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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Tales From Jabba's Palace, June 9, 2005
This review is from: Tales from Jabba's Palace (Star Wars) (Book 2) (Mass Market Paperback)
I've read this book a few times now. It is essentially a collection of stories coming from the various residents of Jabba's palace. I would not recommend this to everyone, but instead those of you who want to explore every detail, in which case you are probably a big fan (such as myself) and don't want to miss out on anything.
Stories come from Oola the Dancer, Gartogg the Gamorrean Guard, Bib Fortuna, Salacious Crumb, Mara Jade and Boba Fett amongst many others (19 in total). It may be surprising to some that there is no tale from Jabba himself.
A lot of the stories detail many of the same events, such as Oola being fed to the rancor and Jabba being strangled by Princess Leia. A murder mystery (which Gartogg sets out to solve) also surfaces in a few tales. While it is interesting to see these events from other characters' point of views, it does make the book repetitive at times, as you feel like you're reading the same events happen all over again. This, for me, is about the only flaw with this book (and it probably is to be expected given that this is an anthology of tales from characters who were at the same place at the same time).
Other than that, there is some really good stuff here. The tale of Malakili the rancor keeper is one of the highlights. You also learn of how Boba Fett escapes the Sarlacc and, less importantly in the grand scheme of things, how the B'omarr monks overtake Jabba's palace (well it did belong to them originally). A few stories end with someone's brain being put into a jar...
If you're interested in learning more about the residents of Jabba's palace then I'd definitely recommend this. Even if you're not all that keen, you'll probably still find enjoyment in this. Learning about Boba Fett's escape may be worth the price tag alone for some people.
Hope you find this useful ... 4/5
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
More scum, more villains, more stories....., February 20, 2004
This review is from: Tales from Jabba's Palace (Star Wars) (Book 2) (Mass Market Paperback)
Tales From Jabba's Palace is one of several anthologies of short stories set in George Lucas' "galaxy far, far away" that delve into the cast of supporting characters that were seen in specific scenes of Classic Trilogy Episodes IV, V, and VI. Edited by prolific Star Wars author Kevin J. Anderson (Darksaber, The Jedi Academy Trilogy, and various Dark Horse comic book series), this volume contains 19 entertaining stories set within the walled palace of Tatooine crime boss Jabba the Hutt. Although (curiously) none of the stories are about Jabba the Hutt per se, the slug-like gangster's presence is evident in most of the tales. Almost all the members of Jabba's court -- majordomo Bib Fortuna, Oola (the ill-fated dancing girl fed to the rancor), Salacious Crumb (Jabba's annoying pet monkey-lizard), and Boba Fett, the galaxy's most infamous bounty hunter -- are described vividly not only by such noted Star Wars writers as Dave Wolverton, Timothy Zahn, Kathy Tyers, and editor Anderson (who contributed "A Boy and His Monster: The Rancor Keeper's Tale"), but also by prominent Star Trek authors A. C. Crispin and Judith and Garfield Reeves Stevens. The overall tone of this anthology can be best described as a combination of Rashomon and The Godfather set in the Star Wars galaxy. Although a few of the characters are innocent victims of Jabba's huge appetite for wealth and shady deals (see Kathy Tyers' "A Time to Mourn, A Time to Dance: Oola's Tale") or antiheroes such as Mara Jade ("Sleight of Hand: The Tale of Mara Jade" by Timothy Zahn), most are underhanded and venal mob underlings whose desire to topple Jabba from his throne is matched only by their fear of the ruthless Hutt crime lord. And while the rescue of Han Solo by Luke Skywalker and his friends is dealt with as well, the focus isn't on the heroes for a change; after all, we saw what they did in Return of the Jedi. No, the fun here is in discovering the untold stories from behind the fortress-like walls of Jabba's Palace, and believe me, this anthology is well-written and enjoyable for both the die-hard and casual Star Wars fan alike.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Jabba and his band of merry sentients, July 18, 2007
This review is from: Tales from Jabba's Palace (Star Wars) (Book 2) (Mass Market Paperback)
One of the most memorable scenes from the first Star Wars film is inarguably the Mos Eisley Cantina. It features a vast array of strange alien creatures and several key character moments, including the introduction of Han Solo and Chewbacca. The Empire Strikes Back stayed away from alien background characters as eye-candy, instead keeping a tight focus on our main heroes and villains. For Return of the Jedi, George Lucas introduced a locale absolutely dripping with fascinatingly bizarre critters and new species. This was Jabba's Palace, a dank and dangerous place indeed. Of course, the most memorable character introduced here (besides the RANCOR!!!) was Jabba the Hutt himself, but many of his unsavory crew of toadies, supplicants, and bodyguards left a sufficient visual impact to make fans thirsty for more information.
The format of this novel is quite similar to Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina in that all the stories contained within revolve around the events we are familiar with from the film. In this case, everything from C-3PO and R2-D2 arriving at Jabba's Palace to the fight at the Sarlacc pit is used as source material to build upon for tales for many of Jabba's goons. The stories range from the darkly serious to the excessively comical, and I found the tone of the book to vary a bit much to make for a consistent read. In terms of story, Kevin J. Anderson does a good job of editing the disparate threads in the many stories into a fairly coherent whole.
One of the standout stories of this collection is Anderson's "A Boy and His Monster: The Rancor Keeper's Tale." This story is a good kickoff and certainly manages to make the rancor's keeper, Malakili (the bane of my childhood toy box), a more interesting figure. From there we are presented with eighteen more tales, plus an epilogue that does some wrap-up on various loose ends left throughout the stories.
A few of the best stories in the collection are Timothy Zahn's "Sleight of Hand: The Tale of Mara Jade," "Old Friends: Ephant Mon's Tale" by Kenneth C. Flint, and A. C. Crispin's "Skin Deep: The Fat Dancer's Tale." Zahn uses his short story to add to the mythology of Mara Jade, telling us of her first attempt to assassinate Luke Skywalker. Flint's first-person story of Ephant Mon, Jabba's only true friend, is a nice change of pace from the parade of tales dealing with courtiers seeking to double-cross Jabba. Crispin's story of Yarna d'al' Gargan concludes the book and manages to wring some real emotion out of a character who gets about three seconds of screentime in Return of the Jedi. Like Ephant Mon's story, it's good to have a few characters who are not shallowly and stereotypically evil living in Jabba's Palace.
The majority of the other tales are entertaining and decently well-written, but there are a few that did nothing for me: "That's Entertainment: The Tale of Salacious Crumb" by Esther M. Friesner, George Alec Effinger's "The Great God Quay: The Tale of Barada and the Weequays," and "Out of the Closet: The Assassin's Tale" by Jennifer Roberson. The Salacious Crumb story is written in a lightly farcical manner and features a foolhardy academic who dreams of interviewing Jabba the Hutt. This one stretches my credulity too far, even in a novel populated by elements such as mechanical spiders controlled by monks' brains in jars, a Gamorrean guard becoming best friends with two corpses, and the "frog-dog" on the stairs to the throne room being part of an assassination plot. My concern with Effinger's story about the Weequay guards also centers around its almost goofy tone. The Great God Quay is literally a magic eight-ball which answers supplicants' questions with silliness such as "Very doubtful" and "Concentrate and ask again." Roberson's story is a continuation of the annoying Anzati Dannik Jerriko from Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina; like its predecessor, the goal here seems to be able to use the word "soup" as many times as humanly possible.
Overall, this collection is more of a mixed bag than the Mos Eisley book, but still well worth a read for anyone looking for a break from the main film characters or anyone who would like more background information on the wild menagerie of characters that lurk in Jabba's Palace.
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