Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #397697 in Books
• Published on: 2000-10
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 48 pages

Customer Reviews

Great DK book
This book really deserves more attention that it has received. The other DK books were announced with big horns, but this book has almost appeared in the shadows. Again, detailed drawings explain many locations in Episode I, such as Theed, the Theed Hangar, The Boonta Eve circuit, the Podrace Arena, Anakin's house, the Senate, the Jedi Temple and Otoh Gunga, etc ... There are several great assets, such as the complete result of the Boonta Eve and a starchart of the Episode I planets. Great book, do not hesitate ! A must have !

Extends Your Knowledge of Star Wars Beyond the Movies
Have the ultimate experience of The Phantom Menace by extending your understanding with this book and the Star Wars universe.

This book is an excellent expansion of the basic story line of Episode I. Based on reading it, you will have much more appreciation for that movie and the later ones in the series.

The book contains star charts to show you where key planets are located (like Naboo, Tatooine, Coruscant, Alderaan, Corellia), which makes many of the plots much easier to understand.

Beyond that benefit, you get detailed maps of each of the planets where action occurs in Episode I. This allows you to see how the various story lines relate to each other spatially. For example, you can see how the Gungan capital of Otoh Gunda relates to the Naboo capital of Theed. In the case of Naboo, this is supplemented with a geological cutaway of the planet to show you how the two capitals are connected by the ocean.

Next, each city is also mapped. So you see the details of Otoh Gunda, Theed, Mos Espa on Tatooine, and the central area of Coruscant. Then specific buildings and space ships are also shown in cutaways. These include the Droid control ship, Watto's junkshop, Anakin's hovel, the Jedi Temple, the Imperial Senate, and the arena for pod races on Tatooine.

Action sequences are then detailed so that you can see where and when each step takes place. This is done for the duel with Darth Maul and Jedi Qui-Gon Jiun and Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Theed palace generator. You also get the battle between the droids and the Gungans. But the best is the full map of the pod race course, with annotations for where each major part of the race's events occurred.

All of these maps are enlivened by detailed notes on the geology, technology, and history of the places displayed. There are many references to Senator Palpatine and the sources of power on Naboo that will be of interest. I thought the expanded information about the Gungan city was especially well done.

The illustrations are new in many cases, which also adds to the reader's pleasure.

My only complaint is that there are several pages with no new information and no interesting detail. An editor should have taken this out or substituted better content. The only argument in their favor is that they help remind you of the story's continuity.

This must have been a lot of fun to create. My suggestion is that you take another story you like and make a similar series of maps and notes. If you have children or grandchildren, this could be a fun project to do together. You might consider Alice in Wonderland as a first subject. Or if you have a friend who loves Star Wars, you could expand on Episode I or any of the other stories in the same way.

May the Force be with you . . . always!

Misleading title - it has nothing to do with movie locations
Don't be misled by the title as I was. This book is about the fictional Star Wars universe not the real locations used in the filming of the movie.