Book Review: Star Wars: The Clone Wars SPOILERS!

In 2008, and only in hardcover, Karen Traviss wrote the epic novelization for a kids TV show that has failed to catch onto long-time teenage and adult Star Wars fans. A year before Del Rey fired her, it had promised to take the childish antics of the movie and target it toward adults. It suceeded mainly because of her attention to the battle field that some of the more recent authors (Troy Denning, Christie Golden, Sean Williams, Drew Karpyshyn) are lacking. Karen also doesn't hide the fact that Palpatine is Darth Sidious--the only other author to do this was Matthew Stover when he wrote the Revenge of the Sith novelization.

Synopsis: The raging Clone Wars illuminate dark motives and darker destinies until one question must be answered: Does the end ever justify the means? It's time the Jedi found out. Across the galaxy, the Clone Wars are raging. The Separatists, led by Count Dooku, the onetime Jedi and now secret Sith Lord, continue to press forward, and more and more worlds are either falling, or seceding and joining the cause. Under the leadership of Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, the Republic heroically battles on, championed by its huge army of cloned soldiers and their Jedi generals. Anakin Skywalker, believed by some to be the prophesied "Chosen One" destined to bring balance to the Force, is now a Jedi Knight under the tutelage of his Jedi Master, Obi-Wan Kenobi. Death is a constant possibility—and his chances of survival aren't improved by the unexpected arrival of an apprentice: Ahsoka, a brash inexperienced fourteen-year-old Padawan. But there's no time for Anakin to question his latest orders. He and Obi-Wan have been assigned a new mission, and failure is not an option. Jabba the Hutt's precious infant son has been kidnapped, and when the frantic parent applies to the Jedi for help, it falls to Anakin, Obi-Wan, Ahsoka, and their clone troops to track down the evidence and retrieve the missing Huttlet. And more is at stake: For a grateful Jabba just might allow the Republic access to the Hutt-controlled space lanes that the Grand Army desperately needs in order to beat the Separatists into submission. But the Republic is not the only power that craves access to those space lanes. Count Dooku, determined to win the prize for the Separatists, has set a trap for the Jedi. When they find the Huttlet, they will also find Dooku's master assassin, Asajj Ventress, and countless legions of battle droids waiting to spring a trap. The blazing new animated feature film Star Wars: The Clone Wars takes place in the years preceding Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and sets the stage for the groundbreaking TV series. Both contain all original material—direct from the brilliant imagination of legendary Star Wars creator George Lucas. And these exciting new adventures and characters are being brought to life in book form by none other than #1 New York Times bestselling Star Wars author Karen Traviss.

Unlike her other tie-in novels, this story starts out with a third-person point of view of Jabba Desilijic Tiure when he learns that his son, Rotta, has been kidnapped. It then goes to Dooku as he asks Ziro if he can kill a child. Ziro redirects this and they get into a discussion of politics. Dooku confirms with Ventress that Rotta is safe on Teth. Meanwhile, Palpatine gets a call from Jabba and presents it to the Jedi. They don't believe it's anything more than a simple kidnapping, but Yoda says otherwise. On Christophsis, Anakin and Obi-Wan and the clone troopers of the 501st Legion are recoving from a recent attack by Separatist forces when a shuttle arrives from Coruscant bearing Ahsoka Tano, Anakin's apprentice. Anakin is upset because the normal routine is to get to know the Padawan for at least three years and have a discussion with the Jedi Council. Jabba learns from hackers Gaib and TK-0 (Karen's infamous hackers from the Republic Commando series) that Rotta is on Teth. Jabba sends men there who quickly die to Ventress. Intillegence officer Lt. Kom'rk, N-6, of the Special Operations Brigade in the Grand Army of the Republic warns the Jedi High generals about how easily the information leak about Rotta being on Teth could be. Anakin lets Rex show Ahsoka the ropes until General Whorm Loathsom ups his attack.

Ahsoka and Anakin strike at his headquarters and use explosives to shut the droid control center down while Obi-Wan talks negotiations with Loathsom. Yoda shows up to relieve Anakin and Obi-Wan from Christophsis and tells them to take the 501st over to Teth and retrieve Rotta. Anakin and Ahsoka head to Teth while Obi-Wan goes to talk with Jabba. Rotta is being held at an abandoned B'marr monk monastary on Teth and the 501st ascend via AT-TE tanks, blasting their way up the mountain side. Ventress voices a question to her long dead Jedi Master, Ky Narec, about the state of the whole deception before she joins the fray and alters the holoimage of Anakin and Ahsoka rescueing Rotta. Jabba becomes angered when Dooku presents the falsified image. Obi-Wan, meanwhile, has teamed up with a fledgling 501st batch that Ventress's droids are cutting down. While all that is going on, Dooku succeeds in getting Jabba on his side. Meanwhile, Anakin and Ahsoka, with Rotta, arrive at Tatooine and encounter Dooku. Anakin holds him off while Ahsoka makes her way to Jabba's palace. She's stopped by a couple of Grievous's IG-101 bodyguard droids. Dooku fails to stop Anakin from getting away and flees before Jabba finds out. Obi-Wan and Anakin arrive at Jabba's palace ahead of Ahsoka and he demands that they die, even after Ahsoka shows up with Rotta. A holocall from Naboo Senator Amidala convinces Jabba to let them live.

All in all, a good novel, not one of Karen's best, but the battle scenes are worth it. Shame there aren't any copies left except as possible borrowed copies from friends or on Ebay. It only had a few thousand copies made and all of them were snatched up with none left. A rare deal indeed for Karen in her venture writing for Star Wars, both in short orders and in terms of being sold out in a couple of months. All in all, she tried her best to connect the new show to the greater Expanded Universe than the TV show has.

Book Review: The Tir Alainn Trilgoy Book III: The House of Gaian SPOILERS!

In October 2003, Anne Bishop returned to finish off the Tir Alainn Trilogy with one heckuva finale. This 420 page novel covers only a couple of months overall, but it has a lot happening and that is what makes it the most fascinating book in the entire series. Synopsis: It began as a witch-hunt. But the Master Inquisitor's plans to eliminate all traces of female power in the world have expanded to crushing the Sylvalan barons who oppose him--and to destroying the wellspring of magic in the Mother's Hills. Faced with this evil, humans, witches, and the Fae become uneasy allies. But even together, they aren't strong enough to stand against the armies the Inquisitors are gathering. So they look for help from their last possible ally. The House of Gaian. The reclusive witches who rule the Mother's Hills. The witches powerful enough to create a world--or to destroy one... And the witches' long-held creed "Do no harm" is about to give way to a more important one: Survive.

Ashk--the Green Lady of the Forest and Hunter, trains Neall in the ways of a Lord of the Forest. Morag--the Gatherer of Souls--questions whether she should've ended it back in Brightwood and killed the Master Inquisitor when she had the chance. Padrick tells the clan that because of Liam's absence and passionate speech, the vote to ultimately subject all women to become controlled by men has failed and that the Inquisitors have declared war. Gwynith, a friend of Ashk's and a Lady of the Moon, alerts Ashk to the fact that Dianna's power is waning and wants to be there when the next one is chosen. In the Mother's Hills, Selena and her sister Rhyann leave for Brightwood. Breanna, with Falco and Liam, meet Lucian who demands that Falco kidnap one of the witches living in Willowsbrook and take her to Ridgeley so Dianna can recover. Breanna says no with an arrow and tells him to get off her property and she doesn't care who he is. Liam escort Lucian back to the edge of town, an argument breaks out in which Liam says that the Fae are the Mother's spoiled children and demands to know why there aren't any witches at Brightwood. While Ashk and company leave for Willowsbrook, Adolfo finishes his torture and implied rape of a female Fae, trying to create the ultimate nighthunter. Selena arrives in time for the changing of the Moon's power. She dances for the Mother and wins the power from Dianna, who tries to kill Selena--now the Huntress and Lady of the Moon--in anger and hatred. She wounds Dianna and shows the rest what they're now dealing with: the Queen of the Witches, something that the Fae have also forgotten. Gwynith pledges her loyalty to Selena and lets her know that the Hunter is heading for Willowsbrook. Meanwhile, others have started arriving in Willowsbrook to prepare for the fight that has broken out in the north. Adolfo orders Ubel to take ten warships to the north and blockade the ports. In Tir Alainn, Lucian demands that Selena give her power back to his sister or that she force a witch to live at Brightwood; Selena threatens to cut Tir Alainn off from the rest of the living world by taking away the shining roads should any of the Fae try and force a witch to leave if they say no. Ashk senses something wrong with Morag and wants to know what it is and instead of answering, Morag makes her promise to do what needs to be done should she fail. Ashk agrees.

On Selkie Island, Jenny--the sister of Mihail--meets with the Lord of the Selkies so she can get firsthand reports of her brother returning with the family safely. Because Selena and Ashk are making the same demands, the rest of the Fae start helping out the humans and witches. Mihail and his family try to flee but Ubel's blockade holds them captive until Mihail starts a fire that blows up a good bit of the Inquisitor ships. He flees with Ubel on his trail. Lucian corners Aiden and uses magic to reveal that Ari's alive and well; in anger, Lucian burns Aiden's hands and runs Bretonwood with Morag hot on his heels, ready to kill Lucian. A foolish Inquisitor attacks Willowsbrook early and dies, but the men under the barons surrender as they refuse to follow them any longer (they did refuse before but were always hanged) when Selena and Gwynith arrive. Liam, Donovan and Varden figure out that Adolfo is a Fae offspring and is seeking revenge, even though Adolfo doesn't know his true parentage. Rhyann meets up with Ashk's group and heals Aiden. During a patrol, Selena and Liam get to know each other and start to become lovers, which is good for Falco and Breanna as they no longer have to endure Liam's remarks over them being lovers. Ubel bears down on Mihail when a bitch of a storm provided by Jenny arrives and shreds the Inquisitor ships to mulch while Sweet Selkie and the other fleeing ships arrive at Selkie Island intact. Ubel, the only survivor, is taken prisoner. Ashk and her party with enough Fae, Sons and Daughters of the House of Gaian, and humans arrive to help defend. Morag finally arrives in Bretonwood, a few minutes after Lucian does and sees him trying to force Ari to leave but Neall and Merle hold him off. Lucian wounds them and Ari, in anger, erects a circle of fire around Lucian. Before it can kill him, Morag rips Lucian's spirit from his body and drags him kicking and screaming to the Shadowed Veil and shoves him through it. Breanna finds her grandmother dead, poisoned by Jean who is jealous of Breanna because all the men talk and pay attention to her but not Jean. Jean runs away and is kidnapped by an Inquisitor who turns her over to Adolfo who turns her into a nighthunter. Ashk teases Selena about changing into her shadow hound form and Liam petting her in his room when Fiona tells them that Jean is missing.

Still in Bretonwood, Morag gets wind of Ubel being held in custody and his outrageous demands. She meets with him and his surviving underlings and rips their souls out of their bodies and leaves them there, ordering the bodies to be left where they fell. Adolfo releases his new nighthunters to slaughter Liam and anyone in Willowsbrook who stands in his way. Morphia puts them to sleep while the defenders attack, but Keely and the dog Idjit are killed. Ashk and Selena blanket the town in fog after the Inquisitors use catapults to try and bomb them out. Morphia tells Ashk that something evil will come out in the fog. Adolfo holds Rory as captive and is about to perform the nighthunter spell on him when Morag interrupts the whole thing. As a result, the spell backlashes onto Morag and Adolfo, turning them both into nighthunters at a fast pace. Breanna warns Ashk and Selena what Morag has become and also learn that the fighting has stopped everywhere, but Adolfo and his Inquisitors are still set on killing everyone at Willowsbrook and are marching there. The battle is on and Morag comes charging out, intent on killing. The Huntress and the Hunter demand that Adolfo show himself. He does and they send him to a special kind of hell, one that he created to inspire the men to join him. He becomes a nighthunter entirely and sets out eating and killing his Inquisitors. Ashk finds Morag who says she just wants to go home. Ashk kills her, much to Morphia's anger and shouting, and the nighthunter persona is lifted away and Ashk tells Morag not to stay away too long. As a spirit, Morag leads the dead to the Shadowed Veil. Morphia leaves the following day, unable to look at Ashk. Ashk hears that Ari's given birth to a healthy boy and the Crones arrive and redraw the boundaries of everyone, including the Fae's beliefs. Everyone parts ways with Falco staying with Breanna so she won't be alone; Selena also staying with Breanna so she doesn't intrude into Liam's home when his mother and youngest sister are also living there, but that doesn't mean they won't court; and Ashk points out to Aiden and Lyrra that when Ari has a baby daughter and looks into her eyes, she'll see Morag looking back. In the end, Aiden and Lyrra move to a small village where they're known for their dancing horse.

All in all, one hell of a fast paced novel that leaves plenty of room for character development and wraps up all the loose threads. Anne Bishop has mastered the fantasy world well that anyone picking up any of her books would instantly recognize it as a masterful piece of fantasy.

Book Review: Tir Alainn Trilogy Book 2: Shadows and Light SPOILERS!

Sorry for being away for so long, but with term ending and a recent attack of allergies (it is spring time you know), I've returned to crank out a few reviews of some books I've just finished reading and old books sitting on my shelf. In Octorber 2002, Anne Bishop returned to the vivid landscape of Tir Alainn with her second novel in the trilogy Shadows and Light. Synopsis: Ever since the slaughter of the witches, the Fae--who should be shielding their long-lost cousins from danger--have ignored the needs of the rest of the world. And shadows are again gathering in the eastern villages--dark, potent shadows that threaten the lives of every witch, woman, and Fae. Only three Fae can stand against the growing madness and help prevent more bloodshed--the Bard, the Muse, and the Gatherer of Souls. Aiden, the Bard, knows how desparately the world depends on the Fae's protection. But the Fae refuse to heed his warnings about the wickedness lurking amid the trees. Now Aiden and his one true love--Lyrra, the Muse--must embark on a perilous journey to find the one Fae who can convince the rest to leave their secure perches to save the witches and mortals. Because if the Fae don't act soon, no one will survive....

The novel opens with Aiden and Lyrra travelling through Sylvalan countryside, on their way to the western villages of Sylvalan to seek out the Hunter, the Green Lord, to talk some sense into Lucian and Dianna who are refusing and blackballing the rest of the Fae against the fact that the witches are the Pillars of the World and that without them, Tir Alainn wouldn't exist. Aiden and Lyrra handfast while on their journey, becoming husband and wife. They figure out what Morag told them weeks ago, that "Ari is gone" but not dead. The Baron of Willsobrook, Liam, learns from his mother that the witches behind the house are, in fact, related to him and that the witch called Breanna, is his half-sister, sired by his deceased adulture of a father. His mother also tells him about what the Inquistors are and what the eastern barons decree is best for women. Liam is disgusted and gets to know Breanna as a friend and becomes overprotective like an older brother would be. Meanwhile, in Breton, Morag is learning how to garden. She's given Ari and Neall her former riding stallion, a black horse. Ashk, the local Lady of the Forest, visits and tries to train Neall in the ways of a Lord of the Woods. Meanwhile, Adolfo talks with his lieutenant, Ubel, to arrange for the death of all the witches to kill the Fae because they embarrassed him. Lyrra and Aiden flee from nighthunters and run into Morphia, Morag's sister, who tells them she's heading south to look for her sister in the western Clans. Liam informs his mother that he's leaving to go to the baron's council meeting. Baron Padrick stops by Ashk's place so she can look after their kids while he attends the baron's council meeting.

In Willowsbrook, Aiden and Lyrra meet Breanna and learn that the witches are descended from the House of Gaian and really are the Mother's Daughters while the Fae are the Mother's Children--and as has been noted, spoiled children at that. Aiden runs into an angry Lucian in Tir Alainn and Falco tells Lyrra how horrible Dianna's been treating everyone and that he wants to get to know witches better. In the baron's council meeting, Liam interrupts and tells the eastern barons how sick he is at how they've treated all women and is poisoned by Ubel. Padrick rescues him and they head to Willowsbrook. Adolfo orders Padrick's death. Aiden is almost killed when the Fae "forget" to warn him and Lyrra that one of the bridges is severly weak. Falco helps rescue him and they go to Willowsbrook where Breanna and her family help take care of them and warn them about causing harm if they intend to cross the Mother's Hills. Morag wants a sailor, Mihail, to move his family to the western coast because she senses a hint that death is whispering. Morphia finds her sister in Breton and alerts them about Aiden and Lyrra travelling to seek out the Hunter. Rory, a cousin of Breanna, asks Breanna if Liam can be trusted because of what the eastern barons are doing to the women. Breanna says he can be trusted and wonders why Liam hasn't returned home yet. Liam arrives with Padrick and encounters a hostile Rory. Liam tells Breanna that he was poisoned for speakin against the eastern barons.

The Inquisitors, led by Ubel, demand that Liam stand down and surrender. Aiden can't get his horse, Minstrel to move and uses music to get him to trot, something that the humans find amusing. Morag, Ashk and a few others find some nighthunters present over a wounded child and a woman. The child gets away but not the woman. A deer (the Hunter) helped defend the child. Morag, after the Hunter dies, helps him to the Shadowed Veil. Ashk, who had defeated her grandfather (the Hunter) long ago but spared his life. She is now the Hunter. The Inquisitors attack with their nighthunters. Keely dies and so do the Inquisitors, but Ubel survives and flees. It turns out that Liam has repressed magic in the branch of Fire. Breanna scolds Falco in his hawk form for nearly dying in the fight against the nighthunters and wants to know why. He mentions not being able to save a witch in time and he was curious to see how humans lived and was angered over the rest of the Fae treating witches like they're slaves. Breanna offers him a place to stay. Ubel reports to Adolfo who decides that war is necessary. Aiden and Lyrra meet Ashk and tell her that Lucian and Dianna refuse to help and have told the Fae to force the witches to stay at the Old Places while they reap the benefits without offering anything else in return. Morag sees Aiden and Lyrra and tells Ari and Neall who would love to see them again. Morag apologies for running out on Aiden and Lyrra earlier and tells them that Air and Neall are alive. Morag tells Aiden and Lyrra that Ashk is the Hunter. The novel ends with Ashk saying that it's time the Fae returned to the world.

All in all, a good second entry in a "lavishly sensual" (Library Journal) trilogy. Great character arcs and wonderful prose that carries through the novel and Bishop's work. A must read for any fan of fantasy or Anne Bishop admirer.