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

Yes, but burn it all, Boba, you didn't give a score!

Counting 7 reviews (NOT BOBA'S!!!):

9.64

- Keralys

 

Does "I was tired" count as an excuse?

Overall, I'd say about a 7.

 

8 out of 10.

I loved the book, but there were too many major characters to flesh out. Delta felt kind of tacked on for sales. They weren't really focused on much and it seems like they were on the cover to attract gamers.

Really I was just a bit disappointed in not seeing enough of their characters, but overall a very solid and enjoyable read.

 

I suppose we'll count that as an excuse, Boba.

Counting 9 reviews:

9.16

- Keralys

 

9 out of 10. It was great, but on occasion, Ms. Traviss didn't give me a great sense of what was going on and relied too much on the assumption that all of her readers would share her military knowledge, and also the Mando'a was a nice touch, but I think it got a bit overused. Also, I didn't much care for the Grand Army of the Republic being transformed into Dating Central. Just IMO. Otherwise, an excellent read and rock on, Karen.

 

Hmm, you might have been missing a certain sub-text there.

 

Half Way through the book and wondering when the Delta bash will end... Sev is a jerk or ner vod in mando'a... Boss lets himself get slammed into the wall, err I played the cahracter in the game and I kinda relate to him. It hurts to say the least.

Anyway other that that I love the book and it is exceptionally well done in that it melds a gaming squad and the beloved quatro of Niner, Fi, Atin, and Darman along with the famous Skirata into a cohesive and believable unit. Now if Karen Traviss would just cut Delta squad some slack I will enjoy it even more.

I was pleased by the author's in depth understanding of a clone's thought process and how he thinks of life and I thoroughly enjoy the character Ordo and how he is the elite within the elite "within" the elite. A loner and a genius and a soldier coupled with personal issues and an extraordianry amount of fear founded on childhood experiences is a very original character for me and so far it has been an enjoyable read.

I give the book a 8/10 and I will update the score and my post when I have finished reading.

Regards, Passon

 

Counting 10 reviews (not Obi-Wan_Ken-Obi's, since he hasn't finished it yet):

9.148

- Keralys

 

I put it in PG terminology.

 

And you just missed what I was trying to imply.

 

>>Sev is a jerk or ner vod in mando'a...<<

Doesn't ner vod mean "my brother"?

 

Yes.

 

yeah dunno why I wrote that... I meant di'kut...

 

I found the relationship between Darman and Etain - though well-written - was unnecessary and somewhat of a sell out.

In Hard Contact, it's specifically said that it wasn't a love relationship between the two - just a bond formed by being so close to death so many times.

And then wham, guess not. Now she's preggers.

Hm. Force-using Mandalorian who has Fett's genes. Kinda sounds like one of those "invicinble, t3h awesome" main characters often seen in amateur fanfiction, don't it? (not saying Ms. Traviss's work is similar in any way)

Also, Delta Squad really didn't do much of anything, at least in terms of character interaction. Ms. Traviss brought up many valid points, such as them being cocky about being a "true" pod with no casualties, etc. But they eventually just fade from all sight, really, occasionally throwing in a one-liner or some such. (Fixer only had two lines of spoken dialogue in the novel.) I was dissappointed when there was no POV from one of the Deltas.

And as Kudzu said, our beloved team of elite military commandos are turned into swingin' ladies men. Cool, yes, but really, it kinda detracts from their charm as these deprived boys with nothing beyond fighting. So it was a little odd when they so easily fit into cantinas and the like.

However, all the negatives aside, Triple Zero was a fine novel overall. No gratuitous action, an even deeper insight into the clone mythos, and a very good look at Sergeant Kal Skirata, who turns out to be one helluva guy. It also shows the versatility of the clones - blasting droids and rushing into rooms with spotlamps isn't all these fellas can do. They do damn well tracking down terrorists using their wits and their lovely tech.

Also, the novel is a godsend for the people who're interested in the Mando'a language. Even a glossary in the back for you to mess around with.

And of course, Targets. Awesome extra.

All in all, I liked Hard Contact much better.

7 outta 10.

 

Oh yeah. Skirata. Amazing character. Same with Vau, who I didn't dislike quite so much by story's end. Liked Jusik a lot. Loved Ordo. Corr was cool. Didn't much care for Besany Wessen. Etain was deceht. Fi's POV was interesting. Sev was intriguing - I never could quite bring myself to actually dislike him at any point of the story; he was just interesting.

 

Cool book. 9/10.

 

I give it a 9.5/10 with a -1.0 for not QUITE understanding Karen's POV vs. Etain's POV on some of her (Etain's) internal thought processes.

But a minor quibble, I suppose.

8.5/10 is the final.

 

Counting 13 reviews, total score of 115.98:

8.92

- Keralys

 

Been sitting on this for a while, but I might as well do the rating now. Review later, maybe.

I give it 9.5 out of 10. It would have got 10/10 if there'd been more Fixer!

 

Counting 14 reviews, total score of 125.5:

8.96

 

Just finished it a little while ago and I absolutely loved it. Triple Zero was better than Hard Contact, IMO, and like its predecessor is easily among the best EU books ever written. Ms. Traviss is truly a gifted writer and knows how to balance great action with even better characters, and her knowledge of all things military is obviously second to none. True, there may have been a few too many characters but that certainly didnt take away from my enjoyment of the book. Oh, and speaking of characters, Kal Skirata is easily the best character to be introduced in years. His love for his boys is so palpable, so real that I almost wish that he was my dad.


9.5 / 10

 

"And as Kudzu said, our beloved team of elite military commandos are turned into swingin' ladies men."

In the end cloned men, despite being clone-are just men.

 

Oh, we know. We know.

They also have responsibilities to the GAR, and they've also been cloistered in a thorough unsexual environment for the first ten years of their lives. I can understand a few clones exploring relationships, which I would think would be frowned upon as "deviant" and "distracting" - but I'm just not quite sure that I like the idea of women going all weak-kneed at the sight of them and then the clones having random flings with them.

Darman and Etain wasn't just hard to swallow because Darman was a clone and Etain was Jedi; they'd also only been in actual active contact for a total of maybe a week or two before they confess their undying love for one another and Etain decides that it's her destiny to bear Darman's child.

 

Ungodly good. This was just an incredible read, excellent military vibe, and while I do share some of the quibbles expressed above, I didn't find that they took away from my enjoyment of the book. 9.9/10.

 

Counting 16 reviews, total reader score of 144.9:

9.056

- Keralys