, the micro detail of action scenes, and the nonsensical characters and their infantile motives. I also enjoyed his saucier language and grittier tone, a welcome relief from the usual candy floss. That said, it felt a bit rushed, but apparently he was under a huge time constraint.

Some people don't like "present tense" writing, but that's their loss and limitation, I have little sympathy. So I look forward to his next book.

Also enjoyed Lost Stars, besides being a good story, there was some clever use of details in the movies. My favourite was that one of the protagonists had been stationed on the Death Star, but after Leia gave up Dantooine, he was on the mission to check it out and discover the abandoned Rebel base, and therefore avoided being blown up at Yavin.

There were three "young adult" books that came out, one for Luke, Leia, and Han each, they are all surprisingly good...again, much better than the usual fare. I thought Luke's interaction with the Force was one of the first I've read that I agree with on a metaphysical level.

Apparently there are a bunch of short stories out now about the new young heroes of Awakens, but I haven't read those yet.

I think someone once said Aftermath was an X-Wing novel in all but name, and I tend to agree. Based on the previews I read, I thought I wouldn't like it, but it turned out pretty well. I'm looking forward to the sequel.

That said, Lost Stars was a truly excellent book, and I'm much more excited for the follow-up to it.

My favorite, though, remains Shattered Empire.

Spoilers....

I had to force myself to get through Aftermath. It was a pretty awful book. The story itself wasn't terrible, but the writing drove me nuts. Horrible cliches every two seconds. Mixing in modern terms like "Hey, that's trending right now" which don't seem to make sense in the Star Wars universe. The phrase "I was hunting bounties while you were still in space diapers," made me want to throw the book out the window. WTF are space diapers?!

And, the worst part of it by far, was the overused gimmick of making a character appear to die only to bring them back (with little or no explanation) in the next scene. He did this not once, not twice, but five fricking times! Five times, he wrote the equivalent of, "And then everything went black as they crashed in a way that would be impossible to survive," followed by, "Oh, look who strolls into the room, burnt and battered and dazed, but alive!" That drove me absolutely nuts.

I think expectations were high that this would show more of the characters we know and love and really give us something of a bridge between the original trilogy and the new one. This book really doesn't do that at all. Other than the Imperials meeting to discuss the post-Emperor future, there's nothing in this story that couldn't take place during any other period.

Lost Stars was awesome. I loved how they worked the main characters into main events from the original trilogy. And while it might have been a bit of a stretch for them to have been at EVERY major event, I never felt like it was forced or awkward. It also gave an interesting insight into the mind of the typical Imperial soldier who believes they are the good guys. I'm looking forward to seeing these characters again.

A New Dawn, while not really part of the lead up to the new movies, is one of the new canon novels and ties in very nicely with the Rebels television series. I liked this one, and it shows you a lot more about the background of Kanan and how he got teamed up with Hera.

I'm reading the Battlefront Twilight Company one right now, and it's very good. You get to go into the trenches with the soldiers, and get a feel for what it's like being a part of the battles and missions that are waged on the front lines of the war.

Some people don't like "present tense" writing, but that's their loss and limitation, I have little sympathy. So I look forward to his next book.

You and I shall have to fight then. Pistols at dawn, sir!

(Mind you, I have more issues with Aftermath than just the writing style - but the present tense certainly didn't help matters)

Some people don't like "present tense" writing, but that's their loss and limitation, I have little sympathy. So I look forward to his next book.

You and shall have to fight then. Pistols at dawn, sir!

That's penguins at dawn, good sir! Bring thy space diapers, thou shalt be in need of them!

The phrase "I was hunting bounties while you were still in space diapers," made me want to throw the book out the window. WTF are space diapers?!

Somebody has been watching a bit too much DBZ Abridged.

So it's not Journey to E7, but I saw this at Barnes and Nobel while waiting for a movie and gave the first 3 or 4 chapters a try:

It's New Hope written from one character's point of view. So the first third of the book is Leia, the second third is Han, the last third, Luke. It picks up the events of the movie with giving R2 the plans through going back to her cell after the destruction of alderaan. Han picks up in the Cantina just after shooting Greedo all the way through getting off the Death Star and Luke is from just before Ben's death through the end of the movie. I dont know if it's consistently good all the way through, but the Leia section I read was really strong.

Of course they did V and VI too - but I didnt get into those.

I found that the present tense writing lent itself to a uniquely cinematic reading experience in a much more accessible way than simply describing everything in excruciating detail. The book sort of read like a screenplay, which I liked. It was a little jarring at first, but I think that it's a great change of pace.

One of my favourite novels is by Iain Banks, called Complicity. For the first part of each section there is a page or two written in present tense, 2nd person. Eg: You are going down a hallway, there is a chill in the air as you pull your coat around you...

Banks is one of the best SF writers, and only he could get away with it (mostly because he knows just how far to push it and when to stop), but I like the experimentation.

Reading Lost Stars and enjoying it. Haven't seen Aftermath yet.

I enjoyed Aftermath. I thought the interludes were the best part but the main story was okay I would have preferred a novel about the main OT characters but it was still enjoyable. The sequel appears yo be about Han and Chewie rescuing wookies so that sounds fun.

Lost Stars was just okay. I skipped much of the earlier parts of the novel since I am not interested in reading a story about kids. The academy stuff was decent but I really enjoyed the novel most once we got to the OT movie time frame. I look forward to the sequel since I assume will all be post Battle of Jakku.

Also read Lost Stars, and it's not bad. The ending is a bit of a teaser for the force awakens.

I liked the world building of Aftermath, but other than that I have the same complaints as everyone else. Currently listening to Lost Stars on tape, and I'm enjoying it so far (except that the narrator has the most condescending "I'm reading to children" voice).

I was really disappointed with Shattered Empire. It didn't really bring anything new or interesting to the plot--It was just Poe Dameron's parents running around the galaxy and accidentally having momentary two-page adventures with the principal characters of the OT. It read more like fan-fiction than anything else.

So there are some new short stories available...they are a very quick read and written in a very shortcut simple choppy style, but still rather amusing, including an alternate take on how the Death Star was actually brought down (All Creatures Great and Small). The only one with a revelation is The Crimson Corsair and the Lost Treasure of Count Dooku, which is:

Who knows what he'll do now...

including an alternate take on how the Death Star was actually brought down (All Creatures Great and Small).

You mean the 5th Doctor stopped the Death Star at Yavin? I approve of this nu-cannon development!