Karen Traviss Karen Traviss is the author of multiple " Star Wars " novels , including " " and its sequels , " " , " " and " " , and " " , as well as the " Legacy of the Force " novels " " , " " and " " . She is also one of the two authors of the five which are based on the and the following ( the second author being Karen Miller ) . She wrote the first book in the series entitled " " and the third book entitled " " . Traviss was also planning on writing a sequel to " " , but the novel was reassigned to another author due to Traviss having issues with the publisher and " Star Wars " canon . Traviss also canceled a planned untitled Boba Fett novel that had been planned to be released after " Imperial Commando 2 " . Traviss was originally planning on writing " The Essential Guide to Warfare " , known at the time as " The Essential Guide to the Star Wars Military " , but passed it on to another author . She also wrote for the defense in the book " Star Wars on Trial " , arguing that her work on " Star Wars " novels improved her non - Star Wars writing . She has been among the most active authors in the community , posting regularly on the StarWars . com forums , 501st Legion forums , and elsewhere . She is also an honorary member of the 501st Legion , inducted on July 22 , 2006 and has her own set of Republic Commando Omega Squad armor , donated by the members of Clonetroopers . net . Karen also became an honorary member of the Mandalorian Mercs Costime Club on July 27th , 2008 presented by Talon Clan . Life . Traviss is from the area in England . Before becoming a full - time novelist , she held various jobs , including defense correspondent , advertising copywriter , journalism lecturer , media liaison officer , and public relations manager , but for the most part she has worked as a journalist . She has also served in the Territorial Army as well as the Royal Naval Auxiliary Service . Karen Traviss is known to give plenty of attention to her fans , going through the trouble of answering most of the messages she receives . Currently , Karen Traviss lives in Wiltshire , England . Writing . Her novelist career began in 2000 when she attended the at Michigan State University . On her official website , Traviss acknowledges that it was very helpful in starting her career , but warns that it now focuses exclusively on short fiction , which is unlikely to be a workable career . Traviss published her first Star Wars novel , " Republic Commando : Hard Contact " , in 2004 . Her work for Star Wars usually involves clone troopers , Mandalorians , or related characters such as Boba Fett . She is amongst other things known for developing the Mandalorian language , Mando ' a , into a working language . On August 8 , 2009 , she announced that the second " Imperial Commando " novel would be her last Star Wars novel . However , Traviss later withdrew from the project over various issues , including continuity changes introduced by " " TV series . Controversies . Several of Karen Traviss ' works have stirred considerable controversy , namely , the " 3 Million Clones " debate . Books by her give the Grand Army of the Republic ' s numbers at 3 million clones ; this was seen as both impossibly low to protect the Republic ' s membership of just under 1 . 3 million planets ( meaning 2 . 3 clones per planet ) as well as less than the hundred million men required to fight World War II on a single planet ( 16 million used by the United States of America alone ) . These debates broke out between Karen Traviss ( sometimes alongside fellow Fandalorians ) and the opposed fans she often referred to as " Talifans . " The debates were usually held on online forums , eventually including StarWars . com . It is not entirely clear what exactly happened in all of these debates , particularly on StarWars . com , since many posts were deleted by moderators , and Traviss herself deleted the entire contents of her StarWars . com blog . Many of the posts were screen - shot before their removal , but these screen - shots , while providing new insight into the incidents that occurred , may be showing aspects of the debates out of proper context .