Reviews Books The JC Lit Reviews Special: ORDER 66 (Spoilers!)

The Jedi are dying, and apparently you're dying to write a review of it.

Some rules: rate Order 66 on a scale of 1 to 10, supplementing your rating with a review, if you want to (It's not necessary but is highly encouraged). However, please do not rate or review the book until after you've read the whole thing. Please keep discussion in the discussion thread rather than the review thread. Thanks!

Some previous review threads:

Republic Commando: Hard Contact, by Karen Traviss
Shatterpoint, by Matthew Stover
The Cestus Deception, by Steven Barnes
Medstar I: Battle Surgeons, by Michael Reaves and Steve Perry
Medstar II: Jedi Healer, by Michael Reaves and Steve Perry
Jedi Trial, by David Sherman and Dan Cragg
Yoda: Dark Rendezvous, by Sean Stewart
Labyrinth of Evil, by James Luceno
Revenge of the Sith, by Matthew Stover
Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader by James Luceno
Galaxies: The Ruins of Dantooine, by Veronica Whitney-Robinson
Tatooine Ghost, by Troy Denning
Survivor's Quest, by Timothy Zahn
Enemy Lines I: Rebel Dream, by Aaron Allston
Enemy Lines II: Rebel Stand, by Aaron Allston
Traitor, by Matthew Stover
Destiny's Way, by Walter Jon Williams
Force Heretic I: Remnant, by Sean Williams and Shane Dix
Force Heretic II: Refugee, by Sean Williams and Shane Dix
Force Heretic III: Reunion, by Sean Williams and Shane Dix
The Final Prophecy, by Greg Keyes
The Unifying Force, by James Luceno
Dark Nest I: The Joiner King, by Troy Denning
Dark Nest II: The Unseen Queen, by Troy Denning
Dark Nest III: The Swarm War, by Troy Denning
Outbound Flight, by Timothy Zahn
Republic Commando: Triple Zero, by Karen Traviss
Legacy of the Force: Betrayal, by Aaron Allston
Legacy of the Force: Bloodlines, by Karen Traviss
Darth Bane: Path o

 

I'd give it a 5. It's an above-average story (quite good, actually) for much of the novel and then dragged down in the last third of the book by unnecessary character stupidity, anti-Jedi sentiment from the wrong folks and just sheer canon issues.

 

Yeah... I'm not too crazy about it, either. I'll give it a 6. Solid prose, good characterization for the most part, and the story is interesting and compelling for a good two thirds of the book. But the anti-Jedi angle is tired, unnuanced and overplayed (it starts on THE FIRST PAGE, for God's sake) and towards the end the whole thing just degenerates into almost surreal stupidity and nonsense. I'm glad I got it in paperback, to say the least.

 

Average score: 11/2 = 5.5

 

I thought it was quite good. Skirata is the best character in her books so I'm glad that nothing happened to him. The scene on the bridge was good, but I was predicting that either Etain or Darman was going to die so I wasn't too shocked by it but it was still a bad way to go.

Wow, and what was with all this Jedi bashing? Every character seems to have a problem with General Kenobi, since everyone calls him a fool etc. Well, he did rescue the Chancellor...no one mentioned that. Etain bashing Master Yoda and the clones as well. She has no right to bash the greatest Master in the Order. What a punk.

Still a fun read and I was actually cheering when Skirata went crazy after that certain someone's death.

8/10

 

Average score: 19/3 = 6.33

 

?And in my opinion the Jedi are evil!?- Darth Vader

Never have I thought more about this statement more than I did while reading the last quarter of this book. I?m a reader who has loved Karen Traviss?s Star Wars work. I really felt that True Colors was very nearly a perfect book(gave it a 9.8) and was looking forward to the emotional weight Karen could bring to the Order 66 genocide. In the end, in this book adds far more questionable material relating to KT?s real world feelings about the Jedi.

But there was good mixed with the bad, and a nice story at the center of the book.

I liked Bardan?s opening, with the Jedi giving him a difficult time, him getting called a thug and savage. Bardan shoots back, but it was nice to hear someone giving him a talking too.

Spar/Shysa continuity issues aside, I enjoyed most of the first few chapters. Kal flashes back to and we get to meet his father, Bessany and Ordo elope, and seeing Fi on the road to recovery thanks to Jedi healing techniques.

The Oyu?baat Tapcaf has been around since before Canderous Ordo?s time? I doubt that very much. Callista and the would be Compnor Officer were nice little additions to the story. As was the mention of the Spartii Cloning techniques being used by Palpatine, kinda tying into Zahn?s now ancient EU contribution.

Kal has some nice POV?s. He?s really a character I enjoy reading about but don?t like. He even takes the time to work out that Zey is not so different than the Clones, even if he does scold himself immediately after. I really felt like Zey was painted in a great light throughout the entire book, but he was about the only Jedi who would be.

Darman was far too forgiving of Skirata for his betrayal about his son. I was disappointed at how quickly the situation was resolved, and was hoping for some more turmoil before the tidy bit of forgiveness.

There is some even handedness toward the Jedi at times. It?s mentioned how much Commander Cody respects Obi-Wan, and how not all Jedi are the same, as well as the nice take on Zey. It?s not all doom and gloom toward the Jedi, just mostly. It?s really the first time I think Karen has ventured this far off the track, and even many of her character POV?s are kinda off base when compared to what they were before.

The last Quarter of this book was a hideous mess, with Kal?s extended family all being proven to have shields of invincibility and Etain getting killed with the hint that the Jedi were randomly cutting down civilians.

?It might have been meant for her? No Etain, it wasn?t, it was meant for the clone about to kill the Jedi. Also her reaction to Order 66 was terrible. Etain had never come across as a stupid character before the end of this book. Some of this can be written off as characters not knowing all the facts about the coup attempt, but not all.

Then Dar and Kal jump in to the fray, slaughtering Jedi who were described as scared children on the previous page, No mercy, no remorse, just rage, because scared children deserve to die?..yikes. I was simply overwhelmed by how much I despised the Skirata clan after that battle.

I liked the parts of this novel that talked about how the populace would believe what it was told, Fenn becoming Mandalore to resist the Empire. Fenn?s character was actually captured very nicely, very Marvel like.

Overall the excellent story about Kal and his extended family escaping the grasp of the Empire was way overshadowed by OU political feelings of the author in regards to Order 66. I hope Karen gets back on the more moderate track in her future novels; The Clone Wars animated novel was excellent and I know she can write books I love. I even enjoy questioning the Jedi?s morals and decisions, but the Jedi genocide wasn?t handled well at all. Guess what, post Order 66 the Clones are still enslaved and the Jedi have nothing to do with it?..and they were the one force in the galaxy which could have made a difference in the clones lives, like Zey promised to do in this book. Very disappointing?.

5/10

 

Average score: 24/4 = 6.00

 

Nice long book that kinda sagged at the end, but was a great read. I guess I liked this book more than the rest of you. I just kept turning the page waiting for Order 66. This book made me like the Mandos more than the last. Etain died like a chump, but oh well, better her than Darman. Can't wait for the hopefully continuing story in Imperial Commando.


9.0

 

Average score: 33/5 = 6.60

 

9.3/10

I couldn't help but love the book, everything about it except that way that Etain got killed.

I've been digging thru old posts trying to find out where I wrote that the Clonetroopers were Jango Fett's revenge on the Jedi, I knew that I had the idea & wrote it somewhere, if not here then another SW forum, but I couldn't find it. Still, great minds & all that.

I live for all this personal family stuff that KT's been bringing back to SW EU lately so Fi coming around to being as near as possible to the old Fi again, all the Mando marraige commitments going down, more backround on Skirata's past fathers & present chidrens, the Delta squad parts, Corr's pimping skills, even the development of little Kad'ika(something I usually can't deal with, well I suppose babies are fine as long as they're not Hutts but snippity teenagers are right out), Laseema lashing out at some guy just for acting like a guy around a hot chick, Darman's reluctance & the acceptance of being a father to his son...hardly a lightsaber swung or a blaster fired in early 500 pages & I didn't seem to mind.

I gush like simple minded Fandalorian! Sorry.

 

OBI-WAN: I look forward to seeing them in action.

JANGO FETT: (grinning) They'll do their job well, I'll guarantee that.

 

6.8/10

I enjoyed this book as part of the Republic Commando series, but as a part of the greater EU, it fell kinda flat. I'm fine with certain characters having an anti-Jedi sentiment, but when every single character (with the possible exception of Zey) hates the Jedi Order...well that's too much. I'm fine with, say, Jusik deciding he doesn't want to be a Jedi anymore, and I'm with with Skirata disliking the Jedi for ordering up a clone army out of nowhere. But not every Jedi treats clones like subhumans. The hamhandedness of the anti-Jedi feelings is just WAY overdone.

The combat scenes were good, Darman finding out he's a dad was good, Fi's recovery was good. But did EVERYBODY have to get married?? If the marriages had been spread out over True Colors and Order 66, I would've been fine with it, but it just seemed repetitive.

I'm still looking forward to Imperial Commando...I'm hoping that without Jedi around, there won't be a focus for the usual Jedi-bashing.

 

Average score: 49.1/7 = 7.01

 

I've been reading the Republic Commando books for a while now, and I've really liked them. Order 66, while very good IMO, wasn't quite as good as the others.

So, there was some good character development, it intertwined well with the movie, and the finale was pretty good. However, the pacing was fairly slow at first (-0.5), the novel's version of the Battle of Kashyyyk drifted a bit from the game (-0.5), and Etains death... well:

(-0.5)

8.5/10

 

Average score: 57.6/8 = 7.20

 

4

Worst book in the series, and not just because of the bloody 3 million figures. THERE ARE NO CENTAX CLONE LEGIONS IN THE ROTS OPENING, FOR FORCE'S SAKE!

 

Average score: 61.6/9 = 6.84

 

What?

 

I'm relatively divorced from the continuity issues that bother some people, so that does not affect my score. I loved this book. It hit all the right notes emotionally, especially when Kal lost it near the end. Things like Darman meeting his son were truly touching. It was a truly engrossing read, as I kept turning the page hoping everything would work out, but knowing it probably wouldn't. My two complaints are this: the anti-Jedi sentiment was so thick I needed a knife, and Etain went out spectacularly bad. Other than that, this was fantastic. 9/10

 

Average score: 70.6/10 = 7.06

 

8/10 I really like the way the clones have come to point where, while you might feel sorry for the circumstances that got them here, they are nasty enough to become Palpatine's amoral shock troops. It also made me think that Palpatine was genius indeed, from his spreading Jedi out until they were defenseless to setting the balls in motion for the clones to feel alienated and resentful. That said, the ending seemed rushed and arbitrary and the responses to the purge felt off with Etain. That said, Zey's end really worked for me and the realization that Jango's revenge had been planned was great.

Matt

 

Average score: 78.6/11 = 7.15

 

This book was more miss then hit with me. I would give it a 2/10. It just didn't do anything for me. I am a harsh grader, but it was a boring read. It had no interesting story lines which saved OOO and Hard Contact. Even True Colors had some interesting parts. This story seemed to drag. I didn't like. I haven't liked Traviss's last 4 books. Order 66, Sacrifice, and Invincible.

 

9/10
Because I didn't like how Etain ended (but like ImpKnight said: better her than Dar...) and the bits on Kashyyyk were boring. No I never played the game, I just though them boring, and they had no tie-in qualities for me.

I still love Traviss style. Her characters are wonderful and the last bits of the book did do the heartwrenching well. I came to expect that from her books, but it still gets me.
I would have liked more Walon Vau, but Dar beating up Kal is a scene I'll love forever. And Ordo marrying Besany. She didn't expect that, I could see her starting to plan and whoops, sorry gal, married already.
My bf attested me a lot of laughing out loud while reading, which I didn't even realise. Great book all in all.