A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, I started reading these books…

The Star Wars Expanded Universe is a big place, and one that’s easy to get lost in. To the extent that my bookshelf allows, every Tuesday (if I ever start doing them on time again) I will be guiding you through the EU with (generally) chronologically placed reviews of Star Wars novels. Today I will be reviewing Republic Commando: Hard Contact by Karen Traviss.

The sole survivors of four clone commando squads on Geonosis have been reformed into Omega Squad. Now that they’re a motley group of adventurers, they’re now powerful enough to take on the Separatists. Okay, really, this is just a routine mission and they’re the commandos picked for the job, but they really are a motley group learning their way around the first new people in their lives. Jedi Etain Tur-Makan, likewise, is getting to know some non-Jedi for the first time in her life. All of these new experiences are nothing compared to the threat that they face in Mandalorian warrior Ghez Hokan and thedeadly biological threat he’s sitting on.

This book should have been my introduction to Karen Traviss. In fact, if it weren’t published in an era I had never much cared for about a sub population I had never had any interest in, it would have been. Republic Commando is the 2000s answer to X-Wing.

We start off with an introduction to a couple of members of Delta Squad, a very touching scene akin to the reunification of long lost brothers. In fact, that’s very much what this is. For newcomers, these commandos are clones, members of the Grand Army of the Republic. As we learn in the novel, commandos are raised in isolation, so they literally have no human contact beyond their immediate family and their training sergeant. If you want to hear more of the details (and you should!), they’re in the book.

Similarly, we’re introduced to a Jedi Padawan, lost on her own and lost in the murk of a depression based on an utter lack of self-efficacy. This girl believes she can’t accomplish anything. I guess since this isn’t a non-spoiler review I ought to include here that not only can she accomplish things with the Force, her growth as a being and as a Jedi is phenomenal. This is indicative of Traviss’s personal philosophies, which you can find in all of her writing (Star Wars, if not the rest): camaraderie is important. That’s what it comes down to. In a Karen Traviss novel, companionship is the ultimate end-all solution, and generally that’s a very true statement in reality as well. I can now see why Traviss loved Mara Jade so much: she was completely transformed by the prospect of friendship in Timothy Zahn’s Thrawn Trilogy (I can’t wait to review those!).

Enough on Traviss, though. I would love to do an overall review of her work, sometime, though. Where were we? Ah, yes, a loose plot summary with the purpose of reviewing. We meet the rest of the team, and we really see the range of clone behaviors: we have Raphael, Donatello, Michelangelo, and Leonard- wait a second, I mean Attin, Darman, Fi and Niner. They meet their first Jedi, and the Jedi meet their first clones. As somebody familiar (or at least, somebody who thought I was familiar) with both of these groups, it’s a bit of a humorous briefing.

The rest of the novel is basically about their mission. On the other side, we also get to see Ghez Hokan, walking Mandalorian poster-board, whose claim to fame is that he got kicked out for being too aggressive. He’s narrow-minded, enforces his ideology through brute force, and is the walking arsenal we’ve come to know and love when Mandalorians are involved. All in all, he’s a surprisingly complicated character who doesn’t experience the same growth as the protagonists, but nonetheless does some learning throughout the novel and is an effective antagonist (though looking back, he does remind me of the final boss of a video game).

What more to say about the characters? Each of the clones has had their own role since childhood. Think of it as a group of siblings: they might have the same innate skills and interests, but each has found an area to excel, both when it comes to skills (such as their immediate recognition of who the demolitions expert was) and psychology (the funny one, the practical one, the leader). There’s no Rex-style shaved head, unfortunately, but it’s still very distinctive whom is whom, which is something that got taken from the RC series and expanded upon through The Clone Wars multimedia project going on today.

A bit of the political side is looked into as well, as the natives help out only to get the human colonists off their world. I’m wondering if something like that occurred in American history- I wouldn’t be surprised if the result is the same. It’s brought up, but not really delved into, although it does seem that the natives do not enjoy the Separatist-backed Neimoidian government and that’s the reason why they don’t join the CIS like every other group of oppressed natives seems to.

There are some nice action scenes, totally kick-ass and almost entirely without the Force. We have commandos versus droids, commandos versus Mandalorian, commandos and Jedi versus Weequay, and a whole bunch of kit to boot. Trekking through the forest was nice, something that really appealed to an old Boy Scout and ROTC kid like myself. I honestly have no idea how much this appeals to somebody without my particular interests- hell, I could imagine certain readers considering this completely boring. I, personally, was utterly engrossed in every scene.

I don’t think I’ve given everything I liked its fair due, but I think it’s time to focus on the negatives. While we receive differing views on clones, Mandalorians, the military, strict discipline and free will, there are two things it is obvious that Traviss does not like (a few more if you count “Orcs Are Evil” Syndrome, but I’ll let her get away with the Selfish Neimoidians and Stupid Weequays for now). How do I know this? Because they are the only topics in this good length novel that do not have any good sides expressed. Karen Traviss, in just this novel and Sacrifice (of the ones I’ve read so far) has written more about Kaminoans than I believe any other Star Wars author. Every. Single. Word about them is negative. They are greedy, odd-looking, hate the sun, and seem to delight in the death of clones. This may be true, but where’s the opposing argument? Don’t tell me Traviss isn’t capable of it, because I know she is. She just doesn’t feel that the other side is worth listening to.

Oh no, just stop reading now. This paragraph is on the bandwagon. Everybody who’s ever discussed Miss Traviss’s work heard this one: The Jedi. Specifically, the formal, rules side of the Jedi. I’m going to put it this way: we get two main Jedi in this novel. One has never felt at home among the Jedi. The other one is a strict, by-the-book Jedi who has no sense of compassion and is ready to immediately sacrifice the rest of the squad for the sake of saving some time. I may be slightly misremembering some of those specifics, but that’s still the general feeling you get from Arligan Zay. He’s somewhere between the cold “Do As I Say” attitude of Dark Jedi Jorus C’baoth and the haughty “My Own Council Will I Keep” authority of Jedi Master Yoda. In other words, you have a likable Jedi who doesn’t fit in with the order, and an unlikable Jedi who happens to be a Master. No positive views whatsoever.

Despite these one or two gripes, I loved Hard Contact. Definitely a herald of KT’s new vision of Star Wars, a unique work and decent length, too. I would recommend this to any Star Wars fan that doesn’t mind reading about a load of non Force-Sensitives taking the spotlight.