Tag: Episode I

Terry Brooks – Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace | Review

Title: Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace

Author: Terry Brooks

Type: Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 324

Rating: 5/10

 

Terry Brooks - Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace

Terry Brooks – Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace

 

Let’s face it – Star Wars Episode I was never the greatest Star Wars film. In fact, short of Caravan of Courage (a rare Ewok special that I’ve downloaded but never watched), it’s probably the worst one out there. In many ways, it’s unfortunate for Brooks that his source material wasn’t of a higher standard – he’s even forced to phonetically replicate the jarring speech of Jar Jar Binks. Meesa reviewa.

If you can get past that, and the fact that if you’ve seen the film, you already know what’s going to happen, it’s not actually that bad – I mean, I wouldn’t re-read it, but it’s better than some novelisations I could mention (*cough* Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure *cough), and at least it’s based upon the original screenplay by George Lucas.

 

Terry Brooks

Terry Brooks

 

Having said that, there are better Star Wars novels out there, and I’m particularly keen on the original series that were created and the work of Kevin J. Anderson. Brooks isn’t a bad writer – in fact, he’s competent, and there’s nothing technically wrong with The Phantom Menace, but there are just better books out there, and I encourage you to go out there and discover them.

I can at least say one thing positive about Brooks’ writing – it’s vivid and evocative, and you can visualise the scenes and the characters as he talks about them. But in some ways, that’s a problem – it’s so similar to the film that there’s no real use for your own imagination, and that’s half the joy of reading.

I’ve given this a bad review and I really didn’t want to because I feel like I ought to like it – I just don’t, and I’m worried that you might feel the same. If you loved the film, you’ll like the book.

 

Darth Maul

Darth Maul

 

Click here to buy Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace.


Kevin J. Anderson – Darksaber | Review

Title: Darksaber

Author: Kevin J. Anderson

Type: Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 430

Rating: 7/10

 

Kevin J. Anderson - Darksaber

Kevin J. Anderson – Darksaber

 

When I was younger, I was a massive Star Wars fan – not uncommon for my generation, because the original films were reissued when I was eight and Episodes I, II and III soon followed. I was also a bit of a reader, as you can probably tell. The result? I delved into the universe (pun intended) of Star Wars books and lost myself for several years.

Darksaber is one of the best, featuring many of the favourites from the original films and a few new characters. Set eight years after Return of the Jedi, Luke and Han return to Tattooine and discover that the Hutt family is building a secret superweapon, a rebuild of the Death Star called ‘Darksaber’.

 

Kevin J. Anderson

Kevin J. Anderson

 

Yeah, imagine that. The Hutts owning a Death Star. That can only mean trouble. Couple that with the existence of Admiral Daala, who I think I was a little in love with, and you’ve got a plot in the making. Kevin’s writing is believable and captures the essence of the original films well, but he has had the practice – he authored the Jedi Academy Trilogy, which went on to become a New York Times Bestseller. In fact, he wrote over twenty Star Wars books, and he now has forty bestselling books to his name.

Interestingly, it’s easy to picture the main characters as they were in the films, only with more worry lines and the odd grey hair. It helps that Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and co. have all aged publicly, and only the non-human characters are difficult to place. Then again, most of the returning characters are human anyway, which could be an intentional ploy on Anderson’s part. It’s hard to tell.

 

The Jedi Library

The Jedi Library

 

However, this is not the sort of book that you can just pick up and read if you’re not already a Star Wars aficionado – it turns out that a lot of people take Star Wars very seriously, you know the type. And because of this, the writers of the Star Wars novels have a lot of material to research, the number of characters, places and storylines that have already been explored number in the hundreds, if not the thousands.

This gives the writers a supply of source material with which to shape their own stories, and they frequently refer to events that have happened in other novels, especially the author’s own. If you love Star Wars, you’ll like Darksaber – if you like Star Wars, you’ll struggle through it. Be warned.

 

A Long Time Ago, in a Galaxy Far, Far Away...

A Long Time Ago, in a Galaxy Far, Far Away…

 

Click here to buy Darksaber.