The Clone Wars are an integral part of the ‘Star Wars’ saga as shown in the films. The cast of characters in this book is largely known to us already: Obi Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, Yoda, Chancellor Palpatine, Count Dooku, Jabba the Hutt and so forth. We know how it all turns out for them. In these circumstances, it is difficult for a writer to build any suspense or drama into the narrative but it can be done. One technique is to introduce new, minor characters whose fate is as yet undecided. Another is to shed more light on some of the subtler aspects of the relationship between the main characters, something that prose can do more effectively than the big screen. Karen Traviss manages to make an interesting story that slots nicely into the big epic drama of the ‘Star Wars’ films.

Ziro the Hutt has conspired with Count Dooku, leader of the Separatist forces, to kidnap Rotta, the young offspring of Jabba the Hutt. Ziro is Jabba’s uncle but said offspring is not his bloodline as Hutt’s have asexual reproduction, all by themselves. Dooku wants to frame the Jedi for the kidnapping and make Jabba their enemy. Both sides want access to Hutt controlled space routes.

Meanwhile, the Clone Wars continue. Obi Wan Kenobe and Anakin Skywalker are fighting on the world of Christophsis. Anakin is a Jedi Knight and fights well but has to keep reminding himself that anger is bad. He’s full of it. He remembers killing the Tuskens who murdered his mother and has kept it a secret. His marriage is also a secret and he resents the way he’s treated by the Jedi Council. His interior monologue is full of denials that he is tempted by the dark side. Then he’s given a Padawan to teach, a brash fourteen-year-old named Ahsoka who initially annoys him but as in all good buddy narratives…well, you know. Anakin is also shown as loyal to his men, particularly Clone Captain Rex and his squad. When they get involved in the mission to rescue Rotta, these comradely ties give the narrative more impact.

Moreover, by heading each chapter with a quotation from some intelligent character, often from the dark side, Karen Traviss underscores the fact that the villains’ motives were genuine. They viewed the Jedi as a smug elite, blindly supporting a rotten system. The Republic was basically corrupt as it neared its end. The films show this but the point can be lost in all the slam-bang action required in that medium. A prose book can deliver a lot more subtext and some politically-minded readers may even see a connection with our own age. Democracies can go into decline if the populace start taking them for granted and that‘s when the dictators take over. Mind you, there’s no lack of action here as it’s pretty much a constant battle from the first page to the last for our Jedi heroes. The subtler stuff is just slipped in along the way.

An enjoyable adventure and an object lesson in what a good writer can do even within the restraints of a film series tie-in. Some literary snobs give it short shrift but well-wrought franchise fiction is not to be sneezed at, especially if you want to resell the book online.

Eamonn Murphy
First reviewed at https://www.sfcrowsnest.info/ ( )

Jabba's son is kidnapped by the Separatists who make it look like it was the Jedi. The Jedi have to rescue the little slimer. Anakin has a padawan. LOTS of clone troopers die. Kenobi fights Asajj Ventress. Once again, Traviss's anti-jedi streak shows, strongly. Asajj is shown as some hurt little girl who is just trying to make up for her masters death by becoming a mass murderer. ( )

A couple years ago, I decided to watch the Clone Wars cartoon from beginning to end, and read the tie-in novels and comics alongside it. I didn't get very far, but that wasn't really the show's fault. I did get far enough to read two of the novels, the first of which, simply titled The Clone Wars, novelizes the events of the film that kicked off the series. Quite frankly, Karen Traviss's talents are wasted on the pile of shit that was the film's script-- things like Jabba's gay cousin do not need any fleshing out, and like Diane Carey, she delights a little too much in having characters inwardly snark about how the events/dialogue of the story are implausible or bad. That doesn't rectify the problems, it just makes you think you should be reading a different book, given the book's own author doesn't even like it. Traviss's Star Wars books are distinguished for her depth of characterization, but there's nothing to pin that to here, and her dislike of significant components of the Star Wars concept becomes a little too obvious in places. Traviss writing clone characters is always appreciated, though.

"Star Wars: The Clone Wars" - Better Than Watching It

I often have wondered why people read the novelizations of movies they already saw. My experience with the novels for "The Phantom Menace" and "Attack of the Clones," though, showed me that much can be gained. Frankly, if the film "Attack of the Clones" had been made the way the book was written, it would have been a far better movie. So I set out reading "The Clone Wars" with this hope in mind. Having seen the movie several times, I hoped to gain something useful out of reading the novelization. I was not disappointed.

It's clear that the bulk of this story should be the Battle of Teth. Whereas the movie spends nearly equal time on Christophsis and Tatooine as on Teth, the novel wisely accelerates both the Christophsis opening and the Tatooine conclusion (nearly skipping over the Coruscant tidbits entirely) in favor of focusing more on the central tale of Teth. I found this focus to be very effective. The biggest selling point for the novel, though, comes from its insight into each character. Traviss loves to lace dialog with the thoughts of the key participants. This gives us an excellent glimpse into each characters emotions and motivations. I found this very useful with Rex especially. In the film and subsequent TV series, we only get to know Rex from his dialog. This novel shows what goes on beneath the bucket and I love it! Another refreshing development is the revealed dual nature of Palpatine. Since many of the earlier Clone Wars novels preceded the release of Episode III, the publishers preferred to treat us like children and avoid the fact that Sidious and Palpatine were one and the same. Oh. Wait. SPOILER ALERT. Sorry, was that too late? It was so gratifying to see these scenes painted with the delicious spite and hatred of Sidious's thoughts woven within the smooth political language of Palpatine. It let us truly see what it was like for ol' Sheev to live that double life. If you want more of that, read Darth Plagueis.

Lastly, while the book retained the awful AWFUL nickname "Skyguy," it was gracious enough to allow Ahsoka to call the galaxy's #1 droid by his actual name. That's right, none of that "Artoo-y" horror show from the film. Thank you, Karen Traviss! So pick this one up even - though you know the story. It's a great read and fills in some of the gaps in the action (not to mention the dialog) from its big-screen counterpart. ( )

STAR WARS the clone wars, A book about what happened between the second movie of star wars and the third movie of star wars. it is set in a world where the galactic republic is in a war with the federation of separate planets.the galactic republic clone troops for their army and the federation of separate planets build robots for their army. and stuck in the middle of this chaos is a baby hutt.

In my opinion I thought it was a very good book. It had lots of action like right in the beginning the clones were fighting the robots with jedi along their side. It was not boring for one second, not even when no one was fighting. when no one was fighting the people that were focused on were talking about there life and what has happened like when Anakin was saying that he was a slave to a hutt but yet he has to save one. But really I thought it was a really good book. ( )