K. W. Jeter on Boba Fett: Part 2

Darth Vader: I rule the Star Wars universe
through the Dark Side of the Force.
Kud'ar Mub'at: No, I rule the Star Wars universe
with my information and financial network.
Boba Fett: You're both wrong.
Bounty hunters rule the Star Wars universe
by taking criminals off the streets and spaceways.
We do the necessary jobs other so-called authorities
are unwilling, or uninterested in carrying out.

On work-for-hire projects for multimedia franchises, an author can usually use any of the existing characters from the TV shows or movies, or those invented by previous authors in any of the preceding books.  While that gave K. W. Jeter numerous characters to choose from, the one I found most interesting in his Boba Fett novels was new to me.  

Kud'ar Mub'at is an arachnoid Assembler who lives in a huge web constructed in space.  Assemblers cannot run all the activities that occur in their webs, or process the vast amounts of information that they utilize without help.  So they fashion nodes, subsidiary assemblers with less intelligence and awareness than themselves, and design them to carry out specific tasks. As nodes adapt to each new situation, they grow in sentience and power, until eventually they can challenge their master for command of the web.  So the webmaster must kill his nodes after awhile, or risk his own destruction.

In the novels, Kud'ar Mub'at seems heartless and cruel.  Remember, he usurped his former master.  Yet he grows in affection for Balancesheet, one of his nodes, and takes pride in its accomplishments.  He continually delays its destruction, because like a parent, he likes a being that he brought into life, one that shows so much potential.  That made Kud'ar Mub'at a sympathetic character for me, one I initially despised, but later came to worry about.  I think you'll also agree that he's a character vastly more complicated than anyone in the six Star Wars movies.*   

At this year's World Fantasy Convention in Brighton, when I told K. W. Jeter that I found the character of Kud'ar Mub'at fascinating, and he was one of the highlights of the trilogy, his eyes lit up like binary suns in a simultaneous supernova.  "Yes, that was my creation," he said.

Surprised that the Star Wars folks would allow him to create something of that scope--a being that collects and disseminates all kinds of information, and who serves as a clearing house for all kinds of payments, including those between the Empire and military contractors--I asked him if he had faced any difficulties passing any of his ideas by Lucasfilm.  "No," he said, and went on to describe how easy it had been to work with them.  Unlike other authors who have faced all kinds of difficulties in pressing their own ideas into an existing franchise, George Lucas and company eagerly embraced all of Jeter's suggested additions to the Star Wars universe.

As enjoyable as I found the Boba Fett novels, I'm well aware that an author doesn't get too attached to work-for-hire projects.  In his heart, his most fervent desire will always be to create his own universes, and populate them with characters completely of his own making.  So it is that I've picked up Infernal Devices, one of the Steampunk novels K. W. Jeter is best known for.  After all, his research for those books, and the joy that process brought him, were what intrigued me about him in the first place.  So I look forward to reading that book one of these days: not right away, but hopefully soon.

Hey, there's no rush, right?  It's not as if anyone's pressing a steam-powered gun against my forehead!

Dragon Dave

*Not that I'm knocking any of George Lucas' original characters.  At least, not when he's holding a blaster against my head.  The esteemed creator of Star Wars may have blown my mind in the past, but….

Related Internet Links
K. W. Jeter's Blog

K. W. Jeter on Boba Fett: Part 1

I first saw K. W. Jeter at the World Fantasy Convention held in San Diego back in 2011.  He participated in a panel discussion on Steampunk, and the way he enthused over what he learned while researching that type of novel made me want to read a story he had written.  Each time I perused the bookshops, and saw the Boba Fett novels he had written, I thought it would be interesting to read one.  Here was a character that had always intrigued me, written by a novelist whose attention to detail had impressed me.  Eventually, it began to seem as if George Lucas himself was holding a blaster against my forehead.  Well, that being the case, I no longer had a choice, did I?

Having read and enjoyed the entire trilogy, it was a pleasure to speak with K. W. Jeter at this year's World Fantasy Convention in Brighton.  I told him I really enjoyed his Boba Fett novels, and his eyes narrowed for a moment.  Then he smiled and nodded.  "Ah yes," he said.  I can understand those books not residing in the forefront of his memory. After all, they originally came out fifteen years ago, in 1998, which means he wrote them well before that. As work-for-hire projects, it's unlikely he would still be receiving royalties from them, if he ever did. Nor would he be dealing with subsidiary rights issues, or attempting to resell them to another publisher, as he doesn't own them.  Nevertheless, J. K. Jeter went on to say that he had gotten some positive feedback from other Star Wars fans, and that he had enjoyed writing them.

I wondered if he had found it difficult to get into Boba Fett's mind. Remember, this was before "Episode 2: Attack of the Clones" came out, and he hadn't seen Boba Fett as a boy yet.  All he had to go on with the character were those few scenes in "The Empire Strikes Back."  As the bounty hunter always wears a helmet, K. W. Jeter hadn't even seen the character's face.  Yet he built three entertaining novels around him, portraying him as a fearless and complicated character who lives by his unique moral code.  He makes Boba Fett into the ultimate Dejarik player, a man who could easily sit down at the holographic game table in the Millennium Falcon and beat the pants off R2-D2.  That is, assuming the droid wore pants.*

K. W. Jeter shook his head.  Just like Boba Fett, he responded, "No, no problem."

What can I say?  The author breathed life into a character about whom he knew nothing--a monumental task--and spun out three compelling tales about him.  But then, if asked a similar question, I imagine Boba Fett would likewise reply, "No, no problem."

For my money, that makes J. K. Jeter the perfect person to write about the galaxy's most effective bounty hunter.

Dragon Dave

*As R2-D2 occasionally serves drinks, shouldn't he wear a nice dark suit?  Or better yet, a tuxedo?  "Your drink, master Jabba," he might say, in his electronic language of squeaks and clicks. "Now, if you'll excuse me for a moment, I'll just toss a lightsaber to Master Luke, so he can take over your barge, and end Hutt rule of Tatooine."

Boba Fett & Enlightenment: Part 2

Bossk, Prince Xizor, a droid, and Boba Fett
in Slave Ship

K.W. Jeter splits the action between two different time periods in the Star Wars Boba Fett trilogy, and a large portion of book 2, Slave Ship, is related to us by Dengar, a bounty hunter who doesn't like his job, but has helped nurse Boba Fett back to health after his near-death in the Sarlacc Pit on Tatooine.  In return, Boba Fett agrees to partner with him for as long as Dengar desires.  Dengar hopes for one big score, so he can retire and marry the woman he loves.  But first he has to survive his alliance with the galaxy's most effective bounty hunter.  

There's a lot of action in Slave Ship.  Boba Fett joins forces with Bossk, the Trandoshan bounty hunter who despises him.  Together, they capture an imperial officer who stole secret plans from the Emperor, and battle a Hutt who wears such extensive armor that he resembles a submarine.  Unfortunately, the way Jeter structured the novel didn't work for me.  Despite all the action, the plot felt weighed down with dialogue, and the overall pace seemed too slow for a Star Wars novel.  This was a real shame, as Jeter constructs schemes within schemes, and imbues the underlying technology of his world with incredible detail.  

If I wish I had enjoyed Slave Ship more, the same cannot be said of the third book, Hard Merchandise.  The plot zooms along like the Millennium Falcon in hyperdrive, and the action comes thick and fast.  Jeter kept me turning pages all the way through, and every time I set down the book, I couldn't wait to pick it up again and resume the story.  Nor could Dengar keep up with Boba Fett.  After surviving one near-death experience after another, he realizes that Fett has no fear.  The man is a primal force that will stop at nothing to complete his tasks.  Kud'ar Mub'at, the arachnoid assembler who resides at the heart of events in the trilogy, receives his comeuppance.  And Bossk realizes something important and life-changing about himself.  While Jeter threw nonstop action and space battles my way, what I most enjoyed about book 3 was the character resolutions.  How he made me care about some truly despicable people, and how some of them, as a result of their interactions with Boba Fett, emerged with a better understanding of themselves.

A Deleted Scene from "Dalek Training"

Bug: Who's this Boba Fett, & why is Master reading about him?
Pocket: Never mind.  He's more than you can assimilate right now.
Denim: Sir, you could explain how Boba Fett serves as a mirror,
enlightening people about aspects of themselves
they might otherwise never perceive.
Pocket: Really?  You want to get into that kind of a discussion
with a Dalek cadet, during a rudimentary training mission? 

With his three books, K. W. Jeter introduced me to some colorful characters, and allowed me to accompany Boba Fett on adventures even more exciting than those I had imagined.  Yet, while entertaining me, his story also reminded me that, regardless of what I've done (or failed to do) in the past, that I can change.  That I can be more than who I am.  That perhaps, with renewed focus, I can become the person I wish to be.  

That's a great realization to take away from a trilogy of action/adventure novels.

Dragon Dave

Related Dragon Cache entries
Dalek Training

Boba Fett & Enlightenment: Part 1

In "The Empire Strikes Back," George Lucas introduced us to Boba Fett.  While many (including some of those who made the second Star Wars film) saw the bounty hunter as evil, he performed a useful and necessary job.  The smuggler Han Solo owed Jabba The Hutt a lot of money.  Han had defaulted on his loan, and even after Jabba granted him an extension, Han still didn't repay him.  So Jabba wrote up an arrest warrant.  Like U.S. Marshal Gerard in "The Fugitive," (a movie Harrison Ford would later star in, after bidding farewell to his character of Han Solo), it wasn't Boba Fett's job to weigh the pros and cons of the situation.  He wasn't a judge or jury.  He simply served as the arresting officer in a sector of the galaxy overlooked by the Empire, and hence run by the Hutts.

Oh, and he had really cool armor, with all kinds of interesting weapons. His striking appearance made me wonder what kind of adventures he might have had, aside from that in the movie.

Last year, in "Preparing For Santa's Arrival," I told you how much I enjoyed The Mandalorian Armor, the first novel in K. W. Jeter's Boba Fett trilogy.  Unlike his rivals, Boba Fett never captures his prey, and then tries to sell him to a higher bidder.  Neither will he ever free a captive if the person offers him more money than the bounty he contracted for.

While he has previously operated independently, a curious thing happens when he join the Bounty Hunters Guild.  Boba Fett becomes the fulcrum of all the discontent and envy between the group's members.  Because he's such a capable person, those who would overthrow the current leadership curry favor with him.  They propose alliances to him, each one suggesting that, after a coup, Fett can help him rule the guild.  Simply by being there, Boba Fett disrupts all the checks and balances that previously prevented the members from acting on their greed and hatred.  At the slightest suggestion of his potential support, each turns upon the other.  In the process, the bounty hunters end up destroying the guild that has helped them to survive.

It's an interesting reminder of how, when we look at others to complete us, we often overlook the glaring faults in our own character.  More on this thought--and the remaining books in the Boba Fett trilogy--tomorrow.

Dragon Dave

Related Dragon Cache entries
Preparing For Santa's Arrival

Preparing for Santa’s Arrival

For today’s post, I had planned to discuss “Adaptations,” by Connie Willis.  This short story, contained in her collection Miracle, seems rich in parallels for our lives.  In it, a divorced father has given up his accounting job to work in a book store.  His main point of contention with the books that fill the shelves is that there are so many versions, or adaptations, of A Christmas Carol, that no one bothers to read the original.  During the course of the story, while he’s trying to prepare for a visit from his daughter on Christmas Eve, his boss arranges an author book signing on that day.  Even with the help of a temporary employee, the cloaked, skeletal Spirit of Christmas Yet to Come, he tries to ignore the realization that he’ll have to work late that day, which will cut in on his time with his daughter. 

Unfortunately, I’m one of the great unwashed who’ve seen lots of adaptations, but have yet to read the Charles Dickens novella.  So while the story offered up a lot of great moments, I’ve won’t attempt to analyze it for you.  Besides, that would take a lot of thought right now, and I’m in the midst of preparing for Santa’s arrival.  So I’ll just add that if you’re interested in reading some stories that draw interesting parallels between Christmas movies, stories, and novels, I heartily recommend Willis’ volume to you.

Last night I also finished a book I’ve been reading for awhile, a Star Wars media tie-in novel called The Mandalorian Armor, by K. W. Jeter.  I’ve not read this author’s work before, but he is revered in Science Fiction and Fantasy circles for having coined the term Steampunk, and along with his friends Tim Powers and James P. Blaylock, wrote some of the first novels published in that literary subgenre.  He populates his narrative with some of the bounty hunters who first appeared in “The Empire Strikes Back.”  Although the central character is Boba Fett, equal page time is given to Bossk, a particularly ugly Trandoshan who, as an infant, devoured all his unhatched siblings.  I’ll agree that the latter assessment isn’t particularly fair, as like beauty, ugliness is a subjective judgment, and his feast in the cradle made his father proud.  I’m sure there are many female Trandoshans who view Bossk as quite a catch, but alas, I digress. 

While I had been looking forward to reading the novel, it took me a while to get into the story, as Jeter keeps moving between two timelines, one taking place after Boba Fett is consumed by the Sarlacc in "Return of the Jedi," and the other taking place sometime between "A New Hope" and "The Empire Strikes Back."   Instead of one cohesive, rollicking adventure, the novel consists of a number of smaller events and battles.  Nor did it help that all the characters are constantly plotting against each other.  While I failed to find any of the characters sympathetic, where Jeter really shines is in all the little touches he introduces, such as Kud’ar Mub’at, an arachnoid-like assembler who delegates most of his business functions to miniature versions of himself.  And then there’s the mimbrane organism that thrives on “acoustic” energy, which makes it perfect to function in lieu of a surveillance device.  He invests these little touches with a real flourish, and such inventiveness is a delight to read. 

Even if it wasn’t what I was expecting, Jeter had me turning the pages rapidly from midway on, and as he ended the first novel on a cliffhanger, he’s got me hungry to read the second installment in the trilogy, Slave Ship.  But later, Jeter, later.  First I’ve got books by Roger Zelazny and E. F. Benson to finish, and, as I said, I’m hard at work preparing for Santa’s arrival.  My wife and I have cleaned up the living room, and the tree and ornaments wait patiently in their separate boxes.  I may not string up any lights this year, but the presents are all wrapped, and once we’ve set up the tree, we’ll have somewhere to place them.  Then we can make up the bed in the guestroom, which at the moment is piled high with, you guessed it, all those presents. 

Don’t hurry on our account, Santa.  We’re looking forward to your arrival, but we’re not quite ready for you.  Soon, I hope, we will be.  I know that chocolate chip cookies are your favorite, but we’ve got some chocolate Rice Krispy squares made up, so I’m sure you’ll enjoy them just as much.  But alas, again, I digress.

Dragon Dave

Related Internet Links

Kud’ar Mub’at

Mimbrane Organism

The Mystery of the Mask

Sure, everyone likes the helmet.
But a musical Boba Fett, sporting his
giant orange tuning fork?
Somehow, that look never caught on.

Jeremy Bullock had been acting for twenty-five years when he was offered the part of Boba Fett in The Empire Strikes Back.  But Sci-Fi resonates with people more that other forms of entertainment.  His older son (who was eleven in 1981, when the interview for Starlog Magazine Issue 50 was written) might say, “I like that play you were in,” but both boys kept a photo of Boba Fett close to hand when his father toured the country in a production of Hamlet.

After the movie’s release, Jeremy Bulloch received masses of fan letters.  Young boys might write something like, “Gee, we like you, you’re awesome,” while girls and young women found him alluring.  One woman asked if the voice Lucasfilm used was his real voice.  (It wasn’t).  In her letter, she added, “Mind you, if it isn’t your voice, I won’t stop loving you.”  Some asked him what Boba Fett would do in the next movie, and if his character represented “the other hope” that Yoda had spoken of.

Up to this point, Bullock had appeared in two James Bond movies.  Of his role on The Spy Who Loved Me, he told the interviewer (with a smile): “They put these charges under me, and I get ripped apart after twenty minutes—the story of my life.”  He played more memorable roles in two Doctor Who stories.  After the Doctor and his companions escape the warriors from Richard the Lionheart’s court in “The Crusade,” the Tardis lands in “The Space Museum.”  Bulloch says of his role, “I was the leader of a race of children. We had this swept back hair, pointed ears and sort of funny eyebrows on top of our foreheads.”  (Obviously, he wasn't wowed by the Black & White show's special effects budget).  Later, he returned to the TV show (this time in color) to play Hal, an archer who helps the third Doctor defeat a Sontaran in “The Time Warrior.”  Despite acting in a popular Sci-Fi show, he didn't get much attention from those roles, as he never went on to play a continuing character, and the BBC rarely repeated Doctor Who stories.  (Nor did most viewers have the means to record a TV show in the 1960s and '70s).  So it wasn't until the 1980s, when he donned Boba Fett’s costume, that the fan letters overloaded his mailbox.  Viewers suddenly begged him for photographs, or old articles of clothing.  Or even just a snippet off one of his ties.

I once spoke with a plumber who claimed he could instantly assess anyone he met.  When he visited a customer, he said that he could accurately guess how much the person would be willing to pay for his services.  As it happened, I was speaking with him at a yard sale, and he offered me insights on a woman browsing the sale tables.  I don’t know if he was correct in his assertions about the woman, but at the time he was living rent-free in a condominium owned by his father.  So even if he was pulling my leg about his ability to read strangers, he obviously knew how to get around his dad.

Nevertheless, masks and costumes are powerful tools that we use in real life.  We may not wear an actual mask, but we adapt our facial expressions, dialogue, and clothing in relation to the people we are with.  We have learned what others expect from us, and we either act in accordance with their expectations, or in defiance of them.  Such masks shield the truth from others, and hence repress true growth, but we use them because life has taught us that they are necessary.  Like actors, we play the roles assigned to us, because others have stereotyped us based upon their expectations and desires, as well as our previous performances. 

Of course, it would be nice if we could interact with everyone without hiding behind a mask, or portraying the persona we’ve decided to show the world.  But that way lays danger, and unlike Boba Fett, most of us don’t carry blasters.

Dragon Dave

Related Dragon Cache entries

Richard the Lionheart in“The Crusade”

Related Internet Links

The Space Museum

The Time Warrior

Nineteen Days As Boba Fett

More than just a 19 day wonder.

In The Making of The Empire Strikes Back, J. W. Rinzler records that Robert Watts, who served as a production supervisor on Star Wars, returned to serve as associate producer on the sequel.  The production was hit by all manner of setbacks and delays, including a fire at Elstree Studios in England that delayed Stanley Kubrick from finishing The Shining.  Faced with unavailable Studio facilities, and with location-work in Finse hit by the worst weather in a century, director Irvin Kershner, and the entire production staff of Lucasfilm, found themselves struggling to make up for lost time from the first day of principle photography.

One of the ways Robert helped the production save time was by calling on his half brother, Jeremy Bulloch.  “There was talk of this new character—not a big character, but a new one,” Bulloch said.  He arrived at the studio, not knowing what to expect, and was fitted into a costume.  Then he was pushed onto the set, where George Lucas walked up and told him, “You look fantastic.”  After speaking with the helmet-wearing Bulloch for a few minutes, Lucas told him, “As far as I’m concerned, you’re fine.”

Who is this masked man?

Bulloch had started working as an actor at age ten.  By the time he strapped on Boba Fett’s armor he was thirty-five, and had appeared on the stage, on TV, and in a few movies.  After working for nineteen days for Lucasfilm, Bulloch hung up his helmet, returned home, and resumed the actor’s life, waiting for someone to call with another potential role.  As he had worn a mask, and played such a small part, he had no reason to believe anything more would ever come from his work on The Empire Strikes Back.

But the movie proved enormously successful, and the masked bounty hunter intrigued fans.  They wondered how Boba Fett had acquired his unique armor.  They yearned to see him at his best, using all the weapons and gadgets that he didn’t get to use in Empire.  They imagined all the battles and adventures he had participated in.  He was certainly a smart character, capable of making his own way through a dangerous universe.  After all, Han Solo may have outsmarted the entire Imperial fleet, but Boba Fett guessed at Han’s ruse, and tracked the Millennium Falcon all the way to Cloud City.  (Han Solo didn’t even notice he was being followed!)  And so Jeremy Bulloch was asked to don the mask and armor for the following film, The Return of the Jedi.

"Let's find out."

Even though his face was covered, and even if another actor voiced his lines, Boba Fett remains the most recognized character that Bulloch ever portrayed.  Over thirty years after he first strapped on his armor, Jeremy Bulloch travels the world, appearing at all manner of Star Wars and Science Fiction conventions.  His website sports photographs of all the places he has visited, from his home country of England, to America and Canada, and other European countries such as Switzerland.  In return, he’s given back to fandom, even going so far as joining the 501^st Legion, a network of fans that don Star Wars costumes to benefit charities. 

Jeremy Bulloch’s example reminds me that even your efforts go unrecognzied ninety-nine times out of a hundred, there’s still that one time you can make a real impact on others’ lives.  But of course, you won't know which one is the important one.  You have to do all one hundred, never knowing which of them will prove most important to others.  Life may never reward you with riches or fame.  But who knows all that you may accomplish, if you work hard, and do so with the intention of benefitting others?

Dragon Dave

Related Internet Links

Jeremy Bulloch’s website