I don't care how many books you've sold, 1 or 100 million, it's always important to treat your readers with respect. Enter one Chuck Wendig, 'author' of the upcoming Star Wars novel, Aftermath. Being the first novel in the new post-Jedi canon, I was really excited to read this book. Then an excerpt was posted, which may have done more harm than good. I won't post the entire thing here, but here's a sample:
“Today is a day of celebration. We have triumphed over villainy and oppression and have given our Alliance — and the galaxy beyond it — a chance to breathe and cheer for the progress in reclaiming our freedom from an Empire that robbed us of it. We have reports from Commander Skywalker that Emperor Palpatine is dead, and his enforcer, Darth Vader, with him.
But though we may celebrate, we should not consider this our time to rest. We struck a major blow against the Empire, and now will be the time to seize on the opening we have created. The Empire’s weapon may be destroyed, but the Empire itself lives on. Its oppressive hand closes around the throats of good, free-thinking people across the galaxy, from the Coruscant Core to the farthest systems in the Outer Rim. We must remember that our fight continues. Our rebellion is over. But the war . . . the war is just beginning.” —Admiral Ackbar
The rest is even worse. Repetitive, poorly written drivel. Some readers expected to start reading about sparkly Jedi, it's so bad. Even worse, it's weirdly written in present tense. This doesn't flow off the page well at all. Even better was Chuck Wendig's response to such feedback:
(And to those complaining that it's in present tense ha ha ha I don't care and I can't fix it now, suckaz.)
Just wow. Is this guy still in high school? I was reluctant to read the book after being dissuaded by the excerpt, but was considering wading through such filth to discover what happened until I read that. Now I'll never buy a single book by this tool. I can't believe he's meant to be writing a further two Star Wars novels to complete this story arc. I hope those in charge reconsider after this and hire an author who can actually write.
All I can do is hope that Marvel's Shattered Empire tells the same story in a much better fashion when it hits in September. Though I haven't got around to reading any of the new Marvel Star Wars books yet, every indicator suggests they're pretty good.
“Today is a day of celebration. We have triumphed over villainy and oppression and have given our Alliance — and the galaxy beyond it — a chance to breathe and cheer for the progress in reclaiming our freedom from an Empire that robbed us of it. We have reports from Commander Skywalker that Emperor Palpatine is dead, and his enforcer, Darth Vader, with him.
But though we may celebrate, we should not consider this our time to rest. We struck a major blow against the Empire, and now will be the time to seize on the opening we have created. The Empire’s weapon may be destroyed, but the Empire itself lives on. Its oppressive hand closes around the throats of good, free-thinking people across the galaxy, from the Coruscant Core to the farthest systems in the Outer Rim. We must remember that our fight continues. Our rebellion is over. But the war . . . the war is just beginning.” —Admiral Ackbar
The rest is even worse. Repetitive, poorly written drivel. Some readers expected to start reading about sparkly Jedi, it's so bad. Even worse, it's weirdly written in present tense. This doesn't flow off the page well at all. Even better was Chuck Wendig's response to such feedback:
(And to those complaining that it's in present tense ha ha ha I don't care and I can't fix it now, suckaz.)
Just wow. Is this guy still in high school? I was reluctant to read the book after being dissuaded by the excerpt, but was considering wading through such filth to discover what happened until I read that. Now I'll never buy a single book by this tool. I can't believe he's meant to be writing a further two Star Wars novels to complete this story arc. I hope those in charge reconsider after this and hire an author who can actually write.
All I can do is hope that Marvel's Shattered Empire tells the same story in a much better fashion when it hits in September. Though I haven't got around to reading any of the new Marvel Star Wars books yet, every indicator suggests they're pretty good.