Reviews Books The JC Lit Reviews Special: REPUBLIC COMMANDO: TRIPLE ZERO (spoilers)

All right gents you know what must be done.. Rate and post thoughts..

Ohh yeah SPOILER ALERT.. WARNING.. WARNING.. WARNING.

 

I'm not very impressed with it; what really gets to me is the fact that it's not out yet. Damn that Traviss.

 

[image=http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/0345490096.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg]

I give the cover a 7 out of 10. Very good.

 

Bought a copy today [25th Feb] at Forbidden Planet, Glasgow, Scotland - 3 days before official publication date!!!!

 

Kilts AND early books? Lucky.

 

rogue_wookie wrote:

Kilts AND early books? Lucky.

No, Kilts WITH early books!!

 

Heheh i got mine the 20th.

 

And now for my review: (more specific one when more people get the book)


Mrs. Traviss proves that she is the best author to write in the Expanded Universe with this Book. This Book (if it can be called that) blurs the line between EU and actual Literature. Sure there is plenty of violence and plenty of new swear words for the Fandalorians to use.. but beyond that. Mrs. Traviss makes adept use of plot developements to skillfully manipulate the reader and thier reactions. I take back every evil thing I said about Del Rey.. this book is simply that good.. Forget the 3 million clones controversy.. It doesnt matter, and I beg of you to put that aside as you read this. This is the best piece of EU Literature written to this point, Karen Traviss has dethroned Tim Zahn, Stackpole, and Allston as number 1.

Now to the analyisis..

Its basically the best parts of Rouge Squadron: Wedges Gamble, Wraith Squadron (hey everyone liked that) without any annoying baggage (some dislike Corran) it isnt really funny, although it does contain some snappy one-liners.. Its absolutely serious, as a heart-attack, actually.. When I went to work I actually was wondering what was going to happen next.. and Now finshed, in the words of Anakin:I want more.. I know I shouldnt.. but I do.

If there is ANY justice in this world. LFL and Del Rey will release Number 3-to as many as Karen can write without sacrificing quality.


In closing

10/10

Perfect.
Without Compare.
Superb.
Salut.


Oh, and Incase anyone was wondering.. I only saw 1 typo..

EDIT:

Ohh yeah, Justice doesnt matter if people dont buy it.. Buy some for your friends.. BUY Hard Contact too.. just for good measure. and especially if you dont like the Clone Wars EU.. buy it read it, give em a chance.. I gar-un-tee it will change your perception of this era.

For extra mind bending.. watch ROTS right after reading it.

 

Republic Commando: Triple Zero

By. Charles Phipps

'Republic Commando: Triple Zero' is an interesting book and probably ranks up with 'Labyrinth of Evil' and 'Revenge of the Sith' the novelization for the best of the books of the Prequel Era and one of the greater books of the EU saga. This is quite the accomplishment with no Skywalkers or even Rogue Squadron operatives to be seen. The closest we come is a Fett cameo. Better than Medstar, the Republic Commando books are about the "fighting man's perspective" on the Clone Wars and specifically that of the clones that most Star Wars fans dismiss as the slaves of Darth Sidious. RC: Hard Contact and other works have disabused many fans of the notion that tghe future stormtroopers are more equivalent to orcs than people and Triple Zero continues that trend.

Ms. Traviss has some fairly major hurdles to overcome when writing the clones. They have identical backgrounds (largely), they live to fight (literally), and are of a dubious position both legally and socially. Instead of shying away from this, she embraces the violence and tragedy of their lives whole heartedly. No clones suffer an existentialist dilemna here like the lamented Nate aka Jangotat whom realize that his life is pointless before trying to do something right for himself. Nor is this the case of Spar where he turns violently on his former masters (though this reader would love to see Ms. Traviss tackle a clone commando that recognizes the utter injustice that has been done to him). The clones here are the fighting ranks of the Grand Army, the loyalists whom follow the path of the Light Brigade Chargers. They go forth to fight and die for arguably a cause and group that they should bear no loyalty for but do because it is whom they have been made to be.

Triple Zero is a story that is decidedly in the war genre and the insanity around the troopers plays a major part in the beginning (and indeed most) of the book. The tense emotions, the fear for ones life, the desire to be with loved ones, and the criticalness of timing along with decisions that mean the difference between life and death for a set of troopers are fairly universal in application. It doesn't matter that Fi is a clone when he thinks about his kill count and the damage he's done to the Seperatists while he's waiting to likely die from oxygen deprivation. Any soldier could be sitting in the foxhole equivalent going over what exactly he'd accomplished in his short life. Karen Traviss captures the hectic nature of live combat well.

Readers weary of the politics and maneuverings of Darth Sidious and the Jedi will find this book a splash of cold water. The Clone Wars may have been rigged by politicians but the crusty Mandalorian Skirata might argue that's always the case and certainly doesn't mean anything less on the field. The book is practically utterly void of politics. There is simply the enemy that's trying to kill you and you whom have to kill him in order to survive. While it might be Alto Stratus is behind them and they're all Jabiim terrorists on Coruscant or disgruntled spice miners from Naboo's moon, it largely doesn't matter what their motivations are other than they're seperatists. It's simply that they're terrorists and theyre involved in blowing things up. Its strange that by focusing on the general, one can bring the whole to life but it is the case here. It's almost as if the locations aren't really 'real' to the protagionists. Even Coruscant is one dominated by its functionality rather than its size. There's no sense of wonder, its a city with a lot of buildings thats the capital.

As characters go, Karen does an amiable job of differentiating the clones. The problem isn't that they all look alike but more that they're all soldiers really and none of them can be exactly called timid. Darman is the most well developed of the clones with his romance of Etain, something performed more out of recognition of their mutual short life expectenacies than genuine things in common but...war does that. Fi remains my favorite of the

 

Total reader score of 19.0 / 2 reviews = 9.5 avg reader rating thus far.

- Keralys

 

I give it a 10 out of 10.

It may be damning with faint praise but this is quite possibly the best written Star Wars novel yet. There have been good, even great Star Wars novels before, albiet not a whole lot of them. However, the best of them are well told adventure stories and little else. Perhaps they give some insight into a central character or two but that is about as high as the bar is set. This novel is different. Certainly it is a fine adventure novel in its own right. However, it also touches on philisophic issues that don't typically make it into franchise tie-ins. In here we see the other side of the Galactic War seen in the prequels from the side of the clone troopers, those men bred for war and used up as easily and callously as one treats a piece of tissue paper. We've been told that the Republic before the fall was corrupt but we've really not seen much; characters simply announce that it is or was and we accept it as part of the backstory. Here we see the corruption of ideals and beliefs from the Jedi who shuck their treasured beliefs for an advantage in war to the government and supportive public who don't know much of the clones and don't generally care.

Beyond that, the story is well told and possibly the most realistic of any Star Wars novel, if realism can be used in a story of clones and magic using warrior priests. The action works the way it would in the real world and the challenges and plans ring true. This book is a better primer for someone interested in the SAS or "Delta Force" than many of the Ramboesque Walter Mitty garbage that pollute the book stores. In addition, characters are engaging and actually develop and grow, something all to rare in a book like this.

Simply put, this would be an excellent book without the Star Wars universe behind it. That it actually takes place in that universe and can stimulate discussion about the underpinnings of the prequels is extraordinary. Buy the book.

Matt

 

Counting 3 reviews:

9.666

 

Make that 10/10

 

Counting 4 reviews:

9.75

- Keralys

 

10/10... superb book

 

Counting 5 Reviews: 9.8

 

So, when can we expect the TFN review for this one..???

 

PM Cooper and Thrawn till their mailboxes blow up and we'll get one.

NO, I am not advocating that anyone do that! *stern glares about the room*

- Keralys

 

I thought the book was good. Although A little too heavy on the Mando stuff for my taste. also I didn't find any of the characters sympathetic. In fact I actively disliked almost every single character. Which is funny, because I loved Etain and Darman in Hard Contact, but in this book I couldn't stand them. I was hoping for a stray bullet or something to take them out and end the pain. Also the whole pregnancy thing seemed tacked on, probably to seed the author with an dream OC for the Legacy series.
I was disturbed by the Jedi's complete lack of moral convictions. They were also too quick to go native with the Mandolorians. So, Although I did have some minor issues with this book,over all I enjoyed it quite a bit.

8.5

 

I don't think any Jedi goes 'Native' actually.

Also, the child would be rather old by Legacy.

 

one year older than Luke.

 

Counting six reviews:

9.58

 

And that is assuming that the child survives at all...

 

Perfect ten. Loved the part where Kal gets all teary at the sight of a Jetii in Mando'ad besker'garm especially.

I'll try and put in a review later, but probably not here, as I'm thinking of boycotting Rohniss.

 

Pretty darn good book. I had a whole list of likes & dislikes, but as one person's personal preferences don't really count for a whole lot in the whole 11-dimensional, transgalactic nature of things, I'll just say the following.

TZ seems to be at once more niche-focused (with all the Mandalorian stuff) and also more mainstream (Coruscant, more Jedi, a wider range of things to talk about than HC had). And yet, somehow, none of it fails to really disappoint. It's the the greatest book ever, but I'd say it's about 5th in placement, with ROTS and TTT ahead of it, and DL tied with it.

Speaking of Dark Lord...these two books seem to have more than a few things in common, at least in terms of what they do. TZ both focuses more extensively on a particular group (Mandalorians), while providing a broader picture of the time that it takes place in. Dark Lord focuses on a particular group (The Sith) but also paints a larger picture of the post-Clone War galaxy.

IN any case, pretty interesting book that does a good job as a sequel.