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modernhobbitvibes's review
slow-paced
2.0
So this is how a series with a lot of potential but some questionable writing decisions dies: with a thunderous cry of "Huh? That's it? Really?"
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Death, Genocide, Mental illness, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Violence, and War
Moderate: Abandonment and Confinement
Minor: Rape
Rape is only implied. Genocide involves the use of a virus.empiepaps's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
jtashoff's review
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
readingsaxophone's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
It was supposed to have a sequel, but unfortunately it got cancelled, leaving some loose ends
hungryvoid's review
5.0
My favourite book in the whole series. Half family drama, figuring out their next steps in the aftermath of Order 66, and half action, the old commando squads becoming Vader's jedi hunters. It's a tragedy that the sequel was cancelled as it sets itself up for an incredible and frighteningly uncertain next chapter that I would have loved to see.
That being said, if you've read the other books in this series, you owe it to yourself to enjoy and savour every page until the very end.
That being said, if you've read the other books in this series, you owe it to yourself to enjoy and savour every page until the very end.
kb_208's review
4.0
I really enjoyed reading this series of books. Traviss did a really great job developing the characters throughout the whole thing. The whole storyline was well done and thought out. It's interesting to read a side story during the events of the prequel trilogy and have it be as interesting as the main Star Wars story. The only thing that ruins it is that the series stops here, though it seems to have been set up for another book or two, but that didn't happen. So we are left not knowing the outcome of the story. But it was good while it lasted. Good reading.
beingshort's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
jaredkwheeler's review
2.0
Star Wars Legends Project #174
Background: 501st was written by [a:Karen Traviss|12672|Karen Traviss|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1199058946p2/12672.jpg]. It was published in October of 2009. This is the 5th and final book in Traviss's Republic Commando series. Her other Star Wars books include 3 of the Legacy of the Force series.
501st begins 3 weeks after the Battle of Coruscant, 19 years before the Battle of Yavin. The book features all of the surviving characters from the series so far, focusing as usual on Kal Skirata, Darman, and Bardan Jusik. The book takes place mostly on Coruscant and Mandalore.
Summary: The Jedi have fallen and the Republic has become the Empire. Clan Skirata struggles to pick up the pieces as they begin their new life in exile on Mandalore, having sustained devastating losses in their escape from Coruscant. Kal hopes for at least a partial restoration if they can rescue Darman and Niner, left behind in the chaos and now pressed into service in the Empire's relentless push to conclude the Jedi Purge. Meanwhile, as the Imperials move to consolidate a stranglehold over the entire galaxy, Clan Skirata wonders whether they can keep from being drawn back into war.
Review: I wouldn't have believed after finishing the fantastic first book in this series that I would be so happy to see it end, and end in premature cancellation. The completist in me rebels at this, but nothing good could have come of any further stories wasted on these tiresome characters. It does still rub me the wrong way that Traviss was driven to quit the series after The Clone Wars animated series unceremoniously steamrolled all of her meticulous Mandalorian world-building, but "self-indulgent" doesn't even begin to describe the melodramatic depths to which this series has sunk.
The book, like (frankly) most of the rest of this series, exists as an excuse to spend more time with the characters and inch their series arc forward another few inches, and any smaller "story" that happens is almost an afterthought, stretched impossibly thin across pages and pages of filler as the same conversations play out again and again. And at this point, I just have so much contempt for these people and their values that it's almost painful.
The central conflict here is that our heroes don't seem to understand that the Jedi Order has been shattered beyond repair, and are still obsessed with petty prejudice against a dwindling group of fugitives on the brink of being hunted to exctinction while the rest of the galaxy crumbles around them. Desperate Jedi keep showing up at Skirata's secret hideout, and he won't let them stay and he can't let them go. So, the characters argue and argue about what to do, and clones spout absurd lines like, "I'd willingly give my life for you, but I won't risk it for a Jedi. Not even a kind one. It makes a mockery of everything we've been through." Not only is this complete nonsense, but one of the Jedi in question is a child, and somehow I'm supposed to believe this presents a real moral conundrum as opposed to being just flatly obvious to anyone who isn't a sociopath.
But of course, even when Skirata questions his own outrageous attitudes and behavior (because ceratinly none of the other characters will), they are quick to reassure him that of course he's a saint among mortals: "Am I being a bigot? About Jedi, I mean."
"Well, you are a bigot, but you gave Jusik a chance. And you haven't shot Kina Ha or Scout yet."
Could the bar for being a good person possibly be any lower? "You tolerate this guy who renounced the Jedi Order to worship at your feet, and you haven't murdered a child and an old woman yet (... YET!), so you're pretty much a paragon of compassion and restraint." They're actually proud of him for scraping up the literal bare minimum of civilized decency. But even this dilemma ultimately comes to nothing, as we are presented with a loophole that allows Skirata to have his cake and eat it, too.
And still, his is almost a decent arc compared to some of the others. I very much want to throw Darman off of the nearest Coruscant skyscraper for the outrageously stupid 180 flip he does here. Traviss left me with no one to root for . . . why read on at that point? Even developments that felt like they might go somewhere interesting earlier on seem empty and flat here. During the last few books, some of the clones have begun movings towards having families, but "one-dimensional" is a generous way to characterize how well-developed these relationships are. Traviss even draws attention to how flat this is at one point, though I'm not entirely sure it was intentional. One of the earliest clone relationships, aside from Darman, was between Ordo and Besany Wennen. They're both fine characters, at least in terms of potential, but their relationship is as devoid of chemistry as any I've ever read.
In retrospect, they ended up together almost by default, and they never seem to actually develop any sort of real connection with each other beyond the simple fact that they're married . . . for some reason. Pretty late in the novel, Besany says: "Actually, the point I was making was that I spend less time with you now than I did when you were in the army." And I was like, "Hang on a second, she's right! I don't know that they've had one other scene together this whole novel, or even a scene where either of them was particularly upset that they aren't really spending time together."
And then Ordo replies, "But we're married now." ... What?
Besany: "If romance isn't dead, it's certainly coughing up blood." Boy, you said it. What is this mess? And then, that's kind of the end of it. I think they resolve to do better? I honestly can't be bothered to remember, but that exchange doesn't really turn into anything. I almost think it was meant to be a bit of fish-out-of-water humor about her adjusting to the always-exalted "Mando" culture. Just . . . get me out of here.
D+
Background: 501st was written by [a:Karen Traviss|12672|Karen Traviss|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1199058946p2/12672.jpg]. It was published in October of 2009. This is the 5th and final book in Traviss's Republic Commando series. Her other Star Wars books include 3 of the Legacy of the Force series.
501st begins 3 weeks after the Battle of Coruscant, 19 years before the Battle of Yavin. The book features all of the surviving characters from the series so far, focusing as usual on Kal Skirata, Darman, and Bardan Jusik. The book takes place mostly on Coruscant and Mandalore.
Summary: The Jedi have fallen and the Republic has become the Empire. Clan Skirata struggles to pick up the pieces as they begin their new life in exile on Mandalore, having sustained devastating losses in their escape from Coruscant. Kal hopes for at least a partial restoration if they can rescue Darman and Niner, left behind in the chaos and now pressed into service in the Empire's relentless push to conclude the Jedi Purge. Meanwhile, as the Imperials move to consolidate a stranglehold over the entire galaxy, Clan Skirata wonders whether they can keep from being drawn back into war.
Review: I wouldn't have believed after finishing the fantastic first book in this series that I would be so happy to see it end, and end in premature cancellation. The completist in me rebels at this, but nothing good could have come of any further stories wasted on these tiresome characters. It does still rub me the wrong way that Traviss was driven to quit the series after The Clone Wars animated series unceremoniously steamrolled all of her meticulous Mandalorian world-building, but "self-indulgent" doesn't even begin to describe the melodramatic depths to which this series has sunk.
The book, like (frankly) most of the rest of this series, exists as an excuse to spend more time with the characters and inch their series arc forward another few inches, and any smaller "story" that happens is almost an afterthought, stretched impossibly thin across pages and pages of filler as the same conversations play out again and again. And at this point, I just have so much contempt for these people and their values that it's almost painful.
The central conflict here is that our heroes don't seem to understand that the Jedi Order has been shattered beyond repair, and are still obsessed with petty prejudice against a dwindling group of fugitives on the brink of being hunted to exctinction while the rest of the galaxy crumbles around them. Desperate Jedi keep showing up at Skirata's secret hideout, and he won't let them stay and he can't let them go. So, the characters argue and argue about what to do, and clones spout absurd lines like, "I'd willingly give my life for you, but I won't risk it for a Jedi. Not even a kind one. It makes a mockery of everything we've been through." Not only is this complete nonsense, but one of the Jedi in question is a child, and somehow I'm supposed to believe this presents a real moral conundrum as opposed to being just flatly obvious to anyone who isn't a sociopath.
But of course, even when Skirata questions his own outrageous attitudes and behavior (because ceratinly none of the other characters will), they are quick to reassure him that of course he's a saint among mortals: "Am I being a bigot? About Jedi, I mean."
"Well, you are a bigot, but you gave Jusik a chance. And you haven't shot Kina Ha or Scout yet."
Could the bar for being a good person possibly be any lower? "You tolerate this guy who renounced the Jedi Order to worship at your feet, and you haven't murdered a child and an old woman yet (... YET!), so you're pretty much a paragon of compassion and restraint." They're actually proud of him for scraping up the literal bare minimum of civilized decency. But even this dilemma ultimately comes to nothing, as we are presented with a loophole that allows Skirata to have his cake and eat it, too.
And still, his is almost a decent arc compared to some of the others. I very much want to throw Darman off of the nearest Coruscant skyscraper for the outrageously stupid 180 flip he does here. Traviss left me with no one to root for . . . why read on at that point? Even developments that felt like they might go somewhere interesting earlier on seem empty and flat here. During the last few books, some of the clones have begun movings towards having families, but "one-dimensional" is a generous way to characterize how well-developed these relationships are. Traviss even draws attention to how flat this is at one point, though I'm not entirely sure it was intentional. One of the earliest clone relationships, aside from Darman, was between Ordo and Besany Wennen. They're both fine characters, at least in terms of potential, but their relationship is as devoid of chemistry as any I've ever read.
In retrospect, they ended up together almost by default, and they never seem to actually develop any sort of real connection with each other beyond the simple fact that they're married . . . for some reason. Pretty late in the novel, Besany says: "Actually, the point I was making was that I spend less time with you now than I did when you were in the army." And I was like, "Hang on a second, she's right! I don't know that they've had one other scene together this whole novel, or even a scene where either of them was particularly upset that they aren't really spending time together."
And then Ordo replies, "But we're married now." ... What?
Besany: "If romance isn't dead, it's certainly coughing up blood." Boy, you said it. What is this mess? And then, that's kind of the end of it. I think they resolve to do better? I honestly can't be bothered to remember, but that exchange doesn't really turn into anything. I almost think it was meant to be a bit of fish-out-of-water humor about her adjusting to the always-exalted "Mando" culture. Just . . . get me out of here.
D+
the_bitextual's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.5
I'm PISSED. From what I understand, the author had a reason to leave, and I can't blame her. But my boys deserved an ending. This is, legitimately, amazing sci fi, and amazing Star Wars. The fact that we, as fans, don't get that? A crime. A CRIME. This book set up the ending SO WELL. Watching characters you'd followed fall apart, watching them put themselves together. Traviss belongs among the great names of Star Wars writing, Zahn, Stackpole, Anderson. She needs her name IN LIGHTS.
graff_fuller's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
With a HEAVY heart, this series has come to the end. Not just the way that I thought, though. When I got to the end of this book...it just stopped. Okay? That didn't seem right. There was NO conclusion to the story. There was just a CLIFF with nothing...but a blank page and a following book (which I did not know...was supposed to be the final book). What? Yep, it was supposed to be a SIX book series...and the author left the project over the decision to rework the Mandalorians and Disney going in another direction.
Okay, I'm truly pissed (please excuse my language), but what? If she had just written it...it now lives in Legends (which I am actually enjoying), but no. LucasFilm would not allow her to continue with the Mandalorian plotline...so the rug was pulled out from underneath her. She was not allowed to write the conclusion of her already FIVE book series...so she just quit. Good for her, but bad for us. Ugh.
I want to know what happened to Omega Squad? Did Darman and Niner ever get back to Mandalore? Did they fulfill the last op for Holy Roly (and collect the Jedi and return them to the Empire)?
Did the virus that was let loose...there on Mandalore...fix the problem? Did Kal, Walon and Uthan ever find a way to prolong the lives of the clones?
Did Arla ever overcome her nightmarish guilt about being involved with Death Watch?
Is Kad now a Jedi or a Mandalorian, or BOTH?
I have SO many questions...and I know that no one will EVER be able to answer them for me.
I am in the duldrums at the moment. I was NOT expecting this. Not one bit.
Such a great story...then no ending. I almost wish I hadn't read the series. Nah, it was so good while it lasted. Just not a happy camper at the moment. Why? Why? Why?
Could they allow Karin Traviss to write the last book, NOW? It would be in Legends...so it wouldn't matter now...but the story would be finished. Ugh.
Okay, I'm truly pissed (please excuse my language), but what? If she had just written it...it now lives in Legends (which I am actually enjoying), but no. LucasFilm would not allow her to continue with the Mandalorian plotline...so the rug was pulled out from underneath her. She was not allowed to write the conclusion of her already FIVE book series...so she just quit. Good for her, but bad for us. Ugh.
I want to know what happened to Omega Squad? Did Darman and Niner ever get back to Mandalore? Did they fulfill the last op for Holy Roly (and collect the Jedi and return them to the Empire)?
Did the virus that was let loose...there on Mandalore...fix the problem? Did Kal, Walon and Uthan ever find a way to prolong the lives of the clones?
Did Arla ever overcome her nightmarish guilt about being involved with Death Watch?
Is Kad now a Jedi or a Mandalorian, or BOTH?
I have SO many questions...and I know that no one will EVER be able to answer them for me.
I am in the duldrums at the moment. I was NOT expecting this. Not one bit.
Such a great story...then no ending. I almost wish I hadn't read the series. Nah, it was so good while it lasted. Just not a happy camper at the moment. Why? Why? Why?
Could they allow Karin Traviss to write the last book, NOW? It would be in Legends...so it wouldn't matter now...but the story would be finished. Ugh.