Reviews Books The JC Lit Reviews Special: IMPERIAL COMMANDO: 501st (Spoilers)

Average score: 150.7/26 = 5.80

 

7/10

+ = The Jedi-hate is down to 85%; Vau steps back and Jusik steps forward in the level of attention given to his character, good and I liked his being with the other 3 Jedi, as I got the sense of the Force gathering its strength; Scout relatively in good hands, whew! Skirata filled with self-doubts but going along in life anyway, seems a real person, which is good, as he's the main character to me, now that Etain's gone. Arligan back from the dead with a substantial assist from Maze, a very much needed clone counter to Skirata's near-universal love. The action with Camas' and Yelgo's struggles was exciting. Darman's decision at the end, developed throughout all the books to seem logical. Oh, yes, General Vos' repeated mention as a stinker, terrific!

- = Dramatis Personae skipped. I really needed one since it's been over a year since I read Order 66; I realize that Traviss created these characters and wants to wind up each and every one with a mention, but really, there were simply too many to care about. That would be hard for an author to hear, though. After awhile, all the romances seemed a bit much. One thing that might spur them on is that Kyrimorut is basically a farm, and the ambience of farm animals, um, doing their thing puts ideas into heads. Uthan's scheme to kill off Coruscant, ghastly. And she is set to be a sympathetic character! Priest and his girlfriend called ugly, so it's okay to just kill them? That didn't wash. Biggest minus, however, was the skipping of Vader's interaction with his group. I'd looked forward to that.

Pulling back = I like the fantastic worldbuilding that Traviss does and will miss her work. The GFFA in her books is filled with people working hard to not only survive, but thrive. Since I like that mindset, I like her books and I shall miss them. I really, really don't envy the writing of the final book and wish her good luck with it.

 

Average score: 157.7/27 = 5.84

 

There are times when the author's voice is just too loud. It breaks through the characters and speaks directly to the reader. You know you aren't reading a novel but an opinion piece about the universe you've chosen to visit in your spare time.

That's what the Commando series has been, each book becoming louder and louder until we come to this; a 430 page diatribe about the glories of the Mandos and the evils of...well...just about anyone else.

I should have known what I was getting when I picked up this book. I thought it was going to be a look inside the 501st from the perspective of two former Republic Commandos. I figured I could suffer through the usual anti-Jedi rants as they would at least be in the context of the Purge at this point.

What I wasn't prepared for was the, in my opinion, disproportionate amount of time spent at the Mando-commune (Mandomune?) rehashing the same ideals and issues that had been discussed for four previous novels. Within the Mandomune there was even more to jar me out of the story: the casual racism towards the Kaminoians, the overuse and abuse of Mando'a, and the concentrated Jedi-hate that passed for the character development of Jusik.

Kal Skirata is a good character. He is also the same character as all the other characters. More importantly and more distractingly, he also comes across as the author's voice. I don't feel like I'm reading a book about a man's journey against the system, or the wrongs committed by a crazy religious sect with shiny energy swords. I feel like I am reading an obsessive commentary trying to convince me that everything I've been taught about the Jedi since 1977 was a lie and that this culture of Bounty Hunters and mercenaries is the moral standard in the Star Wars universe.

I can?t accept the notion that everyone who falls into this camp is instantly okay with the moral mindset that the leader, Skirata, exudes. They have a name for that, it?s called a cult. I can?t accept that everyone is okay with the Kaminoians being referred to as fish-bait (which seems to be used as a strong racial slur). I can?t accept that as soon as you walk through the door Mando?babble starts flowing through your mouth like word vomit. I can?t accept the characterization of any of the Jedi in any of her novels.

It is obvious that the author has an agenda. It is also obvious that the author cares more about her pet fictional culture and pushing her worldviews onto her readers rather than crafting a good story.

Bottom line: On the surface, there is not enough Imperial, or Commando, or 501st in this novel. Digging deeper, this is just an extension of the author?s ongoing campaign to mold the Star Wars universe into something it?s not.

1/10

 

Average score: 158.7/28 = 5.67

 

A book about men sharing there feelings, for 400 pages

Liked.
- Its a star wars book
- At times someone fires a gun (almost never).

Didn't like

Skirata and his mandalorians are the most sensitive,chatty, whiny, emotional men I have ever come across.
This book could never be made into a film as people would not believe that men talk about their feelings for much.
Ordinary men don't share their feelings this much unless they're wasted, much less hardened killers.

Almost.......nothing.........happens
Is Rise of dark vader we get the invasion of Kashyyyk.
In Coruscant nights we face Darth Vader.
Here we have a 434 page book about almost nothing, a small scholastic book has more action then this.

Everyone is the same
Everyone on mandalore acts that same, all the clones are the same,
Even the names are so short and alike its hard to remember whos who.
The woman also act so alike they may as well be clones.

The constant dialog where nothing much is discussed and nothing much is resolved is very annoying.
In fact they cover the same ground so much its painful to read.

Darman is a complete idiot, his decision to stay on Coruscant was painful to read.

Constant mandalorian language takes you totally out of the book.
Are we really supposed to believe that clones in the imperial army are allowed to speak some
weird language of killers and subversives and no-one minds.

To summarise these mandos and clones can take on anything.......except their feelings.

 

Hmm. For the most part, I agree with Havac. I was incredibly infuriated by the constant repeated situation. The clones have it tough. The Jedi are evil. The clones and Mandos are great. They also keep saying that Kal is full of double standards, but what does that do? Nothing.

The romance is awful. It's could basically represented by a list of all the characters, with lines drawn from the men to the women that have a relationship. The book is all talking, for the most part. When they're not all talking, Traviss begrudgingly must make sure the book stays true to the title of Imperial Commando by having 15% of the book have to do with Darman and Niner and Rede on Coruscant.

The only things I liked, which I can count on one hand:

Arla Fett

Scout

Dred Priest getting shived in the street

Altis

Dar descending into madness

And that last part is barely good. It doesn't even make sense.

This is just about even with Order 66. That's not a good thing.

Don't even bother asking about the Jango thing. I know it's from Order 66, but it bothered me even more here.

3/10

 

Average score: 161.7/29 = 5.58

 

1/10
Kept looking to see if Fabio was on the cover.

 

Average score: 162.7/30 = 5.42

 

When I finished reading this book several months ago, I was incensed, angered, and so full of venom and vinegar that I would release in a scathing literary review (a literary review, mind you, not a personal attack. As a piece of published fiction, the work is open to all opinions, positive and negative) condemning what I consider to be the worst EU fiction written. This great inciteful and incisive review would make so many others see my righteousness that all, even those who previously praised it would understand the travesty that is Imperial Commando.

However, life and time got in the way. Eventually the need to write such a review vanished because of contractural issues outside the perview of this thread and I realized that in the long run that much negative energy should not be spent on something I essentially do for fun.

Reading SW books and comics is one of my primary sources of entertainment. Why turn it into something negative? So this review will be absent any discussion of how the GFFA was presented, how Jedis vs Mandos were showcased, or how characters acted in contrarian ways to established rules.

That leaves me with two facets that would be true of any book or piece of literature regardless of the universe in which it is written.

1) the unrelenting, unremitting, ridiculous, ludicrous sexism. Women in IC seem to actually accept a role not ever seen in GFFA before and not seen as anything other than emotionally stunted since the Feminine Mystique was published in the early sixties

and

2) a stultifying plot. I would assume a book with the word Commando in it would have some type of...you know...commandoing.

With those two salient and powerful points on my mind 8 to 9 months after reading the book, I'm still left with nothing good to say about IC.

1 out of 10

 

Average score: 163.7/31 = 5.28