THE REVIEW
With The Clone Wars now being a staple of Cartoon Network's Friday night line-up and the movie available on DVD, reading the novel version of the film was a mixed bag. One good point is that it was penned by Karen Traviss, who has brought us through the adventures of Omega Squad with high praise. Her knowledge of military history and maneuvers greatly helps this and other books in the Star Wars expanded universe.

The book is very short, only 256 pages, so it glosses over many many scenes depicted in the film. I was very disappointed to see my favorite scene - the "negotiations" between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Whorm Loathsome - all but deleted from the story. If one does not read the quotations at the front of each chapter, then much information is missed. Other scenes greatly passed over are Padme Amidala's talk with and capture by Ziro the Hutt and even Ahsoka Tano's journey through the Tatooine desert! 

But while the book dismisses some ideas, Traviss expands on others. Items brought more to light are Anakin's distaste for the Hutts, Count Dooku's displeasure with the Jedi, and his even shows a scene which may have been the turning point in his path from Jedi to Sith.

I was very impressed to see Traviss expound on the clone, Captain Rex. She puts more life and individuality to the character by showing his "human" qualities, such as concern for his men and emotion at losing so many of them in battle. I was also affected by Rex's talk with Ahsoka and how he was able to show her camaraderie that many in the same situation would not have been able to show.

Overall, the book is a good adaptation of the film, albeit not quite what is expected from a film adaptation. If you are looking for a play-by-play of the film, then this is not it. Expect instead a book that shows the highlights of the film with added internal commentary. Some key characters (such as Obi-Wan and Padme) and scenes found in the movie are almost totally absent while others are embellished and brought to new light. Karen Traviss did a very good job in a novel that I am sure was out of her natural element.