Star Wars, Episode 1: The Phantom Menace - Based On the Story and Screen Play By George Jucas`

Brooks. Terry ; Lucas, George

ISBN 10: 0345427653 / ISBN 13: 9780345427656

Published by The Ballantine Publishing Group - A Del Rey Book, New York, 1999

About this Item

324 Pages. Black boards with black cloth quarter-spine. Book and dust jacket are as new gift quality. A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, an evil legacy long believed dead is stirring. Even the jedi are caught by surprise, their attentions focused on the political unrest between the Trade federation and the Republic. Now the dark side of the force threatens to overwhelm the light, and only an ancient jedi prophecy stands between hope and doom for the entire galaxy. On the desert world of Tatooine, far from the concerns of the Republic, a slave boy works by day and dreams by night-of being a jedi Knight and one day traveling the stars to worlds he's only heard of in stories . of finding a way to win freedom from enslavement for himself and his beloved mother. His only hope lies in his extraordinary instincts and his strange gift for understanding the "rightness" of things, talents that allow him to be one of the best Pod racers on the planet. In another part of the galaxy, the Jedi Knight Qui Gon Jinn and his apprentice, young Obi-Wan Kenobi, are charge with the protection of Amidala, the young Queen of Naboo as she seeks to end the siege of her planet by Trade Federation warships. It is this quest that brings Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, and the Queens' s beautiful young handmaiden to the sand-swept streets of Tatooine and the shop where the slave boy Anakin Skywalker toils and dreams. And it this unexpected meeting that marks the beginning of the drama that become legend. Seller Inventory # 19574

Bibliographic Details

Title: Star Wars, Episode 1: The Phantom Menace - ...

Publisher: The Ballantine Publishing Group - A Del Rey Book, New York

Publication Date: 1999

Binding: Hard Back

Condition: Fine

Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good

Edition: First Edition First Printing Stated

About this title

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.

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