Reading Race 2010

This year's book for the annual reading race between me and my nephew in Michigan is: Star Wars: 501st Imperial Commandoes by Karen Traviss.

This year's book selection was particulary difficult.  I thought that certainly by now the 3rd novel of the Eragon series (Brisinger) would be out in softcover, so I was disappoint that more than a year after it was published, it's still only out in hardback.

So, it was back to the drawing as last year's selection did not go over well.  I searched the whole bookstore.  And this one, caught my eye.  Star Wars!  Everyone loves Star Wars don't they.  I wasn't sure that it was about don't it looked interesting so I went with it.

We started racing last week.  The first thing I realized was that, there are an awful lot of Star Wars books already out there!  Some starting before Episode I, and some continuing after Episode VI, and many, many more in between.  This one is interesting because it takes place right after movie III, where Anakin has just assumed power as Darth Vader, and evil Palpitine has taken over leadership of the Empire.

The story has two main plots.  One, some of the rebels escaping to planet Maladore (really boring).  Second, the more interesting plotline follows the path of two clones in the Imperial Army assigned to the 501st Coomando Unit, Niner and Darman.  They had been fighting in the Rubpublic Army before the take-over, now it's become the Imperial Army.  So now where do their loyalites lie?  Do they continue fighting?  Or desert?  Escape to Maledore with their other family and friends?

What makes the book somewhat difficuly to follow is that the storylines of all the characters continue from a previous book Republic Commandoes: Code 66, in which they recieve the order (Code 66) to elimanate all of the Jedi.  It's apparent in that novel that in the insuing conflict Darman's fordidden love and wife who is a Jedi is killed in a final battle.  This tradegy consume's all of the players in this story, and not having read 'Code 66' it really seems to drag on too much.  Also, there is so much Star Wars jargon and slang, and difficult names for both people and planets, is difficult to read through at times, when she really stacks them up.  Coming in new to the arcing storyline, there are also too many characters to keep track of, and their relationships with each other - consfusing enough becuase so many of them are clones.  And Traviss doesn't help matters much by sometimes referring to the same character, by first name, sometimes by last name, other times by a nick name.

Currently I am on 220 out of 434 pages.  No word yet on how far my nephew is.  Or if he's already done...  I will give an update on the final results of the contest, and an updated book review in the Comments.

Until then...

Read, Dog Read!!

McDoogle