Customer Reviews

Slave Ship (Star Wars: The Bounty Hunter Wars, Book 2)

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(17)
2 star:		(21)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

This book continues the {mis}adventures started in Book 1 of the Bounty Hunter Wars Trilogy, The Mandalorian Armor with varying success. Neelah is still on her quest to piece together her past, Fett and Bossk are still up to same old, same old, Xizor and Mub'at are still plotting, and on it goes. This book also follows the same storylines - one right after A New Hope and one during Return of the Jedi - started in the first one.

First off I'd like to recommend not reading this book immediately after finishing Mandalorian Armor. I tried to do that twice, and was utterly unable to get into it. The author assumes the reader hasn't read the first book, and thus does too much recapping of previous events. Jeter is almost Lumley-esque in this regard. An author should assume that when a reader starts the second book in a trilogy that the reader is intelligent enough to have read the first one.

The most annoying thing about this book is what made the first book so difficult - many of the familiar characters and very misrepresented. Dengar is and emotional, cowardly idiot-wimp, Fett is very talkative, prone to giving `idiot-sheet' speeches, Vader doesn't have enough control over his emotions, etc... However, there is some very good character development in the new characters, which is overshadowed by their mere boringness.

Whereas the assembler Kud'ar Mub'at was interesting in the first book and Kuat unutterably boring, in this book their roles have changed. The arachnoid in this book is predictable, and boring, while Kuat has many interesting thoughts and foresights. Too many in fact. This is another problem with the book. It is hard to read conversations when there are two pages of though between each line of spoken dialogue, for some reason it just doesn't flow that way.

The author also makes the mistake of assuming the readers are inept. He has to have the characters spell out every vestige of every plan, and the dialogue often is overlong and rather speechy. The writer's writing style itself is quite basic, but he covers that up with a lot of adjectives and big thesaurus words. Another filler that he uses is that he repeats physical descriptions and names over and over again, as if afraid that the reader will forget basic stuff from paragraph to paragraph.

Despite all its flaws, however, this is still a pretty good and interesting tale, raising a lot of interesting points, questions and views, while answering other which were opened in the first book. This should be read by fairly serious Star Wars fans, but it's not `necessary' reading.

The premise of the book is a lot more exciting than the execution -- in fact, when you find yourself using the words "quiet" and "contemplative" about a book that's supposed to deal with the adventures of a bunch of top-notch bounty-hunters, you know that the author has failed at some level....

Instead of being quick-moving and evoking a sense of danger and action, "Slave Ship" is a series of dense, repetitive internal monologues on the part of the characters, mostly carried out while they're sitting motionless.

For example, an entire chapter is used up by Boba Fett punching in one set of coordinates and telling Dengar that he isn't going to tell the other bounty hunter where they're going. Three pages of dense, monolithic paragraphs are expended in a bounty hunter asking the "arachnoid assembler" character -- "is this area really airtight?" and the assembler answering "yes." Literally, 3 pages are taken up with this one question and answer, because of the narrative following the assembler thinking 20 times over what a clown the bounty hunter is, in great detail.

There are the seeds of a story in here, and the book is all right to read when you've got a spare moment to fill, but don't expect anything fast-paced .... the characters drone on for pages about the exact same idea, thinking about the same thing in 40 different ways, and the author seems to think it necessary to use 3 different sentences to describe the sound of Dengar's boots as he climbs down one short ladder after talking to Boba Fett. And on and on and on ....

In this second of the Bounty Hunter Wars trilogy, Jeter continues the two time periods, of just after ANH, and during ROTJ. Starting in ROTJ, we find Boba Fett, Neelah and Dengar taking over Bossk's ship the Hound's Tooth, tricking Bossk that a bomb was onboard to get him to jettison in an escape pod and take over. Boba does not want the galaxy to know he is alive, so he ditches Slave I. Neelah is still looking for her true identity, while trying to extract infor from both Dengar and Boba. So, Boba Fett sets in a course to another sector of the galaxy, with no clue on where he's taking us.

Besides this, not too much happens in this time frame, except for the plot around Kuat of Kuat and thechallenge by the other bloodlines on the planet to take over his operations. Somehow we find out he planted Falleen pheremomes on Tatooine to make it look like Xizor had Luke's uncle and aunt killed.

Most of the action takes place in the setting just after ANH. Bossk and Boba Fett team up to capture this renegade stormtrooper, not knowing thatPrince Xizor has set a trap for Fett, with help from Palpatine and Kud'ar Mub'at, the spider like alien.

Pretty good action. You can definitely see that everyone involved in this novel is looking out for number one. We get a lot of dialogue from Boba Fett in this one, which is contrary to what most think his character to be, a bounty hunter of few words.

Jeter at times loves to talk, repeating things about certain characters several times during a chapter; like we would forget or something. This tended to string to the book out longer than it should have. At other times, Jeter's writing was great, especially his use of adjectives to describe a planet that Boba Fett and Bossk meet on, where centipede like creatures live, with one wrapping itself around Bossk's ankle.

Overall, this was a fair to good SW book. Looking forward to the finale, Hard Merchandise.

Slave Ship by K. W. Jeter is the second book of a trilogy about the Bounty Hunter Wars, i.e., a three-part series about the indestructibility of Boba Fett. As I explained in my review of The Mandalorian Armor, I have no problem reading stories about Fett. He is a memorable character and has a cool ship. That is normally reason enough to read a Star wars tale. However, the problems in the first book still exist in this one. Mr. Jeter apparently feels that we cannot distinguish who the different characters are, so he continuously strings together descriptions in front of their names so we won't get confused, e.g., the arachnoid assembler Kud'ar Mub'at. After fifty descriptions of this nature, you pretty well get the idea that Kud'ar Mub'at is in fact an arachnoid assembler. Mr. Jeter also has amazing insight into the thought processes of the characters, even with Boba Fett. In the films and in previous stories the esteemed bounty hunter hardly talks at all. In this trilogy, not only does Fett explain what he is doing but we are also privy to his thought processes as well as to everybody else's. The entire trilogy needs more action and less delving into the characters' thought processes.

As far as plot is concerned, here it is in rough form. The Bounty Hunter's Guild has been split into two factions that do not get along. An enormous bounty has been posted on a renegade Imperial stormtrooper, and everybody goes after it. Boba Fett has switched to Bossk's ship in an effort to substantiate the rumors of his death. Prince Xizor is still involved with his Machiavellian schemes, and he has another interminable conversation with Emperor Palpatine and Lord Vader. Dengar and Neelah remain a part of the story, and subterfuge is everywhere. Things are rarely what they seem to be.

On to book 3 and the end of this trilogy.

The saga of The Bounty Hunter Wars continues in K.W Jeter's Slave Ship, the second book in the trilogy. It is very much like the first volume, The Mandalorian Armor, in that the story is split between the Episode IV and Episode VI timeframes, the characters talk in very lengthy monologues, and the descriptions tend to be repeated ad infinitum.

The storyline proceeds with Boba Fett rebuilding himself and his schemes as the Rebels mass for a final attack on the Death Star II at Endor. Simultaneously, we read flashbacks continuing the older story of the Bounty Hunter Wars and how Fett was able to destroy the old Bounty Hunter's Guild. Xizor's schemes to eventually take on Darth Vader and the Emperor are central to the plotline, and we spend more time with Kuat of Kuat, although his agenda and importance remain unclear.

The most entertaining segment of Slave Ship is set in the Episode IV timeframe and depicts Boba Fett teaming up with Bossk to capture the rogue stormtrooper Voss'on't (Jeter really has a thing for apostrophes!). The Emperor has offered an obscenely large bounty for Voss'on't, and even though he smells a rat, Fett still wants the cash. Like the Shell Hutts flashback tale in the first book, this flashback to an old bounty hunt provides the best action of a very talky novel.

One problem that comes to light as I proceed through this trilogy is the essential deification of Boba Fett and corresponding dumbing-down of all his peers. Bossk is always trying to get the best of his archrival Fett, but no matter how hard he tries, he can't stay ahead of Fett's complete perfection in all things bounty-hunting. Dengar is a bumbling idiot who doesn't seem to be able to handle anything well, IG-88 is powerful but easily tricked, and Zuckuss seems like a naive kid playing at war. If Fett was really so all-powerful, how does a blind man with a stick manage to take him out in Return of the Jedi? Granted, random things can happen even to the best, but it doesn't even seem to bother Fett that a nearly BLIND Han Solo could defeat him with no problem. Fett's a cool-looking character and a fun one to collect, but the EU goes overboard in making him something Lucas did not seem to have in mind.

Overall, Slave Ship is very much like the first book, and I continue to have the feeling this trilogy should have been condensed into one book.

This is a prime example of the worst that can happen to a prefectly good sci-fi series.

The action takes place during Episode VI (Return of the Jedi) but includes plenty of flashbacks to right after Episode IV (A New Hope).

To be fair to K.W. Jeter, it's not like he has a completely free hand to do what he would with these characters - there's an existing Star Wars timeline to deal with. However, that is not the entire problem with this book. It is repetitive and tedious - the audiobook presentation only enhances the repetitive nature of the text. I must have heard the phrases "Kuat of Kuat" and "Kuat Driveyards" a hundred times in a 10 minute period. Pronouns, anyone?

This book also hold the record for most uses of the word "murderous". "Murderous rage". "Murderous glare". "Murderous intent". I actually considered keeping a tally.

The book was well-read by veteran actor and reader Anthony Heald. He did a very good job with all of the voices, including using many different accents and speech patterns. I like Heald's work so I was glad to see him get the opportunity to read this book because a paying gig is a paying gig, but I also felt bad that he actually had to read this book out loud.

As in other Star Wars audiobooks there is a liberal sprinkling of the original Episode IV soundtrack and it incorporates original Star Wars special effects. However, from time to time the music drowned out the reader's voice and some of the special effects were irritatingly repetitive (spaceship background noise, etc.)

This review is for the Audio Casette. The events in this book is supposed to take place in year 4 ANH on the timeline. Xizor is in this book and Xizor dies during year 3 so one could say this book takes place somewhere between NH and right up to his death just before the events in Shadows of the Empire and ROTJ. Having said that, the book starts by telling us how Boba Fett survives the Sarlacc. Huh? You put this trilogy on the time line where you want.

Of all the books and comics about the bounty hunters, this one is clearly the best, and most informative. It looks like a lot of people liked this book less than I did by all the 1 star reviews and lack of 5 star reviews. I may have liked the story, in fact the entire trilogy because I have yet to read the books, only listened to the audio. I drive a lot and also listen while exercising. The audio is very abridged because about 1,100 pages are condensed into 7.5 hours of very enjoyable listening. Plus, check out the performance from the reader Anthony Heald, he is awesome. The point that my review doesn't mean the others were wrong if they thought the story was slow and boring. Bantam cut a lot of stuff out for the audio, and sometimes that is a good thing. I do wish that they offered unabridged, but they seldom do.

Characters? They are all here plus some interesting new characters. In the audio version one is really drawn to the Dengar character and Neelah. Made me buy a couple 4 inch action figures after the first time I listened to this trilogy. I have gone through it at least twice so far.

The title is misnomer and selected for marketing reasons only. Even the trilogy title, Bounty Hunter Wars is a misnomer. A more accurate title would BH Treachery. Want to know more about the Mandalorian's and their armor, check out the Dark Horse comics, Amazon.com has most of the old ones available in new and used.

The reviews for the second book in the trilogy are even more scathing. Book 3 delivered for most. I liked all three. Some of the redundancy that was book 2 wasn't apparent in the audio version. So I recommend going on a road trip of at least 7.5 hours, pop in the cassette and enjoy this trilogy

This is part of the Boba Fett series. It is interesting but readers should not expect the main characters from the movies (Luke, etc) to be a big part of this story.

This book surely has alot of great info. that I didnt even know. I could barely put this book down. But, some points of the title were a bit sluggish, due to the on-going battle scenes when they didnt even exist. I would rate this book below:

Quality-4 Layout-3+ Idea of the story:4

This book was better than the first, however it's still boring! Characters are written badly, and there's way too much time spent inside their heads. It's like the author doesn't trust readers to pick up on things for themselves, so everything is spelled out. The flow, if you could call it that, is interrupted by wordy descriptions, most of which contain large and unnecessary words. What is meant to be exciting plot twists are boring and confusing. I think if a different author had taken this project on it could have become quite wonderful, but the style of Jeter is terrible. It's hard to get into and hard to understand. There's way to many character views to keep track of, not to mention the jumping from 'Now' to 'Then'.

Even a serious Star Wars fan, such as myself, can find little enjoyment in this Trilogy. Unless you are a HUGE fan of Boba Fett, I'd reccommend skipping this book, or borrowing it from your library or a friend. It's definately not worth spending your money on.