The Mandalorian Armor
This book starts off in the aftermath of the demise of Jabba the Hut at the hands of Luke Skywalker and his friends. The bounty hunter, Dengar, locates the remains of what’s left of Boba Fett around the Dune Sea of Tatooine. Fett appears near dead with what looks to be half digested skin covered by the acids found from within the now dead Sarlaac. Dengar takes him to his cave where Fett receives medical aid from two droids and encounters a mysterious woman, Neelah, who was once a dancer in Jabba’s palace. Neelah may not be what she appears to be. The story also briefly visits the Kuat Drive Yards worksuit of Kuat of Kuat. This man apparently engineers various weaponry and devices for everyone, including the Empire, the Black Sun, and Jabba the Hut. Kuat of Kuat seems to be examining a “black box” of sorts, complete with holographic images from the palace and the sail barge of the late Jabba the Hut. Kuat of Kuat seems to be seeking confirmation regarding a number of things, including whether Bobat Fett truly met his demise in the belly of the Sarlaac as he had heard.
The books then goes back to a time during the events right after Star Wars: A New Hope. Boba Fett steals a bounty, a man named Nil Posondum, from two member of the Bounty Hunters Guild and delivers this bounty to a spider-like creature names, Kud’ar Mub’at. Before the delivery takes place, this Nil Posondum pleads for his life to no avail and eventually scratches some undecipherable message on the cage floor of his holding cell within Boba Fett’s ship, Slave I. The author leaves the reader guessing as to what this message might mean…Mub’at apparently acts as a go-between for transactions between he who places a bounty and the bounty hunter collecting payment on said bounty. However, upon delivery, Mub’at needs Fett to do another job and is willing to pay very well…he needs Fett to join the Bounty Hunter’s Guild. But, the mind behind this idea is none other than the leader of the Black Sun, as well as Emperor Palpatine’s loyal servant, Prince Xizor.
Switching again to the present, Boba Fett still lies unconscious in Dengar’s secret hideout on Tatooine. We learn more about why Dengar has taken it upon himself to try and save Boba Fett while also learning that even bounty hunters have a softer side. That softer side of Dengar being his urge to make enough money from bounty hunting to finally be able to retire with his wife-to-be, Manaroo. Dengar also makes a deal with Neelah, who still doesn’t know the connection between her and Boba Fett, but apparently there is one.
Again, the book goes back in time to the point where Boba Fett is able to trick the council of the Bounty Hunter’s Guild into allowing him to become a member. The one bounty hunter that is absolutely livid about this is none other than the Trandoshan, Bossk. The leader of the guild is Bossk’s father, Cradossk, which makes this all the more dramatic when Fett is allowed membership. Bossk and his guild partner, Zuckuss, have already had two previous encounters with Boba Fett earlier in the book that have set Bossk off to the point that he has all but vowed to kill his enemy.
Around the same time, a lengthy conversation between Emperor Palpatine, Lord Vader, and Prinec Xizor also reveals Xizor’s reasoning behind wanting Boba Fett to join the Bounty Hunter’s Guild. Xizor wants to destroy the guild from the inside our and the only way to accomplish such a thing is to place Boba on the inside. The logic here would be that more bounty hunters would be hungry for work and willing to do anything to get it. Xizor tries to convince the Emperor that these men aren’t compelled by fear as the soldiers of the Empire, but rather are compelled by greed. A bounty hunter can thrive in environments where an Imperial soldier could not. These facts can help the Empire and Palpatine overthrow the Rebellion that much quicker.
Dengar and Neelah are forced to go deeper into the caves of Tatooine when a squad of bombers raids the entire surface of the Dune Sea. The only conclusion Dengar can draw from this is that someone wants one of them dead or someone knows that Boba Fett may still be alive. That person, of course, is Kuat of Kuat, and at this point, it’s still unclear as to why he wants to make sure Bobat Fett is dead. The tunnels this motley group are forced to go down are apparently the same tunnels dug by the very Sarlaac that once tried to digest Fett. However, the reader soon discovered that said Sarlaac may not, in fact, be dead yet. While in an effort to escape the tunnel and the Sarlaac, Fett wakes for a long enough period of time to dish out more damage to said Sarlaac with Dengar’s blaster. Now planetside, this group is glad to have the two medical droids still on hand after nearly being squashed in the death rolls of the giant Sarlaac.
Back again in the past, Boba Fett finds that destroying the Bounty Hunter’s Guild will be much easier than he anticipated. Backstabbing and talks of hostile takeovers seems to run rampant throughout the halls of the guild. Ob Fortuna, a relative of Bib Fortuna, plays the role of majordomo for the guild leader, Cradossk. However, Ob Fortuna is playing Cradossk and his son, Bossk, against each other in an effort to turn the biggest profit. Behaviors like this and Bossk’s overwhelming desire to rule the guild plays right into Boba Fett’s plans. Boba Fett’s plans eventually lead guild members Zuckuss, IG-88, and Bossk along with his own hunting companion, D’harhan, on a mission to score a rather large bounty. This expedition leads them into the Shell Hutt’s part of space known as Circumtore in an effort to score a big bounty on a Lyunesi known as Oph Nar Dinnid. However, it appears a certain Shell Hutt names Gheeta may have other plans, most of which include revenge on Boba Fett for embarrassing him many years ago. Turns out that this Gheeta has already killed Oph Nar Dinnid and so Boba Fett kills Gheeta in turn and pretty much causes havoc for the rest of the Shell Hutts. Unfortunately, the interesting companion of Boba Fett names D’harhan dies as a result of all the chaos on Circumtore as well…Bossk kills his father, Cradossk, after arriving back at the guild headquarters and complete chaos reigns supreme as different factions begin splitting off from within the guild resulting in everything going according to plan for Boba Fett.
The author seems to be content in finishing his book off in the present tense…Boba Fett and Neelah wait in the desert of Tatooine for Bossk to return from Mos Eisley spaceport where Fett has sent him to run some errand. However, Dengar finds and atmospheric phase-change detonator left over from the attempted raid over the Dune Sea. Luckily for Dengar the bomb was a dud, but a dud with information. Dengar realized that this bomb came from the Kuat Drive Yards, which meant that Kuat of Kuat is the person who wants Boba Fett dead. Dengar decides to sell out Boba Fett by sending a message to Manaroo. The message is short…”Boba Fett is alive.” Above, the planet of Tatooine, Bossk sits in his ship, the Hound’s Tooth, and contemplates his present situation. The Bounty Hunter’s Guild is now more, having been torn asunder just as Boba Fett had planned, and Bossk sits atop his throne (by default) as the most deadly bounty hunter believing Boba Fett to be no more. However, Bossk has come to Tatooine seeking confirmation of that fact and instead finds Fett’s empty vessel, Slave I, adrift in the atmosphere above said planet. Overcome by his own curiosity, Bossk hires a master D/Crypt technician to disarm all the traps on Slave I so he can come aboard. Bossk finds an unusual droid after intercepting the message intended for Kuat of Kuat. The droid has video surveillance from the moisture farm where Luke Skywalker’s aunt and uncle were killed. Even more importantly, this mysterious droid has an olfactory sensor, which was used to detect any unusual organic anomalies that shouldn’t be on the scene of what’s being recorded (or spied upon). This readout from the droid detected the pheromones of a Falleen male, which lead Bossk and the reader to assume only one thing…Prince Xizor was on the scene when Luke Skywalker’s aunt and uncle were murdered.
The book’s final conclusion comes when Boba Fett is able to summon Slave I via remote to surface of the planet of Tatooine. This happens just in time as it seems that two unfortunate scum from Mos Eisley have followed Dengar back to Fett’s hideout hoping to score some big credits by taking Fett dead or alive. The author isn’t quite ready to reveal the connection between Neelah and Fett, but that just adds to the reader’s anticipation for the sequel. Fett and company escape Tatooine only to be blown to bits by some hidden explosives planted by Bossk in Slave I’s holding cages…The author leaves the hint of hope for the reader, as Bossk seems to even have his doubts that this was enough to the dangerous bounty hunter known as Boba Fett.
RATINGS
Storyline Importance: 9.0
I wouldn’t have said this score would be this high when I began reading this novel, but certain information regarding Prince Xizor, Darth Vader, and Luke Skywalker was hinted at the end of this book and I expect it to carry over into the rest of the series. Oh, and it’s Boba Fett!
Character Importance: 9.1
The reason I felt this deserved such a high score is because any information or background into the lives of bounty hunters, especially Boba Fett, is way too valuable to be taken for granted. I do wish we could’ve learned more about Boba’s companion, D’harhan, before he was killed.
Excitement Factor: 9.7
I really thought this was one of the best Star Wars novels I’ve had the opportunity to read. And for this author to pull off such an exciting storyline without the benefit of a single lightsaber is simply amazing. However, I must admit that it probably has something to do with the fact that Babt Fett is my favorite Star Wars character.
Favorite Quote:
Whatever minute subcutaneous organ produced fear sweat, it was missing in him (Boba Fett). Not because he had been born without it-no sentient creature was-but because he had forced it into nonexistence, excised it from his mind with the razor-sharp scalpel of his will.
Overall Score: 9.2
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