In a new excerpt from the final book in the Star Wars: Aftermath trilogy, Empire’s End, Lando Calrissian returns Cloud City to reclaim it from the Empire.
Lando Calrissian returns to his old haunt in a new excerpt from Empire’s End, the final book in Chuck Wendig’s Aftermath trilogy (via io9).
The Aftermath trilogy takes place directly after the events of Return of the Jedi. The freshly formed New Republic led by Mon Mothma is struggling to find a balance between fostering peace and routing out the remaining Imperial holdouts. In Empire’s End, the Empire gathers its forces over Jakku for what will be a huge and galaxy-changing battle.
Read the full synopsis for Empire’s End below (via Amazon).
Image Credit: Del Rey Books
"As the final showdown between the New Republic and the Empire draws near, all eyes turn to a once-isolated planet: Jakku.The Battle of Endor shattered the Empire, scattering its remaining forces across the galaxy. But the months following the Rebellion’s victory have not been easy. The fledgling New Republic has suffered a devastating attack from the Imperial remnant, forcing the new democracy to escalate their hunt for the hidden enemy.For her role in the deadly ambush, Grand Admiral Rae Sloane is the most wanted Imperial war criminal—and one-time rebel pilot Norra Wexley, back in service at Leia’s urgent request, is leading the hunt. But more than just loyalty to the New Republic drives Norra forward: Her husband was turned into a murderous pawn in Sloane’s assassination plot, and now she wants vengeance as much as justice.But Sloane, too, is on a furious quest: pursuing the treacherous Gallius Rax to the barren planet Jakku. As the true mastermind behind the Empire’s devastating attack, Rax has led the Empire to its defining moment. The cunning strategist has gathered the powerful remnants of the Empire’s war machine, preparing to execute the late Emperor Palpatine’s final plan. As the Imperial fleet orbits Jakku, an armada of Republic fighters closes in to finish what began at Endor. Norra and her crew soar into the heart of an apocalyptic clash that will leave land and sky alike scorched. And the future of the galaxy will finally be decided."
Chuck Wendig’s style of writing is to include interludes between the chapters of the main story. These interludes often take a step back from the main plot to revisit familiar characters. My guess is the new excerpt with Lando is one such vignette. In it, Lando returns to Cloud City after having fought long and hard to roust the resident Imperial forces. He plans to rebuild his casino operations there and hire refugees to run things. But first, he, his faithful friend Lobot, and a small team of fighters must deal with the last straggling group of Imperials.
The most interesting part of the excerpt, however, has nothing to do with the altercation between Lando and Lobot and the Imperials. The fun moment comes when Lobot reminds Lando he needs to buy a gift for Princess Leia, who is about to give birth to a baby.
Read the exchange between Lando and Lobot below.
"As they walk, Lobot looks over at him as a new communication flashes across his wrist: I am told to remind you that the princess will soon give birth and you have not yet procured for them the standard natal gift.“What? That’s impossible. She was just—I swear they just got married—didn’t I just get them a nuptial gift?”It has been the proper biological time. You just do not realize how much time has passed. We have been busy.“So have they, I guess.”Also, you never got them a nuptial gift.He sighs. “Okay, okay. Buying gifts for a kid. Can we get him a cute little cape and a mustache so he looks like old Uncle Lando?”Lobot doesn’t respond, offering only a humorless stare."
If Lando really does by young Ben Solo a cape and mustache, we may know why Ben turned to the dark side (I kid, I kid).
Seriously, though, Lando would make the best uncle. He would spoil the life out of any kid of Leia and Han’s. I hope Wendig reveals what Lando eventually decides to purchase as a “natal gift.”
Though this excerpt doesn’t tell us much about the plot of Empire’s End, it does promise the book will be another fun read like Aftermath and Life Debt.
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Star Wars: Empire’s End by Chuck Wendig releases in hardback and e-book formats on February 21th, 2017.