The last two novels of the five adult-audience tie-ins to The Clone Wars tv show form a duology, Clone Wars Gambit by Karen Miller: Stealth and Siege. Like with the third book, I was struck by how these seemingly try to play down their connection to the kid-audience show. The front covers depict Obi-Wan and Anakin as they appear in the live-action movies, not in the cartoon; the back covers use just images of CGI droids and spaceships which would look the same in either incarnation. The covers don't even use the tv show "The Clone Wars" logo!
Star Wars: Clone Wars Gambit: Stealth |
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Originally published: 2010 Acquired and read: December 2025 |
And like with the third book, the whole vibe of these doesn't fit with what I know of the show. (Admittedly, I have seen very little of it, but I have read all of the Dark Horse tie-in comics.) The premise of these two books is that the Jedi hear that the Separatists are creating a superweapon, a deadly virus. With few ships or people to spare, Obi-Wan and Anakin must infiltrate the planet where the weapon is being developed, and try to rescue or capture the developed, and ultimately, last long enough to be rescued.
As a plot goes, it's probably like a lot of other Clone Wars–era stories, but I very much enjoyed it for how the story was told. It's funny, because my memory of Miller's other The Clone Wars book, Wild Space, is that it was slow and tedious, but I found this book thoughtful and engaging. It's deliberate in its pacing, but Miller's very good at finding interesting character moments across the two books. She does very well in particular by the relationship between Obi-Wan and Anakin, these two men who are emotionally brothers—with all the weight that that carries. Anakin wants to live up to Obi-Wan's ambitions for him, but is also frustrated by Obi-Wan's somewhat constrained idea of what a Jedi can be. Obi-Wan wants his apprentice to succeed and is impressed by his abilities, but also worries about him. I was particularly impressed by the way Miller took a small moment from The Phantom Menace and revealed what kind of emotional impact it had on Anakin.
The book is also filled with lots of moments about the difficulties and compromises of war, which is exactly the kind of thing that I enjoy in my Clone Wars–era stories. A lot of other Star Wars wars are straightforward good-vs.-evil fights, but what makes the Clone Wars interesting is the compromised position the Jedi are put in by fighting in them, and I prefer Clone Wars stories to delve into that when possible. In a lot of ways, big and small, Miller explores how tough these fights are for Obi-Wan and Anakin from a moral perspective. I really liked the segments in the second book in particular, where they must defend a small community from Separatist attack, but struggle with the fact that this community would not be in danger except for them, and that they might be using these people... particularly a young girl with nascent Force skills who takes a shine to Obi-Wan.
Star Wars: Clone Wars Gambit: Siege |
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Originally published: 2010 Acquired: December 2025 Read: January 2026 |
There's a review of my Star Trek novel on Goodreads that says in part, "people got hurt a lot. I unironically love reading about people getting hurt." I couldn't help but think about that review a lot while reading Gambit, where there is a lot of emphasis on how hurt Obi-Wan and Anakin get; clearly, Miller is writing for that kind of reader. Even the Separatist scientist the Jedi must rescue gets her injuries lovingly detailed. (The Neimoidian torturing her is a character from the show, but I somehow doubt he was this gruesome there!)
Other notes:
- On one hand, we get a Melida/Daan reference; as an old-school Jedi Apprentice stan, I was delighted to see it. On the other hand, the book introduces a different female Jedi with whom Obi-Wan had a fling in his youth. Whither Siri Tachi? Actually, I liked this new character a lot; there's a very well done subplot about her and Ahsoka.
- I did think it was funny to realize that every time Darth Sidious goes to call Count Dooku, he has to throw a decrepit robe over his Palpatine outfit. Like, Dooku knows who Sidious really is, right? Why must Sidious do this? It's very goofy to visualize that between committee meetings, Palpatine is putting on this robe everytime he makes a holo call to a minion.
- Does Bail Organa have a thing for Padmé? Based on these books, I think so.
So, overall, I really enjoyed these books. Obviously, I read a lot of tie-in fiction, and fundamentally what I want out of it is something that fits with what happened on screen, something that captures its vibe... but also manages to do something the screen material did not do, otherwise what's the point? Like Traviss in No Prisoners before her, Miller precisely hits that target here.
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