Latest Updates: Monday, October 20, 2008
Reviewed by Andrew Liptak.
The Clone Wars series has finally reached a level where it is not only tolerable, but fairly good, meeting my somewhat higher expectations.
Up until now, I’ve been disapointed by some of the more juvenile attempts of humor and more illogical points in the story. This third episode has restored my confidence somewhat. While this episode is not perfect, it is by far the best episode of the series thus far.
Episode 103 takes place shortly after the events in Episode 102, which was a nice surprise, as there seems to be some effort at continuity between the episodes. Grievous’s ship is still on the loose, destroying battle groups, and after recieving new intelligence, towards a vital Republic medical station. At the same time, Anakin and Ashoka are tasked with taking out Greivous, and take a small task force of Y-Wing fighters against the ship in an effort to destroy it, passing through a nebula along the way as a shortcut. In the ensuing battle, they are able to drive the ship away, saving the medical station.
Like the Star Wars movies, the real strength here is the space battles. From the opening moments of A New Hope to the final space battle in Return of the Jedi, these have been some of the more exhilerating moments of the Star Wars Saga, and this episode certainly goes a long ways towards proving this point. There are some breathetaking scenes here, and some real attention to detail as far as tactics and fighters go. Additionally, there are a number of subtle nods to A New Hope, in the dialog and camera movements, which looks very good. There are also a couple of scenes that are very majestic looking, combining some of the better moments of the series score and camera work. At other times, the battle scenes are exciting and energetic, seeing the battle from the cockpit.
Even some of the more annoying aspects of the show didn’t surface to their more annoying levels - the battle droids don’t talk as much and the dynamics between Anakin and Ashoka, while there are a couple painful moments, have improved much since the initial episodes.
There are some other little things here and there - the notion that the Republic would only have one vital medical center being the first and foremost, but also that ships are being crewed by Clone Troopers - given how few clones there were at the onset, it seems weird that they’re not on the front lines, with non-clones working on the ships, but overall, these are minor problems.
There are times when I really want to dislike this series, but this episode has really made that hard - there are some very good moments here that make the show worth watching.
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Latest Updates: Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Review by Andrew Liptak.
The review can be found here.
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Summary of the battle of Rugosa by Andrew Liptak.
The battle summary can be found here.
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Latest Updates: Thursday, October 9, 2008
Upcoming Clone Wars novelization Clone Wars: Wild Space, by Karen Miller, has been given a cover and a blurb.
They've also provided a cover blurb:
The Separatists have launched a sneak attack on Coruscant. Obi-Wan Kenobi, wounded in battle, insists that Anakin Skywalker and his rookie Padawan Ahsoka leave on a risky mission against General Grievous. But when Senator Bail Organa reveals explosive intelligence that could turn the tide of war in the Republic's favor, the Jedi Master agrees to accompany him to an obscure planet in the Outer Rim to verify the facts. What Obi-Wan and Bail don't realize is that they're walking into a deadly trap concocted by Palpatine... and escape may not be an option.
Looks good. Stay turned for more from TUCWS and Karen Miller! Wild Space is due out on November 25th, 2008. Preorder the trade paperback here.
Labels: Karen Miller, The Clone Wars, Wild Space
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Latest Updates: Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Clone Wars television series will be available starting October 4th on iTunes.
Each episode will become available every week starting on the previous date of October 4th (it has already started). Episodes will be available for $1.99 for each episode or 39.99 to subscribe for all episodes of this season. The episodes will become available the day after they are shown on Cartoon Network.
Starwars.com will be posting a regular online comic written by Pablo Hidalgo, we have already written a short article on the first one, go check it out! Episodes will also be available on October 10th streamed on Cartoonnetwork.com and Starwars.com and there is a free half hour behind the scenes special on iTunes.
Sounds awesome, the comic especially is really cool.
Sources: iTunes store, Starwars.com, Cartoonnetwork.com
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Check it this online Clone Wars comic from Starwars.com
Starwars.com has a really cool online comic set during the Clone Wars that you can read here. http://starwars.com/clonewars/comic/ the online reader program they have for the comic is easy to use and makes the comic surprisingly easy to read. It's really good, go check it out.
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Reviewed by Andrew Liptak.
Karen Traviss’s four book series based off of the Republic Commando video game came to a close with the publication of her latest Star Wars novel, Order 66. The book is a slightly uneven affair, with a number of story lines coming to a close in a quick, complete fashion. The book is by no means a bad or uninteresting read, but it’s not the best of the four.
I came across Karen Traviss when I was in High School, when I began to read Asimov’s, a long-running Science Fiction magazine. Karen had published a couple or short stories through them, and I had found that I enjoyed them very much. When it was announced that there was to be a tie-in novel about the Republic Commando game, I wasn’t all that interested until I heard that it was Traviss who would be writing it, and the first book didn’t disappoint, introducing readers to a series of new characters and a moral element that has largely been lacking in a number of the Star Wars books that have come out recently.
Order 66 picks up where True Colors leaves off- Jedi Etain Tur-Mukan has had her child, Jusik has left the Jedi Order, Fi has been brought to Mandalor, the ARC troopers are working on infiltrating the computer systems of the Republic and Skirata is working to find a way to reverse the rapid aging in order to give the clones a full and normal life after the war is over.
One of my main concerns with the series as it’s progressed over the past couple of books is the vast complexity that they have come to. There are a number of very diverse story lines that have largely taken away from the main focus of the original novel - Delta Squad, with Niner, Atin, Darman and Fi. The cast of characters has been expanded, and that goes for the story lines as well. To some extent, this is a good thing, and it falls in with what Karen has done with her other, non-Star Wars books - they’ve become extremely rich with plots and characters, turning them into books that really make you think. In the Star Wars universe, this is a rare thing, and Order 66 stands as one of the better books in the series for this trait. On the other hand, it feels somewhat overburdened at times. The first half of the book starts off fairly slowly, and its not until the last half in which the action really picks up, where Karen shows once again that she’s one of the better writers when it comes to combat situations - Clone operations here are possibly the most realistic and logical than in any other book series, save for the X-Wing Series by Michael A Stackpole and Aaron Allston.
What also sets this, and her other Republic Commando books, apart is the care and devotion that is paid to the Clone Troopers. I’ve made this point in other reviews - the clones might be genetically the same, but Karen has expertly crafted numerous characters that are wholly different from one another in different situations and in the way that they approach problems. This comes particularly at the end, when one of the team members is left behind in a battle and presumed killed. Karen doesn’t shy away from making the characters really hurt when she needs them to be, and the book ends on somewhat of an unclear and unresolved note, which seems very fitting, given how this book ends around the time of Revenge of the Sith.
The absolute strongest point is the morality of the characters, and constant questioning of right and wrong on the part of the Clone Troopers and the Jedi and Republic that brought them into battle. The reactions of many of the Clones during the order to kill the Jedi surprised me, given where I was thinking the story was going and the attitudes of the Jedi up to that point, and it makes me re-think some elements of the movie - the clones weren’t mindlessly following their orders to kill their Generals - they had legitimate issues with the way that they were treated and used in the war, and genuinely saw the Jedi as a threat.
One of the big sticking points that I found in this was not the overall complexity, but the Mandalorian subplots that Karen has worked into the series. While it was running full tilt by the time this book came around, the plot took up a lot of the book in places, where it didn’t really seem to need to. Karen pulled it out and made it a fully-formed and well realized idea, but at points, it seems a little out of place. This was one element where I wished that the sequels were a little more in line with the first book, in that they focused a bit more on the combat actions of the Clone Commandos.
One of the interesting parts is how the issue of only a couple million Clones has been resolved, and by doing so, ties in her novel with several other pieces of Clone Wars fiction, most notably Timothy Zahn’s short stories, Hero of Cartao and his Heir to the Empire trilogy, with the use of the Spaarti cloning technology. Throughout the events of this novel, it’s clear that a vast wave of Clone Troopers, including elements of the 501st, were a much larger, quickly grown generation of Clone Troopers, coming in during the months leading up to the final battle over Coruscant. This has been a sticking point for Karen and has caused some trouble for her on message boards by irritated and annoying fans. Despite the troubles that have been caused, it is nice to see that this issue is somewhat resolved, and it is fantastic to see mention of the 501st, of which Karen is an Honorary Member, and a group that she looked at a lot in her novelization of the Clone Wars. The 501st Dune Sea Garrison is honored with a thanks in the beginning of the book.
(This should have been the cover…)
Order 66 is a fine installment in the Republic Commando and Clone Wars series, and I’m sad to see it go. It is a rich and complex read, one that is far superior to most of the novels in the Star Wars line for its stand on moral issues, its writing and genuine care that makes me remember that these books are leaps and bounds above most of the tie-in novels that are on the market nowadays.
While the book is not a perfect read (or cover, for that matter. Side note - I’m not sure who thought that the current cover was a better one than the original, but it’s not, and should be changed back. Like right now. Ahem.) but it’s a superior one that stands out from the rest of the books out there.
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Review by Andrew Liptak.
Star Wars has officially broken into television with the Clone Wars animated series that started on Friday. The end result is an enjoyable, if very mixed.
In this episode, Jedi Master Yoda arrives to the planet Toydaria in order to negotiate a treaty with the local government. Arriving under fire, Yoda lands on the planet with a trio of Clone Troopers. Once on the planet, they must run from a Seperatist battle group, before reaching the planet's King, and negotiating a treaty.
I found this first episode to be very mixed, and aimed primarily towards a much younger demographic. A 7 or 8 year old will approach this much differently than someone who was the original in 1977. Political negotiations are reduced to a contest, and the Battle Droids have taken on their own personalities, which is nothing short of irritating for anyone over the age of 8.
From my viewing of the movie and the first episode, I have a couple concerns about the continuity of each episode - thus far, there doesn't seem to be any lasting connection between each episode, and there doesn't really seem to be any overall storyline that'll overarc the episodes and fit better with the rest of the Clone Wars series, which includes the older cartoons, short stories, novels and comic books.
The episode does have some of its good parts, which make this slightly better than expected. As someone who pays attention to armor, the creators have a very good eye towards the clone troopers, given them unique personalities and appearances, which is to be expected with a cloned military. The production team should be credited for this attention to detail, because it's what is going to make or break the show in my eyes.
I found the first half of the episode to be much more annoying than good. Once the action in the episode picked up, it became much better - the Clones did what they were supposed to do, and the episode progressed with much more logical sense than. Several moments were paticularly well done, such as when Yoda and the three Clones huddled in the cave and spoke.
Additionally, the visuals are nothing short of stunning. There are a number of fairly complicated scenes, which are all extremely well done - space, battle scenes, faces - if there's anything that George Lucas is very good at, it's giving their productions a very, very good look, whether it's animation or CGI.
If the screenwriters could match the animators, this could be a very promising start. As it is, I suspect that this will be very appealing and popular for the younger generations, but so far, it's a far cry from what the franchise should be.
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Starwars.com has announced the long awaited return of the Holonet news, in a new format - audio.
The Holonet news previously appeared online and in the Star Wars insider, and has proven to be an interesting source of information and background resources for some of the larger elements of the Clone Wars books and stories.
In this latest installment, the ion cannon that the Seperatists used in Clone Wars Episode 102 is featured prominently.
You can subscribe to the Holonet News via iTunes as a podcast, or visit here (http://www.starwars.com/theclonewars/hnn/001.html) for more information.
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Latest Updates: Friday, October 3, 2008
The Clone Wars TV series will be beginning tonight with two episodes - Ambush and Rising Malevolence, starting at 9 pm on Cartoon Network. There will be repeats on Sunday, October 5th.
By all reports, the TV series will be better than the movie, which I'm really hoping for. According to Theforce.net, the episodes will also be up on iTunes, with a free special to be uploaded today.
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