Rating: 
Summary: Excellent! Better than the movie!
Review: Both the movie and the book are great! I have to say that the book is 10 times better than the movie. Super super super!
Rating:
Summary: Lucas could not have written it better himself!
Review: Terry Brooks did a wonderful job in this worthy prequel to the greatest series of all time. From page one I ws hooked and could not put it down. I am a Star Wars fan but even if iwasn't I would still give it a four. If you have not read any of the Star Wars series then this is the book to start on.
Rating:
Summary: As Great As The Movie!!
Review: I saw the movie The Phantom Menace on the 16th at the Charity Premiere. It was just great! Then, I bought the book. At first, I didn't think it would be that good. After all, Terry Brooks IS a fantasy author. It turned out as good as the movie, descriptive and understandable. I suggest getting the book AFTER seeing the movie. Reading it just spoils the plot!
Rating:
Summary: In a word " Really neat-o"
Review: Terry Brooks' made a wise move when he teamed up with John Irving to write the Phantom Menace. The plot is as follows: Dennise D'Menace is killed by bears while vactioning in Maine. He returns as "The Phantom Menace" - a masked mexican "Rassler" and champion of the poor. The P.M. climbs up the wrestling ladder and soon finds himself employed as a door-stop. I liked this bok it were good.
Rating: 
Summary: Overrated
Review: This book was good, but had it been a "normal" star wars novel (not being a movie), then it wouldn't be as highly acclaimed. There was next to no background given about the characters. It's like there are a bunch of people (cool, though they may be) who you know nothing about getting dumped into a predicament. It will be much better on the big screen, where the special effects don't have to be read about. I will say that I could almost see Liam Neeson and Ewan McGregor while reading about some of the battle seens. It is nice to get to read about the Jedi in their heyday.
Rating:
Summary: Good companion to movie
Review: Well, I saw the movie first then decided to buy the book for more background material. It was pretty good, giving insight into the characters' motivations and feelings. A nice touch was adding scenes and lines that didn't end up in the movie...things that fleshed out the characters more. However, as most have stated, the characters themselves aren't as well developed as they really should have been. One gets the feeling these characters have great potential, but Lucas decided to save it for the later 2 episodes. This one just serves to introduce them...and that left a lot of people (including me) feeling a little bit cheated. Otherwise, Brooks did a good job taking an action/fx filled feature and putting it into words. It's not a spectacular book by itself, but it works very well when used as a companion for the movie.
Rating: 
Summary: Bad Grammer in a Bad Adaptation of a Mediocre Movie
Review: Hmm. The Phantom Menace. Right after I left the theater (and left my nostolgia-fueled youthful dreams crushed on the sticky dimly-lit floor), I flipped through this book with no little trepridation, knowing Brooks as a godawful hack. I wandered through the 'pivitol' moments of the film, and what did I find? A comma-splice!-right there, obvious in the battle between Qui-Gon and Darth Maul. Like Lucas, Brooks needs an editor to cycle through this flat handyman prose and ferret out such blatant errors.Jar Jar is poison to Myth. Jim Carrey-ish antics in a film like this do not make humor...just idiotic annoyance. The Ewoks were a profound invention of thought in comparison. Thankfully I skipped all his parts.
Rating:
Summary: Fun plot, but lacks fizz.
Review: I got the book hoping to capture the excitement being generated as we won't get to see the movie in NZ, until June. The overall storyline is excellent, but... I found the manner in which it was being told very cold-fishish. Terry Brooks fails to deliver the excitement one would expect from this story. The text did not create the feeling of being there and watching the events unfold. Instead you feel like you are reading a slightly expanded screen play, with the stage directions still in bold face. I give the story a A-, but I would have to give the messager a C.
Rating:
Summary: A great, easy to read book
Review: I thought this book was great. I read it before the movie, and can't wait to see it. Mr. Brooks captures the true spirit of Episode I. His vivid description of both the characters and the settings allows one to imagine being there, the whole idea behind the Star Wars legacy.
Rating:
Summary: The book reads like Terry Brooks copied it from the script.
Review: Terry Brooks is a much better writer than THE PHANTOM MENACE would lead you to believe. He faithfully transcribed Lucas' story, but he didn't bring any of the characters to life. Written on about a 5th grade reading level, the book offended me with its inaccurate phraseology, boring style consisting of one declarative sentence after another, and easy compilation of one cliche after another. As for the story, it showed all of Lucas's rather limited tricks as a storyteller, namely: (1) a race or chase going very fast near the ground, (2) a space battle featuring small ships against a gigantic foe, (3) cute but stupid aliens, (4) a dark menacing figure who kills one of the good guys in a light-saber duel, (5) jedi mind tricks, (6) Yoda handing out mysterious warnings, (7)a princess in disguise as the love interest (even though the kid who falls in love with her is only 9 years old!?) (8) a master apprentice relationship with the master being killed and the apprentice taking over (only in this case the apprentice is Obi-Wan (9) R2D2 saves the day (a couple of times actually) (10)C3PO thrown into the mix for comic relief. Didn't we see every single one of these tricks in the original Star Wars movie? (Actually Yoda didn't appear until the second movie, but close enough.) Learn some new tricks, George! Anyone who gave this book more than one star is either a moron or a Star Wars fanatic, and is there a difference?
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