AS everyone is rewatching the movies leading up to Episode 7, I took a co-worker's advice and decided to read the novelizations instead. While Brooks is hampered by Lucas's horrible dialogue, the work Brooks puts into the descriptions and internal thoughts makes the book much more successful than the movie. ( )

The novelization of The Phantom Menace, the first in the Star Wars prequel trilogy, was written based off the script of film by famed fantasy author Terry Brooks.

Brooks generally follows the script of the film, but importantly adds several scenes that help give background to several key characters. The chief beneficiary of the added scenes was Anakin Skywalker, who unknowingly has been using the Force his entire life to do amazing things as a 9-year-old especially as a podracer. Unlike the film where the identity of Darth Sidious is quickly known, Brooks effectively hides Padme Amidala’s dual identity through there clues are subtle enough for someone who has never watched the film. Though Jar Jar Binks can get on the reader’s nerves, Brooks is able to write him to be not so annoying as in the film and seeing things from his perspective is interesting. While Brooks can’t completely change the dialogue from the screenplay, he’s able to make it more palatable.

The Phantom Menace is a novelization that improves upon the film in various ways, which says something about the film itself and the quality of writing by Terry Brooks. ( )

I have always loved the Star Wars universe especially the novels that were written about it. While Timothy Zahn definitely writes my favorite books I do quite enjoy the other books as well and this one is no exception. These are books I have read multiple times over the years and still thoroughly enjoy. ( )

My daughter is really getting into Star Wars now, and I told her we should read some of the books together. She decided she wants to read the novelizations of the films in episode order. I remember liking the novelizations when I was a kid too. Back in 1999, after being disappointed by the movie, a friend recommended this book to me because it was written by a well-regarded fantasy writer, Terry Brooks.

Then, as now, I enjoy the novel more than the movie. Maybe it's because it has time for scenes that provide greater depth to the characters and their relationships than seen on screen. Maybe because Brooks does a good job of providing the thoughts and points of views of several characters. Maybe it's because Jar Jar is so much less annoying in print. At any rate, reading a Star Wars book is fun. ( )

Ah! Den går in på djupet på ett sätt som filmen inte gör vilket är trevligt. ( )