Star Wars: The Clone Wars is the novelization of the 2008 Lucasfilm Animation movie of the same name. It was written by Karen Traviss and published by Del Rey on July 26 of that year. The story tells of the first meeting between Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker and his new Padawan apprentice, Ahsoka Tano, amidst the raging Clone Wars.
The Star Wars: The Clone Wars novelization is the first of five Star Wars Legends novels published by Del Rey that tie in to the Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated television series.
Publisher's summary
Back cover
The raging Clone Wars illuminate dark motives and darker destinies until one question must be answered: Does the end ever justify the means? It's time the Jedi found out.
Inside flap
Across the galaxy, the Clone Wars are raging. The Separatists, led by Count Dooku, the onetime Jedi and now secret Sith Lord, continue to press forward, and more and more worlds are either falling, or seceding and joining the cause. Under the leadership of Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, the Republic heroically battles on, championed by its huge army of cloned soldiers and their Jedi generals.
Anakin Skywalker, believed by some to be the prophesied "Chosen One" destined to bring balance to the Force, is now a Jedi Knight under the tutelage of his Jedi Master, Obi-Wan Kenobi. Death is a constant possibility—and his chances of survival aren't improved by the unexpected arrival of an apprentice: Ahsoka, a brash inexperienced fourteen-year-old Padawan. But there's no time for Anakin to question his latest orders. He and Obi-Wan have been assigned a new mission, and failure is not an option.
Jabba the Hutt's precious infant son has been kidnapped, and when the frantic parent applies to the Jedi for help, it falls to Anakin, Obi-Wan, Ahsoka, and their clone troops to track down the evidence and retrieve the missing Huttlet. And more is at stake: For a grateful Jabba just might allow the Republic access to the Hutt-controlled space lanes that the Grand Army desperately needs in order to beat the Separatists into submission.
But the Republic is not the only power that craves access to those space lanes. Count Dooku, determined to win the prize for the Separatists, has set a trap for the Jedi. When they find the Huttlet, they will also find Dooku's master assassin, Asajj Ventress, and countless legions of battle droids waiting to spring a trap.
The blazing new animated feature film Star Wars: The Clone Wars takes place in the years preceding Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith and sets the stage for the groundbreaking TV series. Both contain all original material—direct from the brilliant imagination of legendary Star Wars creator George Lucas. And these exciting new adventures and characters are being brought to life in book form by none other than #1 New York Times bestselling Star Wars author Karen Traviss.
Plot summary
After triumphing at the Battle of Christophsis, General Anakin Skywalker is surprised to be assigned a Padawan learner, the spirited Togruta girl Ahsoka Tano. In order for the Republic to curry favor with the Hutts and gain access to their hyperspace routes throughout the Outer Rim, Anakin and Ahsoka are tasked with rescuing Jabba the Hutt’s infant son, Rotta. The squirming Huttlet has been kidnapped and left in an abandoned monastery on Teth. The kidnapping was engineered by Count Dooku and Asajj Ventress to discredit the Republic in the eyes of the Hutts, but Anakin and Ahsoka persevere and safely deliver the child to Jabba on Tatooine. Meanwhile, Padmé Amidala discovers that Jabba’s uncle Ziro conspired with the Separatists in the kidnapping plot in a bid for power.
Continuity
- "'Regarding The Clone Wars movie novelization, these were done a bit differently than our prequel trilogy novels (I'm not exactly sure how it was handled in the OT novels). For the prequel trilogy novels, each of the authors met directly with George Lucas to discuss story points and character motivations. The Clone Wars is more of an interpretation of the movie script (actually more like a hybrid of the individual episodic scripts which make up the movie including scenes that were done for the episodes but were cut from the movie as well as scenes that were created specifically for the movie that weren't in the individual episodes). There also wasn't any direct contact this time around between the novelization author and George Lucas or the writers and director.''"[3]
Star Wars: The Clone Wars has raised multiple continuity issues.
The animated movie served as a big-screen introduction to the television series. In addition to the adult and junior novels, there were also young reader storybooks and activity books based on the movie’s plot. The novels were listed as “based on the movie”, yet unlike other movie novelizations, they did not list screenwriter credits. The Clone Wars movie was actually built out of four episodes – “The New Padawan”, “Castle of Deception”, “Castle of Salvation”, and “Castle of Doom” – which have never aired in their original formats. Writing credits went to Henry Gilroy, Scott Murphy, and Steven Melching.[1]
As a note of caution for chronological readers, Karen Traviss’ novel depicted Darth Sidious’ double identity in the open, under the assumption that this secret was exposed in Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith (2005). The adult novelization included many more Expanded Universe connections than the junior novelization or the movie itself. Traviss’ text made repeated mention of Asajj Ventress’ original EU backstory as told in the Star Wars: Republic comics, as well as an incident in Dooku’s past in Galidraan from the Jango Fett: Open Seasons (2002) comics.[1]
A brief mention of the conflict on Jabiim in the adult novel referred to Star Wars: Republic comics #55-58 (2003). The Battle of Jabiim was originally listed as occurring fifteen months after the start of the Clone Wars, and chronicled a pivotal experience of Anakin as a Padawan. The animated series, however, began with Anakin already Knighted, thus compressing all of his apprentice adventures into the first four weeks of the Clone Wars. The Battle of Jabiim could still have occurred months earlier than originally presented in the timeline. The young reader book suggested that the usual age to become a Padawan was sixteen, and that Ahsoka, at fourteen, was remarkably young for apprenticeship. This ran counter to the Jedi Apprentice series, which stated that a youngling needed to become an apprentice before age thirteen.[1]
Dating of events
The Star Wars Annual 2011 establishes that the story takes place in the second year of the war, as part of the Clone Wars timeline restructuring necessitated by the TV series. The Essential Reader's Companion revised the story's dating to 22 BBY.
The book was released before the feature film was released, and contains many details from the screenplay's early drafts that did not appear in the final cut of the film.
CT-9932
- Rex: "Nobody move. Report in if you can hear me."
- Unidentified trooper: "Receiving, sir."
- Unidentified trooper: "Yes, sir."
- Unidentified trooper: "I hear you, sir."
- Coric: "Got you, sir. Just a few bruises."
- Unidentified trooper: "And me, sir."
- CT-9932: "CT-nine-nine-three-two, sir."
- ―Troopers report in to Rex at the Battle of Teth[4]
In the Battle of Teth, after Asajj Ventress's droid forces massacre most of Torrent Company, near the end of chapter 12, Captain Rex asks the survivors to report in via comlink. He gets six responses, including Coric and CT-9932.
When the surviving troopers are next mentioned near the end of chapter 13, there are six total—Rex, Coric, Zeer, Attie, Nax, and Del—and this remains consistent throughout the rest the Teth sequence. This is also consistent with Rex's observation upon regaining consciousness that, according to the biosign icons in his helmet's HUD, five of his men were still alive. This indicates that two of the six comlink responses in chapter 12 came from the same trooper, CT-9932 must therefore be the designation for Zeer, Attie, Nax, or Del, though the novel does not connect it to an individual trooper.
Media
Editions
American
- ISBN 0-345-50898-X; July 26, 2008, Del Rey, 272-page hardcover
- ISBN 9780345508980; July 26, 2008; Del Rey; US hardcover, Science Fiction Book Club edition (1265151)[5]
- ISBN 0-7393-7681-0; July 26, 2008, Random House Audio, Unabridged CD
- ISBN 0-7393-7682-9; July 26, 2008, Random House Audio, Unabridged cassette
British
- ISBN 0-09-953319-7; October 1, 2009, Arrow Books, 272-page paperback
Foreign
- ISBN 978-80-252-1075-8; October, 2008, EGMONT ČR, 176-page Czech hardback (Star Wars: Klonové války)
Cover gallery
Appearances
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Sources
Penguin Group and DK Publishing to Publish Star Wars: The Clone Wars Books on StarWars.com (original site is defunct)
Notes and references
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 The Essential Reader's Companion
- ↑ Penguin Group and DK Publishing to Publish Star Wars: The Clone Wars Books on StarWars.com (original site is defunct)
- ↑ Holocron continuity database questions on the StarWars.com Message Boards (August 3, 2008) (original site is defunct)
- ↑ Star Wars: The Clone Wars novelization
- ↑ Star Wars: The Clone Wars on Science Fiction Book Club's official website (backup link)
External links
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars on Random House's official website (original site is defunct)
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars on Science Fiction Book Club's official website (backup link)
