"Star Wars Episode One": The Phantom Menace (Star Wars) (Hardcover)

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

Book Jacket
In barren desert lands and seedy spaceports ... in vast underwater cities and in the blackest depths of space ... unfolds a tale of good and evil, of myth and magic, of innocence and power. At last, the saga that captured the imagination of millions turns back in time to reveal its cloaked origins, the start of a legend, the story of STAR WARS. Based on the screenplay by George Lucas, this novel by master storyteller Terry Brooks probes the depths of one of the greatest tales of our time, providing rich detail and insight into the minds and motives of the characters, and shedding bold new light on George Lucas's brilliant creation.

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 focussed 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 travelling the stars to worlds he's only heard of in stories ... 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 charged 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 Queen'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 is this unexpected meeting that marks the beginning of the drama that will become legend...

About the Author
A writer since high school, Terry Brooks published his first novel The Sword of Shannara in 1977. It was a New York Times bestseller for more than five months. He has published 14 consecutive bestselling novels since. The author was a practising attorney for rmany years, but now writes full-time. He lives with his wife, Judine, in Washington State and Hawaii.

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