I second this here notion. :3

Do you have a favorite? (Character, book, etc...)

Favorite character is probably Darman or Ordo, book would have to be...ugh. Dunno. I've read all but Imperial Commando and more than half of Order 66. But, so far, my favorite is probably the first one for no particular reason even though I feel all are equal. Yours?

-Mef

Ordo or Vau. (Does Mird cound as one? ). Hm, my favorite book would have to be True Colors, like you, for no reason what so ever.

Yeah, Mird can count. Yeah, they're all very good.

Also, no spoilers are to be posted because others may not have read through the books and may be interested in doing so. (This doesn't really go out to any specific person, just to anyone who reads this post).

-Mef

I read Order 66. It was decent in my mind, but not terribly so...

Maybe because it didn't have too much action? XP

It deals with the politics of war and I think has a fair amount of action with the assault on Coruscant, and the other battles. Not even including Order 66 itself. If you want plenty of action, the first one probably has the most, but all books deal mainly in the politics of war as well as the mental aspect.

Maybe it'd make more sense if you read the first one to start off with (it helped me alot).

-Mef

I am boycotting Karen Traviss and her Mary Sue Mandalorians and her Mary Sue Clone Troopers and grumpy grumpy grumpy comment.

Grumpy comments shall be deleted my fellow! Be gone!

-Mef

I claim this comments section in the name of Timothy Zahn and the Empire of the Hand! *Grumpy grumpity comment*

It deals with the politics of war and I think has a fair amount of action with the assault on Coruscant, and the other battles. Not even including Order 66 itself.

 

If you want plenty of action, the first one probably has the most, but all books deal mainly in the politics of war as well as the mental aspect.

 

Maybe it'd make more sense if you read the first one to start off with (it helped me alot).

 

-Mef

I think I know that-I read the book only a year ago.

Do keep in mind this is coming from the guy who has slogged through thousand-page books for around a hundred (at the most) pages worth of fights...That and the war in general. To me, it seemed like 66 swamped out what little fighting there was with family-based drama.

Politics and mentality? Definitely, in moderate strength. But the action did not strike a chord with me.

Maybe I shoulda. I'unno. I just didn't really like it.

Well, the fighting has a realistic side to it. Not every skirmish is full of awesome catch phrases by Japenese fighters who's eyes bulge out. But, yeah, I understand.

And, I think the reason there wasn't much action is because it's more of the family's side; not the meat cans (shinies, normal troopers) side of the story.

@Ben: Be gone with you too! What is everyone's deal with Tim? I haven't read any of his books though, so maybe I shouldn't be harsh.

-Mef

lolz, I don't really care, as long as its Star Wars. Although I really hated the Cestus Deception because of its conflicts with RC.

Well, the fighting has a realistic side to it. Not every skirmish is full of awesome catch phrases by Japenese fighters who's eyes bulge out. But, yeah, I understand.

 

And, I think the reason there wasn't much action is because it's more of the family's side; not the meat cans (shinies, normal troopers) side of the story.

Hey hey hey! Please don't dig anime next time I say I didn't like the action in this. XP

I mean: Seriously, I'm chill with realistic fights. 'They don't have to make sense in the context of our universe, but they have to in that of a story' is my policy regarding unrealistic circumstances in tales. So I'm chill with both stuff you described as long as it fits that.

I thought 'shiny' was slang for 'newbie'...But whatever.

I've only read one Traviss book, Imperial Commando. I frankly found it pretty dull, although not mind melting-ly horrible. Traviss isn't the worst Star Wars Expaned Universe writer by far, but neither is she that good and she's extremely egotistical as a person. *Shrug*

The Republic Commando game, on the other hand, was really fun. I need to play some more of that sometime...

I love those books! I kinda stopped reading after the third book; because I still haven't been able to find a copy of order 66 at any library I go to. I'm a bit rusty on this, I haven't read it in a while. I like the tie ins to the video game (a very epic one, infact)

@Pein: Shiny means the white color of the clones armor.

@Gravity: Karen Traviss is really the only Star Wars author I read because I am no longer into Star Wars after the Mandalorians were ruined.

@Ben: Well, you'd have to see the war for what it is and that being a harsh, cold place. The book suits just fine with the world of Star Wars from a realistic perspective.

Yes, the game is fun.

@Builik: Yeah, you need to read the rest if you can. They're pretty cool, but it's always good to go back to the older ones and refresh your Mando.

-Mef

@Mef: Exactly...I thought it was derived from the shininess of untested rookies' body buckets.

Wait. You lost interest after the Mandalorians were ruined?

...

E, I know the latest stuff is pretty bad, so I guess I understand. xP

Yep, the Mandos were my pride and joy, so when they were made nothing more than weak terrorists who don't even know how to aim; I gave it up.

Yeah, that's where it came from.

-Mef

"Gritty" and "realistic" are not words I associate with Star Wars, being more or less the softest Sci-Fi you can find that's not incredibly silly.

Wait, the only reason you like Star Wars is Mandos? I like ​Mandos, at least apart from the Traviss Marty Stu Mandos, Canderous from KOTOR, for instance; But their still far from my favorite corner of the massive world that is Star Wars.

The whole Drath Watch thing is a slpinter group, which I'm glad of. I remember somewere there was a civil war between Death Watch and the True Mandalorians.

@Ben: Well, I find Star Wars down right silly now that the Clone Wars has reered it's ugly head. Karen Traviss is by far the only Star Wars novelist I know that really makes it realistic.

Yup. I'm the opposite and I like the Mandos in Rep Com as well as Canderous, but the new ones that are babies and suck their thumb when they see the Duchess, ugh. That's just not right...

@Gravity: I'm not sure about the history, but Death Watch was always the radical Mandos that just killed and looted everything. So, yeah.

My main reason for not being into Star Wars (especially Mandalorians now):

Karen Traviss states (the good side, uh huh): Mandalorians go around the galaxy in clans and or seperate Bounty hunting factions. Mandalore is a ruined planet that houses the bounty hunters and clans and keep their beliefs and rules.

Georgey: Mandalorians are peaceful people who don't do much of anything except for hate their past and walk around in light blue clothes. The true Mandalorians all somehow died and radicals went to a nearby moon to cry their eyes out before deciding to become terrorrists. Which, in their eyes, is the "true Mandalorians." Now, they pretend like they can fight while the law of Lucasfilm states: No bad guys can win. Nuh uh. It's not happening.

I mean, come on, every episode is: There's these bad guys you see, well you may think they're all bad and are all voiced by the same three people with weird accents, but Obi-Wan comes in and punches one and the Republic wins! It's just that the clones aren't perfect and the droids weren't meant to be nothing by cannon fodder. In Rep Com they're used strategiclly and follow orders well.

But, enough of that, feel free to comment, but I'm getting off topic.

This is a blog post, I'm pretty sure we can get as off topic as we want.

Karen Traviss states (the good side, uh huh): Mandalorians go around the galaxy in clans and or seperate Bounty hunting factions. Mandalore is a ruined planet that houses the bounty hunters and clans and keep their beliefs and rules.Georgey: Mandalorians are peaceful people who don't do much of anything except for hate their past and walk around in light blue clothes. The true Mandalorians all somehow died and radicals went to a nearby moon to cry their eyes out before deciding to become terrorists.

So, apparently, having a culture that has (some) depth is worse then a civilization composed entirely of Proud Warrior Raise Guys?

As to Traviss being the good guy: Lolwut?! She called people who criticized her writing and prefer Jedi to her version of the Mandos to be Nazi slave-owner terrorists.

No bad guys can win. Nuh uh. It's not happening.I mean, come on, every episode is: There's these bad guys you see, well you may think they're all bad and are all voiced by the same three people with weird accents, but Obi-Wan comes in and punches one and the Republic wins! It's just that the clones aren't perfect and the droids weren't meant to be nothing by cannon fodder. In Rep Com they're used strategically and follow orders well.

How much of the show have you actually watched? The Clone Troopers aren't perfect and the Battle Droid.. Actually, You're right about the Battle Droids.

Another problem is that she used 30,000 (Less then the amount of soldiers in WW2, a conflict taking place on only a single planet.)as the number of the entire Grand Army of the Republic. That isn't entirely her fault, as that was from an earlier novel, but she continued to use it even when she could have retconed it to something less stupid.

--

Please don't take this argument personally, I just like have logical debates over very silly.

@Ben: Ah, the freedom.

And, that's pretty much what the Jedi are if you think about it. Abducting children to make sure they live a "perfect" life in their little cult of "peace keepers." It's not fair and it's not right to basiclly kidnap a kid and force it into your own religion with no freedom what-so-ever.

I followed the show until Season 4. I know that one or two die out of every few thousand, but it's not in realistic numbers of how the casualties are nor their tactics at times. (Mainly the Jedi's tactics).

I've never seen it say that the army is made up of 30,000 troops, so I don't know where you got that from. I do know she mentions a few hundred thousand somewhere, a ltitle bit more than 30,000.

Yeah, I'm just saying my thoughts. You don't even have to reply to them.

-Mef

But I want replied. I'm having fun doing this.

Portraying the Jedi as something more grey then the perfect, shiny heroes they usually are would be good, the problem is that Traviss does that and then turns the Mandalorians into basically the same thing. In most other Expanded Universe media the Mandos are, at best, antiheroes with an focus on the "anti" part.

Yeah, it's rather fun. Thank you for debating!

Well, the whole point is that her novels aren't like most other Expanded Universe media Mandos. The Mandos portrayed in her novels are something almost completely different if you think about it.

-Mef