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The Mandalorian Armor (Star Wars: The Bounty Hunter Wars, Book 1) | 
 enlarge | Author: K.w. Jeter
Publisher: Spectra
Category: Book
List Price: $6.99
Buy Used: $0.01
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Avg. Customer Rating:  169 reviews
Sales Rank: 279763
Media: Mass Market Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 416
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 6.7 x 4.2 x 1.2
ISBN: 0553578855
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780553578850
ASIN: 0553578855
Publication Date: June 1, 1998
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Amazon.com Review
This story, book 1 of the Bounty Hunter Wars trilogy, intercuts between the time just after Star Wars and events that take place during Return of the Jedi. It's an intricate tapestry of deceit and backstabbing villainy among those scum of the galaxy, the bounty hunters. Principal scum include: Prince Xizor, a Darth Vader wannabe and leader of the ultrasecret crime syndicate Black Sun; reptilian Cradossk, leader of the Bounty Hunters Guild; his son, Bossk, who makes Oedipus look like an underachiever; and finally Boba Fett--faceless, ruthless, and impossible to kill. Thought the Sarlacc consumed him in Return of the Jedi? Guess again. This first novel only kicks off the trilogy's story, so while there is some action, there's also much talking and scheming, and the overall plot is only beginning to become clear by the book's end. Curiously, since everyone is so wretchedly evil, there's really no hero to root for--a marked contrast to the usually quite romantic Star Wars tales. This explains, perhaps, why K.W. Jeter was chosen to author the trilogy. Jeter, once Philip K. Dick's protege, tends to avoid anything upbeat or uplifting. Tony Award nominee Anthony Heald doesn't just read the book, he performs it, using countless different voices. He's backed up by music and sound effects that make The Mandalorian Armor into a full-fledged audio drama. Fans of Star Wars fiction and Boba Fett in particular will be pleased with this further exploration of Lucas's rich universe. Newcomers, though, might want to start with something more traditional. --Brooks Peck
Product Description
He's the most feared and successful bounty hunter in the galaxy. He is Boba Fett, and even the most hardened criminals tremble at his name. Now he faces the deadliest challenge of his infamous career--an all-out war against his most dangerous enemies.As the Rebellion gathers force, Prince Xizor proposes a cunning plan to the Emperor and Darth Vader: smash the power of the Bounty Hunters Guild by turning its members against each other. Only the strongest and most ruthless will survive, and they can be used against the Rebellion. It's a job for the fiercely independent Boba Fett, who jumps at the chance to destroy his rivals. But Fett soon realizes the game is rigged, as he finds himself the target of murderous factions, criminal conspiracies, and the evil at the Empire's dark heart. Boba Fett has always finished first. And in this game, anything less is death.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 164 more reviews...
 In the vein of... November 24, 2008
Italo Calvino...
Have you ever read, "If on a Winter's Night a Traveler"?
It's a very complex read.
This book very much reminds me of it. I love the way that the characters are built and the building of the present by presenting facts we "missed" in the original Star Wars trilogy. Boba Fett has always been my fav character so maybe I'm a little biased.
However, I've read this book through more times than I can count and I always find something new. I don't think the writing is poor at all. It is well structured - I think it's one hundred times better than Shadows of the Empire...
It is a deep dive, from three different points of view within one book, into the mind and mental capacity of Boba Fett.
Great read.
 Part of the worst 3 book series in the Star Wars Saga May 30, 2008
I encountered this book and the two that follow it while embarking on a mission to read all the currently published Star Wars books from the beginning in chronological order. This is the first book of a 3 book series. The story might have been good if it had been condensed into a single book. Unfortunately, you have to wade through endless pages of meaningless dialog between meaningless characters. The way the story is told is also very annoying. You are constantly bounced back and forth between events that took place years in the past and the present. This technique manages to further confuse a very confusing story. Of the 20-30 Star Wars books that I have read up to this point, these 3 were by far the worst. You can skip them and miss nothing.
 Worthwhile, but drawn out April 26, 2008
This book isn't very well written. Extended examinations of characters' state of mind take place very often, even mid-conversation and mid-sentence. There's a noticeable amount of repetition as well. This book has a way of droning on for paragraphs and pages about stuff that is interesting enough as a topic, but unnecessary to explain at such length. I usually only break my reading at chapter marks, but there were at least two instances in this book where I had to stop reading mid-chapter because a particular scene was going on too long for me to even make it to the end.
The strength of this book is that it is actually an interesting story. There are enough interesting characters, and each one is well developed. The theme of scheming is prevalent and intriguing. Almost everyone in the book has some self-interested scheme, and thinks they're smarter than everyone else. Witnessing Boba Fett, and seeing first hand how he's simply in a completely different league than everyone else on the field, is a real pleasure of this book. If you're a big Fett Fan, though, it might be a double edged sword, as this book has him as talkative, open, and cooperative as you'll ever see him. His willingness to work with others and give them information is just barely within acceptable range for his character.
Overall, this book is a worthwhile read if you're at all into bounty hunters, but I wouldn't recommend it on its merits as a novel.
 The Invincible Boba Fett December 29, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The Manadalorian Armor by K. W. Jeter is the first book of a trilogy about the Bounty Hunter Wars, i.e., a three-part series about the indestructibility of Boba Fett. Now, I have no problem reading stories about Fett. He is a wonderful character, wears great armor, has the appropriate weapon to suit any occasion, and has Slave I - one of my favorite ships in the entire Star Wars saga. He apparently can get out of any kind of difficulty, and he has the best reflexes of any non-Jedi we know about (except possibly for Han Solo). Having said all of that, I still have difficulty understanding how Boba ever managed to fall into the Great Pit of Carkoon. However, he does manage to escape the clutches of the Sarlacc and is then rescued in the beginning of this book by fellow bounty hunter Dengar and Neelah, one of Jabba's dancing girls. From that point in the book the story ranges back and forth between Now and Then with Now being at the time of Return of the Jedi and Then being just after A New Hope.
The Now sections of the book are fairly straightforward with events taking place on Tatooine as Boba gets out of the pit, regains his strength with the help of two very opinionated medical droids, and fights his way off the planet only to run into the Trandoshan bounty hunter Bosck who is cruising around looking for revenge. The Then sections of the book are not straightforward, and one can only hope that things will become clearer as we move through the next two books. The action here involves an extremely convoluted plot set up by Prince Xizor with the blessing of Emperor Palpatine despite the misgivings of Darth Vader. Boba Fett accepts a job from the assembler Kud'ar Mub'at that requires that he join the Bounty Hunters Guild. From that point on, events are fairly chaotic.
Mr. Jeter tries too hard to write something other than just a pure action story about bounty hunters. Too much time is spent trying to explain the thought processes for many of the characters. I found that I lost interest. One particular scene with Xizor, Vader, and Palpatine just talking is interminable as it goes on for page after page with nothing really happening. I kept waiting for him to get on with the story. He does introduce some interesting new characters such as the Shell Hutts who are encased in cylindrical armor and float around on repulsorlifts. Imagine Jabba the Hutt floating around in a giant can that can be closed up in the event of an emergency. We also have D'harhan, a huge bounty hunter with an immense cannon that is basically a part of his body. His weapon is always handy. Then we have Kud'ar Mub'at - oops, sorry. I mean the assembler Kud'ar Mub'at. Mr. Jeter seems to think that we have to be told that Mub'at is the assembler any time he appears in the book. Mub'at is an arachnid that has spun an immense web in space and can keep track of events all over the galaxy.
Maybe the next two books will be better, but I am not really very optimistic.
Slow start to the trilogy November 1, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
K.W. Jeter's The Mandalorian Armor kicks off The Bounty Hunter Wars, a trilogy set during the events of Return of the Jedi. However, in an unusual tactic for a Star Wars EU novel, the chapters are split between present tense events and prolonged flashbacks set immediately after A New Hope. Jeter does not rely heavily on the main film characters to spin his tale: Vader and the Emperor show up, and Boba Fett and his five bounty hunter compatriots from the Executor scene in Empire are main characters, but otherwise he stays away from the tried-and-true set of heroes and villains. Prince Xizor of Shadows of the Empire fame is important to the story line, a coldly powerful industrialist named Kuat of Kuat appears regularly, and a new character named Neelah, an escapee from Jabba's palace, rounds out the main cast.
In the Expanded Universe, Boba Fett survives immersion in the Sarlacc and in fact has a great many more years of adventures. We get an extensive look at the process by which he was healed of his grievous injuries with the assistance of Dengar, Neelah, and two drolly amusing medical droids. Soon enough, Fett is back on his feet and ready for action. Jeter's version of Fett is an incredibly talky character: rather than issuing a few terse statements and swinging into action, Fett tends to speak in long monologues, explaining many things at great length.
This brings us to a real issue throughout the book. Not just Fett, but all the characters tend to speak with the exact same tone and every single one is ready to break out into a long monologue at any given moment. These bounty hunters could capture their quarry by boring them into surrender! There is a phenomenal amount of time spent with the characters detailing their every thought and move aloud. Actual action sequences are few and far between. Now, I'm all for getting into character motivations, but so many of these conversations simply recap things we've already read. Additionally, Jeter tends to continually restate things we already know in his descriptions. For instance, every time we meet the arachnoid assembler Kud'ar Mub'at, we are reminded that he is an assembler, that he has the characteristics of a spider, and that his full name is Kud'ar Mub'at.
Speaking of assemblers, the race is a neat concept. The arachnoid assembler Kud'ar Mub'at has spun a living web in space essentially consisting of extruded sub-assemblies from himself and rounded out with his collection of objects such as spacecraft. Jeter does a good job in introducing an intriguing new alien race with Kud'ar Mub'at, something that's not always easy in the crowded Star Wars universe.
There's a prolonged flashback sequence involving a bounty hunt on the Shell Hutts' world of Circumtore. Fett once crossed one of the Hutts named Gheeta, and Gheeta is enthusiastic for revenge, to put it mildly. Kudos to Jeter for putting a unique spin on a common Star Wars race: these Hutts wear armor suits and float around thanks to powerful repulsorlifts. We also meet D'harhan, essentially a bounty hunter with a gigantic cannon for a head. In general, imagining new concepts is a strength of Jeter's, helping to counterbalance the talkiness and repetitiveness of the novel.
I suspect that this trilogy should have been condensed into one book, something I will confirm as I read the other two. There's too much time spent in lengthy conversations and repeating descriptions, too little spent advancing the story.
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