20240921 - Star Wars - Episode I: The Phantom Menace ... Haiku Prajna [Book Review]

Space knights save the Queen, // the fate of the galaxy // balanced by the One ... Star Wars - Episode I: The Phantom Menace ... Haiku Prajna [Book Review]

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Space knights save the Queen, // the fate of the galaxy // balanced by the One

... Star Wars - Episode I: The Phantom Menace ... Haiku Prajna [Book Review] 

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2023 08 08 - 2023 10 13 

Hello reader,

Been on a Star Wars binge, reading the novelizations for the Skywalker Saga and other books featuring Anakin/Vader, starting with Terry Brooks’s “The Phantom Menace”, a story about a boy liberated from the desert planet Tatooine who finds himself in the middle of a sci-fi fantasy with knights protecting the Queen of Naboo from an assassin in league with the living embodiment of darkness.

The novel opens with Anakin podracing on Tatooine while using the Force without knowing, like how A New Hope started with Vader on the Rebel’s ship above his home planet; here, one can begin noticing and appreciating the trend of the Prequels mirroring their Original Trilogy counterparts [TPM+ANH, AotC+ESB, RotS+RotJ].

A common theme with Anakin is liberation, that of others and of himself, his own liberation being that of the galaxy's due to the plot needing to fit within certain ideas set by the original movies, which I think it succeeded with, using Anakin’s plot-armour as a plot point in these stories, what with George Lucas’s ideas for the Whills and the introduction of midi-chlorians, which gave the impression of being a collective consciousness or intelligence that Force-sensitive beings could give their wills over to or take under their control to manifest what they need.

The titular Phantom Menace was making itself known, although Palpatine--his public persona being subjected to ANH-Vader-level banter, while amassing his first army as Darth Sidious--was still occluding Jedi like Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon, who were unable to explain the Trade Federation’s newfound backbone, nor their anxiety over an elusive darkness.

In Qui-Gon telling Obi-Wan to ignore the impending darkness, the simple interactions between apprentice and Master highlight the core consequence of the Republic’s and its Jedi Order’s philosophies. The Jedi’s dispassion, instead of wielding it right, allowed the Sith to wield the Will of the Force with the dark side to fuel their own passions.

Extra scenes missing from the movie were heartfelt, even if they felt forced at times. The plot of The Phantom Menace feels more connected here; the movie feels like a highlight reel in comparison.

Overall, the novel has better development of really important ideas, such as sowing early Anakin dark-side seeds like survival tactics for a slave, his fear of losing his mother early on, and using the Force to pilot pod-racers and star-ships, to foreshadow his future cyborg body. Qui-Gon sensing the benefit of seemingly insignificant life with Jar-Jar acted as foreshadowing for his adoption of Anakin, and for the Jedi Council’s skepticism and wariness of the so-called Chosen One. Jar-Jar, as a stand-in for the Han-Chewie duo who are removed from the Force, was used to foreshadow a lot, including real minor choices shown in the movie, like when Jar-Jar was attacked for stealing which showed why Qui-Gon decided against doing so when gambling with Watto for the hyperdrive.

There were more Darth Maul scenes with dialogue, including extended and well described fight scenes, like the desert encounter which had Maul chasing Jinn onto the Naboo ship as it was in the air. A Darth Bane mention alongside some Sith lore was included for Legends worldbuilding too.

Thanks to The Phantom Menace novelization by Terry Brooks, readers should better appreciate the plot of Sidious playing both sides of the impending Clone Wars. The Prequel-era can be summed up as Palpatine's indirect subterfuge against Kenobi, by taking Anakin from him for killing Maul [haha].

Thank you for reading,

Until next time!

Allen W. McLean

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PS. 

Rest in Peace, James Earl Jones.

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