VADER DOWN (for about 1 page)
343809
Vader is "DOWN" for about one page of the book. Other than that he breezes through whatever situation he finds himself in killing whatever drama we may experience along the way. This is the book where the Marvel Star Wars comics took a bad turn for me. Major missed opportunity here. This
book could have been great. Seeing Vader in some real perilous situations would have been cool. Nope! He just mows everyone down without a scratch.
4253553
The book was extremely short (took me about an hour to read it cover to cover) and had nothing to do with the new movie as it claims (that I'm aware of). During the prologue and epilogue there are scenes with an older Han Solo, but the majority of the book was not entertaining. I imagine that some of the characters may be in the new movie in some obscure way but if you're getting this to gain insight into the movie, I would pass.
2495044
This book is pitiful.  No other way to describe it.  The plot has been gone over in previous reviews, no need to beat a dead horse.  The Jedi padawan  Darsha, on the verge of knighthood, is portrayed as a moron.  A shame that the character is female.  It would have been nice to see a strong female jedi in action. Other than that,  one would think the death of a Jedi master would cause the council to take notice.
Yes, there are chase scenes, and Obi Wan is in it.  But this is simply and  hopefully final cash milking of a once popular character that needs to remain dead in the bottom of the Theed pit if this is the best they can do for him.
I think Maul is a cool character, and would like to read something interesting about him from the expanded universe.  But after the comic book and this I say 'you have had your 15 minutes of fame Maul, Rest in pieces.'
3474363
All of the new EU is very boring.  They just lack the Jedi and the Sith angle.  I am trying to understand why they keep putting out books that have no Jedi in them.  This story does have some important Star Wars Elements though, the Senate and the politics of the Galaxy is a nice throwback to Episode I-III.  It's just Jedi Robes would really help.
1654318
1st book I've read of the new "cannon" novels. I've read probably 50 to 60 of the novels that Disney now classifies as Legends.  Though not a bad read by any means it falls way short of Star Wars masterpieces by the likes of  Christie Golden, James Lucendo or Drew Kysharpian..... (typing on a phone I know I messed the last names up).
 Read more like an episode of the Clone wars or Rebels cartoons. Midly entertaining but forgettable.
606906
Worst Star Wars book ever.  Worse than "I Jedi".  I have read almost all of the Star Wars books and all only took me less than a week to get through.  This book is taking me two months to get through because it is so incredibly bad.  I also see that they are letting him write the next one.  Please stop the madness!  Bring back the old authors like Shaun Kemp.  The movie better not stink as bad as this book.
3032270
I was extremely disappointed.  The book claimed to have a 'Prequel' to Star Wars: A New Hope (The first movie/book).  That consisted of about three paragraphs.  The rest of the "Saga of Darth Vader" was  simply a synopsis of the first three movies.  It read like a book report.  A well written book report, but a book report nonetheless.  Even the first  section, which contained insights into the creation of the original concept  was at best informative, but rather short and boring.  The  "story" part was a mere 40-45 pages.  If you want to call them  pages.  The text is jammed into the center of each page on sometimes hard  to read backgrounds which consist of original drawings and still shots of  the movies.  The whole text takes up about 1/2 of each page.  Some of the  drawings were interesting to see, but should have been placed altogehter on  seperate pages.  And the last part of the book, which consists of a few  paragraphs concerning Vader collectibles and then several pages listing  collectibles since the inception of Star Wars, could easily have been found  in any toy magazine/price guide.  I didn't need to pay $75.00 for it!  The  figure is nice, but I've seen better.  Definately not worth the exorbanant  price they're asking for it!  Unless you're a serious collector, I'd avoid  this one.
1979250
Lucas has forgotten what is to write and direct a movie and just remember what special effects are.
Sadly special effects are just shiny lights without meaning in this movie.
Also He manages amazingly well in destroying the concept of force,and death star explosion is now but a joke.
Sad, very sad, star wars first trilogy nows look a little worse than before
211030
I almost gave this a 2 star, but I just can't bring myself to do it. This didn't meet any of my expectations.

Why'd I buy this? To get some insight into the mind of Vader. Darth Vader and the Emperor make up maybe 20% of this book, but they are effectively the title characters. Of the 20% where they are featured I'd say a quarter of that is something other than an action scene. There is barely enough character development in this to fill a short story, let alone a novel.

Aside from that, the story itself was a chore to get through. The main plot points felt forced or maybe more like a sub-par video game story-line. The dialogue was rough. I"m fairly certain that something like 70% of all dialogue was one to two sentences at at time.

I was hoping for something to get me excited about the new Star Wars movie. This wasn't it.
2287976
i loved Dragons of Jupiter and after a relatively interesting opening, I was hopeful the saga will improve. Sadly bthe author is running dry and keep just increasing the number of giant robots / ships or building cheap cliffhangers (a main character is dead ... wait no he is not, rince and repeat). It should be a hard pass.
1177343
'Acts of War' is a pretty empty Star Wars read. The Jedi pretty much get messed up with a race of violent aliens and the comic turns into one big fight after another as the Jedi intervene. One reviewer was right in the fact that the Jedi - normally peaceloving and fighters only when need be - step way out of character and pretty much act trigger happy. A few positives about this book is the artwork, which is nice and clean, and the fact that it nicely fits into the Prequel era, seguing right into the next book, 'Prelude to Rebellion'. For Star Wars continuity buffs only.
2590996
Great artwork and good writing but after the first two books and Vader Down, I find myself losing interest as the series seemingly drags on and loses momentum. This book adds very little to the new canon unlike the main title series. Not terrible by any means but this may be for absolute diehards only. You won't be missing anything of real note if you leave this one on the shelf.
1023972
I am completely stunned that this book contains "Star Wars" spoilers!  This is a great book, except for the page that tells kids pointe blank that Darth Vader is Luke's father!!  See the photo I've attached.  I am completely miserable that I just accidentally ruined a kid's life now by getting him this book, since he hasn't seen the movies yet.  Thanks a lot, National Geographic!!
2780107
This book dedicates its entire first chapter to Grand Moff Tarkin designing his distinctive uniform. This conversation with a tailoring droid is the high point of the book.

As a lifelong Star Wars fan, I've read more than a few of the novels. After finding A New Dawn to be a tolerable prequel to Rebels, I gave this a try. And wow, it is not good. This book will do nothing to change your opinion of Grand Moff Tarkin, nor does it contain a plot interesting enough to justify the read. I'm all for delving into the minutia of Star Wars, but this doesn't even do that in a meaningful way.
392509
I have to wonder if I read the same book as some of the other reviewers.  Greg Keyes is a good writer, but I have to admit I was disapointed in this star wars book.  I doubt if the authors involved have much leeway in crafting a story which is why I suffer through the lesser of the star wars novels.
First, Out of the blue characters. Who is Tahiri and why isn't she wearing any shoes and why should I care? Second, story lines that are begun and ended with no middle.  Okay, Han and Lea are on some sort of secret mission...and this is important how? Jacen and Jaina are sent to find help...the reader is left guessing as to how this happens until they show up at the end...and by the way Corran Horn is with them!!  Third, incompetent enemies - for being the latest scourge they sure do get killed off easily.  While Anakin has developed into a Vong killer...c'mon, its one against a hundered and he walks out alive?  Finally, the endings to these books are starting to get predictable, the hero's win, the enemies loose and any sweety caught by the Vong will have horrible psychological damage reversed with a hug at the end.
If the story was just about Anakin and his treck to save a friend, great, then this was a good book.  The fact is that this is a series that is supposed to tie into other facets from other books, and it flirts with not doing that at all.  But hey, its Star Wars...and I will read the next one anyway.
3883452
This book fits right in with all Star Wars novels which have preceded it. Most aren't literary sci-fi masterpieces, just as most are not utter pieces of excrement. Taking all books (Canon and EU) as a whole, there are ups and downs. This book fits right in the middle as comparatively it is utterly average (note: this isn't necessarily a bad thing as I tend to judge books on a 'harsh' scale). It does not deserve the 1 star reviews it is receiving, nor does it fit in with the 5 stars.

From the top, the author's writing style didn't bug me or cause any issues. Heck, I never noticed that it was present tense or thought about it being particularly bad or good until I came across complaints on message boards and reviews. It understandable how this style could influence the experience for other readers, but didn't affect mine at all. Once the book started, I was right into the story and breezed through it in roughly 24 hours.

A minor complaint of mine and substantial one for others, is that this story did not line up with expectations (not the authors fault, this is on the reader). Aftermath is the first major step into the post-RotJ canonical reboot. As result this provides an insanely large slate to work from and this ended up being part of its downfall. Since the EU is not longer canon much less C-level canon, this results in a huge vacuum of information. Those familiar with the EU hoped more information about the Rebellion/Empire and galaxy would be provided. Im not saying the book should have covered 30+ years, but a common desire was for a broader story than just Akiva. The author did cover some of this by providing brief interludes into what was occurring in the wider galaxy, however more was wanted and hoped for by many.

Overall the characters were solid, while not that spectacular. They had interesting backstories and did show some growth throughout the book. A small issue occurs with the fact that just now as trying to write about the characters I have trouble remembering their names. Some of this is on me, however this is also partially on the writer as they were forgettable at times. Substantial props to Chuck Wendig for the awesome variety of characters. A female Y-wing pilot, female Zabrak bounty hunter and ex-Imperial morale officer resulted in a good cast with room for story points and differing views. My main complaint in regards to the characters is how they were all involved in the Battle of the Endor (even Admiral Rae Sloane and Wedge Antilles were there) and then they all by coincidence end up on a backwater planet such as Akiva. Star Wars over the years has been docked points for how interconnected everything is and then the new canon continues doing the exact same thing.

I could keep rambling on the good and bad with no end in sight, but will just end with my last disappointment. The major space battle at the end was all hype and no substance. 3 ships versus 5 ships and one side wins. Personally I was hoping for more.

Conclusion: Aftermath ends up a victim of being the first major entry into the vacuum/blank slate that is the post-RotJ era. As result many readers had high expectations which were not met. Since this is the first book of a trilogy the final verdict won't be known until it is completed, but at this moment it should not have been the initial starting point in the RotJ-TFA gap. The best role for this book would have been a companion piece with a different book covering more taking the lead and pressure for rebooting the canon. In the end, Aftermath is a very solid Star Wars story which could have easily fit in the old EU, ignoring canonical issues, and one I recommend. It isn't perfect, nor as flawed as some believe (although that is their right). BTW, Mister Bones is pretty frickin awesome.
2149642
I typically like Mark Waid (check out the recently ended Daredevil run), but this has been the worst of the new Star Wars comics.  I didn't care for the story at all and it just didn't feel like Waid had a decent grasp on the character.