Mandalorian Armor (Star Wars: The Bounty Hunter Wars) by K. W. Jeter

Star Wars: The Bounty Hunter Wars #1

by K.W. Jeter

He's the most feared and successful bounty hunter in the galaxy. He is Boba Fett, and even the most hardened criminals tremble at his name. Now he faces the deadliest challenge of his infamous career--an all-out war against his most dangerous enemies.

As the Rebellion gathers force, Prince Xizor proposes a cunning plan to the Emperor and Darth Vader: smash the power of the Bounty Hunters Guild by turning its members against each other. Only the strongest and most ruthless will survive, and they can be used against the Rebellion. It's a job for the fiercely independent Boba Fett, who jumps at the chance to destroy his rivals. But Fett soon realizes the game is rigged, as he finds himself the target of murderous factions, criminal conspiracies, and the evil at the Empire's dark heart. Boba Fett has always finished first. And in this game, anything less is death.

Genres: Star Wars, Science Fiction, Fiction, Fantasy, Space Opera, Audiobook, Novels

Paperback

First published June 1, 1998

About the author

Kevin Wayne Jeter (born 1950) is an American science fiction and horror author known for his literary writing style, dark themes, and paranoid, unsympathetic characters. He is also credited with the coining of the term "Steampunk." K. W. has written novels set in the Star Trek and Star Wars universe, and has written three (to date) sequels to Blade Runner.

Series:
* Doctor Adder

Series contributed to:
* Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
* Alien Nation
* Blade Runner
* Star Wars: The Bounty Hunter Wars
* The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror
* The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror

Reviews

[TheNeverendingTBR · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was disappointing.

It's very dialogued, full of filler and has close to no action.

It tells how Boba Fett survived Sarlacc and how Prince Xixor and the Black Sun crime organization are trying to destroy the Bounty Hunters Guild by getting the members to fight against each other.

The plot is wafer thin and uninteresting.

I don't know why it's called 'The Mandalorian Armor' because it's got nothing to do with the armour.

I do not recommend it.

It's a shame because it could have been excellent, you'd think a book about the most ruthless bounty hunter in the galaxy would be action-packed and full of laser battles...but no..

I've got the other two books of this trilogy but I think I'll just pass. 😏

[Sud666 · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Mandalorian Wars takes place in the "Legends" setting. That's the REAL Star Wars, before Disney screwed it up, building on nearly three decades of stories. The story takes place in two time lines. One time line takes place in the "Then", which is set sometime between Episode IV-V. The "Now" seems to take place during, or slightly after, the events of Episode VI (Return of the Jedi).

Let us cover the "Now"- Boba Fett is alive. His severely injured body is rescued from the Sarlacc's stomach. Helped by Dengar, a Bounty hunter, Boba must try to recover while hiding from a galaxy that would rather see him dead.

The "Then" covers the plan hatched by Prince Xizor to destabilize the Bounty Hunter's Guild. The plan hinges around Boba Fett joining the Guild, in order to destroy it.

Both the timelines flip back and forth as we learn more about the big picture. A very enjoyable story, with a good look at how the Bounty hunter's Guild operates. it's also an excellent look at Boba Fett and what makes him the most feared Bounty Hunter in the Galaxy.

Highly recommended for any Star Wars fan.

[Ill D · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let me tell you about a guy named K.W. Jeter. He’s got a thing for semi-colons, hyphens, and paragraphs that favor the shorter end of things. While the techniques employed are up for stylistic debate, their efficacy cannot be denied. Sure, it’s a Star Wars product by a fan for fans (or at least ex-fans like yours truly) however, I felt glued to the story (and for those in the in on in) I’m sure you will be too.

Just as the subtitle would well suggest, it is indeed a (Boba) Fett-centric tale. Encircling this (letter) T-visored figure of supreme importance are dual streams of narrative – darning together the past and the future(s) ensconsed within. There’s a lot going on here from the middling era betwixt IV and V: which involves ultimately the destruction of the Bounty Hunters Guild and the events concurrent with VI: involving Fett’s fantastic escape from the Pit of Carkoon and it’s demonic Sarlaac. All throughout our Mandalorian-suited, premier bounty hunter is joined by well-known faces (Dengar, Bossk, etc…) as well as some brand-new ones (that were disappointingly just there for their ultimate disposability).

Saturated with intrigue, a lot of moving pieces continually compound their whirling cacophony of unending backstabbing. And this spate of mutually assured destruction is only aggrandized by bevies of ever-unceasing unloadings of rapid fire blasters – scorching landscapes and flesh alike. Hewn by these internecine implementations is a tale cut from the mold of the Star Wars universe to implement its own unique vision and narrative.

So, as stated before, your enjoyment (and initial interest obviously) will be directly proportional to your (intrinsic) connection to the George Lucas saga as a whole. Weathered as it is by time (20 years old!) I think it still holds up generally well (especially during the atrocious sequel era). Stir, sip, and enjoy.

[Christopher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Abridged Audiobook.

I don't know. I wasn't really paying attention. 3 "it's not your fault I was only half listening, but you couldn't have been that great if you didn't pull me away from what I was doing" stars.

[Jerry (Rebel With a Massive Media Library) · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little different than usual Star Wars fare...but it works fairly well.

[Jeremy Campbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thought this was a real solid book featuring Boba Fett and some other popular bounty hunters. In ways, I wish we had gotten this story for the book of boba fett. I liked going back and forth in time with the story.

[John McDermott · Rating 3 out of 5]

To say this was a book featuring Boba Fett there was very little in the way of action. What there was ,was talking. Lots and lots of talking to the point of waffling, and stating the bleeding obvious!! This is not a book for Chas and Dave ! Still , I found much to enjoy and I'll happily read the rest of the trilogy .

[CS · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dengar is scavenging around the Sarlac after the big blowout at Jabba's when he makes two discoveries: 1) a dancer named Neelah is not all she seems and 2) Boba Fett is alive. Back post-A New Hope, Boba Fett is hired to destroy the Bounty Hunter's Guild.
NOTE: Based on the novel (read years ago) and the audiobook.

I Liked:
What sane person wouldn't want to read a book starring the most enigmatic, least important, most highly sought after character from the movie? I read the book to learn more about Fett, and, in a way, I did.
Fett was well done, if a bit verbose. He is mysterious, he is cunning, he is ruthless, he is a mercenary to the core. His mind is analytical, he plans for all contingencies (well, most of them) and he isn't burdened by pity or mercy. Even with recent prequel and Traviss retcons (Well, I don't know so much about Traviss' retcons, if any, of Boba Fett, just of the Mandalorians), he holds up well.
But for me, the one who shined was Dengar. I know, it's odd, but Dengar was a very personable character for me. I liked his relationship with Manaroo (established in Tales of the Bounty Hunters, one of the good short stories), I liked how he balanced being emotional and yet a mercenary, and I liked how he teamed up with Boba Fett.
I also really liked how this book was set in the Imperial (aka between Hope and Jedi) era and not in the future. We don't get to see much of Vader, Palpatine, Xizor, so it was nice to have scenes with them.

I Didn't Like:
If you were to ask me to give two words summing this book up I would say "Slow" and "Confusing". Both are closely intertwined, but I'll try to explain individually.
This book is incredibly slow. Really, not much happens in this book. If I hadn't trudged through it the first time (it took me forever and I was tempted to give up, it never seemed to go anywhere), I would have given up. Yes, it ends on a cliffhanger, but to get me there...too hard, too long, too slow.
As for "Confusing", this book includes two seemingly unrelated storylines. I say "seemingly" because, having read the book, I know that the two stories are intertwined. But for someone who hasn't read the trilogy before, it would be mindboggling why there are two stories being relayed with the only plausible tie to the other is the characters (Boba Fett and Kuat of Kuat). I love subtlety, but this goes too far. Give me something to work with, anything. Drop a hint, a clue, a tidbit. Kriff, make the "Then" sections obviously a flashback. Anything, so I can tie the two together and not wonder if Jeter is pulling a Black Fleet Crisis with Lando's story.
Another thing that bothered me was the monologuing. Characters absolutely love to talk endlessly or think endlessly. Boba Fett is particularly prone to being overtalkative, something that seems to conflict with his on-screen persona. Kuat of Kuat does a lot of staring at screens and thinking, plotting something we have no clue. Xizor spends a huge chunk of time and pages relating in excruciating detail his plan for destroying the Bounty Hunters Guild (it goes WAY overboard). And Kudar Mu'bat, while an interesting character, grated on my nerves for his blathering.
My last complaint is reserved for Neelah. I know she's supposed to be integral to the plot, but I can't get over how cliched she is. Hot dancer? Check. Amnesia/Memory-wipe? Check. Quick-thinking? Check. Able to deliver great groin attacks? Absolutely.

Dialogue/Sexual Situations/Violence:
I caught a d*** and a p***, the latter being a surprise in a Star Wars novel.
Neelah was a dancer.
Bossk kills his father. Boba Fett is nearly digested by the Sarlac. The story deals with mercenaries and bounty hunters, so expect a lot of battles, fights, betrayals, firefights and the like.

Overall:
Mildly entertaining, this book would be so much better if it weren't so overcomplicated and ridden with characters who like to hear themselves talk/think. Decent, but unless you are a Fett fan, I would skip.

[Tony · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read this book around the time it was released in 1998 and didn't really like it. I wanted to like it but I just couldn't. It's 14 years later (holy crap) and I decided to give it another try since my brain has evolved quite a lot since then. Maybe this time I would like it. The storyline revolves around Boba Fett, my favorite Star Wars character, and a bunch of bounty hunters. How can that not be good!?

14 years later and I still don't like this book.

First, let's start with the cover. Looks pretty cool, right? Darth Vader and Boba Fett together on the cover. Is Vader going to hire Fett for some nefarious task? Or are they going to fight again like they did in the comic series Star Wars: Boba Fett: Enemy of the Empire? Or is Vader just going to be a supporting character for one chapter that takes place entirely in the Emperor's throne room? Unfortunately it's the latter. And is Fett in that chapter at all? Nope. You may notice that Vader's TIE Advance fighter is also featured on the cover. Couldn't tell you why as it isn't in the book at all.

And the title of this book The Mandalorian Armor is inexplicable as Boba Fett isn't wearing his armor for 90% of the book. Nor does it come into play in some other manner.

Now, I actually don't mind the storyline of this book. There is a lot of mystery involved, which I love. But the writer fills the book with repetition and unnecessary over-description of meaningless details. Here's an example:

One of the inspectors lay crumpled in pieces, a few lights still forlornly blinking, on the thrust-scarred landing dock. That one had been a little too brusque in frisking the Trandoshan Bossk for any concealed weapons, and had paid the price in quick, bolt-snapping disassembly...

...The inspectors spider-legged their way toward the waiting bounty hunters. A couple of the droids lagged behind and began picking up the scattered wreckage of their forcibly disassembled companion, the broken circuits of its main sensory input/ output box still buzzing and moaning...

...The lead inspector extended one of its optic stalks straight up and swiveled its small lens around to see how the others were coming along with the bits and pieces of the one that Bossk had taken apart. A few last segments were being tucked into an inert-mesh sack, from which the droid's muffled complaints were barely audible...

...A dark oil stain and a couple of glittering, broken transistors were all that were left on the surface of the dock...

...Zuckuss was glad to see the customs-inspection droids leave, stalking their way delicately across the landing dock, dragging their bagged comrade behind themselves.

I find it ridiculous how much was written about that disassembled droid when it has nothing to do with the plot. This is just one of many occurrences of pointless writing. I think I would have enjoyed this book more if it were a lot shorter.

I had other problems with this book but I just don't feel like wasting any more time writing about it. Unfortunately for me this is only the first part in a trilogy. Sigh.

[Trin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I keep waiting for a piece of Star Wars media to convince me to give a shit about Boba Fett; this wasn't the one to it.

[Benjamin Stahl · Rating 2 out of 5]

With The Force Awakens only days away, I decided to read another Star Wars book - this time, actually one of the "expanded universe" entries. Out of a great many I care not to count, I had only this one in my own precious personal library. But seeing as it focussed on the legendary Boba Fett, it seemed as good a place to start as any. The last Star Wars book I read was Aftermath, and I pointlessly wrote an in-depth review of that one. This time I’m just gonna keep things short because I have a cold and I need to work early in the morning. Need to give my brain ample time to rest and regenerate.

The book was penned by one K.W. Jeter. I’ve met him in real life; he’s an asshole. But his writing, for the most part, is adequate if not breathtaking. Fucking, if you find reading words on a page breathtaking in general, then you kind of need a girlfriend. But you know what I mean. The writing served its purpose, but it barely amazed me. But we all know Star Wars is not about beautiful prose. Just give us a good fun action-packed story and we’ll be quiet.

Well, things do start off that way. It begins during the events of Return Of The Jedi. Bounty Hunter Dengar is scavenging the wreck of Jabba’s sail barge, and he stumbles upon the nearly-dead body of Fett. His decision to take Fett under his wing, help him recover, and the attention this brings him from the bounty hunter's various enemies is one part of the story.
The other part takes place just after the events of A New Hope, after the rebellion destroys the first Death Star. As a spoiler-free synopsis: Boba Fett is lured into a web of conspiracy concerning the ill-reputed Bounty Hunters Guild. He is given a mission to destroy it from the inside, by turning its members against each other. This masterplan is conceived by Prince Xisor, dark leader of the underground criminal organisation, Black Sun.

To be honest, I don’t think this shadowy organisation is as genius as it’s made out to be. Basically, Xisor wants to pit the bounty hunters against each other, so that Fett’s business rivals can "kill themselves off" and Fett can charge extortionate fees for his expertise. Except Boba Fett - (we are constantly reminded) - works alone, independently; he doesn't side with the Empire, the Rebellion, or anything in between. Why eliminating all the other bounty hunters - universally considered incompetent, anyway - so that Fett can jack his price up, will help the Empire, or Black Sun, is not made clear. Maybe I need to get my brain refunded, but to me that makes little sense.

Anyway, they are the stories this book jumps between at irregular intervals. Both could easily have been turned into exciting adventures. But sadly, neither really makes the cut. They’re both just mediocre. Lots of multiple-paragraph conversations stretching over several pages, as if Tarantino wrote them, and they tend to repeat themselves too often; internal reflections in between verbal conversations that drag out so long, you often forget what the hell was said in the first place.

As this is Star Wars, I regret to say there's very little in the way of action. No lightsabers, and not too many laser blasts. There’s a sarlacc pit, which is cool; there’s a surprisingly graphic death scene near the end, concerning one of the Hutts. But these things happen few and far between. Most of the book is honestly people talking. I appreciate that great characters and the interactions between them can make any book riveting, whether or not there’s a gunshot thrown into the mix. Hell, I gave four stars to the least popular Clancy book, Red Rabbit, which is 90% dialogue, because the characters and the writing and the tension were so astounding. Here, though, that unfortunately isn't the case.

Boba Fett is basically no more fleshed out than in the films. He has cool-looking armour, and he’s a ruthless killer a with cold, calm, calculated mind. That’s his fucking character. There is no insight into what Boba Fett feels. And, what’s most disappointing about this is that only a small way into the book, you’re actually conned into thinking it’s going to be the very opposite. An in-depth character study on the man behind the mask.

The book starts off pretty strong - (just being set in the world of Star Wars immediately had me invested) - and for a little while, I actually fell under the impression it was going to be awesome. Probably the best part of the book - when Fett is cleaning the captive cages in Slave I after delivering his most recent prisoner to the Hutts who are going to torture him - has the man reflecting on the intangible but ever-present stink of fear and hopelessness that riddles the cargo hold of his ship like a ghost. He even reflects upon the messier elements of transporting human merchandise, in that they are often so consumed by terror that they lose control of their bodily functions, leaving Fett to clean piss and shit off the floor of their cages, as if he were carrying pigs to the abattoir and not sentient beings.

That is what I wanted from this book. And when it actually bothers, it delivers exceedingly well. The writer takes you into the mind of this dark and troubled individual, left alone after sending someone to unthinkable suffering at the hands of his punishers. It shows that part of his mind does register the immorality of his profession; that he is gaining from the extortion and suffering of others. The book actually made me feel sorry for his captive ... this puny little banker who was caught up in something he didn’t understand, and was now faced with being tortured by whatever horrific means the Hutts had in mind. He begs Fett to make a deal; Fett almost considers, but then decides his reputation is too important to compromise.

"His knees visibly weakened, his hands sliding down the bars as he sank limply toward the cage’s floor. Whatever glint of hope had been in his face was now extinguished”.

After handing him over, Fett notices the captive has left a message scraped into the floor. He doesn’t bother reading it, but takes a photographic record with his helmet to check later. Except he never does! This whole thing is forgotten about. And there I was, thinking the message carried some portentous meaning, and would somehow lead to Fett rescuing the captive from the Hutts later on. Or, I don’t know, something.
But there is, like, two more mentions of the captive’s name, and then he’s completely forgotten.

But yeah, Fett is barely given any character development here. Nor is he much of a “badass” if we're being honest. Most of the time he’s just talking to different members of the Hunters Guild, planting mutinous thoughts into their greedily receptive heads, being a little shit stirrer. This book kind of makes one of the cooler-looking Star Wars characters boring and not worth surviving the sarlacc pit at all. The only characters I found remotely interesting were Kud’ar Mub’at (yeah, that's actually his name), who is like this giant spider thingy that has made a floating station out of its own body. Prince Xisor was also pretty cool to read about; I liked the idea of this other evil mastermind trying to overthrow the Emperor behind the scenes. The fact that he’s behind everything in the Nintendo game, Shadows of the Empire, also scored points with me.

Then I also sort of liked the villain bounty hunter that begrudgingly sides with Fett, the bloodthirsty Trandoshan, Bossk. (Hey, do you know how many times I’ve had to click ignore spelling for this review?). But fucking Xisor pisses off to the grave in some other damned book and is barely mentioned in the second half. "Spider Thing" only appears once. And Bossk, while he gets a good amount of page-time, still cops the boot at the end of the story, and is basically left flying around in space doing nothing until the supposed next book in the series.

Other characters were just plain silly. Not once did I buy Zuckuss as a bounty hunter. What the fuck was he doing there? Neelah had a very interesting backstory. But, again, it’s only hinted at and not actually explored after making you think it’s going to be. Oh, she has a past with Boba Fett? Nup!! That can wait until the next book, dickhead. Get searching!!

And then Dengar is placed with Neelah, instead of that “Manaroo" girl he’s apparently in love with. Dengar’s sole motivation in helping and then selling out Fett is so that he and his girlfriend can escape the business for good. So why the hell is she only introduced briefly then chucked aside for Neelah to take over? I didn’t give a shit about Dengar because I was given no reason to be invested in his situation. Manaroo was just a faceless character with a stupid name to me. Neelah and Manaroo should have been the same person.

I might as well keep complaining. That’s all I’m really good for. That’s why my reviews are so popular. Fucking just look how many likes I have. I would like to take issue with the front cover. Check it out. So it definitely looks cool; it’s got that classic Star Wars thing going on. Not having read the story, the picture is fine. But since I’ve finished it, I think the front cover is wrong. The lower half is OK: there we have Boba Fett in his Mandalorian armour; Dengar in his rags. It took me a while to realise, because for some reason I thought she was a Twi-lek like Jabba’s other girls, but the lesbian there is Neelah. These three characters do belong on the cover.

But the large Darth Vader face, along with his ship, does not belong at all. If anything, Fett’s face should be the centre of this cover. But I suppose Prince Xisor would have fit there as well. Darth Vader only appears once in this story, and while that part was probably my second favourite moment in the book, he still bears little importance in this particular story. Vader’s ship should have been Slave I. But since that appears on the back cover, which I have no issues with, I suppose they could have Bossk’s ship, the Hound’s Tooth, instead. Effing, a giant flying penis would have belonged more than Vader’s ship.

My main problem with this book is that it feels like an incomplete first part to a larger story. And look, I’m not such a dumbshit I don’t understand most of my gripes with the character arcs feeling incomplete are likely addressed in the following books. But it’s not just that. The whole story is inconsistently structured. It never really latches onto any particular concept or plot-line, but keeps branching off into other suggested possibilities, never expanding any, but continuing down the hallway to a weak and rushed-out climax that resoles pretty much none of them.

It really could have done with an edit or a rewrite. I feel bad giving this book two stars and a negative review, but I’m afraid I just didn’t like it that much. And, what’s worse, the tools were all there for this to have been great. I also didn’t like it how Fett never took his helmet off. Guy even sleeps with his helmet on. Does he ever shower? Does he eat food? I mean, this was written before Attack of the Clones came out, but I always assumed there was a human being (if not necessarily a clone of one) behind that suit. But it feels like the writer wasn’t sure enough to commit, and so just takes the easy option and has him never take his armour off.

All these things have not dissuaded me from seeking out the other EU books. But I hope they are better and more focussed than this one was. Oh, and by the way, I haven’t actually met K.W. Jeter, so for all I know he’s not an asshole at all.

[Ron · Rating 1 out of 5]

Pretty much a waste of time and paper. There's not much to spoil.

Two half-hearted, interleaved stories--"Then" and "Now"--with little to no connection in this book. (Is that why there are two more books in the series?) Many plot and character errors based on what we all now know from the "first" three movie episodes, but of course Jeter didn't know who Boba Fett really was, nor the clones, nor lots of things in 1995.

What's the deal making the "bad guys" like Boba Fett and Darth Vader semi-good guys? One thing you can count on for any book in which Prince Xizor appears: it'll be a waste of time. A humanoid reptile whose stink turns on females of all species? The biggest crime lord in the Galaxy and Palpatine and Vader don't know?

Incomprehensible:
-- That Fett would have a hideout with spare uniforms and armor but no means to communicate to Slave One.
-- That a hired technician could break through mutli-layered Slave One defenses so easily.
-- That Boosk and Dengar should be entirely different people from Tales of the Bounty Hunters.
-- That Huat of Huat would disguise his force saturation bombing the Dune Sea on Tatooine, but hang around in his yacht for BDA and expect to remain anonymous.
-- That Fett, Dengar and Nellah sit around a fire in front of Fett's "secret" hideout so anyone on the Dune Sea--or that side of Tatooine in orbit--can find them.
-- That everyone in the whole galaxy refers to Tatooine all the time.
-- That a womp rat is the smallest carnivore in the galaxy.

Chapter Ten was particularly irritating. Twenty-five pages of talking heads--Emperor Palpatine and Prince Xizor--giving tedious back story, with a gratuitous holographic Darth Vader occasionally growling or posturing. And none of those characters ever appear or do anything in the story again.

Having said that, there might have been a decent short story here, or maybe one good book instead of three terrible ones. Maybe the next two will be better. ;-)

[Mike · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you like Star Wars and Boba Fett, then you'll probably like this book. I enjoyed the machinations of all the schemers involved (which includes just about everybody), but I thought there were too many long winded "meeting" scenes where the various scoundrels explained all their plots and plans in way too much detail.
Boba Fett has become a legendary character in the Star Wars universe despite being only a minor character in the second and third films of the series. Boba Fett and his "father," Jango Fett, are also featured in the prequel trilogy of films.
Boba Fett is second only to Darth Vader as the Star Wars universe's most feared (and revered) villain. Though, in my opinion, Vader and Fett talk too much in this book and it harms the mystique surrounding both characters.
Overall, I think there's too much talk and not enough action in "The Manadlorian Armor." The use of common slang and "modern" vocabulary might make this more accessible to a casual reader, but it harms the suspension of disbelief required for sci-fi novels.
This is the first book of a trilogy that has the enigmatic bounty hunter Boba Fett as the central character, both before and after his supposed death during the events of the third Star Wars film "Return of the Jedi."
I do plan on reading the rest of this series.

[Bettie · Rating 3 out of 5]

[David Samuels · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great cover, meh writing

[Declan O'Keeffe · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was fine. I enjoyed it well enough and the Characters were interesting for one. I'm not the biggest Bounty Hunter guy when it comes to Star Wars. The Canon comic "Bounty Hunters" with them just at each other's throats all the time did nothing for me.

This was at least a little more enjoyable than that. But honestly, nothing really happens here other than Boba Fett surviving the Sarlacc, and that I can take or leave.

And there's barely any actual character growth or surprising twists or moving forward of the plot. And the time jumping was just a bit too confusing to keep track of.

I'll give the rest of the trilogy a shot, but I'm not going in with high expectations.

[Jenny Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you don't know me, you have no idea how much I love Boba Fett. I love him a lot. :) So needless to say I had to read a series that had to do with Boba Fett and how he isn't dead! This was a neat read, and I can't wait to move deeper in to the series. You get views into 2 different points of time. Before Boba Fett is eaten by the sarlacc, and after he escapes. It's a nice window into the Bounty Hunter's guild, and super awesome for anyone who wants to know more about why Boba Fett is a bamf.

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought another eight Star Wars novels from a bookshop in Canada. I think I have a problem…

This one’s solid enough. There’s a fair amount of action mixed in with the politics of the bounty hunters. Does a great job of making killers into protagonists in a way that new Disney fails to achieve (I’m looking at you ‘book of bobs fett’). Not sure if there’s enough here to sustain a trilogy but I guess we’ll see.

[Darryl Dobbs · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'll review the trilogy as a whole.

I didn’t like it. I thought that K.W. Jeter extended the story with needless background and side-stories that extended this from a long novel to three books. I also didn’t like some of the characters, such as Kuat of Kuat and Mub’at. Don’t get me wrong, the idea behind them was okay. But the flaws were too much to get behind.

First, Kuat. I just couldn’t get past calling him Kuat of Kuat. So I guess my reason here is petty. Don’t call this key character a name that my four-year-old would make up, and maybe I can focus more on the book. The character itself was actually a good one. I really liked the politics of Kuat, and the way the families were juggling for control of the Kuat empire. Such a shame that I had to fight to focus on that.

And now Mub’at, one of the more ludicrous characters. A spider-like alien who seemed to be kind of a robot who assembled parts of space debris to create and expand his home which seemed to be a giant spaceship-spiderweb. And he was a go-between for bounty hunters and their clients. While the idea of a go between is a good one, space is a pretty big area. The galaxy is huge. Maybe it’s my marketing instinct, but it’s all about location. How did he build his business? Why is there only one go-between? Both the Empire and Prince Xixor use him, as well as the Bounty Hunter’s Guild and Boba Fett. So how did he get all the business? And to the extent that they would travel light years to the middle of nowhere to deal with him? And the escrow money is secure there in his little web-station with zero security? I just hated everything about this.

And then there is Neelah, this woman who was tagging along (and who actually discovered Boba Fett barely alive having escaped the Sarlocc pit). She had not really need to be in the story. She was trying to find her identity and seemed to be capable handling herself, so a tiny part of me was hoping that she was actually Mara Jade with amnesia. But nope. Just some schmo from the Kuat empire.

Anyway, the holes in the story, the weak characters, and the over-writing/over-explaining made this trilogy tough to get through. Which is a shame because I like Boba Fett and absolutely believe he can anchor a really good multi-part series of stories. I like Dengar too, even as Fett’s temporary partner. There was potential here, and it really let me down. In fact, it was so hard to get through these books it nearly frustrated me right out of this (read all the SW books) project.

[J · Rating 3 out of 5]

After being disappointed with Disney’s The Book of Boba Fett, I decided to see for myself if the EU/Legends Boba Fett was any better.

I have mixed feelings.

There are some good things about this book:

1. Kuat of Kuat.
2. The present day portions of the plot
3. Neelah’s mysterious backstory
4. The idea of Xizor pitting Boba Fett against the Bounty Hunter’s Guild, though his reasoning for and execution of this is pretty flimsy as others have noted.
5. The first and last quarters of the book

Bad things:

1. The flashbacks. Utterly boring sometimes
2. The entire third quarter with the shell Hutts subplot was painfully boring to read, and, as it turns out, mostly useless for the plot. Introduced random characters who you will never see again (probably, I haven’t read the next book yet) and the point of this subplot, when it is revealed in full, made me go “wait, what? 50 pages for that? Why? Couldn’t you have done that in 10-20 pages instead?”
3. Zuckuss is a lot weaker and more insecure than I imagined
4. Xizor’s conversation with Vader and Palpatine is a snooze fest. I won’t bother to count how many times Palpatine and/or Vader interrupt Xizor to dilate on the most baffling, tangential rants. Oh, and weird boasting from Palpatine that is totally out of character from what we see in the movies.

Xizor: I have an evil plan
Palpatine: You think you are smarter than me?
Xizor: no, I never said that
Palpatine: good, you are wise for not thinking so.
Xizor: so my evil plan—
Vader: only the Emperor is wise enough to devise an evil plan
Palpatine: this is so. Do you think yourself wiser than me, my apprentice?
Vader: no
Palpatine: good, no one is wiser or more evil than I.
Xizor: so my evil plan…

And it literally goes in circles like this for 20 pages. Xizor can’t get more than a sentence out before someone interrupts him and misconstrues his words as an insult. I smile looking back at it, but it was a chore to read through the first time.

Oh, and Xizor’s plan, though I think could have made sense if it had nothing to do with the Empire and was more about destroying the Guild and Boba Fett to eliminate competition for Xizor’s Black Sun criminal organization would have been better, but I didn’t write the book.

[DJMikeG · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a mostly very entertaining Star Wars novel. As other reviewers have bemoaned, there are long passages of exposition that kill the momentum about halfway through. An extremely bloated, boring discussion between Prince Xizor, the Emperor and Darth Vader goes on forever and is pretty pointless. Some of the backroom dealings of the Bounty Hunter's Guild are a little boring and needless, too. That said, there is so much awesome Star Wars stuff in this book, its a very fun read for long time fans. Jeter really has the Lucas spirit when it comes to creating amazing creatures and bizarre characters. It definitely has that funky, crazy feeling that the original trilogy had. Some of his creations are so cool, I'd love to see them reappear in the SW universe. A giant space spider who thinks it controls everything! A creature with a giant lazer cannon for a head! I was fascinated and entertained thoroughly. Fett is effectively depicted as a supreme badass who is never outfoxed and always has multiple tricks up his sleeve. Also, tons of Dengar! Who doesn't want that? A very fun, entertaining novel and a great beginning to the Bounty Hunter Wars trilogy. Looking forward to reading the next installment.

[Deanna · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is the most boring book in the Star wars universe I've read so far.

[AltLovesBooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

"If there had ever been a time when there had been honor among thieves, it was long over in this galaxy."

My journey through the OG Star Wars novels continues. My husband dropped this series in my hands after we watched the most recent Mandalorian season, since I had questions about the Mandalorians in the old canon. It's arguably quicker to read the books than it is to pore over the Wookieepedia on some topics, honestly.

This was.... fine. Kind of a mess in places, but still fun. I'm still not sure why the subtitle is "The Mandalorian Armor" when it's not even a plot point or even mentioned at all, despite Boba Fett being the main character. The other bounty hunters I remember from Tales of the Bounty Hunters by Kevin Anderson were also part of this one, though their voices/actions felt a bit different (quite a bit different in Zuckuss'/Dengar's cases) from what I remember. I guess that's a product of the different authors.

The middle part of the book crawls a bit, (middle book spoilers here) particularly in the case of the Shell Hutts/d'Harhan inclusion. Not sure why we made a stop there, when ultimately they left empty handed and the Shell Hutts didn't even seem to mind the, uh, mild disturbance. I thought the beginning and ending were the best parts.

A book that's just fine. I'll be reading the rest in the series (my husband will insist), so I'm looking forward to how the rest play out.

[Maddie · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars, I guess.

Listen there are some really interesting parts in this. Boba Fett, in particular, is super compelling in this novel and I wish he was included more in the overall narrative. But the pacing in this is nonsense. It goes back and forth for the entire thing which really mucks up the narrative and makes the whole thing read as a prelude to a more interesting story I'm never going to get to because I was bored for like half of this book.

The Star Wars EU overall is super interesting and this book does match that vibe with a handful of scenes, but the majority of the book is honestly super dull. If you're looking to get into the Star Wars EU, you can probably do better with another choice.

I will say that I've never been a big Boba Fett fan until this book though. They definitely did an excellent job adding some depth to his character and really highlighting his positive qualities and contributions to the Star Wars universe.

[Irredeemable Shag · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this novel! While I typically have no interest in Boba Fett in novels and comics, this book was written in a compelling manner and kept me interested! Plus the seedier side of the galaxy was on display well, and made me think this book is what SHADOWS OF THE EMPIRE could have been.

Only downside; the mystery of Neelah’s true identity seems painfully obvious. I’ll guess I’ll have to read book 2 and/or 3 to be sure, but seems like a no brainer.

[Jadespringymandarin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second book of the original books I have read and I have to say, it is quite extraordinary that it keeps in line with the films and has extra background information about several characters, deaths etc. I enjoyed this book and am looking forward to reading the second book, Slave Ship by the author, K.W. Jeter.

[Opgesodemieterd · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's got fun overly-descriptive world-building which I like, although I can understand people disliking it. The story is interesting, but you don't really feel anything for any of the characters. Others have mentioned it being slow, and I guess I agree, but I didn't mind it personally.

in short: I liked it but I probably wouldn't recommend it to others often.

[Q. · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good story, but unnecessarily wordy/long-winded. Time to binge the abridged audiobooks for books 2 & 3.

[Maegen · Rating 4 out of 5]

First Star Wars book of the year read! :)
Overall, a solid book (the writing style was quite nice) and I look forward to the rest of the trilogy.