Title: The Phantom Menace
Author: Terry Brooks
Pages: 330
Type: Adventure
Time: 32 BBY

Novel quality
Considering that the storyline of this novel is more or less the same as that of the movie, it's save to assume that all of you already know the story. That's why I will focus on the differences between the two. What this novel does really well is paint a picture of Anakin. It does so a lot better than the movie and it makes the story a lot stronger. We see Anakin race the podrace in which he smashes up Watto's pod, we see him care for other beings more and we get a lot better view of his psyche. It's really interesting to read about his fear of losing his mother and others he cares about. It's obvious that this is already a big problem for him and it gives some credit to the Jedi Council's skepticism about training him. Everything in the movie makes a lot more sense after reading this book. We also get to see a lot more about Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan. This novel in combination with Cloak of Deception gives Qui Gon's character the attention it deserves and it makes his choices a lot more interesting. His actions here are very important for the rest of the saga, making Qui-Gon a very important character. Obi Wan is really established as the headstrong and somewhat cocky character he was supposed to be according to his own remarks in ESB. His relationship with Qui-Gon experiences some trouble during the book, but it is also very clear that many of Obi-Wan's insights he displays later on in the saga flow from his training with Qui-Gon. Last one of the main characters is Queen Amidala, her character doesn't get that much attention and what we get to know of her is just the way other people look at her. It would have been nice if we saw more of her thoughts and feelings first hand considering her roll in things in the years to come. The bad guys in this story remain relatively "flat". We don't get to see a lot about their thoughts and motivations. This is a shame, but it doesn't really take much away from the movie. What this novel does is create a better and deeper version of the movie it is based on. We see a lot more character development and this helps the story a great deal. Other good things are that the podrace is not half as prominent in the novel as it was in the movie and Jar Jar has a bit more character, making him a bit more "real". It all just feels more "mature" and complete. Too bad the story itself feels a bit like a set up to other stories than a complete story on its own, but that is often the case in "first" chapters. Overall Mr. Brooks has done a very good job writing this novel. It's never easy to write someone else's story, but he has done so very well. He added new depth to it and made the characters more lovable. This book is very recommendable if you want to add some depth to your experience of the Star Wars saga and in particular TPM.
Rating: 82/100

Personal tilt
Even with the added depth that Mr. Brooks has created, the story still feels a bit weak to me. Jar Jar feels totally out of place in the story and really doesn't add anything. His character is clearly put in the story to appeal to kids. Why is he appointed general? Why does he have to destroy a lot of droids in such a clumsy way? It isn't necessarily a bad thing to use a character such as this, but it could have been used a lot better. It would have also been nice if Anakin knew a bit more about what he was doing when he blew up the Control ship. The explanation that he was guided by the Force is good, but why not make him realize it? Make him a bit more "powerful" already; it would have made the story more enjoyable. There are several small things like this that annoy me about the story. What I do like is the way Qui-Gon presses for the training of Anakin and the way he decides for himself that Anakin is indeed the Chosen one. I also like the way the Jedi are portrayed and their obvious arrogance. The wheels that Darth Sidious set into motion in Cloak of Deception is starting to make a bigger one move as well and Darth Maul is a pretty cool and skilled character. The overall storyline is not very strong, but if you consider that it is more or less an introduction to the Star Wars saga it's not too bad. Overall this novel is quite enjoyable and it's not very hard to forgive it it's shortcomings since it is the first part of a greater whole.
Rating: 70/100


Overall rating: 77.2/100

- - - -

For an overview of all reviews and a ranking see my Book review summary