David's Review of Republic Commando: Order 66

5/5 Rancors - Karen Traviss is one of the best. Her four books in the Republic Commando series are all extremely well written and tell great stories. You become attached to the characters and you meet a lot of new ones. No reliance here on our tried and true heroes to keep our interest.

Republic Commando: Hard Contact basically gets us to think about clone troopers in an entirely different way, i.e., as people rather than just cannon fodder. We learn about the importance of the teams, and we are introduced to Jedi Etain Tur-Mukan and to Gurlanin shapeshifters.

Republic Commando: Triple Zero, the second book, keeps us with Omega Squad and introduces us to Delta Squad plus the legendary Sergeant Kal Skirata and his boys, Null ARC Troopers Ordo and Mereel. Jedi Knight Etain Tur-Mukan is also back. Ms Traviss gets us to think about the lives of the clone troopers. What will happen to them when the war ends? Would it be possible for any of the troopers to adopt normal lifestyles with wives and families during their abbreviated life spans? Such questions are important in the series and they broke entirely new ground for me. I simply had never thought of clone troopers as real people who might like to live ordinary lives one day.

Republic Commando: True Colors, the third in the series, takes place during the Clone Wars with the Grand Army of the Republic fighting an ongoing war against the Separatists, a war that seems to make no sense. The clones themselves in the book gradually begin to entertain suspicions about strange troop buildups and exorbitant weapons expenditures that seem completely unnecessary based on the strength of the opposing forces.

Sadly, we then come to Republic Commando: Order 66, the fourth and last book in the series. I hate to see the series end. The author has outdone herself with this one. We all know what Order 66 is, so we read the book with a sense of impending doom without knowing when the hammer might fall. We have most of the same characters as in the first three books, and they are spread over the Universe doing various deeds. Kal is determined to establish a safe haven for his boys on Mandalore so they can lead as close to normal lives as possible. With the help of Walon Vau, Kal comes into vast resources that he can spend as necessary so he makes progress in his quest.

Scientific help is needed from geneticists to find a means of extending the life spans of the clones, so Kal and his squads go obtain the needed scientists. At the same time, a war is being fought against the Separatists that cannot be avoided. After all, the clones are soldiers. To further complicate matters, Etain and Darman have a baby son who must be cared for. Fi is wounded and must attempt to work his way back.

The ending of the book surprised me. Order 66 is issued but at an unexpected time. Everything is not tied up in a neat and tidy package. Ms Traviss is clearly leaving some questions unanswered for her next series Imperial Commando. I can't wait.