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kb_208's review against another edition
3.0
This is a back and forth story about boba Fett's survival of the Sarlacc pit and his dealings after "A New Hope" with the bounty hunter's guild and his job of breaking it up as per instructions from Prince Xizor. Like some of the other reviewers, I would agree that this book has some extended dialogue scenes that seem longer than really needed. It's not bad dialogue, just lengthy. The book does end with events that make me very interested in starting the next one right away. Overall it's a good read and something different than the main characters of the Star Wars Universe.
jaredkwheeler's review against another edition
3.0
Star Wars Legends Project #296
Background: The Mandalorian Armor was written by [a:K. W. Jeter|21994774|K. W. Jeter|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] and published in June of 1998. This is the first of the Bounty Hunter Wars trilogy, all written by Jeter, who is a well-known science-fiction author in his own right.
The Mandalorian Armor is set during the events of Return of the Jedi, 4 years after the battle of Yavin, but includes extensive flashbacks to events transpiring in the months after the Battle of Yavin. The main characters are Boba Fett, Dengar, Neelah, Bossk, and Zuckuss, with major appearances by Prince Xizor, Kuat of Kuat, and the spidery assembler Kud'ar Mub'at. The story takes place in many locations, but some of the biggest events are on Tatooine, Kuat, and Circumtore.
Summary: Searching the wreckage surrounding Jabba the Hutt's spectacular end, Dengar stumbles across the last thing he expected . . . the dying Boba Fett, who has managed to blow his way out of the Sarlacc's gut. As he nurses the feared bounty hunter back to health in hopes of a profitable partnership, Dengar is joined by Neelah, a dancing girl from Jabba's palace who has lost all memory of her life before except for one image: The famed T-visored helmet worn by the galaxy's most notorious bounty hunter. She knows he holds the key to recovering her identity, but first they'll need to survive a string of enemies from Fett's past, whose hatred dates back to a time when he sparked an all-out war among his fellow bounty hunters.
Review: This was the very first Star Wars book I ever read. A friend and fellow Star Wars fan encouraged me to buy it so we could both read it when I stumbled across it in a mall bookstore, several months after I'd seen the films in theaters for the first time. I went on to read many, many more Star Wars books, most of them better than this one, but I enjoyed revisiting it more than I expected I would. It requires a certain amount of EU knowledge going in to fully appreciate everything that's happening in this novel.
Not that it isn't without many, significant flaws. The biggest problems go right to the heart of the entire premise: First, there isn't really a sympathetic character to hang your hat on. Everyone is totally out for themselves, ready to scheme, conspire, and backstab anyone and everyone to get what they want. That could be a refreshing break from the norm of Star Wars novels, and I'm sure it was envisioned that way, but if characters aren't likable they at least have to be interesting, and that element is also almost entirely lacking. You'll quickly lose count of the number of times Boba Fett is described as saying something "with no emotion." He's as one-dimensional and enigmatic in this novel that is ostensibly all about him as he is on-screen. And he's surrounded by a whole legion of antagonists and secondary antagonists who seem to spend most of their time in sequestered evil lairs, cackling and rubbing their hands together and thinking about how skilled they are at being the smartest plotters in the galaxy. There's little or no attention paid here to the principle of "show, don't tell."
The second major problem is that the flashback/flash-forward element of the narrative is just plain clunky. It manages to break up what little momentum the novel can get going here and there without any evident purpose. I get that this is the first novel of a trilogy, so there's a lot of groundwork being laid here, but it's really really not evident where all of this is going or what these two wildly divergent narratives have to do with each other. A lot of readers will likely not be intrigued enough to bother picking up the next volume.
Still, the book isn't entirely without its small pleasures. There are some good action sequences, and a few of the mysteries have the potential (largely unrealized at this point) to be intriguing. It drags a bit in spots, but it's still a relatively fast read, easy to skim. I don't have a lot of clear memories about where the rest of this story goes, but I'm hoping that, armed now with a lot more knowledge of the lore, I'll have some appreciation of whatever comes next.
C
Background: The Mandalorian Armor was written by [a:K. W. Jeter|21994774|K. W. Jeter|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] and published in June of 1998. This is the first of the Bounty Hunter Wars trilogy, all written by Jeter, who is a well-known science-fiction author in his own right.
The Mandalorian Armor is set during the events of Return of the Jedi, 4 years after the battle of Yavin, but includes extensive flashbacks to events transpiring in the months after the Battle of Yavin. The main characters are Boba Fett, Dengar, Neelah, Bossk, and Zuckuss, with major appearances by Prince Xizor, Kuat of Kuat, and the spidery assembler Kud'ar Mub'at. The story takes place in many locations, but some of the biggest events are on Tatooine, Kuat, and Circumtore.
Summary: Searching the wreckage surrounding Jabba the Hutt's spectacular end, Dengar stumbles across the last thing he expected . . . the dying Boba Fett, who has managed to blow his way out of the Sarlacc's gut. As he nurses the feared bounty hunter back to health in hopes of a profitable partnership, Dengar is joined by Neelah, a dancing girl from Jabba's palace who has lost all memory of her life before except for one image: The famed T-visored helmet worn by the galaxy's most notorious bounty hunter. She knows he holds the key to recovering her identity, but first they'll need to survive a string of enemies from Fett's past, whose hatred dates back to a time when he sparked an all-out war among his fellow bounty hunters.
Review: This was the very first Star Wars book I ever read. A friend and fellow Star Wars fan encouraged me to buy it so we could both read it when I stumbled across it in a mall bookstore, several months after I'd seen the films in theaters for the first time. I went on to read many, many more Star Wars books, most of them better than this one, but I enjoyed revisiting it more than I expected I would. It requires a certain amount of EU knowledge going in to fully appreciate everything that's happening in this novel.
Not that it isn't without many, significant flaws. The biggest problems go right to the heart of the entire premise: First, there isn't really a sympathetic character to hang your hat on. Everyone is totally out for themselves, ready to scheme, conspire, and backstab anyone and everyone to get what they want. That could be a refreshing break from the norm of Star Wars novels, and I'm sure it was envisioned that way, but if characters aren't likable they at least have to be interesting, and that element is also almost entirely lacking. You'll quickly lose count of the number of times Boba Fett is described as saying something "with no emotion." He's as one-dimensional and enigmatic in this novel that is ostensibly all about him as he is on-screen. And he's surrounded by a whole legion of antagonists and secondary antagonists who seem to spend most of their time in sequestered evil lairs, cackling and rubbing their hands together and thinking about how skilled they are at being the smartest plotters in the galaxy. There's little or no attention paid here to the principle of "show, don't tell."
The second major problem is that the flashback/flash-forward element of the narrative is just plain clunky. It manages to break up what little momentum the novel can get going here and there without any evident purpose. I get that this is the first novel of a trilogy, so there's a lot of groundwork being laid here, but it's really really not evident where all of this is going or what these two wildly divergent narratives have to do with each other. A lot of readers will likely not be intrigued enough to bother picking up the next volume.
Still, the book isn't entirely without its small pleasures. There are some good action sequences, and a few of the mysteries have the potential (largely unrealized at this point) to be intriguing. It drags a bit in spots, but it's still a relatively fast read, easy to skim. I don't have a lot of clear memories about where the rest of this story goes, but I'm hoping that, armed now with a lot more knowledge of the lore, I'll have some appreciation of whatever comes next.
C
jecamp86's review against another edition
4.5
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.
jarichan's review against another edition
3.0
Ein sehr gut gemachtes Hörbuch, das ich nur schon aufgrund des Einsatzes verschiedenster Musikstücke und unterstützender Klänge empfehle.
Die eigentliche Handlung ist sehr kurz und deshalb geht vieles Schlag auf Schlag. Aber das passt zur Geschichte, zur Figur und zum gesamten Star Wars-Universum. Vor allem jetzt, da der neue Disney-Streaming-Dienst mit dem Mandalorianer für Furore sorgt, eine passende Kurzlektüre.
Die eigentliche Handlung ist sehr kurz und deshalb geht vieles Schlag auf Schlag. Aber das passt zur Geschichte, zur Figur und zum gesamten Star Wars-Universum. Vor allem jetzt, da der neue Disney-Streaming-Dienst mit dem Mandalorianer für Furore sorgt, eine passende Kurzlektüre.
altlovesbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
"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.
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)
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.
kellylynnthomas's review against another edition
1.0
I don't often say this about Star Wars novels, because I am most definitely a biased reader when it comes to SW, but this trilogy just plain sucks. The writing is bad, and the plot is RIDICULOUS. Read the summaries on Wookieepedia, don't bother with the books.
lazyowl's review against another edition
2.0
Very dry and far too much info dumping. I also feel like the story wasn't really going anywhere till the very end and by that stage I just didn't care.