Star Wars: Boba Fett - A Practical Man

Star Wars: The New Jedi Order #1.5

by Karen Traviss

On the surface, it seems like just another routine contract for Boba Fett and his Mandalorian commandos, but the mystery client who hires them to start a small war is more dangerous than any of them can possibly imagine. When the Yuuzhan Vong invasion force sweeps into the galaxy, the Mandalorians find they’re on the wrong side–fighting for an alien culture that will bring about the end of their own.

Now Fett has to choose between his honor and the survival of his people. Since he’ s a practical man, he’s determined help the resistance beat the Yuuzhan Vong—even if it means working with a Jedi agent. Trouble is, no one trusts a man with Fett’ s reputation. So convincing the New Republic that they’re fighting on the same side is a tall order. Denounced as traitors, Fett’s Mandalorians need to stay one step ahead of their Yuuzhan Vong paymasters–and the Republic who sees them as collaborators with the most destructive enemy the galaxy has ever faced. . . .

 This original novella includes an excerpt from  Star Republic Hard Contact  and an interview with the author.

Genres: Star Wars, Science Fiction, Fiction, Short Stories, Space Opera, Fantasy, Ebooks

70 pages, ebook

First published August 8, 2006

About the author

#1 New York Times best-selling novelist, scriptwriter and comics author Karen Traviss has received critical acclaim for her award-nominated Wess'har series, and her work on Halo, Gears of War, Batman, G.I. Joe, and other major franchises has earned her a broad range of fans. She's best known for military science fiction, but GOING GREY and BLACK RUN, the first books in her new techno-thriller series RINGER, are set in the real world of today. A former defence correspondent and TV and newspaper journalist, she lives in Wiltshire, England. She's currently working on SACRIFICIAL RED, the third book in the Ringer series, and HERE WE STAND, book three in the NOMAD series.

Reviews

[Lyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Practical Man is a 2006 short story featuring Boba Fett and acting as a precursor to the New Jedi Order series of novels.

Author Karen Traviss explores a third great power source in the Lucas universe, neither the Jedi or the Sith, really not even directly involving The Force, but rather the Mandalorians and Fett’s miraculous escape from the Tatooine Sarlacc.

The Mandalorians were a warrior group comprised primarily of humans who operate out of a clan based confederacy, and frequently appear in the Star Wars expanded universe as mercenaries or bounty hunters.

In this story, Fett leads a group of weapons for hire and then makes some tough, but practical, decisions regarding the impending invasion of the galactic Yuuzhan Vong.

This story also surveys the continuity distinctions between the Star Wars Legends mythology and the film based Canon. Lucasfilms has stated that the “true” narrative follows the films exclusively, while the Legends stories are possibly, according to some purists “Apocrypha”. There is some interesting reading regarding the overall continuity issues and Disney’s acquisition in 2012.

I like the Legends stories, as there is a lot of talented writing and a wealth of fun adventure fiction. This is a good example.

[Dave Logghe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm no stranger to the Star Wars extended universe. In middle school and high school, these were the only books I read with any type of eagerness or regularity. Having read a lot of it, I have come to terms with the idea that most licensed star wars novels are little more than decent to good fan-fiction. You can usually assume there will be a jedi who makes only lightside decisions and usually one who will do the opposite (always two, there are). However, this simple little novella broke out of the preconceptions I have, and became something more. It wasn't fan-fiction, but more a good novel (or novella) that happened to take place in the star wars universe. The characters acted and thought like real people. Not to mention it's probably the best treatment Boba Fett has received in any venue (that I've seen thus far anyway). It's fortunate that it takes place right at the beginning of the new jedi order storyline because I know have a vested interest thereof and look forward to diving in. I also look forward to reading more from Karen Traviss, be it Star Wars fiction or other.

[Jerry (Rebel With a Massive Media Library) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not a big Boba Fett fan, and this short story did nothing to improve my opinion of him.

[[boredom.is.overrated] · Rating 5 out of 5]

Honestly, I wish this had been longer. Still, it deserves 5 stars. I haven’t read the New Jedi Order since grade school and I’m working my way through the Young and Junior Jedi Knights books to get to know some of the characters better before I make my way back through the NJO. This was a great prologue for that series, I honestly wish they’d released this with Vector Prime to give on a clear view of Nom Anor and Boba Fett’s vantages. Like other reviewers have said, Traviss really knows how to write Fett. She must’ve been reading some Cam Kennedy comics when she wrote this...

[Emi-Wan Kenobi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I came here hoping for a little peek into canon Mand’alor Boba Fett and I’m not disappointed. It’s very short, and ties into some other Star Wars EU novel I’ll never read, but I liked it for the Boba Fett content and the Mandalorian content in general.

I’d also never read anything by Karen Traviss, and only knew her by the mean nickname the Halo fandom used to give her, but she writes well and really had a nice handle on the character voices, I think!

4 stars because for what it is it isn’t bad, 8/10, would probably read again.

[April · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s a short book that highlights how Fett helped in the war effort.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked it. It was cool how you got to see into the coming series. I was silly and read this after reading a bunch of the other books in the series. But it was cool to see Boba Fett wanting to kill the Vong and be repulsed by their behavior. Good primer for the series if you read in order unlike me.

[M Hamed · Rating 3 out of 5]

more like(Star Wars: The New Jedi Order, #1.5).it explains why the Mandalorians did not appear in the series at all, but not good enough

[Oliver · Rating 2 out of 5]

Vergere to Tsavong Lah: Warmaster, we think too often in terms of dualism: Jedi or Sith, light or dark, right or wrong. But there are three sides to this blade, not two, opposed and similar at the same time. The third edge is the Mandalorian.

...

Uh-huh.

[Keith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stars: 4
Re-read? Yes
Recommend to: It's worth reading if you are going to read the NJO.

This novella was surprisingly good. I didn't have high hopes mostly because I generally don't get into stories this short. I didn't read this story on my previous reads of the NJO, but I figured it was worth a shot since it was short and Karen Traviss has been a competent author.

The plot is interesting, although I'm not sure how well it fits into the rest of the series. Nom Anor somewhat insanely decides to risk revealing the existence of the Yuuzhan Vong to the galaxy by revealing them to some Mandalorians so he could recruit them to the cause. This seems unlikely. I can buy that the Mandalorians would try to get info on the Vong to the New Republic. I can also accept that the New Republic would be stupid and ignore this data for a while. But I've read the first seven books recently, and it seems like the information the Mandalorians have been passing along would've come up.

I really appreciated that Karen Traviss had the courage to make her characters face challenges that only have difficult solutions. It has been a huge problem in Star Wars where characters almost always find a convenient solution that keeps them from having to make a decision that is morally questionable. In this book, Boba Fett decides to buy his people some time to prepare to defend their world or evacuate by acting like he and his small crew are going to help the Yuuzhan Vong invade. He will send data to the New Republic all the while. Where I truly appreciate Karen Traviss is when she has Boba Fett decide that they will have to kill some innocent people to convince the Vong of their loyalty. So he unapologetically will kill New Republic civilians for the greater good. If only Disney had hired Karen Traviss to write their Book of Boba Fett series, then the show wouldn't have been complete garbage. These are the kinds of choices people face in real wars. Do we bomb a city to destroy manufacturing capacity and kill tens of thousands of civilians in the process? Do we nuke Hiroshima and Nagasaki to avert an ground invasion of Japan that could kill a million people? Do we bomb a building a terrorist is hiding in knowing that it will also kill the people he is using as human shields? These are questions people in the real world debate to this day, so it was very nice to see character not only grapple with the decision, but make the decision that completely aligns with his character. Karen Traviss clearly understands the character of Boba Fett. Go watch the Book of Boba Fett if you want to see the opposite.

The only thing I really didn't like about the book was the POV diary entries for Nom Anor. I can't remember if they were describes as a journal or a report. Either way, I don't see this being what Nom Anor would write. He wouldn't write a diary; can you even imagine a single Yuuzhan Vong doing that? And he wouldn't be reporting to his superior the kind of heretical thoughts he writes.

So the book isn't mind-blowing, but I enjoyed it the entire time and it does give a glimpse into what the Mandalorians are up to during the series.

[Elwin Kline · Rating 5 out of 5]

"It was amazing!" - 5 out of 5 star rating.

An amazing Expanded Universe (EU) Star Wars book that really lifts off the New Jedi Order (NJO) book series as a ".5" book. The first time I read NJO ~2 years ago, I totally missed this one and did not even know it existed and I seriously really missed out!

First off, if you are a Boba Fett fan, you'll love this. This is loaded with Boba content, to include Slave 1 and tons of Mandalorian lore. This statement alone pulls me in!

More importantly though, this paves the way forward to just how absolutely horrific the Vong are. Nom Anor is such an awesome character as well! He is the perfect agent of chaos aka Vong, hidden in plain sight. The entire concept of Vong invasion, conversion, the 'coral', their bio vs tech religious fanaticism, and more is all unveiled here.

Then to top everything off, the entire relationship between the Vong and Mandalorians here, where both sides are playing each other... yeah, this is 100% a 5 out of 5 book. Despite its short page count, this just hits so hard and kicks-off this very long book series and is absolutely a must read for NJO pursuers.

Do not skip this just because it is a ".5"!

[Billy Fuss · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating: 4 - Great Star Wars Legacy books
I read The New Jedi Order pretty much all at the same time in one run years ago. So I'm going to give all the books the same rating and review until I reread them. From what I remember of this series the main star wars cast stepped back and the next generation came forward. To me this is what I thought the newest series of movies were trying to accomplish, but just didn't try? If you read this you'll actually see a lot of ideas from these old star wars series stolen and regurgitated. Did you like Kylo Ren? Then you'll probably love one of the characters in this book. When I saw The Force Awakens I was very pleased because I thought we were seeing Jacen Solo. The later movies showed me I was wrong, but reminded me of why I loved these books. Overall I would strongly recommend this series to any star wars fan and would still recommend them to general space opera fans as well.

[Ernest Solar · Rating 5 out of 5]

What can I say, the story is about Boba Fett and the Mandalorians, how can it not be a great story? Traviss always does a wonderful job with any Star Wars story that she writes. It’s clear that she respects the Star Wars universe and the mythology of the tale. Therefore, a great author paired with one of the greatest characters ever developed, an easy win. Plus, (as if it can’t get any better) the story is set at the beginning of the Yuuzhan Vong war and there are ties to Jango Fett, it only keeps getting better and better. Honestly, it’s a great story, engaging, and a joy to see the universe through Boba Fett’s eyes.

[Darryl Dobbs · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've enjoyed Traviss' work before (frankly, I wish the Republic Commando novels didn't have to end unfinished). And this novella was similarly well written. However, it was rushed. The story was compacted and broken - which I'm sure is by design but it didn't do the plot justice. I am also unhappy with the loner Boba Fett suddenly leading a small army. Not his style, or at least not the style I'd like him to have.
If this is a pre-cursor to the New Jedi Order storyline, then I'm glad to have read it.

[Joseph · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty cool and probably a nice fill in between Prime Vector and Onslaught. One thing that might be misleading is Boba Fett is in the book, but maybe not the main character. It is another Mando guy, which is a little disappointing because everyone knows Boba Fett is the best character in the SW universe. So I wish it was more on him, but still a good solid mini book. Maybe he and other Mando's will be in the other books. I am not sure.

[Hazel · Rating 3 out of 5]

A story shows the perspective of nom anor, and a small group of mandalorians toward the beginning of the war with the yuzzan vong. Though being titled as a boba fett book, we don't really see all that much of him, compared to some of the other mandalorians.

It was interesting seeing the different perspectives, but being short the book covers a broad swath and it's hard to get invested. Still a nice quick read.

[Meggie · Rating 3 out of 5]

For 2021, I decided to reread Del Rey’s first attempt at a multi-author book series in the Star Wars universe: The New Jedi Order, which was published between 1999 and 2003. This shakes out to 19 novels, three eBook novellas, five short stories, some comics, and a tangentially-related prequel era novel.

This week’s focus: an ebook novella by Karen Traviss, set before and after Vector Prime: Boba Fett: A Practical Man.

SOME HISTORY:

From 2004 to 2009, Karen Traviss wrote ten books within the Star Wars universe: three volumes of the Legacy of the Force series, as well as seven novels about the Clone Wars and clone troopers. Her work is super focused on Mandalorians and their culture, which ultimately led to her departure from Lucasfilm when the 3D animated Clone Wars show retconned all that. Boba Fett: A Practical Man focuses on what led Fett and the Mandalorians to fend off the Yuuzhan Vong invaders during the New Jedi Order series, and was published online as an eBook novella in August 2006.

MY RECOLLECTION OF THE STORY:

Apparently this novella was included in the paperback edition of Legacy of the Force: Sacrifice, but I never read it—perhaps not surprising, since I have not (yet) reread Sacrifice!

A BRIEF SUMMARY:

A mysterious client who hires them to trigger political upheaval seems like just another routine contract to Boba Fett and his Mandalorian commandos, but little do they know that they’ll soon be forced to choose sides in a galaxy-wide conflict…

TIMELINE DISCLAIMER:

Boba Fett: A Practical Man begins a few months before Vector Prime in 24 ABY, and runs through the first year of the Yuuzhan Vong invasion. We have references to things occurring “a week after the invasion of Helska,” and The Essential Reader's Companion seems to place the latter half of this novella all the way through to James Luceno’s Agents of Chaos duology. Unlike a lot of the short stories that cover one day or one event, this one covers a much longer span of time.

THE GOOD:

Back in the day, I didn’t like Karen Traviss’s Star Wars books because it bothered me how she hated the Jedi yet hyped up the superiority of the Mandalorians. I was a little worried going into Boba Fett: A Practical Man that it’d be Mandalorian overload, but I think it was a tiny bit more nuanced. It also helps that we have two differing Mandalorian point-of-views in Boba Fett and Goran Beviin: Goran is someone who’s been raised on Mandalore and entrenched in that culture, but Fett only seems to be Mandalorian when it benefits him. He’s risen to leadership of the Mandalorians, but he wasn't raised in that environment and doesn’t speak the language. He’s in charge because it’s profitable, but he’s not a nice person.

Of course, though, this wouldn't be a Karen Traviss story without more Mandalorian worldbuilding. There was a lot here, but it didn’t bother me as much as it did in her other novels (especially the Legacy of the Force series) because the story is about the Mandalorians. We get their reasoning behind everything they did during the Yuuzhan Vong invasion, but we also get their language and their customs. Since the story is about them, I was fine with all the cultural details. I think the issue I have with Traviss’s Mandalorian hyperfocus comes when it happens at the expense of the greater story; here, it mostly added to it.

THE MEH:

Mainly, Nom Anor. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ He didn’t sound right to me. Maybe that’s because I’m coming off the tail end of the NJO series, where we saw loads of development for Nom Anor, but he didn’t feel like a top-tier schemer here. He comes across more as a Yuuzhan Vong true believer, without any sense of Nom Anor as a truly selfish individual that only believes in himself. He could have been replaced by any generic Vong without any dings to the story.

MY VERDICT:

If you read James Luceno’s The Unifying Force and wondered what Boba Fett and his Mandalorians had been up to, then Boba Fett: A Practical Man is the story for you. Yes, there’s a lot of Mando worldbuilding, but it’s not overwhelming and adds to the story here. Nom Anor is weirdly weak and out of character, but I enjoyed getting to see what the Mandalorians had been doing for the past five years.


Next up: a comic series set during the first year of the Yuuzhan Vong war, Star Wars: Invasion by Tom Taylor and Colin Wilson.

My YouTube review: https://youtu.be/QOSCsYM97yY

[Alexis P · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novella is a very entertaining and insightful story about Boba Fett and his Mandalorians during The Yuuzhang Vong War.
Mandalore Boba Fett and his mercenaries are hired to do some killing, but they find more than they bargained for, and end up in an intergalactic conflict that can bring the end of the galaxy as they know it.
Short, but very good.
Recommended for fans of our beloved bounty hunter.

[Jordan Lahn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Boba Fett is clearly a bad ass, and years of being the best has put him in charge of the Mandalorian mercenaries, and with the Vong invasion beginning he has to do something he hasn't had to do before: think about what is best for other people. Great chance to get inside his head and understand what makes the best bounty hunter the best.

[Jordan Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who knew that Boba Fett had a hand in fighting against the Yuuzhan Vong?

Though short, A Practical Man is actually pretty good. Karen Traviss once again proves she’s easily the best at telling stories of the Mandalorians. The fact that they take on the Vong as double agents makes them even more badass.

[Clint Povich · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short story detailing some of the early interactions of the Yuuzhan Vong and the Galaxy, Far, Far Away with Boba Fett being the main character. Not a great enough story for a novel but pretty perfect for a short story. A lot of jumping around and not necessary for the greater Vong storyline but still a good read.

[Jaidynn Fohr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Karen Traviss is a master at writing war novels, and this novella will be a delight to fans of her Republic Commando books. It presents the fascinating intersection of Mando culture with the impersonal detachment of Boba Fett. I can't wait to read the New Jedi Order series next and see how this ties in!

[Arlene Kellas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wanted more. I wish I’d read this in timeline order, but didn’t realize it existed until I was at the end of Sacrifice. Makes sense looking back at all the info in Sacrifice, but I just feel that we could have a whole book on Boba the Mandalor.

Great way to see how Mandolorians entered into the Vong war and how these people that are honor bound turned to the New Republic.

[Jenny T. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another Star Wars short story...This one features Boba Fett as the head of the Mandalorians during the early days of the Vuuzhan Vong invasion of the galaxy. The plot shows that the Mandalorians, a warrior people, also have a human side with strong family ties.

[Shaun · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Boba Fett and Traviss' depiction of the Mandalorian people. A great novella. My first foray into the Yuuzhan Vong war and it does not disappoint. I love it that Fett plays both sides and actually cares about his people

[J · Rating 5 out of 5]

"You can run," he said, "But you'll only die tired."
-Boba Fett

This was a great view into the Mandalorian/Vong conflict and also spawned my most favourite quote of all time from Boba Fett.

66 pages of awesome.

[Christopher Lutz · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 What Boba Fett (who leads Mandalore in Legends continuity) was up to as the Vong invasion begins. Since I’m reading this in chronological order I’m excited to see how this might tie into later events in the NJO series.

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed and have always enjoyed Ms. Traviss' take on the Mandalorians. She paints a wonderful picture of apparent mercenaries, dong the most difficult thing, fighting for the wrong side to gain valuable intelligence all while no one can know the good that they are doing.

[Jaina Jacobs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved having Nom Anor & Boba Fett talk. Makes the last minute appearance in the main NJO series feel like a missed opportunity - I wish we'd gotten more stories set around the NJO to fill out some of the things the main series didn't focus on, like this short story.

[Alex Makoyan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this read as a Boba Fett and Mandalorian fan. Shame that it was rushed and Boba wasn't really what he was initially depicted as in the movies, but the action was to the point and made me want to read more, especially the New Jedi Order series.