After reading Triple Zero I have to admit I was not feeling very Mando. Hard Contact pulled me in, but Triple Zero sent me back to my Aruetiise ways. I felt Karen Traviss spent too much time ramming the plight of rapidly aging, teenage, super-soldiers down my throat. I felt every time Traviss dropped the issues in front of the reader the discussion ended before it started. Yes, they live unfair lives, yes they are capable of more than just fighting, yes their Mando heritage and devotion makes them better than many of the people they are fighting to protect. In Triple Zero I never felt she made anything more than observations. True Colors had more of the same, however, unlike Triple Zero, True Colors brought some of the discussion to a point. Finally.

Karen Traviss painted a great picture for her readers with this series, heroes who will stand up for love and family above everything else. The commandos unwavering heroism creates a powerful connection for readers to make with the characters of the novel. During the first three books we watch her characters grow up. A part of growing up is the realization that your principles can be at odds with the things you want. You may get offered the promotion you want, while the more qualified person does not. You learn as you mature your actions are what define you, the real you, and those are the badges you carry with you in life. When a good friend recommended me for a job he described me as a bullbog - devoted to my work and solving the problem. That one comment came from my actions, not the skills I have obtained, or degrees earned. That one word, bulldog, says more about me than my entire professional resume, a collection of things I can do and have done, but says nothing about the person. In True Colors the characters make the move from soldiers serving the Republic, to men, questioning the orders they are given and implications of their actions. As a result the characters grow up and learn what it takes make decisions that will define them for the rest of their lives. They also learn the mess that making tough decisions creates, and that path is often not easy.

Getting Spoilery...







Some of the characters are helpless to make these decisions, Zey for example. Zey cannot get past his duty and responsibility to the Jedi order to see that he is in a no win situation. He can continue to serve the Republic and commit clones to a war the Chancellor does not intend to win through defeating the Separatists, or he can abandon everything. Zey clearly never considers what happens to the clones that cannot fight until Skirata points it out to him and opens his eyes. In my favorite part of the book Jusik confronts his master and challenges him to consider the principles of what the Jedi stand for, and if their actions in the war are a reflection of those principles.

The large cast of True Colors is one the the great things about the book along with the evolving subject matter. The cast - Omega, Delta, the Nulls, and the various Jedi and other supporters are all very entertaining. Omega begins to question if the people they are fighting to protect deserve their protection, and whether serving a civilization that shows them no real support is worth dying for. Poor planning and execution by the Chancellor and a lack of longterm support for the soldiers health and well being begins to take its toll on Omega. Delta longs for the fatherly support Omega has with their training sergeant Kal. The Nulls guided by Kal work to track down Ko Sai and her research to find a cure for the clone's rapid aging.

Everyone else works to help the clones survive the war and ultimately pursue lives outside the army. They struggle with their personal guilt over the government's treatment of the clone army. This gives them strength to make some very tough decisions. If you have read the events of Legacy of the Force then you know the story of the clones goes far beyond the Clone Wars. You also know some the characters that will ultimately survive the Clone Wars. In some ways this generates excitement for the RC novels, filling gaps between the two series. It also diminishes the suspense. There are events in True Colors that you know will go a certain direction because of facts and hints that appear in Legacy of the Force.










Enough of that Spoiler stuff...

I had a much better time reading True Colors than Triple Zero. Triple Zero was an entertaining story, but other than driving the plot there was nothing new to make me think. As I read Triple Zero I really kept thinking, "Am I too old to read this series?" With True Colors I feel much better about the series and the direction its taking. Obi-wan called the time after the Clone Wars the 'dark times'. Following that then the Clone Wars was the light fading out on the Old Republic. A time where fear governed citizens and preservation justified abandoning principles and law. True Colors looks into what it takes to make tough, real-life, decisions where there is no right answer, and how those decisions take you in directions you never would expect.

3 out of 4 kamas (or almost as good as Hard Contact)