Because of a shortage of available Jedi knights, the inexperienced Anakin Skywalker and the disgraced Nejaa Halcyon are sent to the planet Praesitlyn, at the head of a small fleet and army of clone warriors. Praesitlyn is under attack by a horde of combat droids under banker-turned-admiral Pors Tonith, and defended by freelance military commander Capt. Zozridor Slayke, who has a personal score to settle with Jedi Halcyon. Meanwhile, the Republic’s original defenders have left some tough survivors behind, such as fighter pilot Erk H’Arman and recon trooper Odie Subu.
5th Clone Wars Novel
Era: Republic, 19.5 years Before the Battle of Yavin/30 months After the Battle of Geonosis
Authors: David Sherman and Dan Cragg
ISBN: 0-345-46115-0 (Del Rey)
Tossed: 11 June 2006
Book was better than some of the earlier novels, but I still didn’t finish it. The authors write military fiction. Oddly, I found it easy to read and it’s not the reason I didn’t finish the book. It was the lack of character. Erk and Odie, a male pilot and a female recon scout, could have been more interesting, but the pacing never allowed for the reader to get to know them. I skimmed the book, and I know they spend most of the book together in near constant peril. We are never privy to their inner feelings, from what I could see.
Anakin got a bit of character development. He’s left at the Temple to study, while Obi-Wan is given a solo mission. He meets Neeja Halycron during one of his study breaks, and the pair become sparring partners. The Jedi Master is almost as easygoing as Qui-Gon and a friendship develops. Neeja and the Rodian, Grudo, help mold Anakin into a more involved field commander, instead of just reacting to events. The encounter with the quartermaster is humorous: Anakin listened patiently to the man and resolved to go back to his own quarters to re-read the reports.
I got far enough into the book to know that Neeja blurts out the fact he’s married with a son. Anakin, stunned, assures Neeja that he’s secret is save with him by telling the Jedi Master that he is married to Padme.
While the Clone Wars wreak havoc throughout the galaxy, the situation on the far world of Drongar is desperate, as Republic forces engage in a fierce fight with the Separatists. The threatened enemy offensive begins as the Separatists employ legions of droids into their attack. Even with reinforcements, the flesh and blood of the Republic forces are just no match for battle droids’ durasteel. Nowhere is this point more painfully clear than in the steaming Jasserak jungle, where the doctors and nurses of a small med unit face an impossible situation. As the dead and wounded start to pile up, surgeons Jos Vandar and Kornell “Uli” Divini know that time is running out. Even the Jedi abilities of Padawan Barriss Offee have been stretched to the limit. Ahead lies a test for Barriss that could very well lead to her death-and that of countless others. For the conflict is growing-and for this obscure mobile med unit, there’s only one resolution. Shocking, bold, unprecedented, it’s the only option Jos and his colleagues really have. The unthinkable has become the inevitable. Whether it kills them or not remains to be seen.
4th Clone Wars novel
Era: Republic, 20 years Before the Battle of Yavin/2 years After the Battle of Geonosis
Author: Michael Reaves and Steve Perry
ISBN: 0-345-46311-0 (Del Rey)
Tossed: 15 May 2006
Total waste. Not even the suspense of the spy’s identity or the few humorous moments/dialog could not make up for the tedious, drawn out plot. The authors expertly kept the reader guessing about the spy, but truthfully the whole thing could have been told in one book and been satisfying. I made myself read the whole thing, without skimming ahead. I wish I hadn’t. Most of the story lines were wrapped up neatly, except for the bird-like assassin’s fate. He just jumps into light-speed, giving me the impression that the bird might be back in a future story.
Rating:
:-(
A surgeon who covers his despair with wisecracks; another who faces death and misery head-on, venting his emotions through beautiful music. . .A nurse with her heart in her work and her eye on a doctor. . .A Jedi Padawan on a healing mission without her Master. These are the core members of a tiny med unit serving in the jungle world of Drongar, where battle is waged over the control of a priceless native plant.
3rd Clone Wars novel
Era: Republic, 20 years Before the Battle of Yavin/2 years After the Battle of Geonosis
Author: Michael Reaves and Steve Perry
ISBN: 0-345-46310-2 (Del Rey)
Finished: 5 May 2006
This is the kind of Star Wars story I like: character driven, interesting plot, some action, and witty dialog and observations. Since it is a two-part story, much is still left hanging at the end of the book. All that was accomplished in the first book was eliminating the possible spy suspects. The fact that I had not guessed the identity of the spy by the end of the book is a testimony to the authors’ mystery writing abilities.
Cheesy as it may seem, I still like the nod to the real-life USO and Bob Hope’s tours to entertain the troops. The authors choose to honor him by creating a character who travels from world to world, with his variety troupe. His name is ‘Robert Hope’ spelled backwards: Epoh Trebor.
There is another nod to a real-life, and fictional, organization. The medics in this story work in what is called a RMSU, or Rimsoo. It stands for Republic Mobile Surgical Unit, the Expanded Universe counterpart to the real Mobile Army Surgical Hospitals, otherwise known as MASH.
Not a keeper. Second book was a major let-down.
Rating:
Enjoyed it!
