Four of them are sent to a planet to sabotage a deadly nanovirus research lab and take the scientist responsible alive. Behind enemy lines, everything instantly goes pear-shaped, and one member of the team is isolated. Also alone down there is an inept and inexperienced Jedi Padawan, who is about to take part in their mission and discover what clones are actually like.

If, like this reviewer, you love the Star Wars films and don't think they come often enough, this is for you. There is a lot to recommend it, as the modest-length novel contains a fast-paced, lively story with plenty of action and all the Star Wars hallmarks. Everybody expects the clones to be like droids and they are certainly treated as such, but Padawan Etain Tur-Mukan and the reader soon discover that they are as human as anybody else, and as different in personality from each other. The theme here is how wars strip decent people of humanity, but it still finds ways of surfacing. As you would expect with a Star Wars tale, there are strange new life forms, humor, a well-realized planet as background, some very believable weaponry and, in short, a very well-rounded book that left me feeling more satisfied than most TV or film tie-in novels do. (Jar Jar Binks isn't in here either, which has got to be good.)