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Republic Commando: Hard Contact

Authors: Karen Traviss
Publisher: Del Rey
Publication Date: October 2004

Reviewed by Andrew Liptak

Summary: The Separatists have begun work on a nano virus designed to infect and kill Clone Trooper, basing their research on a small planet called Qiilura. The Jedi had placed a Jedi Master and Padawan on the planet, but they were compromised and the master was killed. The Republic decided to send an elite team of Commando Troopers to the planet to capture the leader of the research project. Four commandos, all from broken units are chosen for the mission and are sent on their way with a large number of supplies. However, upon planet fall, they crash-land their ship and are forced to abandon it. One of the Commandos, Darman, is separated from the unit and makes contact with the Padawan, Etain Tur-Mukan. The others prepare to take out the facility. Once linked up, it seems that no job is too small for the Commandos.

What Worked: This book rocked! It is quite possibly the best Clone Wars novel that I have read yet. For newcomer Karen Traviss, it is a stunning debut that has already brought her another three novels that will be coming in the future years, and should secure her place as one of the better authors in the Star Wars EU. The writing is fast paced and carries the reader along nicely, and reminds me a lot of Aaron Allston's prose in the X-Wing novels, something that is a very good thing.

Now for the book: Regular readers will know that I'm a big fan of the Clone Troopers; well I am, and this book is entirely from the perspective of the four Commandos of the Omega squad, Darman, Fi, Niner and Atin. In only a couple books and comics have we been able to get into the heads of the Clone Troopers: Republic 68, Armor, we saw the events as Clone Commander Bly saw them, and in the Cestus Deception, we saw the Clone ARC Trooper Nate though quite a bit of the book. Now, we exactly how the clones operate, what they think of themselves and how they really are. Cestus Deception began to work on the argument that the clones are more than droids; this book starts and finishes it wonderfully. Everyone would assume that the Clones are the same, but we see in Republic Commando that squads are important, and that the clones vary quite a bit from one another depending on their squad and trainers. The four commandos in this book are from broken squads, the only survivors of a previous squad. It was interesting to see them work together. They were all the same, but different.

The training that the clones went through is also covered in this book. Commandos went through even more, through fifty kilometer runs, weapons training and actual live action firing. Some died through training. It certainly puts an interesting spin on the Clones and how they function. The stronger points of the book however, are the interactions between the characters, clones and non-clones. It is also a highlight with how Etain views the clones.

The Commandos were brought up in a very strict environment, which limited their interactions of non-clones to only training and medical personnel. While they all fought on Geonosis, they had no contact with civilians, non-clones, or Jedi. Here, Omega squad comes into contact with enemy prisoners and a young Jedi Padawan. The girl fascinates Darman in particular, not because she was of the opposite sex, but because she was different. One of the clones mentioned that her hair was fascinating. While Etain is only one of the things that they are new to, they also reveal that they really don't know much about life outside of the military. One of them cracks a joke about the tunnels that they were in as dark, slimey and dragging a semi-conscious woman behind them- much like a bar they had heard of.

Etain's view of the clones is essential. While she is amazed by the clones by their training and the fact that they're clones, she cannot stop staring, and doesn't think of them as clones. She insisted that she called them by their squad names (i.e. Darman, Fi, Atin and Niner) not RC-1136, RC- 8015, RC-3222 and RC-1309. She also refuses to leave any of them behind in the end when the transport is about to leave. She also realizes that the clones are men, not mindless copies.

The action in this book was fairly minimal, compared to Jedi Trial, which also came out on the same day. However, this action is limited by necessity, for the clones cannot reveal themselves to every opponent. They use their brains to attack and we are treated to some of the more interesting action sequences, such as sniping, using unconventional tactics. It is not until the end of the book that they actually attack their objective. Then we see the commandos in action. It's outstanding.

Finally, there were a couple little random things that really made this book what it was. First, the distinction between ARC Troopers and Commandos: ARC troopers and Commandos are different soldiers, and it seems that ARC Troopers are the top elite soldiers. Commandos are a notch below. And the ARC Troopers terrify them more than the enemy at times. Traviss places humor through out the dialog, such as the 6 Ps. Proper Planing Prevents… Inadequate Performance. The clones also crack some jokes throughout the story, which lightens up the book from an otherwise dark story.

There are tons of references to other Star Wars books and movies. Darman's numerical code is RC-1136, a reference to 1138, which appears everywhere in Star Wars. Their armor is called Katarn armor, a nod to Kyle Katarn, or the animal by the same name. The Mandalorian enemy in the book was also a very cool reference to the Mandalorians and the stories that they are in, as well as advancing their own story. Finally, several well known planets, such as Ord Mandell and Nar Shadda are mentioned.

What Didn't Work: Nothing. I was fairly surprised by the high quality and depth of this novel.

Overall: A highly intelligent and outstanding novel by a newcoming author. This book is essential for any Clone Wars fan.

Rating: 10/10

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