Aftermath

Star Wars: Aftermath by Chuck Wendig is really good. This is a review of the first entry of his Aftermath Trilogy. Warning for Spoilers.

"The second Death Star is destroyed. The Emperor and his powerful enforcer, Darth Vader, are rumored to be dead. The Galactic Emperor is in chaos. Across the galaxy, some systems celebrate, while in others Imperial factions tighten their grips. Optimism and fear reign side by side. And while the Rebel Alliance engages the fractured forces of the Empire, a lone revel scout uncovers a secret Imperial meeting..."

The story takes place a few months following the Battle of Endor (where the second Death Star blew up and Darth Vader + Emperor Palpatine died).

Our main characters are:

• Admiral Rae Sloane: She is essentially a leader of the fractured and failing Empire. She is loyal to The Empire and leads the navy (space navy) from the Star Destroyer, Vigilance. It's her goal to get The Empire back on top. They can beat the Rebellion with money, trained men, and weapons. Her mission in this book is to attend a meeting with remaining Imperial leaders on the planet Akiva.
  
• Wedge Antilies: (you know him from the films). He is flying around searching space for remaining Imperial ships. He ends up being captured near Akiva when he spots two Star Destroyers there. He's taken aboard the Vigilance and tortured for information but not before he manages to send out a signal for help.
  
• Norra Wexley: she is the mother of Temmin (he's played by Greg Grunberg in the films). She left her home Akiva and her son to join the Rebellion after her husband, Brentin, was taken by the Empire (he's presumed dead). She is a pilot for the Rebellion and was at the Battle of Endor and now seems to be suffering from PTSD and guilt over having left Temmin. Seeing a third Death Star show up over the skies of her homeworld she wants to grab her son and GO.
  
• Temmin Wexley: he is a 15yr old resourceful kid! He's a bit of an annoying brat but he's also wicked smart. He runs a parts shop and rebuilt an driod to be a dancing murder bot, Mr. Bones. He's also recently stolen something from a crime boss, Surat (like a Hutt).
  
• Jas Emari: She is a Zabrak (a blue female Darth Maul) bounty hunter on Akiva to kill one of the Imperials meeting with Sloane. Working alone, she is a strong, independent, untrusting, bad-ass! Under all that she's a good person.
  
• Sinjir Rath Velus: He was an Imperial Loyalty Officer. This means he tortured Imperials to make sure they aligned with the goals of the Empire and were fully loyal to it. Essentially he's Dean from season 4 of Supernatural. Now that the Empire is dying he is in a bar drinking. He's having an existential crisis. His abusive mother sent him to the academy to become an Imperial as a teenager. That's really all he's known. He is simultaneously very capable and yet always gets his butt kicked. He's wicked sassy and quick witted but also very sincere and honest (possibly because he's a walking lie detector).
  
• Jom Barell: another pilot who comes into the story towards the end of the story who becomes more important in later stories.
  

Through a series of strange and outlandish events our good guys: Norra, Temmin, Jas, and Sinjir, meet up and join forces to get aboard the Vigilance, save Wedge, and take out the Imperial leaders during their summit.

Wendig makes a lot of great points in this story.

Sloane: "We kept order in a lawless galaxy."

Norra: "But you did it with a closed fist instead of an open hand."

Essentially the message is that both sides are 'human'. The Empire did have some good to it and now without it a lot of crime syndicates are taking over (ex the Hutt's) and in the later books the failings of the New Republic are made more apparent.

Overall this is a decent look at right after the end of the Return of the Jedi and slowly sets up the beginnings of the First Order. Stay tuned to see why the New Republic failed.