A new series of Star Wars books will reveal what happened in the 30-odd years in between the end of Return of the Jedi and the start of the upcoming new installment of the saga The Force Awakens. Unfortunately those hoping for 30 years of peace are going to be disappointed.
The first book of this series is titled Star Wars: Aftermath, and it opens with a victory speech by Admiral Ackbar followed by a scene of a mob tearing down a giant statue of Palpatine on the planet Coruscant, which we see in the revised "special edition" of the Return of the Jedi film. However, the celebration is quickly cut short when the Imperial Police make a surprise visit and crack down on the revelers.
Entertainment Weekly published the first chapter of the new novel Thursday, which includes this chilling scene. We then cut to Wedge Antilles, a young rebel pilot featured in the original trilogy, who is searching through the remainders of the Empire now that Darth Vader and Palpatine are gone. Admiral Rae Sloane, an Imperial navy officer who was first introduced in the Star Wars novel A New Dawn by John Jackson Miller released in 2014, also appears in Aftermath. Now she is an admiral at the helm of the Star Destroyer Vigilance. And let's just say you don't want to get on her bad side.
Chuck Wendig, a sci-fi/fantasy author best known for penning the books Blackbird and The Blue Blazes, wrote Aftermath, which hits stores September 4. The novel is part of the new Star Wars canon put in place after Disney acquired the franchise. The 20-plus new book titles being released this fall are intended to help fill in the gaps in this new canon before The Force Awakens hits theaters on Dec. 18.
Head over to EW.com to read the first chapter of Aftermath in full.
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