Star Wars Episode I

The Phantom Menace

By: Terry Brooks

Narrated by: Michael Cumpsty

Length: 3 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's Summary

Every saga has a beginning: In barren desert lands and seedy spaceports, in vast underwater cities and in the blackest depths of space unfolds a tale of good and evil, of myth and magic, of innocence and power. At last the saga that captured the imagination of millions turns back in time to reveal its cloaked origins, the start of a legend, the story of Star Wars.

Based on the screenplay by George Lucas, this novel by the master storyteller Terry Brooks probes the depths of one of the greatest tales of our time, providing rich detail and insight into the minds and motives of the characters, and shedding bold new light on Lucas's brilliant creation.

©1999 Lucasfilm Ltd & TM (P)1999 Random House Audio

Critic Reviews

"A sheer delight....Narration is by actor Michael Cumpsty, whose range of voices and accents is astonishing....Few audiobooks manage to be as exciting as a big-screen movie; this one comes darn close." (AudioFile)

Not good

The narrator was not good it needs updating its from 1999 it needs a new narrator and it does need updating. Daniel Davis who did darth plagues would be a good choice.

OK but could have been more imaginative

Good narration but bad accents. Differs little from the film dialogue, but the overall story remains decent.

Wasn’t clear this is the abridged version

In terms of what it is, it’s basically just a narration or the film, and little more. There is a longer version out there, but it turns out it’s not available on Audible UK.

Jar Jar Binx steals the show

A short but good book to start the trilogy. Jar had me crying with laughter

episode 1

very short!

A Great Listen

I thoroughly enjoyed this, well worth buying. As with most books, this expands the storyline from the movie, and delves deeper into the thoughts of the characters, which definitely adds to the story.

There was something that I found a little disappointing though. The Narrator pronounced Palpatine incorrectly, a minor point I know, but you'd think he may have checked the pronunciation of characters names, before he started reading ;-)

Just go watch the movie, it’s a lot better

Not really what you want in an adaption as it fails to offer anything you didn’t already get from watching it. Worse still, quite a lot was even missed out. Ok. One or two short scenes added but overall a lot of dialogue actually shortened, lines often cut out or changed (and not for the better). Voices and overall acting was not good either, I do a way better jar jar

an obvious choice for any star wars fan.

reinvigorating the story with new details and slightly different dialogue it brings a fresh feel to the story.

The start was confusing

The start of the book is really confusing, start and smack bang in the middle of the pod race, apart from that there was no issues in the book, the story is flawed rather well, It help in the larger picture of episode one for me can’t wait for the second book

Mind blowing

I like the way performances and excitement.
I would like to share this book to family relatives and friends.