Star Wars: The Clone Wars: No Prisoners’ is part of a mini-series within a franchise, hence all the colons. It’s set during the Clone Wars and again focuses on Anakin Skywalker, his Padawan Ahsoka, Captain Rex of Torrent Company and the troops. In fact, Anakin barely features this time and most of the focus is on others. The cast also includes Captain Gilad Pellaeon and his girlfriend, Hallena, a spy.

Anakin wants a couple of days off to spend with his secret wife, so he sends Rex, Ahsoka and the troops to an assignment aboard the assault ship Leveler skippered by Gilad Pellaeon. His girlfriend, Hallena, is on a secret mission to a planet called JanFathal, a tyranny ripe for a revolution that may be about to go over to the Separatists, once they help the revolutionaries. Hallena gets in trouble and just to prove that coincidences can happen even in a galaxy far, far away, the Leveler is the nearest ship available to help and Rex and his men must make an extraction. Fortunately, perhaps, there are some Jedi nearby who will be able to help. Unfortunately, they are a different sect of Jedi who do not follow the ways of Yoda and dare to get attached to each other, even married. Padawan Ahsoka has some difficulty with this.

That’s given away enough of the plot, on to character. There is some character here as Karen Traviss is good at inserting those little thoughts and observations which distinguish one sentient from the next. Rex is a very likeable chap, loyal to Skywalker and devoted to his troops. The other clone troopers are almost fresh from the vats or wherever they come from and this is their first experience of combat. They are slowly becoming individuals. Padawan Ahsoka is endearing. Anakin Skywalker is in a permanent sulk about Jedi rules he doesn’t like and his dark future casts something of a shadow but he’s by no means despicable. The Jedi who dare to get attached are an interesting bunch and might merit a mini-series of their own.

Karen Traviss is a very good writer, almost too good for this material. She puts in all the technical jargon about guns and devices and handles the action very well. But she brings a bit more life to the characters and that’s what makes the book. If a fan is a fanatic then I’m not really a ‘Star Wars’ fan. I quite like the films but the bits that pander to the kiddies are mildly irritating (Jar Jar Blinks!) and there’s no profundity to them. As action movies and space opera, they’re fine. I enjoy them. However, a writer like Traviss, given the space a novel affords, can add a bit more depth to the saga. Real fans who would buy Luke Skywalker’s laundry list will buy this anyway but I can heartily recommend it to the more casual reader too. You might be pleasantly surprised.

Eamonn Murphy
This review first appeared at https://www.sfcrowsnest.info/

The Clone Wars are an integral part of the ‘Star Wars’ saga as shown in the films. The cast of characters in this book is largely known to us already: Obi Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, Yoda, Chancellor Palpatine, Count Dooku, Jabba the Hutt and so forth. We know how it all turns out for them. In these circumstances, it is difficult for a writer to build any suspense or drama into the narrative but it can be done. One technique is to introduce new, minor characters whose fate is as yet undecided. Another is to shed more light on some of the subtler aspects of the relationship between the main characters, something that prose can do more effectively than the big screen. Karen Traviss manages to make an interesting story that slots nicely into the big epic drama of the ‘Star Wars’ films.

Ziro the Hutt has conspired with Count Dooku, leader of the Separatist forces, to kidnap Rotta, the young offspring of Jabba the Hutt. Ziro is Jabba’s uncle but said offspring is not his bloodline as Hutt’s have asexual reproduction, all by themselves. Dooku wants to frame the Jedi for the kidnapping and make Jabba their enemy. Both sides want access to Hutt controlled space routes.

Meanwhile, the Clone Wars continue. Obi Wan Kenobe and Anakin Skywalker are fighting on the world of Christophsis. Anakin is a Jedi Knight and fights well but has to keep reminding himself that anger is bad. He’s full of it. He remembers killing the Tuskens who murdered his mother and has kept it a secret. His marriage is also a secret and he resents the way he’s treated by the Jedi Council. His interior monologue is full of denials that he is tempted by the dark side. Then he’s given a Padawan to teach, a brash fourteen-year-old named Ahsoka who initially annoys him but as in all good buddy narratives…well, you know. Anakin is also shown as loyal to his men, particularly Clone Captain Rex and his squad. When they get involved in the mission to rescue Rotta, these comradely ties give the narrative more impact.

Moreover, by heading each chapter with a quotation from some intelligent character, often from the dark side, Karen Traviss underscores the fact that the villains’ motives were genuine. They viewed the Jedi as a smug elite, blindly supporting a rotten system. The Republic was basically corrupt as it neared its end. The films show this but the point can be lost in all the slam-bang action required in that medium. A prose book can deliver a lot more subtext and some politically-minded readers may even see a connection with our own age. Democracies can go into decline if the populace start taking them for granted and that‘s when the dictators take over. Mind you, there’s no lack of action here as it’s pretty much a constant battle from the first page to the last for our Jedi heroes. The subtler stuff is just slipped in along the way.

An enjoyable adventure and an object lesson in what a good writer can do even within the restraints of a film series tie-in. Some literary snobs give it short shrift but well-wrought franchise fiction is not to be sneezed at, especially if you want to resell the book online.

Eamonn Murphy
First reviewed at https://www.sfcrowsnest.info/

I haven't read the other books in this series, but once you get into it then it works as a novel on its own.
Kal Skirata has been training clone troops, and comes to see them as his boys. They've started to have lives of their own, rather than just being mass produced copies of Jango Fett.
Kal wants to get them out of the army, and find a way to increase their built in limited life span. To this end, his troops have been hacking data from the Republic, building up a close unit of allies and siphoning money.
Palpatine has been building his own fleet of ships and getting his own clone army put into the action. When he sends out Order 66, telling them to kill all Jedi, its time for Skirata to try and get his troops somewhere safe.

Lots going on, sacrifices and bending the rules. Traviss writes good characters, making them more than a faceless representation of the Republic. An interesting read from the other sides point of view.

 

From the blurb, I thought that "Going Grey" was going to be a science fiction military thriller: fast plot, high body count, on-but-not-over the edge of credibility. What I got was something quite different and much, much better.

 

"Going Grey" is about military men, illegal science and a conspiracy that spans decades but it is not, primarily, a thriller.

 

It's an exploration of what, to me, is an alien world where men with the skills to kill seek to serve; where family roles, especially brotherhood and fatherhood drive people's lives; where belonging is as important as living; where you are either US, THEM or a bystander.

"Going Grey" takes the time to build characters and the relationship between them rather than shortcutting through pop culture references and movie tropes.

 

Karen Traviss spends chapters showing how two very different men, Rob - Brit, working class, Sergeant in the Royal Marines and Mike -American, hyper-rich, security contractor, form a bond that can only be described as brotherhood.

 

I've never met a hyper-rich American but my father was in the Royal Navy and I found Rob to be a very believable portrayal of a Royal Marine. Karen Traviss captures the way he speaks, his sense of humour, the way he interacts with the men and women around him, the movies he references, the shops he goes to in a deeply authentic way. I felt as if I'd met Rob before.

 

Mike is more alien to me but equally believable: earnest, privileged but with a strong streak of noblesse oblige, patriotic in what seems to me a very American way, and strongly focussed on family.

 

Normally, I find military men impenetrable. Their world is so far away from mine that I can't begin to understand why and how they do what they do. This booked changed that. Karen Traviss got me inside these men's heads and helped me to see the world the way they do: being "situationally aware", assessing threats, taking people down, a restless need for action held in check by strong discipline and personal ethics.

 

Add to this a young man with special abilities, raised in isolation with no male role models except those he saw in the movies about sacrifice and honour that were fed to him and there is a reach opportunity to explore what it means to be a man, to desire to belong, to need to act.

 

Karen Traviss doesn't cut corners with her other characters either. Dru, the forty-something, divorced with a teenager daughter, HR manager responsible for drawing up the lists of who to fire in an upcoming merger is very clearly drawn and develops into someone interesting and real by the end of the book.

 

There is thriller-type plot here. There are also some intense military scenes and a huge amount of weaponry, but the book remains low-key, closer to real life than to a 110 minute movie.

 

I found the result deeply satisfying. I got to know and understand these people. I also got to see a thriller plot unfold and resolve in a way that kept my interest through out.

I hope there is a sequel. I know I will be reading more Karen Traviss.

 

The audiobook version of "Going Grey" is a pleasure to listen to. Euan Morton is the narrator. He is incredibly good at getting the Brit and American accents right and at giving each character a distinctive voice. He is even more impressive narrating this than he was with "The Aeronaut's Windlass". 

From the blurb, I thought that "Going Grey" was going to be a science fiction military thriller: fast plot, high body count, on-but-not-over the edge of credibility. What I got was something quite different and much, much better.

"Going Grey" is about military men, illegal science and a conspiracy that spans decades but it is not, primarily, a thriller.

It's an exploration of what, to me, is an alien world where men with the skills to kill seek to serve; where family roles, especially brotherhood and fatherhood drive people's lives; where belonging is as important as living; where you are either US, THEM or a bystander.

"Going Grey" takes the time to build characters and the relationship between them rather than shortcutting through pop culture references and movie tropes.

Karen Traviss spends chapters showing how two very different men, Rob - Brit, working class, Sergeant in the Royal Marines and Mike -American, hyper-rich, security contractor, form a bond that can only be described as brotherhood.

I've never met a hyper-rich American but my father was in the Royal Navy and I found Rob to be a very believable portrayal of a Royal Marine. Karen Traviss captures the way he speaks, his sense of humour, the way he interacts with the men and women around him, the movies he references, the shops he goes to in a deeply authentic way. I felt as if I'd met Rob before.

Mike is more alien to me but equally believable: earnest, privileged but with a strong streak of noblesse oblige, patriotic in what seems to me a very American way, and strongly focussed on family.

Normally, I find military men impenetrable. Their world is so far away from mine that I can't begin to understand why and how they do what they do. This booked changed that. Karen Traviss got me inside these men's heads and helped me to see the world the way they do: being "situationally aware", assessing threats, taking people down, a restless need for action held in check by strong discipline and personal ethics.

Add to this a young man with special abilities, raised in isolation with no male role models except those he saw in the movies about sacrifice and honour that were fed to him and there is a reach opportunity to explore what it means to be a man, to desire to belong, to need to act.

Karen Traviss doesn't cut corners with her other characters either. Dru, the forty-something, divorced with a teenager daughter, HR manager responsible for drawing up the lists of who to fire in an upcoming merger is very clearly drawn and develops into someone interesting and real by the end of the book.

There is thriller-type plot here. There are also some intense military scenes and a huge amount of weaponry, but the book remains low-key, closer to real life than to a 110 minute movie.

I found the result deeply satisfying. I got to know and understand these people. I also got to see a thriller plot unfold and resolve in a way that kept my interest through out.

I hope there is a sequel. I know I will be reading more Karen Traviss.

The audiobook version of "Going Grey" is a pleasure to listen to. Euan Morton is the narrator. He is incredibly good at getting the Brit and American accents right and at giving each character a distinctive voice. He is even more impressive narrating this than he was with "The Aeronaut's Windlass".