One of the things I didn’t like during Del Rey’s original jaunt through the Clone Wars era (when they were producing books in between Attack of the Clones but before Revenge of the Sith had come out) was the books never really felt like war novels to me. Since Revenge of the Sith and the coming of The Clone Wars series however, that has all changed. No Prisoners is another fine example of the new literature being produced for this era, so read on for more hints and spoilers and to see why you too should read this book.

Karen Traviss chose one aspect from war, extraction of an agent behind enemy lines, and built an entire novel around it. Hallena is an undercover agent of the Republic, sent to a world on the brink of joining the Separatists. Her mission is to infiltrate the Separatist movement and find some way to stop it. But what she discovers instead is that Republic intelligence is way out of date (another common wartime issue) and that she’s far too late – the Separatists are already moving in, and she’s her true identity has been discovered.

Fortunately, in the area is the newly commissioned Republic ship Leveler, running through warm-up maneuvers. Captain Gilead Pellaeon the respected captain of the vessel, and he orders the green crew into action to extract the Republic’s agent. But he’s also in a quandary – he is romantically involved with Hallena, and isn’t sure if he’s crossing over the line with his orders – is he risking the lives of his men for an important Republic asset, or because he loves her – and should he be risking his men’s lives either way.

Fortunately, he also has some help on his side in the form of Anakin Skywalker’s Torrent company. Captain Rex, along with Ashoka and some green recruits, are onboard the ship – giving Anakin some time to be with his new bride without his Padawan learning about it. Some additional unexpected help arrives in the form of Master Altis and his splinter Jedi group, including Callista – who also happen to be in the area when Hallena’s distress call goes out. But when the Jedi and Torrent Company go dirtside, things go wrong, as they always do. Suddenly Pellaeon’s untested ship disappears, Torrent Company find themselves under heavy fire without any backup, and Anakin Skywalker realizes that he’s been put in a similar situation Teth – and this time he won’t let his men down, especially not when he was shirking his duty when sending them off without him.

Lots of interesting ideas are brought up in this book, some of which have been hinted at elsewhere and yet make for compelling drama. For instance, Altis Jedi group are in the area because they are providing aid to the civilian populations in these wartorn areas. They bring up a good point, why are the Jedi leading the armies of the Republic, shouldn’t their duty be to providing that kind of comfort and support? And of course, Altis’ group also brings up very different ideas of a Jedi lifestyle for Ashoka to consider – and she’s a very different Jedi from Anakin, since she’s never known any other way of life. Anakin and Padme discuss what could happen to them if their marriage is discovered, and we also see the consequences of what inappropriate romance has had on the promising career of Captain Pellaeon.

This is a much more action packed novel than Karen Miller’s previous entry into this series, and it also doesn’t really have the heavy handedness found in some of Traviss’ other Star Wars work concerning clones and Jedi. Even if you’re not normally a fan of Traviss’ stories, if you enjoy the Clone Wars era, I think you’ll find this book to be her most approachable yet. While there may be Traviss books that I enjoy more, and ultimately I think Miller’s Wild Space is the best The Clone Wars book so far, this is still a high quality entry from this author into this series, and I can easily recommend it.