Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace - Hardcover

Brooks, Terry

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0345427653 ISBN 13: 9780345427656

Publisher: Lucasbooks, 1999

Synopsis

The best-selling author of The Sword of Shannara and its sequels presents the companion novel to the latest blockbuster Star Wars film, tracing the youth of Anakin Skywalker, who emerges later as Darth Vader. Movie tie-in. 725,000 first printing. $250,000 ad/promo.

About this title

Review:

When casting about for an author to novelise the script for The Phantom Menace--the first in a series of three prequels to the eternally popular Star Wars saga--it's no surprise that creator George Lucas chose Terry Brooks. After all, Brooks is a perennially bestselling epic fantasy author whose Sword of Shannara is a classic adventure story, not far removed from the swashbuckling exploits of our favourite Star Wars heroes.

Brooks handles the job of modern mythmaker well. He deftly juggles a hodgepodge of characters: a young stately queen (Amidala) and her handmaidens; a pair of Jedi knights (Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui Gon Jinn); a bumbling amphibious side-kick (Jar Jar Binks); two Sith Lords (Darths Maul and Sidious) who add more than enough menace to the mix; a couple of familiar robots (C-3P0 and R2-D2); a teeming host of Senators, Chancellors, diplomats, warrior droids, and spies, and one young slave boy who aspires to be a Jedi knight (Anakin Skywalker). With cinematic prose, Brooks brings to life a number of epic battles, skirmishes, and dog-fights in space--all the elements that we've come to expect from a rousing Star Wars instalment. The Phantom Menace doesn't stray far from those expectations: there is a clear division between the good guys and the bad; good things come in small (and surprising) packages; heroes lose battles only to emerge victorious on another day. But Phantom does illuminate in ways the other instalments didn't. For the first time, we get a glimpse at the whys and wherefores behind the curtain; at times it reads almost like a socio-political thriller as the emerging Federation shuffles for power with the waning democracy of the Republic. The Force is also further illuminated. Turns out it has something to do with "midi-chlorians"--microscopic life forms that live in the cells of all living things.

The Phantom Menace is a fun read, sure to satisfy Star Wars junkies young and old. And don't forget: turn your lightsaber off before you go into the swamp or you'll fry your energy pack. --Tod Nelson, Amazon.com

Review:

" Fans expecting a typical movie novelization--one that simply parrots the screenplay for Episode I--will be pleasantly surprised. Brooks, with Lucas' cooperation, has created something else altogether; a larger story that includes all of what you've seen onscreen, but also delves deeply into the history of the galaxy and the life and mind of Anakin Skywalker."
--The Star Wars Insider
" BREATHLESS . . . FILLED WITH ACTION FROM PAGE ONE."
--The New York Post

"Fans expecting a typical movie novelization--one that simply parrots the screenplay for Episode I--will be pleasantly surprised. Brooks, with Lucas' cooperation, has created something else altogether; a larger story that includes all of what you've seen onscreen, but also delves deeply into the history of the galaxy and the life and mind of Anakin Skywalker."
--The Star Wars Insider

"BREATHLESS . . . FILLED WITH ACTION FROM PAGE ONE."
--The New York Post

"Breathless . . . filled with action from page one."--"New York Post"

Breathless . . . filled with action from page one. "New York Post""

Breathless . . . filled with action from page one. New York Post

"

"Breathless . . . filled with action from page one."--New York Post

-Breathless . . . filled with action from page one.---New York Post

About this edition

• Publisher: Lucasbooks
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0345427653
• ISBN 13: 9780345427656
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 324