Kandosii!

Star Wars: Republic Commando - True Colors by Karen Traviss.

You do not need to be a Star Wars fan to love this series. In fact I'd go so far as to say the less you now about Star Wars the more you'll dig this stuff.

Picking up a few months after the events of Triple Zero the commandos are off to defend a Republic that they are finding to be less than worth the effort to defend.

There really is a ton going on in this book and it's sort of hard to talk about too much of it without spoiling the fun of reading it yourself.

So here is what I can tell you - Delta Squad (Boss, Sev, Scortch, Fixer) Omega Squad (Niner, Darman, Atin, Fi) Three of the Null A.R.C.'s (Ordo, Aden, Mereel) Kal Skirata, Walon Vau are here to teach you how Mandalorians get things done.

The basic premise for the book is the hunt for Ko Sai, the Kaminoan geneticist who created the clones. On the run from her own people, the Seperatists and the Republic, Ko Sai doesn't want to be found. Which is just what Mandalorians are best at.

But really that only scratching the surface for the book. The Clone Wars has been raging across the galaxy for over a year now and the R.C.'s (Republic Commanodos) are starting to get sick of it. Feeling like they should have obliterated the Seperatist forces by now, the troops privately begin to question just who is calling the shots on this war. At the same time questioning morality of a Republic that preaches freedom to all but utilizes what is basically a slave army not - given no choice to serve and given no rights as citizens of the Republic. Feed up with getting tossed aside to die when injuries are beyond what a field medic can fix, the troops can't even count on their Jedi Generals for support. The R.C.'s may serve the Republic but their loyalty is only to their brothers.

But Kal (Their training Sargent and adoptive father) with the help of his Null A.R.C.'s (Advanced Reconnaissance Commandos) Ordo, Mereel, Aden, Prudii and Kom'rk they have a plan to give the clones something that every sentient being in the galaxy has a choice - they just need to find Ko Sai first.

And that's not even the half of it.

The book is utterly fascinating. People love to whine and gripe and complain about George Lucas's prequel series but the simple fact is this - the prequels are brilliant. The films may not equal the original trilogy in a lot of ways. But it has provided such a deep ocean of possibility and several authors have taken full advantage of it (I still say Matthew Stover's adaption of Episode III is possibly superior to the film)

Karen Traviss has created a fantastic series of books full of memorable characters and she has done something that I will be eternally grateful for - She has taught us Mandalorian culture and even created a language full of fun words that we can use in our everyday life to confound our friends and family.

This book is military sci-fi on a very high level.

And even better? This series started as an adaptation of a video game. How crazy is that? Maybe Bungie and Microsoft should have got her to write their Halo books.

If you don't know this series, start with Hard Contact then move to Triple Zero where the stakes really start to get raised. Then read True Colors because this summer the shit is really going to hit the fan - the title of the next book says it all - Order 66

That can't be good for the Jedi...