Star Wars Imperial Commando 501st

Greetings, Imperial Commando 501st is the last novel in the Republic Commando series that was written by Karen Traviss and was inspired by the video game Star Wars: Republic Commando. I have reviewed the previous four beforehand, with the first adventure, Hard Contact being the original book to have been reviewed on my blog. 501st is the fifth novel which leaves a few untied ends due to the sixth one being cancelled over a possible sequel to the video game.

It has a large cast of interesting characters, most of whom are clones of the infamous bounty hunter, Jango Fett. This plot is set after the Clone Wars and Order 66 which initiated the Great Purge of the Jedi. It follows the story of various clones who deserted from the army and others that are not clones but become family or close friends throughout the events of the novels. The other side shadows two clones soldiers, employed under the Galactic Empire called Niner and Darman who are related to the deserters but decided to stay in the armed forces, partially due to the fact that Niner was severally injured before they could be evacuated to a safe zone.

A large part of the series is dedicated to the idea that the clone’s genes were accelerated to become of the age to be perfect soldiers as quickly as possible. This mean s that they will age faster than a normal individual, hence the clan who deserted, especially their adopted father Kal Skarita who had trained them, hunt down a genetic solution to prevent the rapid ageing.  To make matters worse, some members of the family have become bounties form the Empire, that is situated in the remote planet of Mandalore in which they are hiding in. It is also revealed that the Emperor has a deadly virus which can wipe out all life on a single planet, making survival complex for those fighting against him.

Niner recovers from his incident and is back with Darman hunting down any of the remaining Jedi who escaped Order 66.  These are only some of the main threads that exist throughout the complicated novels with much more factors in it. It plays mainly on survival, the bonds of family and coping with the loss of important people. I certainly enjoyed the series but it would not be suitable for everyone as the reader would already need to know important areas in the Star Wars universe and it could be quite slow at times. All in all, I really enjoyed it and would have liked to have seen how the fate of an individual at the end of the video game, who’s ultimate destiny is unknown, as well as how it was going to finish properly.  The eleventh chapter of Unforgotten Rivalry is up in Warehouse 17.

Plot=9/10

Characters=10/10

Wording=9/10

Overall=9/10

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