Hard Contact Part 1

[colls]

Welcome to our first of four check-in and discussion posts for our Book of the Month.

This month’s book is Hard Contact (Star Wars: Republic Commando #1) by Karen Traviss
Chapters 1-5

Hard Contact Part 1

1. What are your thoughts on the squad so far? Any favorites yet between Darman, Nine, Fi, and Atin?

2. The mercenary Mandalorian, Hokan, has a connection with the Republic force that I'm assuming he will soon meet. Do you think he knew Jango Fett personally or only by reputation - will he recognize the clones' faces?

3. How are you liking it so far?



FYI - There's no need to answer all (or any) of the questions above - they're just talking points to get us started. Informal chatter is more than welcome! In-person book clubs often veer off topic, it's okay if we do as well. :)
All I ask is that you try to avoid spoilers for things past Part I of the book.

Comments

[seascribble]

For some reason I thought this was about the Nulls that Skirata adopts, which I've encountered in fandom, so I spent most of the first part of the book confused! I do like our boy Darman, especially the scene where he reflects on whether he should help the civvies and then that his training didn't cover dealing with ungrateful rescued civilians.

How do others find it reads without having played the game it ties into? I feel like I'm only half following some of the assumptions about relationships and structures. I'm glad I'm reading it as part of this group, because I probably would have petered out during one of Etain's sections if I weren't eager to see what people think.

[colls]

I don't know the Nulls or Skirata, maybe it comes up in this series?

[seascribble]

Skirata has shown up in some of the quotes that start chapters (he's one of the Mandalorians that trained clones on Kamino), but I'm not not sure if the Null class clones show up or what! Will be keen to see.

[barbiejedi]

I didn't play the game until a long time after I'd read the novel(s), and when I finally did it didn't really affect my interest in the novel, because there's really no overlap in characters/story-- the game follows one four-man squad, the novel follows a different one, there's some shared background (like the opening cutscene of the game) but other than that the novel really strikes out on its own.

If you haven't played the game, I highly recommend it! The opening cutscene is interactable, and follows the childhood/training of Boss, a Commando, from infancy through the first mission to Geonosis. It's honestly one of my favorite video game moments from ANYTHING.

Without spoiling anything, the RepCom game is one of those in which game mechanics enhance the story, especially in the opening tutorial mission and in the final mission of the game. The game has been on Steam for a long time and seems like it's always getting deep discounts, and it just recently got ported to Switch too!

[smilebackwards]

1. I'm running behind so I've only finished the first couple chapters but I have a strong intuition that Atin--medical escapee literally named 'stubborn'--is going to be my favorite. It's sad that they're all remnants of original squads. I hope they bond well.

3. I quite like it so far. I think the writing is good and I'm interested in the Grand Army worldbuilding and like technology details that aren't really talked about in the movies/show.

[colls]

Yeah, and 'stubborn' feels like it'll be a plot point somewhere down the line. A clone story starting with tragedy seems fitting.

[brokenmnemonic]

1. It feels like Darman and Atin are getting the most characterization so far, but I can't say I have any favourites yet.

2. After reading the comics that explained how Jango got courted to be the clone template, I'm expecting him to be a pretty big deal to any surviving Mandalorians, even if only out of sheer notoriety...

3. So far, I'm... undecided about it, I think? I was surprised at how quickly I was reading it, and there are some aspects of it I really like, although I'm not sure to what extent they're going to be delved into by the author. The effect on Darman and the others on losing the rest of their squads is really interesting, especially given how bleak a lot of the training seems to have been, particularly as a significant number of clones seem to have been killed during training. The clones really do come across as being expendable from the outset, and I'm not sure if the impact on knowing that is going to be explored. The fact that their value is reflected right down to the type and quality of equipment they get is also pretty chilling, as are some of the gaps in their training, like "how to deal with unfriendly sentients that aren't trying to kill you."

For some reason, I keep thinking of the clone trooper who appeared briefly in Kenobi. I also keep finding myself contrasting the feeling in this with that I had reading about the troopers in Twilight company - the difference between those people who've had lived experience and chosen to join the military, and those who have been created to be disposable combat equipment.

[colls]

1. I'm liking all four of them, so was wondering if anyone felt any of them stood out.

2. There seems to be a Mandalorain bent to a lot of Star Wars material these days. I'm not complaining! I'm just noticing. :) It's nice to see some other segment of the population other than Jedi get some attention.

3. The difference in training (upbringing?) for these commando clones vs. the standard clone troopers or even the arc troopers is pretty interesting.


To add on to that theme, the transition the Empire went through when they began replacing clones with stormtroopers. What made them think one was better than another?
Also, it's unnerving how they're all deemed so disposable - and how that likely mirrors reality. Dress them all alike and they don't appear to be individuals or "real people", so letting them be canon fodder isn't too far a stretch.
*goes down dark rabbit hole
**completely unrelated palate cleanse gif of baby yoda chasing a frog

[barbiejedi]

I had intended to reread this one along with the comm, but September is shaping up to be a busy month and I don't think I'm going to have time to get around to it-- I completely forgot it was going on until I saw the second week's discussion post, and I've already got two other new releases on my To Be Read pile that are higher priority. (Plus I apparently still have enough leftover fanwanky memories of how Traviss came to stop writing Star Wars that it makes even thinking about her early stuff feel a little bitter.)

I'm definitely reading everyone's comments and discussions this month, but I probably won't be saying much, since most of my interest in the RepCom part of Star Wars revolved around the Nulls, who aren't properly introduced until later on.

[seascribble]

Do I want to know why KT stopped writing star wars or do I want to read her stuff and have my mando and clone feels first?

[barbiejedi]

Trying to phrase this neutrally without going into detail, it's basically that she was pretty much The Only Person Doing Mando Stuff in the EU for several years starting with Hard Contact in 2004. When the 2008 Clone Wars cartoon came around and also wanted to do Mandalorian stuff, there were (inevitably) continuity issues and and Filoni's show won out over her novels/short stories. Her writing career was strong enough that Star Wars was only part of it, so she moved on to doing other things.

There were a lot of strong feelings from all different sides about it.

Traviss is very good for clone and Mando feels.

[seascribble]

That makes sense. I don't like the Mando stuff in TCW (I've reconciled with it, after Rebels and some really good fanfic), so I can kind of see why you'd take your ball and go home. I need to read this week's chapter of Hard Contact so I can see if I have more clone feels.