True Colors is the third book in the Star Wars: Republic Commando series.
You can find my appreciation posts for the first two books here:
True Colors continues the intense and engaging trend of going deeper into the consequences of war and politics, the ethical and moral ramifications of slave armies with no rights, and where true loyalty lies: to ideologies or to the men and women standing and fighting by your side. It’s time to choose.
With only two books left in the series, beloved characters have become even more complex and fleshed out. This is an ensemble cast that works beautifully. One of the many areas where Ms. Traviss excels as a storyteller (in my opinion) is in writing incredibly human characters. Or, perhaps, seeing as some of the characters aren’t human, it’s better to say that her characters are relatable. Personable. There are no two-dimensional caricatures here… (This is also true of her other books and non-Star Wars series.)
Another aspect of Ms. Traviss’ storytelling that I appreciate is her way of writing “found families.” Take a rag-tag group of individuals searching for meaning and purpose and identity, put them together with a common bond and goal, give them each other, and you’ve got literary gold. And that’s exactly what Karen Traviss has achieved with True Colors.
I’ll be finishing up my re-read of this series, but I’m taking a bit of a genre break before doing so. Three sci-fi books back-to-back-to-back (even three as engaging as these) leads me wanting a change of genre scenery for a brief book or two.
Until next time, enjoy whatever you’re currently reading,
Al
