David's Review Of The Clone Wars

4/5 Rancors - The actual Clone Wars, not the book, have come a long ways in the Star Wars universe. We originally learned of them from a mostly off-hand reference early in the films. Some of us may have wondered then what kind of fighting went on during the Clone Wars. When was it? Where was it fought? Exactly who was on each side?

Well, here we are down the road. We have a movie. We have an animated TV series, and we have a book by none other than Karen Traviss. Ms Traviss is noted particularly for her excellent Republic Commando series, and she has maintained her high standards with The Clone Wars. She is now one of the authors whose name alone on the front of a book can increase sales.

At the time of this book, the Clone Wars are raging across the galaxy. On one side we have the Separatists, led by the venerable Count Dooku, a onetime Jedi and current Sith Lord in secret. He manages a huge droid army. On the other side we have the Republic, publically led by Supreme Chancellor Palpatine (Nudge! Nudge! Wink! Wink!) and his army of clone troopers led by Jedi generals.

The story is fairly straightforward and includes a number of impressive action sequences (as you might expect since the story is based on the TV series). Jabba the Hutt’s infant son has been kidnapped, and both sides are trying to rescue him. The successful side is hoping to gain enough favor with Jabba to gain access to key routes through Hutt-controlled space. Basically we end up with Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Won Kenobi with their clone troops fighting droid forces led by Asajj Ventress. We also are introduced to Anakin’s new Padawan Ahsoka, who turns out to be a breath of fresh air in all of the Clone Wars.

As the tale unfolds we are privy to much of the thinking of the clone soldiers. Ms Traviss seems to be specializing in this. We are also allowed in the mind of Palpatine to see what he is actually thinking. This was a great idea because there are some classic moments when Palpatine may not be thinking exactly what you expect.

All in all, The Clone Wars is a fun story to read. See the movie! Watch the TV series! Read the book! It’s all good.