The Road to Episode Infinity: The Aftermath Trilogy

The Aftermath Trilogy is the first set of novels to explore the Star Wars timeline just after the Battle of Endor. Chuck Wendig’s series takes place the morning after the destruction of the second Death Star and finishes about a year later with the birth of Ben Solo. Yet this series focuses very little on the Skywalker/Solo gang and almost exclusively on a new cast of heroes (and villains).

Norra Wexley could be considered the main character of this trilogy. Norra is a Y-Wing pilot and a survivor of the attack on the second Death Star. After the Battle of Endor, Norra heads home to Akiva to reunite with her son Temmin (Later called “Snap”.)

Snap Wexley is, of course, the X-Wing pilot featured in The Force Awakens played by Greg Grunberg. Temmin is a teenager during the fall of the Empire and he has made his living as a junk dealer whose clients include underworld gangsters. Because his father has disappeared and his mother has joined the rebellion, Snap’s main friend is a B-1 Battle Droid named Mister Bones. Temmin has heavily modified Mister Bones since its Clone Wars days and the droid is a herky-jerky killing machine with a loving- albeit socially awkward- personality.

The two Wexleys and Mister Bones team up with an ex-imperial named Sinjir Rath Velus and a bounty hunter named Jas Emari to run a series of missions for the rebellion, (missions that aren’t always fully sanctioned).

Sinjir is the Star Wars equivalent to Sayid from Lost. Sinjir use to make a living torturing Imperials whose loyalty was being questioned. He is often a curmudgeon and usually drunk. Yet he is one of the most interesting and loving characters in the new expanded universe. Sinjir is also one of the first examples of a gay Star Wars character.

Jas Emari is a Zabrak whose Aunt Sugi is featured in several episodes of Star Wars: Clone Wars. She prefers to work alone and spends her time trying to pay off the debts that Sugi owed to various organizations before she died. Jas struggles to fit in with her team of Rebels and ex-Imperial because she doesn't really do teams.

The final central character in this trilogy is Grand Admiral Rae Sloan, who was first featured in the Rebels spinoff novel “A New Dawn” (although back then she was Captain Rae Sloan). Rae is in command of a large part of what is left of the Imperial Navy. Although her grip on power wanes when a mysterious figure named Gallius Rax is slowly gaining more and more control over the remnants of the Empire. Eventually Sloan becomes only a figurehead and must solve the mystery of Gallius Rax so that she can get her Empire back. Sloan sometimes serves as an antagonist and sometimes a protagonist in these novels. She is certain to be a reader-favorite.

Disney has been building the new Expanded Universe for only a few years now, but The Aftermath Trilogy is certainly a bright spot. The trilogy paves the way for a whole new age of Star Wars novels, in a way that is reminiscent to how Timothy Zahn’s “Thrawn Trilogy” set up the old Expanded Universe. These books are sort of a must-read for anyone who is interested in the greater mythology of Star Wars, specifically how the Empire became The First Order. As an added bonus this series ends with the Battle of Jakku.

Remember that The Aftermath Trilogy is available in many formats through your local library. Happy Reading Star Wars Fans!