He will have a character pose a question to someone, then one or the other of them will go off on an internal monolgue (sometimes for two or more pages) before an answer occurs. What's worse than that is that he routinely does so in the middle of interminable dialogue exchanges that move the plot forward as slowly as a glacier. And have all sorts of passive internal monologues. One thing that the author does constantly is have his characters ruminate. Yet Jeter didn't invent many of them, he just gives them things to do. Yes, the characters are somewhat compelling. And while it did engross me and I did read it in less than 24 hours, it's not exactly an example of fine writing. This is the second book in the Star Wars "Bounty Hunter Wars" series. Book #2 however, is like a caught foul ball that leaves players in scoring position stranded on the inning’s 3rd out. While it’s predecessor was definitely flawed, it was a solid line-drive that would have at least put your attention on base. So what shit goes down – I was quite unable to care about what was going on.Īll in all, The Slave Ship is a disappointing strike-out. A modicum of character development would have helped tremendously but, it’s non-existent. Even though this character is of (ostensibly enough) utmost important to the book, he too suffers from a mystifyingly vague development that brings a whole new level of depth to the word: vague. The leader of KDY Kuat of Kuat finds himself embroiled in a highly convoluted and insanely confusing backstabbing attempt (first metaphorically then literally) that occurs near the crescendo of the book. Increasingly bored with this written mess, I wasn’t the least bit surprised when strike three put this story out of its misery. Instead of a linear delineation of causal relationships, we’re given thin servings of happenings and happenstance that don’t really move the full course of story, let alone provide a scintilla of cohesion to tie it all together. With the here and now neglected for about half the work, the backstory of Boba Fett’s short-lived partnership with Bossk stands uncomfortably alongside equally questionable plot development regarding the other green dude’s intrigues. Strike one has passed the plate, and strike two follows shortly thereafter. Toss in a piecemeal fabrication of thin chapters that (for the most part) merely bookend the tale, other than a smattering of action here and there – their story is functionally impotent. And this vagueness is only compounded by further action that does little more than move the plot a few milimeters at a time. Since the green suited fellow doesn’t bother to let his crew know where they’re going, neither do we. Sure enough, the titillating trio of Dengar, Neelah, and good ol’ Boba Fett continue on their quest to… who knows where. Featuring only the minorest of new characters it’s really more of the same. Muddled in it’s own inertia, the story barely moves forward as it attempts to explain its past. If The Mandalorian armor could be considered two steps forward, The Slave Ship is like tripping on one’s shoelaces and landing in a patch of quicksand.
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