THE STORY:
Boba Fett has become Jabba the Hutt's favourite bounty hunter. However, his skills are tested to the limit when Jabba sends him to Xagobah, a planet where the Republic and the Separatists are fiercely fighting in the third year of the Clone Wars.WHAT'S GOOD:
Rather than being a naieve blundering child, the Boba in this little book is clearly developing into the man who will gain the favour of Darth Vader. He is now a killer, has donned Jango Fett's armour and is tougher by far than his competition. I liked the fact that he's now finally caught up in the Clone Wars. They war featured a little in the second book of the series, but now Boba marches headlong into the middle of the Battle of Xagobah. As ever, cameos are good in Star Wars books and we get a few choice ones here; there's Jabba and Bib Fortuna, Jedi Master Glynn-Beti and her Padawan (from the earlier books in the series) return, the Separatist leader Wat Tambor (he's in Episode II) features and there is a classic moment in which Boba cheers on a squadron of Jedi starfighters commanded by none other than Anakin Skywalker. Finally, there is this book's one greatest selling point: we get to meet, for the first time, the double-hard General Grievous who is set to be a major baddie in the upcoming Episode III.
WHAT'S BAD:
I didn't really like the concept of Xagobah and some of the ideas for the Separatist fortress seemed to be stolen from Yuuzhan Vong ideas from the New Jedi Order series. The only other real problem I had with the book was it's cliff-hanger ending; now I have to wait until the next book comes out!
Buy and read this even if you don't bother with the other books in the Boba Fett series.
