Triple Zero (Star Wars: Republic Commando) [Mass Market Paperback]

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.

The reaction to this book has been...interesting, and Karen Traviss is fast becoming a source of controversy in Star Wars fandom. The interesting thing is, no one disputes her writing ability, but there seems to be an inability on the part of some to seperate what they "want" to see happen with what the author writes.

Simple put, Karen Traviss writes excellent prose, and she writes dense prose, which means that there is always a lot going on. Despite those who claim that there is a lack of action when compared to HARD CONTACT, the first in the series, I'd have to respectfully disagree, in fact, there's quite a lot of action, and I'd hazard to say that the two books are rather equal in that regard.

In HARD CONTACT people seem to forget that there was quite a lot of time spent dealing with Etain and Darman meeting and talking and the two coming to grips with each other as well as time spent on the squad scouting the planet before the battle at the end.

Traviss does not spend the pages on lightsabre duels that some authors in the SW universe are known for, and her combat writing is quick and aggressive, and perhaps that is why some feel it lacks immediate action. However, there's quite a few battles and fights and a final confrontation that's fairly action packed and bloody.

This isn't the story of a fleet battle or an epic conflict, but the story of special forces carrying out an urban anti-terror campaign in a heavily populated city. With the reintroduction of Kal Skirata we see more of the politics of black ops work, and we also see more of tha Mandalorian culture since Kal is one.

This is another sticking point for critics. Look, Mandalorians are not Klingons, they weren't before Karen Traviss arrived on scene and they are not now. Their mercenary roots and tactics alone set them apart from those age-old Star Trek aliens.

The Mandalorian culture and language is played up more in this novel, and not just because the author is writing the language and has a large input on the culture, but because it's been established that 75 Mandalorian's trained the clones as part of Jango's accellerated training program to produce the ARCS and Commandos.

So, a group of men with the minds of children (remember, they barely have any life experience having been rapidly aged) are hooked up with a group of warriors from a culture that has no problems with adopting outsiders into their ranks.

This is something that has been telegraphed for ages, and like Chekov's famous "gun on the mantle" in Act One being fired in Act Three, it's being fired.

The book is an intelligent look into another side of Star Wars, a look that may be more "realistic" than some may like, but it's fully within the remit of the series (and anyone who played the game and watched the game features knows that the game developers wanted to show how a real special forces squad would act in the SW Universe, well, this is it).

Will this be the book for every Star Wars fan? Probably not, but it's a book that doesn't speak down to the reader, that is filled with love for the Star Wars universe and the characters, and offers a new insight into a new and, yes, more realistic side of the Star Wars universe.

No different than any other writer Karen Traviss is carving her own little niche in the Star Wars universe, and bravo to that, because as a fan of Star Wars I want more writers like her who repsect the universe and the readers and produce intelligent novels that explore the human condition inside Star Wars and use the universe to ask hard questions as well as entertain.

Before starting the Republic Commando series, I had been a fairly avid Star Wars fan, but had read none of the EU novels. I was pleasantly surprised by 'Hard Contact,' especially in terms of pace, characterization, and the realistic atmosphere Traviss created through her own military experiences and research. However, 'Triple Zero' maintains little of these qualities: it actually expanded on some nitpicky issues I had with the first, as well as adding a few more of its own.

My major issue with this novel is the writing, namely the tendency to tell instead of show thoughts and emotions, as well as the author's refusal to let her story carry her message, and instead insert her opinion into the narration itself. There is little question that the novel is meant to portray clones, and by extension Mandalorians, as noble people downtrodden by the bloated Republic and the ignorant "civvies." This idea is reiterated a few times every chapter, not just by characters, but by the narration itself. I found this jarring to the point of grating--Traviss's tight writing in 'Hard Contact' becomes unbearably preachy in this book, almost berating the reader for even considering that clones/Mandalorians are anything less than heroes of the galaxy. Kal Skirata, who intrigued me in the first book, is little more than a mouthpiece for this idea.

In terms of plot, one of the biggest disappointments of this book was the complete lack of pace in the romance between Etain and Darman--there is nothing but a couple lines of dialog leading up to "the big moment." Also, I certainly wouldn't expect an explicit sex scene in a YA book, but the fact that no true moment of intimacy between the two is ever shown caused me to care less about their relationship (which should be momentous).

I have other issues with the book as well, but these stood out most to me. Not to say the book is irredeemable, however--from what I hear, the RC series is leaps and bounds better than most EU novels, and if you are a fan of the clones or the Mandalorians (like I am), there's enough in here to keep you going.