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A review by jaredkwheeler
Hard Merchandise by K.W. Jeter
2.0
Star Wars Legends Project #298
Background: Hard Merchandise 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 July of 1999. It is the third of the Bounty Hunter Wars trilogy, all written by Jeter.
Hard Merchandise set both during the events of Return of the Jedi (4 years after the battle of Yavin) and in the months after the Battle of Yavin, picks up both storylines from the conclusion of Slave Ship. The main characters are Boba Fett, Dengar, and Neelah, with major appearances by Bossk, Kuat of Kuat, Kud'ar Mub'at, and others. The story mostly takes place on and around Tatooine and Kuat, and at various locations in space.
Summary: Time is running out for Boba Fett, Dengar, and Neelah in their quest to recover long-buried secrets and use them to turn a profit, while still getting out alive. Plots set in motion over months and years are bearing fruit, and some very unintended consequences. As a galaxy-changing clash shapes up between the Empire and the Rebellion, a drama unfolds on a much smaller stage that could have far-reaching consequences for both.
Review: In case you're somehow reading this book without already knowing what "hard merchandise" refers to, do not worry. Jeter will be sure to tell you 30 or 40 times . . . basically anytime it comes up, he'll explain it. And, spoilers, it's how bounty hunters refer to a bounty in-transit after they've captured it. Though I question the usefulness of a phrase that everyone explains every time they use it. And speaking of repetition, if you took a shot every time Jeter describes Boba Fett as speaking "without emotion," you'd be passed out by the end of every chapter.
So yeah, the amazing trilogy of filler continues, and as it finally draws to a conclusion, I'm really starting to wonder if there was even enough story in all 3 books to fill an average novella. And what's wild is, the entire last 2 chapters are basically another round of exposition to basically summarize everything that happened for you. If you've gotten as far as book 3, I recommend that you skip to those last 2 chapters and give the rest of this a miss. Nothing important happens, and if you have any lingering questions you can clear them up there.
I guess I wouldn't even mind so much how thinly stretched all of this is if it weren't for the fact that what little story we DO get is convoluted beyond all sense and reason in order to disguise how lame and insignificant everything that happens is. I've read this before, but I couldn't remember what happened, and I speculated when discussing the last book that the flashback/flash-forward structure was a gimmick to disguise the thinness of the story. It's even worse than that, though . . . the structure is there to disguise the fact that there really isn't even an overarching narrative to the whole thing at all.
There are a lot of the same characters in the flashbacks as there are in the events of the novel's present, and this gives the illusion that the events of the two times are connected. They really aren't. None of the major resolution of this final book really has anything to do with the Bounty Hunter Wars of the trilogy title, or with much of anything else. Jeter couldn't even begin to pretend to deliver on any of the promises he's been making for the last 2 books, so he just blows a lot of things up really big and hopes no one will notice. Ultimately, not a single plotline or character choice makes any dang sense whatsoever, and this wasn't even 2 disconnected stories shoved together. It's just a bunch of stuff happening, and then years later, a bunch more stuff happens, the end. We don't even get any worthwhile insights into any of the familiar characters, Boba Fett least of all. I actually think I know less about Fett now than I did before reading this.
But it's really not worth the effort to go into any deeper than I have already here and in my previous two reviews. It was nice to have some closure on this trilogy, I guess, and I do really like the cover, although Palpatine is even less a presence in this than Darth Vader was in the first book. But seriously, don't read these books.
D+
Background: Hard Merchandise 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 July of 1999. It is the third of the Bounty Hunter Wars trilogy, all written by Jeter.
Hard Merchandise set both during the events of Return of the Jedi (4 years after the battle of Yavin) and in the months after the Battle of Yavin, picks up both storylines from the conclusion of Slave Ship. The main characters are Boba Fett, Dengar, and Neelah, with major appearances by Bossk, Kuat of Kuat, Kud'ar Mub'at, and others. The story mostly takes place on and around Tatooine and Kuat, and at various locations in space.
Summary: Time is running out for Boba Fett, Dengar, and Neelah in their quest to recover long-buried secrets and use them to turn a profit, while still getting out alive. Plots set in motion over months and years are bearing fruit, and some very unintended consequences. As a galaxy-changing clash shapes up between the Empire and the Rebellion, a drama unfolds on a much smaller stage that could have far-reaching consequences for both.
Review: In case you're somehow reading this book without already knowing what "hard merchandise" refers to, do not worry. Jeter will be sure to tell you 30 or 40 times . . . basically anytime it comes up, he'll explain it. And, spoilers, it's how bounty hunters refer to a bounty in-transit after they've captured it. Though I question the usefulness of a phrase that everyone explains every time they use it. And speaking of repetition, if you took a shot every time Jeter describes Boba Fett as speaking "without emotion," you'd be passed out by the end of every chapter.
So yeah, the amazing trilogy of filler continues, and as it finally draws to a conclusion, I'm really starting to wonder if there was even enough story in all 3 books to fill an average novella. And what's wild is, the entire last 2 chapters are basically another round of exposition to basically summarize everything that happened for you. If you've gotten as far as book 3, I recommend that you skip to those last 2 chapters and give the rest of this a miss. Nothing important happens, and if you have any lingering questions you can clear them up there.
I guess I wouldn't even mind so much how thinly stretched all of this is if it weren't for the fact that what little story we DO get is convoluted beyond all sense and reason in order to disguise how lame and insignificant everything that happens is. I've read this before, but I couldn't remember what happened, and I speculated when discussing the last book that the flashback/flash-forward structure was a gimmick to disguise the thinness of the story. It's even worse than that, though . . . the structure is there to disguise the fact that there really isn't even an overarching narrative to the whole thing at all.
There are a lot of the same characters in the flashbacks as there are in the events of the novel's present, and this gives the illusion that the events of the two times are connected. They really aren't. None of the major resolution of this final book really has anything to do with the Bounty Hunter Wars of the trilogy title, or with much of anything else. Jeter couldn't even begin to pretend to deliver on any of the promises he's been making for the last 2 books, so he just blows a lot of things up really big and hopes no one will notice. Ultimately, not a single plotline or character choice makes any dang sense whatsoever, and this wasn't even 2 disconnected stories shoved together. It's just a bunch of stuff happening, and then years later, a bunch more stuff happens, the end. We don't even get any worthwhile insights into any of the familiar characters, Boba Fett least of all. I actually think I know less about Fett now than I did before reading this.
But it's really not worth the effort to go into any deeper than I have already here and in my previous two reviews. It was nice to have some closure on this trilogy, I guess, and I do really like the cover, although Palpatine is even less a presence in this than Darth Vader was in the first book. But seriously, don't read these books.
D+