"Execute Order 66."

When those words were spoken by Chancellor Palpatine we witnessed the fall of the Jedi and saw the birth of the Galactic Empire under the control of a Dark Lord of the Sith. The Dark Times were at hand.

Now we see this moment played out from another perspective - The clone soldiers of the Republic.

With her 4th book in this stellar series, Karen Traviss ratchets up the intensity as the Clone Wars draw to an end and all the plans that had been set in motion during the previous novels come to fruition. For the most part.

As you know, I try to keep spoilers out of my reviews and again, that will prove difficult because this is one book I am going to love discussing with people.

Picking up were "True Colors" left off we reconnect with Kal Skirata and his adopted family of clones and rejects from other walks of life including two Jedi and a treasury agent. Still seeking a way to stop the clones premature aging process and figuring out how to build a refuge camp on Mandalore for clones who are prepared to desert the Grand Amy, Kal and his adopted family are in for the fight of their lives as all their plans run smack into the master manipulations of Darth Sidious. What you get from the story is one of the most intensely emotional Star Wars stories I've ever read - and I've read them all people. I'm not even kidding, I got misty eyed more than once.

Again, one of the strengths Ms. Traviss relies on is her deep understanding of each of her characters and their individual motives over the series. What she has done for Mandalorian culture alone makes the books worth investing your time, but it's more than that. You care about each one of these characters. And that makes what fate has in store for them all the more impactful on you as a reader.

Perhaps one of the more underrated aspects of this series and of utmost importance in this novel is the depth and complexity of the the entire prequel saga.

The prequels have been panned by most critics and fans for a variety of reasons. In my opinion it's because you can only show so much in a film, the true depth of what happening on screen has to be thought about to really be understood. And that is what Ms. Traviss has done better than any Star Wars author to date. She has peeled layer after layer of the prequels back to reveals to true depths and ugliness to which the Jedi have sunk and why they were going to lose this war before it even started. And she also sheds light on the motivations of a certain decapitated Mandalorian that would shake an ardent fan to their core if they were to examine it.

Whether these layers of complexity were really there when George Lucas made the films is certainly debatable, I would like to believe they were and that he was simply challenging his audience to see the subtly of the trap laid by Sidious over the course of the three prequels. Or perhaps it's is all the doing of one incredibly bright and insightful English novelist who has simply captured my imagination in ways that haven't been done in sometime.

This books is phenomenal, this series is phenomenal.

This forth book closes the Republic Commando series. I'm sad to see it go as it has become as favorite in a short amount of time. Good thing it was also just annouced the a new series from Karen Traviss would be out soon - IMPERIAL COMMANDO. The title of book one of the series will bring delight to Star Wars fas everywhere - 501st!

I will be first in line for that one.

KE NU'JURKADIR SHA MANDO'ADE!

Star Wars: Revelation - Legacy of the Force Book 8 by Karn Traviss

It wasn't too long ago that I was on here singing the praises of Karen Traviss for her latest effort in her 'Republic Commando' series of Star Wars novels.

Well, I'm about to do it again.

This time, the book is from the 'Legacy of the Force', a nine part epic involving the expanded universe of characters set 40 years after the 'Star Wars: A New Hope' aka 'Episode IV' of which this is the penultimate chapter - part 8.

A lot has been going on in this series of novel spearheaded by Travis, Troy Denning and Arron Allston. From the opening of the series with a dramatic turn of popular character to the dark side to the dramatic deaths of several large expanded universe characters, the series is unrelenting in it's ideas.

In a way it has a strange parallel to the Fall of Anakin Skywalker and his transformation into Darth Vader. But I feel it's best not to say too much about that here and let anyone who reads the books to make their own judgments.

The bulk of the story deals with Darth Caedus consolidating his power base and becoming the sole tyrant in charge of the Galactic Alliance. Ben Skywalker conducts an investigation to find evidence linking Caedus to death of a loved one. And Jania Solo, sensing she will be the one drawn into a final conflict with Caedus, but knowing she can't defeat him because he knows how she fights and is superior, seeks new training that Caedus won't know, and who better to ask for ways to defeat a Sith lords than a man who hunted Jedi for 20 years - Boba Fett!

Yes, it's THAT awesome!

For me, the three novels in the series penned by Ms. Traviss have been my personal favorites. And you only get one guess as to why. Boba Fett.

If you are a fan of the Fett then you really have to read these books. I've said it before and I'll say it again, what she has done for Fett, Mandalorians and the exploration of their unique culture has been simply amazing. When I was a child I never had the urge to run away from home, but if Mandalore was real a real place I think I would do it now. I really can't emphasize this enough and I'd love to share some of it with you, but you really should just read for yourself, half the fun is the discovery.

Also fun are they way she ties events and characters from the Republic Commando series into this set of books set almost 60 years later. It really helps to give a real sense of history and perspective to the characters and the events in both eras.

What is truly surprising is that nobody had tried to do this earlier. Boba Fett has popularity that rivals Vader and no one could really get a grasp on the man under the helmet. But in a way I can only be thankful that no one ever did because Ms. Travis has done it better and in a more surprising way than anyone would have suspected.

My only real hope is that once this series wraps, Karen Traviss will be given more opportunities to write the adventures of the galaxy's most dangerous man.

Kandosii!

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...