40+ years after the then-mysterious bounty hunter character made his big-screen debut, there’s no denying that Boba Fett is having a moment. After popping up as a recurring character in season 2 of The Mandalorian (evidently having survived his encounter with the Sarlacc monster in the current Star Wars canon much like he did in the original Expanded Universe), next week the armored antihero is getting his own live-action Disney+ spinoff called The Book of Boba Fett.
And speaking of books of Boba Fett, this week DK released the new tongue-in-cheek novelty self-help book Star Wars: Be More Boba Fett as a well-timed tie-in to the current craze surrounding the iconic helmeted hunter.
Be More Boba Fett follows in the footsteps of five other books in DK’s Star Wars: Be More… series (drawing advice from the fictional lives of characters like Darth Vader, Yoda, Lando Calrissian, and Princess Leia) by collecting quotes and still images from Star Wars movies and television series– both live-action and animated– and partnering them with surprisingly genuine life lessons. Considering the title character’s career choices in-universe, this particular volume focuses on the concept of becoming an independent contractor… no, seriously, this book about how to be more like Boba Fett is full of semi-serious advice on successfully acquiring and executing consistent freelance work, and a lot of it is startlingly applicable to real life.
As someone who has done a bit of freelance writing in my own career, I can only imagine that author Joseph Jay Franco (once an editor of The Science Fiction Book Club) was inspired by his own experience as a writer in putting this book together. And while Be More Boba Fett is obviously intended as something of a gag gift or stocking stuffer for casual Star Wars fans who are looking forward to tuning into the Disney+ series, I would actually recommend it as an even better present for someone entering into the world of running their own self-started business. But on the surface level, this is a quick, humorous look at how a simple man like Boba Fett makes his way in the galaxy. Examples are drawn from the original Star Wars trilogy, Episode II – Attack of the Clones, The Clone Wars, and The Mandalorian and divided into straightforward sections like “Find Your Path,” “Work for Hire,” and “Master Your Trade.” While I chuckled a few times going through this book, I was more taken aback by how sincere so much of the life and work advice is. For a $10 asking price, Star Wars: Be More Boba Fett will indeed make a fun novelty gift for Fett fans, but it also might help someone in your life get started on their own independent gig… maybe not as a bounty hunter, but in whatever field they may choose on their own.
Star Wars: Be More Boba Fett is available now wherever books are sold.