Is it wrong that I fancy Ahsoka?

January 2010

A review of The Clone Wars

Karen Traviss, the Queen of the Clones herself, brings us the novelization of The Clone Wars animated film.

Now this novel is only based on the film and, although the story line is the same, the scenes and dialogue are very different – more so than the novelizations of the other films. I’m not saying this is a bad thing; I’m simply pointing it out.

What I like most about reading the film novelizations is that we get to see more scenes that maybe got binned by the editors and we also get to see what the characters are thinking and more background to many of the scenes that we don’t see in the film.

This is no exception and Traviss does a great job of focussing on the conflict within Anakin that is lost in the film. We see more of his darker thoughts and we start to get a real sense of his frustration with the Jedi Order and hatred brought on by memories of his past; something that I felt was lacking in many of the other books that involve him.

My only real complaint with this book is that Palpatine is revealed to us as the bad guy too early in my opinion. Now I know that we're all aware ‘he woz the one who done it’ but I preferred the subtle hints and the revelation mid-way through ‘Revenge of the Sith’ – it makes the story arc more dramatic in my humble opinion. A minor gripe but I have to find one really.

So, do I think this is a good book? Yes I do. It is well written and a nice light read. It certainly adds more to what is already a good film. My only real concern is that I find myself strangely attracted to Ahsoka Tano. Now this is bad for 3 reasons: Firstly she's a cartoon character, secondly she's an alien and thirdly she's only 14! I have been given the number of a very good psychiatrist and will be starting sessions next week.